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“La Tanga LLego” the merging and birth of Cuban Jazz

April 29, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

This podcast here is the result of of internet searching on the subject “Afro-Cuban Jazz.” This combination was only made possible by the musicians involved and their unselfish acknowledgement of each others type of music. It was the Bebop era and the start of the Mambo craze, all happening at once. These musicians connected and invoked themselves on a musical project which would combine Afro-Cuban music and American Jazz. They managed to create a masterpiece and named it “Tanga.” This song is the foundation of what they call “Latin- Jazz” right now.

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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Here’s an explanation of the song itself:

Written by Mario Bauza, the musician who brought Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo together, �Tanga� is a forgotten classic, which predated and anticipated the partnership of Afro-Cuban music and jazz that took place in the Gillespie and Kenton bands, among others. Joining the band as a guest soloist is the jazz tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips, who improvises over a repeating pattern played by the rest of the band. This manner of improvisation continues to be the norm for Afro-Cuban music, but at the time it would have been quite challenging for an American jazz musician. Nonetheless, Phillips gives a convincing performance, fitting in comfortably with the Machito Orchestra……Learn More

In the start of the podcast I played 2 songs from Perez Prado to show the connection or effect of the “Mambo” and explained how it helped “Popularize” Afro-Cuban Jazz or what they really called it then, “Cubop.” It was good for the Cubop’s recognition but was not intended for that reason. I make it pretty obvious in the podcast, how the major record companies “Commercialize” music and in turn, water it down and eventually minimize the talent level behind the music with sub par musicians. Here’s a the biography of Perez Prado which includes a small paragraph concerning the first two songs I started this podcast and why:

Prado’s big break came when he was invited to join the Orquesta Casino de la Playa, Cuba’s most popular band. According to Latin Beat magazine, Orlando Guerra (“Cascarita”) loved Prado’s high-energy arrangements, and invited him to become the orchestra’s pianist and arranger. Prado’s passion for experimentation, however, also hindered the growth of his career. So bold was his tinkering with traditional rhythms (not to mention the inclusion of trumpets and jazz elements), that fans began calling Prado’s hot new sound “diablo” (devil). In a Cuban musical environment dominated by conservatives who were interested in preserving established song frameworks, Prado found it increasingly difficult to find work. In 1947 he left Cuba for mainland Latin America and eventually decided to settle in Mexico, where he became well-known for his work on Cuban radio.

Mexico City in the late 1940s was a major media center, and its musical trends received attention in the United States. When executives for RCA Victor in New York City heard a demo that Prado had recorded in 1949, they were interested, but told him his music was too complicated. Following their advice, he pared down and simplified the music. The resulting debut release, which featured Mambo Nº 5 and Qué Rico el Mambo, set the Americas on fire….Learn More

Here’s a little Clip and example of Mambo with Perez Prado on the piano:

1. “Que Rico es el Mambo” 2. “Mambo #5″

3. “Tanga” 4. “Asia Minor” 5. “Caravan” 6. “Manteca Suite” from The “Original Mambo Kings” CD Album.

There’s no real good information on this CD Album and it’s a shame. I also would like for the listeners to turn their attention to the 9th track named “Afro-Cuban Suite” and note that this 17 minute plus song with two parts involved, aranged and composed by Chico O’ Farrill. This double CD “Cuban Blues“:

For any and all Latin jazz collectors, casual or serious, this is a fabulous deal, for it gathers together no less than six exceedingly rare Chico O’Farrill Clef and Norgran 10″ albums, plus one under Machito’s name, onto a slimline two-CD set. It will also come as a revelation to anyone who might scoff at anything associated with the 1950s mambo craze, for these discs reveal O’Farrill as a sophisticated, even daring arranger/composer who reached beyond merely providing a beat for dancers. Many of these charts — whether for the brief, dance-oriented Latin numbers; ultra-familiar standards like “Malaguena” and “The Peanut Vendor”; or jazz tunes — are loaded with intricate figures and striking harmonies obviously gleaned from classical study, all crisply executed with a brash, shiny edge by his Afro-Cuban groups and bands staffed by American jazzmen……Read More

7. “Mambo” 8. “Bolero” 9. “Rumba Abierto” 10. Cucho From the “Tanga” CD Album

Thelonious Monk (Videos) and Charlie Rouse Bio: “Blue Monk” and more

April 6, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Videos / 2 Comments

Charlie Rouse Biography (Happy Birthday):

Born: April 6, 1924 | Died: November 30, 1988 | Instrument: Sax, tenor

Though a top tenor man in his own right, he will always be remembered as the saxophonist for the Thelonious Monk quartet. He adapted his playing to Monk’s music; his tone became heavier, his phrasing more careful, and he seemed to be the medium between Monk and the audience.Charlie Rouse studied clarinet before taking up tenor saxophone. He played in the bop big bands of Billy Eckstine (1944) and Dizzy Gillespie (1945), but made his first recordings as a soloist only in 1947, with Tadd Dameron and Fats Navarro.

After playing rhythm-and-blues in Washington and New York, he was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra (1949-50) and Count Basie’s octet (1950). He took part in Clifford Brown’s first recordings in 1953, then worked with Bennie Green (1955) and played in Oscar Pettiford’s sextet (1955); with Julius Watkins, also one of Pettiford’s sidemen, he led Les Modes (later the Jazz Modes), a bop quintet (1956-59). He joined Buddy Rich briefly before playing in Thelonious Monk’s quartet (1959-1970), the association for which he is best known.

In the 1960s Rouse adapted his style to Monk’s work, improvising with greater deliberation than most bop tenor saxophonists, and restating melodies often. His distinctive solo playing with Monk may be heard on the classic recordings in the bands heyday.

Though he would go on to do some solo projects, they were very selective and he opted for quality over quantity. His first outing as leader was “Taking Care of Business,” (1960) for this overdue debut, he selected trumpeter Blue Mitchell, and a rhythm section of pianist Walter Bishop and bassist Earl May, and Art Taylor on drums.

During the 1970s he worked as a freelance, and recorded three albums as a leader. The album “Two is One” was recorded in 1974 for Strata East. Charlie in 1977 did “Moments Notice,” and enlisted the help of some top crack Brazilian locals for “Cinnamon Flower.” Dom Salvador, Amaury Tristao, Dom Um Romao, Portinho and Claudio Roditi were hooked up with some of NYCs finest-Ron Carter,Bernard Purdie and Clifford Adams. This was a highlight album for Rouse in that period, very well received.

In the early 1980s he was a member and joint leader of the quartet Sphere, which was dedicated to the performance of Monk’s music. He recorded other albums as “Social Call,” (’84) where he joined up with Red Rodney. His offering of “Epistrophy,” (1988) was his tribute to Monk. This was his last recording as he died seven weeks later. (AllAboutJazz.com)

Here’s a Video of Thelonious Monk with Charlie Rouse “Blue Monk” 1963:

“Lulu’s Back In Town” (Part One)1966:

“Lulu’s Back In Town” (Part Two)1966:

“Jazz is Blues”

March 31, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

Welcome to my latest podcast and one which will concentrate on the foundation of Jazz, the “Blues.” The tunes the listeners will hear are still considered “Jazz” songs but more on the Bluesy side. I did this purposely to show the symphonic connection. I also feel its a great way to understand Jazz for those who have a sort of mind-block understanding it. I hope you enjoy it, I sure did, although it took me a good long time preparing it. Great stuff! I must say, it’s loaded with legendary Jazz musicians like , Dizzy Gillepsie, Coleman Hawkins, Oscar Peterson, Monk, Clark Terry, Benny Carter, Sonny Stitt, Miles, Coltraine and many more. “You have to learn the Blues before you can play Jazz.”

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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1. “Blue Moon” 2. “”The Walker” From the “At the Opera House” CD Album

The music on this CD was originally released on two different LPs, both titled AT THE OPERA HOUSE. The mono version had the Los Angeles concert and half of the Chicago concert, while the stereo version had the entire Chicago concert. Both version are included here in their entirety for the first time.

Recorded live at The Civic Opera House, Chicago, Illinois on September 29, 1957 and at The Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California on October 9, 1957. Includes liner notes by Kevin Whitehead and Norman Granz.

This album features two of jazz’s greatest performers, Coleman Hawkins on saxophone and Roy Eldridge on trumpet.

Japanese exclusive remastered reissue packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. Verve. 2004………….Read More

Roy Elridge Biography:

(born Jan. 30, 1911, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 26, 1989, Valley Stream, N.Y.) American trumpeter, one of the great creative musicians of the 1930s.

A child prodigy, Eldridge began his professional career in 1917 when, on New Year’s Eve, he played the drums in his elder brother’s band. He went to New York City in 1930 and played in the trumpet sections of bands led by Cecil Scott, Elmer Snowden, and Teddy Hill. His style was influenced by that of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. By the time he was playing with Hill at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City’s Harlem, in 1935, Eldridge was developing into an improviser of magnificent power and invention. The following year he joined the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, then in its last days, and his recordings from that period show him to be one of the great creative musicians of the decade. He also appears on a few of the historic small-group recordings with the singer Billie Holiday, and from time to time he had bands of his own.

Eldridge’s fame suddenly flowered in 1941 when he joined Gene Krupa’s band….Learn More

3. “After Hours” From the “Sonny Side Up” CD Album 4.”One Foot In The Gutter” From the “In Orbit” CD Album.

5. “Blues for Lisa” 6. “Ron’s Blues” From the “The More I See You” CD Album

After Oscar Peterson suffered a severe stroke in the spring of 1993, it was feared that he would never again play on a professional level, but two years of intense therapy resulted in the masterful pianist returning to what sounds, on this Telarc CD, like near-prime form. For the all-star date, The More I See You, Peterson tears into seven standards and two blues and outswings all potential competitors. Altoist Benny Carter at 87 sounds like he is 47 (if Carter had retired back in 1940 he would still be a legend), and flugelhornist Clark Terry (here 74) proves to be not only (along with the remarkable 90-year-old Doc Cheatham) the finest trumpeter over 70 but one of the top brassmen of any age. The cool-toned guitarist Lorne Lofsky and drummer Lewis Nash are also strong assets while bassist Ray Brown (a year younger than Peterson at a mere 68)….Learn More

Benny Carter Biography:

For over six decades, Benny Carter has occupied a unique place in American music. As Duke Ellington once wrote: “The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.”

As a soloist, Carter, along with Johnny Hodges, was the model for swing era alto saxophonists. He is nearly unique in his ability to double on trumpet, which he plays in an equally distinctive style. In addition, he is an accomplished clarinetist, and has recorded proficiently on piano and trombone. As an arranger, he helped chart the course of big band jazz, and his compositions, such as “When Lights Are Low” and “Blues In My Heart,” have become jazz standards. Carter has also made major musical contributions to the world of film and television. His musicianship and personality have won him the respect of fellow artists and audiences on every continent. ….Read More

7. “Blue in Green” 8. “Round Midnight” From “The Best of Miles and Coltraine 1955-1961” CD Album

This compilation is taken from the masterful and wondrous box set issued late in the year 2000. It is assembled with the kind of care only producers such as Bob Belden and Michael Cuscuna could muster. Featuring nine selections, it begins with the first recorded appearance of the new Miles Davis Quintet in 1955 that featured the two principals, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Aside from an alternate take of “Straight, No Chaser” and the inclusion of “Dear Old Stockholm” — standard enough in the quintet’s repertoire but not a signature number — the disc traces the evolution of the band through its extension into a sextet. The quintet tracks are the opening two and “Bye Bye Blackbird,” as well as “Round About Midnight.” The showcase continues on the tracks “Straight, No Chaser” and the modal masterpiece “Milestones,” both by the sextet that added Cannonball Adderley….Learn More

8. “Stolen Moments” 9. “Teenie’s Blues” From the “More Blues and the Abstract Truth” CD ALBUM

10. “Crying Blues” 11. “Moanin” From the “Blues and Roots” CD Album

Here’s the Podcast. Enjoy!!

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(Video) Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins Jam Session

March 29, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Videos / No Comments

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A Tolerable Mash of Different Jazz Sounds

March 24, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

I hope you enjoy this long but balanced mash of Deep Groovy Jazz, Smooth Samba, Sexy Afro-Cuban Jazz and Solid Hard Bop Jazz. I tried my best to mix all these sounds to create a tolerable podcast.

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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1. “Moods in Mambo” from the “Epitaph” CD Album:

Charles Mingus was a giant in the world of Jazz. His unrivaled ability to play the Bass was actually considered to be, may I say, weak, when compared to his genius ability to compose music. I personally love his music but it gets complicated, you see, hundreds of Jazz music listening hours are involved to fully understand how special his music was and will always be. He raised the bar in the world of Jazz for all future fellow musicians. I am going to place my introductory podcast ahead of all the valuable information on this “Historical Masterpiece of Jazz” and on Mingus himself…….Learn More

2. “Exuberante” from the “Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods” CD Album

3. “Cold Turkey” 4. “Red Clay” (Live) from the “Red Clay” CD Album

On Jan. 27, 1970, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, playing at the peak of his powers after a string of seven brilliant Blue Note albums and three for the Atlantic label, went into the studio to cut his first for Creed Taylor’s CTI label. With Taylor producing, a stellar cast was assembled at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., for three consecutive days of recording. They emerged with Red Clay, an album that would not only define Hubbard’s direction over the next decade while setting the template for all future CTI recordings, but would also have a dramatic impact on a generation of trumpet players coming up in the ’70s.

It was a transitional period in the jazz; the tectonic shift beginning with Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way, recorded the previous year. Hubbard’s entry into this crossover territory on Red Clay was characterized by the slyly syncopated beats of drummer Lenny White on the funky 12-minute title track, an infectious groover that was soon covered by budding crossover groups all over America. Essentially an inventive line set to the chord changes of “Sunny,” Bobby Hebb’s hit song from 1966, “Red Clay” would become Hubbard’s signature tune throughout his career. As trumpeter, friend and benefactor David Weiss, who is credited with bringing Hubbard out of self-imposed retirement in the late ’90s, explains, “Later in life Freddie would always announce it as ‘the tune that’s been keeping me alive for the last 30 years.’ We played ‘Red Clay’ every night and he would quote ‘Sunny’ over it every night.”…..Read More

5. “Tereza my Love” 6. “Sabia” from the “Stone Flower” CD Album:

Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (1927-1994) was, by far, the most important composer born in Brazil in the Twentieth Century. He was Brazil’s most prolific composer too, as well as the main composer of the bossa nova era. But his immense work transcended the bossa nova boundaries, influencing jazz and classical artists.

Jobim started his career in the late Forties, working as a piano player in Rio de Janeiro’s nightclubs. In 1952, he got a job as arranger for the Continental label, also beginning to write songs with another talented pianist, Newton Mendonça. Jobim’s main works in the Fifties were “Sinfonia do Rio Janeiro” (an extended symphonic piece in honor of his native city, in 1954), the score for the stage play “Orfeu da Conceição” in 1956, and the soundtrack – along with songs by Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Maria – for the movie “Black Orpheus” in 1959, a huge success all over the world. One year before, in 1958, Jobim wrote all the songs and the arrangements for an album by songstress Elizeth Cardoso, “Cançao do Amor Demais”, which featured João Gilberto’s uncredited guitar on two tracks. One of them, “Chega de Saudade”, became a legendary recording, considered officially as the first bossa nova recording. The following year, with the release of João Gilberto’s debut solo album, also titled “Chega de Saudade” and also arranged by Jobim, the bossa nova craze was born.

After the famous Bossa Nova Concert in Carnegie Hall, in 1962, Jobim’s impact in the jazz world increased. His song “Desafinado”, was already a No. 1 Pop Hit in the Billboard charts, recorded by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd in their landmark album “Jazz Samba”, produced by Creed Taylor, then the A&R for Verve Records. Creed attended the Carnegie Hall concert and soon started to develop an auspicious collaboration with Jobim. Firstly, Creed hired Jobim to play as sideman in the Stan Getz/Luiz Bonfá album, “Jazz Samba Encore!”, in February 1983. It was followed by the stunning Stan Getz/João Gilberto collaboration on “Getz/Gilberto”, recorded in March 1963 with Jobim on the piano. Released one year later, this million-selling album won four Grammy Awards (plus three other nominations), remaining 96 weeks on Billboard’s pop charts, reaching No. 2. Its main track, “The Girl from Ipanema”, a Jobim song, became an instant hit, launching the careers of singers João and Astrud Gilberto….Learn More

7. “Deve Ser Amor” from the CD Album “Recorded Live in Rio De Janeiro”

8. “Close your Eyes” 9. “All the things you are” from the “Live from the Black Hawk” CD Album

10. “All or nothing at all” from the “Open Sesame” CD Album

11. “Celia” from the “Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus” CD Album

12. “Lover Man” from the” Sonny Meets HawK!” CD Album

[power press]

Classic Jazz and Jazz Standards Podcast

March 16, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

Here’s a podcast which is really a two part Jazz special. The First part is classic Cannonball, Oliver Nelson and Joe Henderson with a dash of Mingus, along with a finishing touch of Art Blackey and his famous Jazz Messengers. The second part begins with the soft but powerful voice of Tony Bennett and breaks into 4 live Concert tunes by Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra. Finally, after Sinatra leaves the stage, the podcast finishes off with a great version of “Yesterday, when I was young” by Mel Torme. Here are the songs in order:

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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1. “Sack O’ Woe” The Cannonball Adderley Quintet “Live at the Lighthouse” CD ALBUM

2. “One For Bob” Oliver Nelson “More Blues and the Abstract Blues” CD Album

3. “Short Story” Joe Henderson “In N’ Out” CD ALBUM

4. “East Coasting” and 5. “West Coast Ghost” Charles Mingus “East Coasting” CD Album

Recorded in New York, New York in August 1957. Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff and Joseph F. Laredo.

Digitally remastered by Tom Moulton, Rich Essig and Greg Vaughan (Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs, New York, New York).

EAST COASTING is a Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop recording that’s a departure from the volatile PITHECANTHROPUS ERECTUS that precedes it. The music is more lyrical than many of his more renowned works, perhaps due in part to the line-up of musicians on this recording, including pianist Bill Evans.

The set begins with the standard “Memories of You,” which gets the Mingus treatment, and ends with “Fifty-First Street Blues,” which changes in a way the blues usually don’t. “Conversation” begins as a ballad and later launches into a blues featuring a fine Bill Evans solo. While EAST COASTING may not be as fervent as either the aforementioned PITHECANTHROPUS ERECTUS, or as colorful as TIJUANA MOODS, it splendidly displays Mingus’ full range as a composer whose music is so fueled by emotion that even a ballad has its explosive moments.

Complete original album ‘East Coasting’ released in 1957 on Bethlehem plus 5 bonus tracks. 2 alternate take tracks (East Coasting & Memories of You), the song “Revelations” (the only other collabration that Mingus & Evans ever made), plus 2 long standards from Oct. ’57 session by Mingus’ Jazz Workshop “Woody’n You” and “Billie’s Bounce”. 11 tracks

Personnel: Charles Mingus (bass); Shafi Hadi (alto & tenor saxophones); Clarence Shaw (trumpet); Jimmy Knepper (trombone); Bill Evans (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums)…..Learn More

7. “On Green Dolphin Street” 8. “Solitude” 9. “Street of Dreams” and 10. “Close Your Eyes” Tony Bennett “Jazz” CD Album

11. “Come Fly With Me” 12.”I’ve Got You Under My Skin” 13. “You Make Me Feel So Young” 14. “The September Of My Years” Frank Sinatra and The Count Basie Orchestra “Frank Sinatra at the Sands” CD Album

The 1998 re-issue of SINATRA AT THE SANDS includes a previously unreleased version of “Luck Be A Lady” that was left off the original LP release due to time restrictions.

This live recording from Las Vegas finds Sinatra fully in his element. An artist of his caliber certainly needs no contextualizing element in order to come across, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better medium for Sinatra’s message. Vegas in the ’60s was a center of unabashed showmanship, slightly crass elegance and a bourbon-drinking, dice-rolling, pre-boomer-generation sensibility–a perfect setting to bring Sinatra’s music out of the abstract and into the realm of flesh and blood. At the Sands, the center of Vegas nightlife, Sinatra is the unchallenged king, and on this album he wears the crown with grace. And, naturally, he swings……Read More

Finale: 15. “Yesterday When I Was Young” Mel Torme “A Time For Us” CD Album

Here’s the podcast (You can open ” Play on a New Window” and listen while reading the post or even surf the web) Enjoy!

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The Great Johnny Hodges

March 4, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Videos / 1 Comment

Johnny Hodges Biography:

Born: July 25, 1907 | Instrument: Sax, alto

Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone, (1907-1970)“Never the world’s most highly animated showman or greatest stage personality, but a tone so beautiful it sometimes brought tears to the eyes, this was Johnny Hodges. Because of this great loss, our band will never sound the same. Johnny Hodges sometimes sounded beautiful, sometimes romantic, and sometimes people spoke of his tone as being sensuous. With the exception of a year or so, almost his entire career was with us. So far as our wonderful listening audience was concerned, there was a great feeling of expectancy when they looked up and saw Johnny Hodges sitting in the middle of the saxophone section, in the front row. I am glad and thankful that I had the privilege of presenting Johnny Hodges for forty years, night after night. I imagine I have been much envied, but thanks to God….” Duke Ellington eulogy.

John Cornelius Hodges was born on the 25th July 1906 in Cambridge, Mass. He started his musical career playing drums and piano before taking up the saxophone at the age of 14, beginning on the soprano and later the alto. Originally self-taught he was given lessons by Sydney Bechet, whom he got to know through his sister. He followed Bechet into Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith’s quartet at the Rhythm Club (around 1924), then played in the house band with Bechet’s Club ‘Basha’ in Harlem. He continued to live in Boston and traveled to New York at weekends playing with such musicians as Bobby Sawyer (1925), Lloyd Scott (1926), then from late 1926 with the great Chick Webb at The Paddock Club and The Savoy Ballroom, etc. followed by a short stint with Luckey Roberts .

In May 1928 Johnny joined Duke Ellington’s orchestra and he remained a mainstay of the group for the next 40 years. From his first recording in 1928 he revealed his authority and technical mastery of the saxophone, playing with a broad, sweeping tone and producing impressive, cascading runs. In the opinion of many people, he soon became Duke’s most valuable soloist. He made hundreds of recordings with Duke and from 1937 led his own small studio group drawn from the orchestra which made many successful series of recordings for Victor and other labels. Titles included “Jeep’s Blues,” “Hodge Podge,” “The Jeep is Jumpin” all of which were co-written with Duke. Also in this period of great creativity he played in many other small groups with musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, etc., producing classics of the period.

Johnny was one of the many stars of the Ellington band of the 40s producing solos of immense authority on songs such as “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be,” “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” “Passion Flower,” etc. From the 40s he concentrated on the alto leaving the soprano alone completely and in this period he regularly won the popularity polls run by magazines such as Downbeat, Metronome, and Esquire.

In March 1951 Johnny left Duke to form his own small group taking with him Lawrence Brown and Sonny Greer and in their first recording session they produced a hit record of “Castle Rock.” Johnny disbanded the group in the spring of 1955 and after a brief spell of TV work on the Ted Steele Show, rejoined Duke in August of that year where, apart from a few brief periods, he remained for the rest of his life. In the spring of 1958 he worked with Billy Strayhorn and in 1961 went to Europe with some of the other band members in a group called The Ellington Giants…….Learn More

“Timons of Athens”

“All of Me”

“Isfahan”

Celia Cruz and her Salsa Days

March 2, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

Here’s a podcast I made on Celia Cruz and here Salsa contributions. She did not only bring the Cuban element into Salsa music but became a worldwide figure and to the extend of being recognized as the “Queen of Salsa.” This will be one of several podcasts that I will be making concerning Celia’s golden contribution to Salsa music and of course, Cuban Music. Here are the songs I played and where you can buy them:

1. “Lo Tuyo Es Mental”

2. ” El Tumbao y Celia”

3. “El Pregon del Pescador”

From the CD Album “Celia & Johnny”

4. “Usted Abusó”

5. “Tu y Las Nubes”

6. “Todos Somos Iguales”

7. “Dulce Habanera”

8. “Rinkinkalla”

From the CD Album “Cruz and Colon, Only They Could Have Made This Album”

9. “Besito De Coco”

10. “Se Que Tu”

11. “Ahora Si”

12. “Guillate”

From the CD Album “Celia, Johnny, Justo & Papo Recordando el Ayer”

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SECOND Radio-Style Podcast: Mingus, 60′s Hard Bop, Classic Monk, Bluesy Buddy De Franco and Soft Johnny Hodges with Duke Ellington

February 10, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

This was my 2nd Radio-Style podcast and featured Mingus to start, like I did on my last but for a reason. I wanted to set up my next three songs from Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. I think it was a good connection, as we traveled right into the mid 60′s and where Hard Bop was beginning to become a little more complex. Next, I toned the music down and featured Thelonious Monk and his brilliant piano playing with “Round Midnight.” Right after that I brought the tone back up with two similar bluesy songs, one from Monk and the other from Buddy De Franco’s Quartet. Finally i finished the podcast with two soft Duke ellington songs featuring extremely soft alto saxophone playing by the great Johnny Hodges and of course, with Duke Ellington. Let me know if you liked it please:

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1. “II B.S.” 2. “Theme for Lester Young” from the Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus CD Album

3. “A Shade of Jade” from Mode to Joe CD Album

4. “Father and Son” 5. “Assunta” from the Here to Stay CD Album

6. “Witch Hunt” Wayne Shorter- Classic blue Note Recordings Double CD Album

7. “Round Midnight” 8. “Blue Monk” from the Thelonious Monk Essentials CD Album

9. “Blue Bounce” from the Gone with the Wind CD Album

10. “Wabash Blues” from the Back to Back CD Album

11. “Just a Memory” from the Side by Side CD Album

My FIRST Radio Style Podcast (Miles, Machito,Cannonball, Jimmy Smith, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter)

February 4, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / 2 Comments

This was my first of many “Radio Style” podcast. It was a little over one hour long and consisted of 9 songs total:

1. “Hog Calling Blues” Charles Mingus “Oh Yeah” CD Album

2. “Footprints” 3. “Masqualero” Miles Davis Quintet “The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings Of The Miles Davis Quintet January 1965 To June 1968“ Six CD Album Box Set

4. “Congo Mulence” 5. “Conversation” Machito and Cannonball Adderley “Kenya” CD Album

6. “My Groove your move” 7. “The more I see you” Hank Mobley “Roll Call” CD Album

8. “T-Bone Steak” Jimmy Smith “Respect” CD Album

9. “Flamingo” Jimmy Smith “The Sermon” CD Album

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“Stowaway Revisited” Armando Socarras and Interview

February 3, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Interviews, Live Recordings / No Comments

This is an incredible true story that should have been told more often than it has and not only because of its amazement but also for what it represents. I am also surprised and kind of bewildered at myself for not republishing this account of a young 17 year old, Armando Socarras Ramirez who with his friend, Jorge Perez Blanco, was 16, climbed into the wheel wells of an Iberia Airlines plane. This account took place on June 3, 1969 and after intensely searching on this event throughout the internet I could only find this literally shivering account.

The jet engines of the Iberia Airlines DC-8 thundered in earsplitting crescendo as the big plane taxied toward where we huddled in the tall grass just off the end of the runway at Havana’s Jose Marti Airport. For months my friend Jorge Perez Blanco and I had been planning to stowaway in a wheel well on this flight, No. 904-lberia’s once-weekly, nonstop run from Havana to Madrid! Now, in the late afternoon of last June 3, 1970, our moment had come.

We realized that we were pretty young to be taking such a big gamble; I was seventeen, Jorge sixteen. But we were both determined to escape from Cuba, and our plans had been carefully made. We knew that departing airliners taxied to the end of the 11,500-foot runway, stopped momentarily after turning around, then roared at full throttle down the runway to take off. We wore rubber-soled shoes to aid us in crawling up the wheels and carried ropes to secure ourselves inside the wheel well. We had also stuffed cotton in our ears as protection against the shriek of the four jet engines. Now we lay sweating with fear as the massive craft swung into its about face, the jet blast flattening the grass all around us. “Let’s run!” I shouted to Jorge.

We dashed onto the runway and sprinted toward the left-hand wheels of the momentarily stationary plane. As Jorge began to scramble up the forty-two-inch-high tires, I saw there was not room for us both in the single well. “I’ll try the other side!” I shouted. Quickly I climbed onto the right wheels, grabbed a strut and, twisting and wriggling, pulled myself into the semidark well. The plane began rolling immediately, and I grabbed some machinery to keep from falling out. The roar of the engines nearly deafened me.

As we became airborne, the huge double wheels, scorching hot from takeoff, began folding into the compartment. I tried to flatten myself against the overhead as they came closer and closer; then, in desperation, I pushed at them with my feet. But they pressed powerfully upward, squeezing me, terrifyingly against the roof of the well.

Just when I felt that I would be crushed, the wheels locked in place and the bay doors beneath them closed, plunging me into darkness. So there I was, my five-foot-four- inch, 14 0-pound frame literally wedged in amid a spaghetti-like maze of conduits and machinery. I could not move enough to tie myself to anything, so I stuck my rope behind a pipe………Read More

Listen to interview:

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Cannonball Adderley and “Jive Samba” 1963

January 26, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Videos / No Comments

This is the Cannonball Adderly Quintet performing one of their big hits, ‘Jive Samba” in 1963. The quintet consisted of Cannonball Adderley – alto sax; Nat Adderley – cornet; Yusef Lateef – tenor sax, oboe, flute; Joe Zawinul – piano; Sam Jones – bass; and Louis Hayes – drums.

Machito, Toots, Benny and a sneak Weather Report 4/19/2010

January 24, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

On this podcast here, I broke my two to three set format and sneaked in a 2 song Jazz Fusion set of Weather Report. It was a sort of tribute to a great Bass player and to a very unique band. This set is heard in the very beginning, outstanding:

Weather Report:

Weather Report was an influential jazz fusion band of the 1970s and 1980s. Along with Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters,it is seen as a definite representation of jazz fusion in the 1970s. This outfit had an enduring staying power as they were active for over fifteen years.

The band was originally a spin-off from the group of musicians associated with Miles Davis in the late sixties and early seventies. The stable core of the group was the duo of pianist/leader Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, while the other musicians were rotated with almost every album…. More

It was Joe Zawinul who started Weather Report, here’s more information about him:

Legendary musician Joe Zawinul was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the use of electronic musical instruments, bringing the electric piano into the mainstream, and possessed an unparalleled ability to make the synthesizer an expressive musical instrument. He composed some of the best-known standards in jazz, including “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Birdland.” With Wayne Shorter, Joe founded and led Weather Report, arguably the most successful band of post-sixties jazz. His unique ability to combine jazz with ethnic music from around the world blazed the trail for what would later be called “world music….Read More

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“The Cooker” Podcast

January 20, 2011 / Jose Reyes posted in Podcasts / No Comments

This podcast was on Lee Morgan’s CD Album, “The Cooker.” it features three songs and a preview of another podcast which I am almost done with and will be released shortly. Here’s some more information of this great CD Album (All About Jazz):

Although Lee Morgan had already made a handful of albums at the age of 19, The Cooker (1957) represents his throwing down the gauntlet as successor to Clifford Brown’s vacated throne. It’s close to being a pure bebop session, suggestive of a date like For Musicians Only (Verve, 1956), on which Gillespie, Stitt and Getz set some sort of record for NPS (notes per second). At the same time, the precocious trumpeter, already brimming with confidence, is not about to get reckless: he pulls a punch or two, most notably on the opening “Night in Tunisia.”

Bebop was a musical language about comparisons, and Morgan was keenly aware of his predecessors. Charlie Parker’s incredible four-bar break at the end of the sixteen-bar tag of Gillespie’s signature piece on the 1947 Carnegie Hall concert (Diz ‘N Bird at Carnegie Hall, Blue Note, 1997) had come to represent the gold standard of jazz improvisation, which Morgan had only begun to approach on his solo performances of the tune with the Gillespie big band (Dizzy Gillespie at Newport, Verve, 1957). And though Clifford Brown’s version is equal parts inspired invention and stunning virtuosity (Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1, Blue Note, 1954), the naked four-bar break is given to Lou Donaldson’s alto saxophone, with arguably embarrassing results.

Morgan slyly eludes trouble yet takes the listener by surprise when he omits all but the tag’s challenging four bars, which he then “wastes” by simply having bass and drums mark time. The listener’s letdown is quickly offset, however, by a blistering trumpet solo starting on the first beat of the main chorus, demonstrating why the rising star chose such a deliberative tempo: almost the entirety of his two-chorus solo is played in double time……Read More

Here’s the podcast itself:

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