JazzWax

My Walk Through Central Park

Early Tuesday morning, I had an appointment on the East Side of Manhattan so I cabbed it. Afterward, I decided to walk home to the West Side through Central Park. I took photos along the way for all of my JazzWax readers worldwide who are homesick for New York, lived here once and miss it, or visited the city and still love it. [Photo above of the Majestic, completed in 1931, on Central Park West, by (c)Marc Myers]

So today, on Thanksgiving, here is my holiday gift for you:

Play this clip as you look through the images below...

Photo above of Central Park Drive heading north on the East Side, by (c)Marc Myers

Photo above at the start of the 72nd Street Transverse on the East Side, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of a proud green tree along the Transverse, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above, from the Transverse, of "Billionaire's Row" on Central Park South, with two seasonal evergreens in the foreground, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of the Bethesda Fountain, completed in 1864, with the Beresford in the background, completed in 1929, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo of a past-peak tree along the Transverse, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of a tree along the Transverse still sporting its autumn gold, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of an autumn pathway, with the San Remo, completed in 1930, in the background on Central Park West, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above, along the Transverse, of low morning sunlight, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above, along the Transverse, of a nearly bare tree, with the Majestic in the background, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above, taken along the Transverse, of a tree that didn't get the autumn memo, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of an Art Nouveau street lamp in the park with the real deal behind it, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of an autumn-red traffic light, with half the Majestic in the background, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above of the empty walkway up to the Strawberry Fields "Imagine" mosaic, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above taken moments later of the same walkway, by (c)Marc Myers.

Photo above, taken while emerging from Central Park, of the Dakota, completed in 1881, on Central Park West.

And finally, photo above of the Majestic, across 72nd Street from the Dakota, in all its modernist glory, by (c)Marc Myers.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music

You're in for a pre-Thanksgiving treat. Yesterday, I posted on a 1964 Jamaican mini documentary on ska, the island's dominant dance music of the early 1960s. Today. I found a high-resolution print of Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music (2009). It followed ska by slowing ska down and adding a soulful groove in the mid-1960s, setting the stage for reggae's political-themed emergence in the early 1970s. I love rocksteady. It's soft, gentle and hypnotic. And I love rocksteady covers of American hits. Here's a sample example of rocksteady, with Alton Ellis singing You've Made Me So Very Happy...

See what I mean? Such a great groove. Now that you're hip and up to date, here's Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music, directed by Stascha Bader. I can't embed it into this post, but you can watch it in glorious wide-screen quality by clicking here.

Documentary: This Is Ska

In Jamaica, before reggae and rocksteady, there was ska. Emerging in the late 1950s, ska was a combination of calypso, American jazz and R&B. Ska evolved as Jamaican singers and musicians put their own spin on the sound of American pop records that were played on large sound systems built for neighborhood parties. As ska grew in popularity, it developed its own rhythms, horn riffs, dance style and independent record labels. By the early 1960s, the ska sound made its way onto the American charts with Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop (1964), which peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop chart. Here's Small singing her hit song...

So where did this churning, jagged music come from in Jamaica and which groups were ska pioneers? Here's a 35-minute Jamaican documentary I found from 1964, Ska, Ska Ska (also known as This Is Ska)...

Johnny O'Neal: Keyboard Giant

Pianist Johnny O'Neal is extraordinary, even if he isn't as well known as other pianists around today. Influenced by Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson, O'Neal began as a gospel pianist in his home town of Detroit and spent the 1970s in Birmingham, Ala., working with local jazz musicians. In 1981, he relocated to New York to perform with flugelhornist Clark Terry and then became the house pianist at Birdland. From 1982 to '83, he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, but over time, health issues kept him from becoming a household name. 

Before I share an extensive interview O'Neal gave bassist Jonah Jonathan, here's O'Neal playing You're Looking at Me...

Here's O'Neal at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Grosse Pointe, Mich., in 2013...

Here's the Christmas Song...

And here's the interview...

Caitríona, Tony and Dave

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Caitríona Balfe for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Caitríona is not only the star of the new film Belfast, she also co-stars in Outlander as Claire Fraser. A joy to spend a half hour with Caitríona (pronounced Catrina) talking about growing up in Ireland and her desire as a child and teen to see the world. For a time there during the interview, I was afraid the British were going to show up and we'd have to run (a small Outlander joke). If you haven't watched the Outlander series, you must. It's beautifully shot, the sage is gripping and the acting is superb. You'll find it on Amazon Prime and Starz. [Photo above of Caitríona Balfe in Malibu, Calif., in 2020, in The Wall Street Journal by James Houston]

Here's the trailer for Belfast...

And here's Caitríona in Outlander (a new season is coming next year)...

Artt Frank, author of two memoirs (here and here) that heavily feature Chet Baker and Artt's years with the trumpeter, sent along links to two songs he wrote [photo of Artt Frank above]:

Here's Artt Frank Jazz Ensemble playing Remembering Chet...

And here's Nenette, a waltz dedicated to Nenette Zazarra, who married pianist Bill Evans in 1973...

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. On November 28, CBS will air from 8 to 9 p.m. (ET/ PT) One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, a concert special honoring the musical legacy and enduring friendship of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Taped at two sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall in August to celebrate Bennett’s 95th birthday, the live concert was glimpsed on CBS's Sixty Minutes earlier in the fall, and Lady and I covered it during our interview here. 

Here's Tony and Andy Williams in 1965 singing a medley...

Here's Lady and Tony singing Night and Day from their new duet album, Love for Sale...

Cory Weeds—What Is There to Say (Cellar). Backed by 13 strings spectacularly arranged by by pianist Phil Dwyer, saxophonist Corey Weeds weaves through eight songs. Dwyer, a member of the Order of Canada for his contribution to jazz, creates a lush and dramatic backdrop as Cory plays seductively on songs such as I Wish You Love, At Dawning, Love Is Wild and What Is There to Say. The interactions between the strings and Corey's ballad approach are captivating. Go here.

Here's I Wish You Love...

I Wish You Love

Coleman Hawkins radio. WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual "Coleman Hawkins Birthday Broadcast" this Sunday, November 21, playing his music on the radio for 24 hours starting at midnight (ET). You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here.

David Frishberg (1933-2021), a cabaret-styled composer and lyricist and extraordinary jazz pianist, died November 17. He was 88. For Frishberg's life and career, read Barry Singer's moving New York Times obituary here.

Here's one of my favorite Frishberg songs—with music by Johnny Mandel and lyrics by Frishberg—You Are There. For me, this recording, with Frishberg on piano and singing, is the song's definitive version...

Shirley Bassey: History Repeating

In 1997, the British electronic duo The Propellerheads recorded and performed History Repeating with Shirley Bassey. The single reached #1 on the U.K. Indie Chart and #10 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, Dame Shirley's first top-10 hit on any U.S. chart since 1973's Never Never Never. According to Bassey, Alex Gifford, half of the duo, wrote the song especially for her. The video poked loving fun at Brit TV's Jazz 625, and the Propellerhead's album's cover paid homage to Nat King Cole's Just One of Those Things on Capitol (above and below).

Thanks to Oliver Dowling in Dublin, here are two videos—the music video and a video on the making of the video. Fascinating, since we get to see and hear Dame Shirley at work:

Here's the video...

And here's the making of the video...

Meet Sweden's The Real Group

Formed in 1984, the Real Group is a Swedish vocal harmony ensemble that specializes in jazz. The group has taken on other types of music, including Scandinavian folk and classical. And over the years, the group has seen many different members pass through its ranks. The Real Group is still going strong today, touring in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. If you're unfamiliar, let me share with you a bunch of videos [photo above of the Real Group today, from left, Johannes Rückert Becker, Axel Berntzon, Joanné Nugas, Daniele Dees and Clara Fornander]. A special thanks to Don Rice for reminding me of the group's terrific approach to jazz vocal harmonies:

Here's a Count Basie medley from 2005...

Here's Monica's Vals (Waltz for Debby) in 2011...

By the way, here's the original arranged by Bill Evans and sung by Swedish singing star Monica Zetterlund during a rehearsal in Copenhagen in 1966, with Eddie Gomez on bass and Alex Riel on drums. I've always loved the ending, with Zetterlund rubbing her ear and Evans rubbing his eye at the same time, almost out of discomfort anticipating how the other is going to react...

Once more, with the Real Group from 2018...

Here's Misty in 2011...

And here's Sleigh Ride in 2010...

For more on the Real Group, go here. More videos? Go here.

Jan Lundgren: In New York

On May 31 and June 1, 2005, Swedish jazz pianist Jan Lundgren was in New York to record In New York for Marshmallow Records, an independent Japanese label founded in 1978. Backing Jan were bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. The recording session took place at Nola's Penthouse Studio on 57th St., above the Steinway showroom (both now replaced by a zillion-story tower on what is known in New York as Billionaire's Row). Jim Czak, whom we all miss dearly, co-engineered, mixed and mastered.

Most of the songs were chosen by Jan, with three added by the album's producer and Marshmallow founder Mitsuo Johfu: Autumn in New York, Cherokee and The Gypsy. Jan included two originals—Negotiations and M.Z. The balance were standards Jan wanted to record—East of the Sun, Benny Golson's Stablemates, John Coltrane's Straight Street, I Can't Get Started and Wayne Shorter's This Is for Albert. Great choices all.

The reason I'm telling you about this album now is that after years of being out of print, In New York has just been reissued. It's part of a series of nine trio albums that Jan made for Marshmallow in the 2000s and 2010s. You'll find it on Spotify and at YouTube and on streaming services and for download on retail sites.

Jan doesn't get to New York as often as he used to. The pandemic changed a lot. This album is as close as we'll get unless you're in Stockholm and vicinity. In New York is exceptional. Listen to Jan on Autumn in New York and I Can't Get Started. Sheer elegance. There was gentle quality and swinging sophistication to Jan's playing then as is the case now, only more so. His level of taste is extraordinary, and his feel for American songbook standards is loving and respectful. Listen to Stablemates, one of the most statuesque trio renditions of the song I've ever heard and the most sensual, which is how Benny likes it played. Or listen to Jan's fabulous introduction to The Gypsy. [Photo above of Jan Lundgren by Steven Haberland]

Straight Street, which Coltrane recorded on Coltrane (Prestige) in 1957, is a knockout, with Jan giving the song the mink-glove treatment. And This Is for Albert, which can be heard on Art Blakey's Caravan (Riverside), twists and turns with grace. Jan's originals here have a distinctly Swedish moodiness and are terrific change-ups from the jazz and pop songbook. As for Peter Washington and Kenny Washington, they are the gold standard and continue to inspire everyone they play with.

This is an album you'll listen to over and over again. And, if I might add, a perfect album to play while on the sofa in front of the fireplace this season. The music will find its way all the way inside and make you very happy.

A special thanks to Guy Jones in Stockholm. And a big hi to Jan and all of my Swedish JazzWax readers. So glad this album and other Marshmallow releases are back in town or on their way.

JazzWax note: Here are the nine albums Jan recorded for Marshmallow, with their original release dates and their reissue dates. They will be available for streaming and downloading:

• Lonely One (2002), released August 2021
• Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (2005), August 2021
• In New York (2007), November 12, 2021
• Plays Cole Porter Love Songs (2008), November 26, 2021
• Blue Lights (2011), December 17, 2021
• A Swinging Rendezvous (2008), January 21, 2022
• Charade (2008), February 11, 2022
• Perfidia (2008), March 4, 2022
• Soft Summer Breeze (2009), April 15, 2022

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Jan Lundgren Trio's In New York at Spotify and at YouTube here. You can download it here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Stablemates...

Here's perhaps the most glamorous Cherokee you'll ever hear...

And here's Guy Jones interviewing Jan in Stockholm last month...

Art Blakey: Flight to Tokyo

In January 1961, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers were on their first tour of Japan. That year, the Messengers consisted of a tough bunch of signature players—Lee Morgan (tp), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b) and Blakey (d). This particular line-up of Messengers had been together since early 1960, when they recorded The Big Beat for Blue Note. The fact that Blakey was able to assemble and unify so much jazz firepower was a testament to his leadership skills and his taste in music. Blakey had his finger on the pulse of what foreign and young jazz listeners loved—energy and a solid beat. In Japan, the group toured several cities, receiving thunderous applause at each venue. [Photo above of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in Japan in 1961 by Hozumi Nakadaira, courtesy of Blue Note]

Tape of the Jazz Messengers' concert at Tokyo's Hibiya Public Hall (above) on January 13 and 14 surfaced only recently. Zev Feldman—whose very name has become synonymous with analog archeology and the exhuming of important rare jazz tapes that have never seen the light of day after they were made—found the Tokyo recording in the hands of a Japanese collector. Here's Zev writing in the liner notes about his discovery: 

"I first heard about these lost Art Blakey recordings on a trip to Japan in 2017. I was told that a gentleman, Ryuichiro Nemoto, had in his possession never-before-released recordings of the Messengers’ first Japan tour in January of 1961... When we received the tapes, they had been assembled on five quarter-inch tape reels. There were a number of incomplete tunes among the recordings and my co-producer, David Weiss, and I decided to leave those off of this release. Given our decision not to include the incomplete tunes, plus our uncertainty about the actual order in which the tapes were labeled, we decided to sequence the release in a way that, to us, best enhanced the overall listening experience."

We're fortunate that Zev and his co-producer made that decision. Nothing is more annoying to the average jazz fan than the inclusion of partial songs. On the newly released Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: First Flight to Tokyo, the Lost 1961 Recordings (Blue Note), there's much to love. Blakey and the Messengers were tightly arranged on songs but freewheeling and hypnotic. The players also were more expressive, as the nine tracks featured show. Morgan is blistering but tender in places, such as 'Round Midnight. Shorter is thrashing but also introspective, especially on Now's the Time, Blues March and A Night in Tunisia. The high point for me is Timmons's Dat Dere, which features spectacular solos by Shorter and Morgan capped by a barrelling solo by Timmons. Throughout the recording we find Blakey's impatient and hectoring drums lovingly driving the musicians and keeping everyone on their toes with military precision. After this group recorded The Freedom Rider in the studio in May 1961, Freddie Hubbard replaced Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller was added and Cedar Walton replaced Timmons. And back on the road the Messengers went.

The reason this new album is so important is that it cleanly documents, with superb sound, a group made up of dynamic players who would soon go on to spectacular careers. In Japan in 1961, just days before John F. Kennedy was sworn in as president, the Jazz Messengers were abroad representing the best of America. They were guests in a country that just 16 years earlier had been ruled by a murderous, fascist regime during World War II. In Japan, audiences born under a brutal dictatorship were liberated and we hear them exhaling while enjoying a quintet that embraced improvisation, independence and freedom. They also recognized that the Messengers were exponents of a new sophisticated, optimistic sound that they had heard only on albums. A hopeful generation was emerging, and this music expressed how it felt to be free in Japan and almost free in the U.S. [Photo above of Lee Morgan by Shunji Ohkura, courtesy of Blue Note]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: First Flight to Tokyo, the Lost 1961 Recordings (Blue Note) here.

Jazzwax clips: Here's Dat Dere...

Dat Dere

Joe Henderson: Mosaic Box

In the 1960s, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson recorded on close to 30 Blue Note albums, only five of which were under his name. But most of those sideman sessions were just as significant, since Henderson was a powerful ingredient on anyone's recording date. For example, he is a dominant soloist on Kenny Dorham's Una Mas, Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder, Horace Silver's Song for My Father, Herbie Hancock's The Prisoner and others. What made Henderson special was his dry tone and delivery, his polished bursts of fluid ideas and a feel that seemed most influenced by the airiness of Lester Young and taut delivery of Sonny Rollins. [Photo above of Joe Henderson by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

And yet Henderson sounded distinctly original and modern. While most other established Blue Note tenor saxophonists of the period were seasoned by session work in the 1950s, Henderson arrived on the scene in 1963, following his discharge from the Army. In New York, Dorham took him under his wing and showed him the ropes, eventually bringing him to the attention of Blue Note's Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. Henderson's smokey sound and dashing agility were distinct. In the Blue Note stable, Hank Mobley was juicier, Shorter had more wail and Stanley Turrentine had more blues. Henderson's musical personality fit right in without overlap, especially when playing hard bop with a boogaloo rhythm or bossa nova feel, which was the emerging Blue Note trend in the early 1960s. [Photo above of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

You can hear all of this and more on the newly released box set from Mosaic—The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions. First a word about the title, which is a bit misleading. This five-CD set features Henderson's five studio albums—Page One (1963), Our Thing (1964), In 'n Out (1965), Inner Urge (1966) and Mode for Joe (1966). The set also includes material that producer Michael Cuscuna told me was important to include, such as Henderson's collaborative albums with Dorham—Una Mas (1963) and Trompeta Toccata (1965). There also are tracks from Silver's The Cape Verdean Blues, Blue Mitchell's Step Lightly, Johnny Coles's Little Johnny C, Larry Young's Unity and Bobby Hutcherson's The Kicker.

In other words, this set isn't really Henderson's "complete" Blue Note output  as a leader and sideman, since that would have been a significantly larger box at a much higher price. It's really the Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Leadership Sessions, Plus Other Important Stuff. As Michael said to me in an email, after Mosaic scheduled Henderson's studio leadership releases, there was room for more music on the five CDs. To his credit, Michael's choices are superb, especially as you listen to the box from start to finish as one large work.

The title notwithstanding, this box is terrific for several reasons. For one, the sound is spectacular, capturing the warm round bark of Henderson's playing and letting all of the sidemen stand out with sonic distinction. As Mosaic explains, "[We] echoed something we did last year with our sold-out Hank Mobley set. We went back to Rudy Van Gelder’s original analog tapes and made new transfers with the highest-possible bit rate and today’s best A to D converters.The sound far surpasses any earlier [Henderson] CDs, removing any trace of muddiness, and rivals the original LPs in warmth, range and sound. This is as close to being in the studio listening to the original masters as one can get."

I'll second that. It sounds like the look of an expensive car's paint job. Listeners will love running their ear's hand over the curves with admiration. Overall, we have Michael to thank on the producer side of the sound and Malcolm Addey for the rich, high-impact re-mastering. Even if you already have these albums on CD or LP, the sound on this box is a cut above. The second reason for owing the box are Bob Blumenthal's liner notes, which are highly informative and fill in many blanks on Henderson and the recordings. [Photo above of Michael Cuscuna, courtesy of Getty]

Joe Henderson died in 2001 at age 64 after a long battle with emphysema.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions (Mosaic) here.

JazzWax clips: So you can hear how sterling the box's tracks sound, here's Recorda Me from Page One...

Recorda Me

And here's Hobo Joe from Little Johnny C...

Hobo Joe