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| Jazz Express Presents Smooth Jazz - Chilled Cuts for Cool Cats |
VÁLOGATÁS
Art Pepper, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Mingus, Charlie 'Bird' Parker, Dexter Gordon, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Frank Wess, Hank Jones, Houston Pearson, Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Teddy Edwards, The Adderley Brothers |
első megjelenés éve: 2008
60 perc |
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| (2008)
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CD |
Kérjen
árajánlatot! |
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Jazz / Smooth Jazz
Welcome to Jazz Express. You've driven to the coolest place in town. It's the joint where discerning dudes and hip chicks hang - to swing, sway, fingerpop, flirt and fall in love. It's the pad where the music grooves but don't necessarily intrude on your mellow mood. And if you can take attention off each other for a moment and lend an ear to the perfect parade of purveyors of the jazz art we have lined up for you here, what a listening feast to dig.
First up, Bobby Hutcherson, a virtuoso of the vibraphone and a cat deeply respected for his bold 1960s work on legendary jazz label Blue Note. Here he double-times his delirious way through Benny Golson's "Whisper Not", a tune first aired by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1958 and scrutinised by many a muso since. Bobby is still laying it down for the people these days; however, unfortunately, Miles Davis ain't. But Miles wouldn't want nobody mopin' about it, he'd prefer it if you just dug "Half Nelson", the hip little tune he made up in 1947 when the trumpeter was just 22 years old and still had 40-odd years of jazz innovation ahead of him.
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis (no kin of Miles) got his crazy nickname on account of his tough tone on his tenor horn. Not sure what sweet old Doris Day would make of Lockjaw's appropriating her smoochy Calamity Jane song as a lusty bossa nova cum hard swinger. My guess is she'd love it, just like that longhair composer Borodin would groove with what Broadway songwriters Wright and Forrest did to his melodies for their 1955 show Kismet. And if he'd heard the swinging concoction that guitarist Kenny Burrell and tenorist Frank Foster make from "Baubles Bangles And Beads", the hit tune of the show, he'd have flipped his wig.
Man, when Charlie Parker let his genius bebop chops go on a ballad, you never heard that song the same way again. Even now, almost 60 years after this recording, musicians still play "Out Of Nowhere" just because Bird played it. In those days, musicians did heroin because Bird did, hoped it would help 'em play like him. Mostly, it just helped 'em die like him. Early. Dexter Gordon, the Big Daddy of bebop tenor sax, had his near misses but lasted longer than most, long enough even to get nominated for an Oscar for his performance as more-or-less himself in the 1986 jazz flick Round Midnight. Dex and his baritone-wielding partner Leo Parker are in an ultra laid back mood on his 1947 cut "So Easy".
So is superstar bassist/composer Charles Mingus on this 1954 Jazz Composer's Workshop performance of his own piece, "Purple Heart". A brisk tempo but a super-cool texture with all sorts of that West Coast contrapuntal thing going on, John La Porta shining on frisky clarinet, plus a quote from "Ol' Man River". Clever guy was Mingus, just watch his temper and don't get on the wrong side of him. On the other hand, there's no wrong side of Hank Jones to get on; a pianist as refined in person as he was musically. Just listen to his elegant take on "Round Midnight". No vulgar impersonations of the composer Thelonious Monk's angular piano style, just cultured music makin' by a cultured fellow.
Art Pepper was one of those West Coast alto cats who was in thrall to Charlie Parker, right down to the bad habits, but when he was good, hell he was good. Even a corny old standard like "Deep Purple" becomes an intricately woven tapestry of bop delights. The tenor player he playfully jousts with here in 1952 is Jack Montrose. Another pair of wise blowers - Houston Person and Teddy Edwards - bump horns with comparably delightful results on "That's All", a ballad first recorded by Nat King Cole in the fifties and recently revived by the newest crooner in town, Michael Buble.
"Caribbean Cutie", as presented by the Adderley Brothers - cornettist Nat and altoist Julian aka 'Cannonball' - starts and ends as a pert calypso but the majority of this 1955 performance is taken in the medium hard bop swing style of the day, with both brothers on sparkling form. Though it was Cannonball who rose to artistic and commercial prominence, Nat remained a trusty sideman until the great alto man's death in 1975.
Finally, two of the most popular jazzmen of all time who managed to reach the people without selling their art to the devil. Firstly Stan Getz, a tenor saxophonist who blended the airy approach of Lester Young with the complexities of Charlie Parker to create one of the most beautiful sounds in jazz. Here we hear him as a young man - in the company of similar-minded horn players Zoot Sims and Al Cohn - floating (Stan plays the lead and the solo on the bridge) through "Slow", a variation on the chords to the standard "I Wish I Knew".
So there you have it. Some of the soundest sounds around for those with ears open enough to hear it. And there's plenty more where they came from. Be sure to swing by Jazz Express next time you're in the neighbourhood. We're always open and you're always welcome.
---Chris Ingham
Chris Ingham is a jazz musician, songwriter, author of The Rough Guide To The Beatles and contributor to Mojo magazine. |
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