Cubanology Media Blog

I’ve been concentrating all my effort on my tribute to Lee Morgan and the “Lee Morgan Project” and veered off my Jazz specials. So to get the listeners back on track, I made a quick mini-Jazz special. I am featuring FOUR Sets of different styles to sort of satisfy everyone and more importantly, to prove that there is a place for those who feel Jazz is not really their kind of music. These are just 4 different sounds but I will feature more variations in the future.

Note to all new readers of the Cubanology MediaBlog: All the podcasts are located in the beginning and end of the post. I suggest opening up the podcast by clicking on “Play in new window” so you can scroll through the post itself and visit the links and/or go on with your business and listen in the background. Thank you and enjoy!

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1st Set:

Start: Charles Mingus “Blue Cee” 1. “Fuji” 2. “Picadillo”  3. “Unidos” From the CD Album “El Sonido Nuevo- The New Sound.”

More on Album:

Latin jazz titans Eddie Palmieri (piano) and Cal Tjader (vibraphone) join forces on this thoroughly enjoyable session of south-of-the-border post-bop. Entitled EL SONIDO NUEVO, this 1966 release finds Tjader and Palmieri blending hot Latin styles (there are echoes of mambo, and foretastes of salsa) with the cool timbres and feel then popular in West Coast jazz. Despite relentless Latin grooves by the percussionists, and Palmieri’s fiery playing–in which he incorporates guajira (a meter-shifting Cuban folk dance) and compasa (Cuban hill chants), among other styles–the proceedings have a smooth, almost lounge-like feel.

This is attributable largely to the languid, shimmering sound of Tjader’s vibes, and the slick, focused production. Still, the band swings intently on such rhythmically complex numbers as “Ritmo Uni” and Tito Puente’s “Picadillo.” The title track, which has Tjader and Palmieri building luminous lines while the percussion creates a net of dense rhythms, sounds like something Bill Evans might have dreamed while on vacation in Havana. The Verve reissue of EL SONIDO NUEVO includes six bonus tracks from BREEZE FROM THE EAST and ALONG COMES CAL, two other ’60s Tjader dates, making this classic Latin jazz package an especially good bet……Read More

2nd Set:

4. “Everything Happens to Me” 5. “Kary’s Trance” 6. “Sweet and Lovely” From the “Inside Hi-Fi ” CD Album.

About Album:

This excellent recording (part of their 1987 Jazzlore series) features altoist Lee Konitz with two separate quartets during 1956. Either guitarist Billy Bauer or pianist Sal Mosca are the main supporting voices in groups also including either Arnold Fishkind or Peter Ind on bass and Dick Scott on drums. The most unusual aspect to the set is that on the four selections with Mosca, Konitz switches to tenor, playing quite effectively in a recognizable cool style……Read More

Biography on Lee Konitz:

Born :

October 13, 1927 in Chicago, IllinoisSaxophonist Lee Konitz rose to fame in the 1940s by being the only alto saxophonist who played in a style that wasn’t strongly influenced by the bebop of Charlie Parker. But Konitz’ reputation was not limited that of a contrarian. From his early days with pianist Lennie Tristano and saxophonist Warne Marsh, he proved himself as an innovator who sought new ways to approach harmony, melody, and rhythm in his improvisation. He has performed actively since, and now in his 80s, he remains one of the foremost jazz saxophonists.

Swinging Influences:

As a child, Lee Konitz was drawn to the sounds of clarinetist Benny Goodman’s big band, whose swing music filled the radio waves in the 1930s. Konitz began playing the clarinet, but later switched to tenor saxophone. At age 18, he began playing in a Chicago dance band led by clarinetist Jerry Wald, who offered him the job on the condition that he would switch to alto saxophone.

To Bop or Not to Bop:

Around this time, Konitz also met Lennie Tristano, the pianist who would later help propel the young alto player’s career. He also played a briefly in Claude Thornhill’s big band, in which he was exposed to the harmonies of arranger Gil Evans. Tristano, Thornhill, and Evans each played a part in the development of “cool jazz,” which was defined by its subtlety and introspectiveness, setting it apart from bebop.

New York:

In 1949, before his 22nd birthday, Konitz moved to New York to pursue a performance career. At this point, bebop was reaching its peak, with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and others playing breakneck tempos and melodic lines brimming with intensity. Konitz performed music of a different sort……Learn More

3rd Set:

7. “Tenderly” 8. “And I Love Him”  9. “Round Midnight” From the “Live At The 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival” CD Album.

About Album:

Sarah Vaughan was approximately three decades into her career when she stepped onto the stage at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 1971 and still at the top of her game. Her voice swoops, sways and swings; it’s a veritable roller coaster of pitch, tone and tempo, and Vaughan is in complete control of her instrument at all times. The voice is weightier than it was during her early days, but having recently taken a few years off from recording it was primed and ready for the remarkable push Vaughan was prepared to give it. Backed by the very capable trio of Bill Mays on piano (Vaughan introduces him as Willie Mays), Bob Magnusson on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums, Vaughan wastes no time showing why she always appears on the short list of jazz’s greatest singers: On “I Remember You” she takes command of the rhythm and bends it to her will; it’s impossible not to fall within her spell instantaneously. Vaughan must know she’s on a roll because midway through the song she lets out a “Whoo!” that one might expect to hear from an audience member rather than the singer herself. “There Will Never Be Another You,” taken at a breakneck pace, gives the band ample opportunity to blow, and Vaughan stays just far enough ahead to lead the way — at times it sounds as if she will leave them in the dust………Read More

Sarah Vaughan Biography:

Synopsis

Sarah Vaughan was a jazz vocalist who sang in her church choir and then won an amateur contest at the famed Apollo Theatre in 1942. By the mid-1940s, she was appearing on television variety show, soon known by the nickname “Sassy.” She had a three octave range and is regarded as one of the greatest of all jazz singers. She was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame the same year she died, 1990.

Profile

(born March 27, 1924, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died April 3, 1990, Hidden Hills, Calif.) American jazz vocalist and pianist known for her rich voice, with an unusually wide range, and for the inventiveness and virtuosity of her improvisations.

Vaughan was the daughter of amateur musicians. She began studying piano and organ at age seven and sang in the church choir. After winning an amateur contest at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theatre in 1942, she was hired as a singer and second pianist by the Earl Hines Orchestra. A year later she joined the singer Billy Eckstine‘s band, where she met Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Vaughan’s singing style was influenced by their instruments—“I always wanted to imitate the horns.” Gillespie, Parker, and Vaughan recorded “Lover Man” together in 1945…….Learn More

10. “Empty Pockets” 11. “Alone and I.” From the “Takin’ Off” CD Album.

About Album:

TAKIN’ OFF was Herbie Hancock’s first album as a leader. The 1996 reissue of TAKIN’ OFF adds alternate takes of “Watermelon Man,” “Three Bags Full” and “Empty Pockets.”

TAKIN’ OFF (1962), Herbie Hancock’s debut as a leader, holds up exceptionally well decades after its release, even in light of the vast, eclectic, and excellent solo catalogue that followed. Still in the thick of his groundbreaking work with Miles Davis, Hancock had already established himself as a pianist and composer of the first order, and those qualities shine on TAKIN’ OFF. Flanked by superb personnel….Read More

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