Leon Redbone - Flying By

Leon Redbone (photo courtesy www.leonredbone.com)

Recently I found out that the incomparable troubadour and pre-World War II ragtime, jazz, blues and Vaudeville stylist Leon Redbone has retired from both public appearances and recording last year. The official website, however, does not give many details of the reason for his retirement, but only states "(...) that his health has been a matter of concern for some time.  It has become too challenging for him to continue the full range of professional activities.". The music scene has indeed become poorer since this official announcement of Leon Redbone's retirement hit the news. Fortunately, we still have access to his records (- approximately fifteen single releases on LP and/or CD), further there are uploaded many recordings of live-performances at YouTube to fill in the missing of new releases and concert performances. - Below I'll focus on Leon Redbone's latest - and last - studio recording, the CD titled Flying By released in January 2014.

The Flying By CD was released after a hiatus of thirteen years when no new studio recordings were made, the previous studio recorded CD by Leon Redbone was Any Time from 2001. In the interim, however, a couple of CDs featuring live performances from the 1980s and 1990s were released. Asked about the reason for this long pause in his recording career, Leon Redbone answered the question in an interview  by simply stating “Things take time.” The answer indicates the seriousness and carefulness of a true artist, the material and conditions for the recording of a new studio album 

are not a haphazard affair but rely on the right moment and the perfect setting. According to the mentioned interview the actual recording of the CD further met practical obstacles and had to use more studio locations before the material was ready for release in January 2014. - The CD has a rather short playing time (c.35 min.) and contains twelve tracks. Leon Redbone is featured as a vocalist on all tracks, he accompanies himself on acoustic guitar but is also supported by a small combo featuring clarinet, cornet, piano and rhythm in several tracks and two tracks have accompaniment by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks big band. Mr. Redbone's regular pianist is Paul Asaro, who participates in all tracks. The material chosen for the CD is eclectic, several of the recorded tunes do not belong to the often heard songs even if you are collector of pre-WW II jazz, blues and sentimental recordings.Firstly, there are two songs originally recorded by female vocalist Lee Morse  for Columbia in 1928, 'Just You And I' and 'Main Street', and Leon Redbone explains the reason for this choice in the mentioned interview, quote "She was a unique individual - everything about her was unique, ... you hear [a Morse] recording one time and it stays with you."

Just You And I opens the CD, the audio of this as well as the other tracks on the CD has been uploaded at YouTube, here.  Below is inserted Leon Redbone's version of the tune, and if you like to hear the original recording by Lee Morse, it's available here  

According to the mentioned interview, band leader of The Nighthawks big band, Vince Giordano, wanted to cut a version of the tune Wanna Go Back Again Blues with Redbone singing the lyrics in an arrangement similar to a recording made by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra in 1926 for Gennett, available here  

Here is Leon Redbone's version of Wanna Go Back Again Blues accompanied by Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks

There is also featured a blues by ragtime guitarist and vocalist Blind Blake, Police Dog Blues, here in a 1920s small combo  arrangement featuring Vince Giordano on bass sax

Also featured are Leon Redbone's version of Jelly Roll Morton's Mr Jelly Lord with the lyrics known from the famous Library of Congress 1938 recordings, sentimental Tin Pan Alley tunes like Baby Won't You Please Come Home (Marion Harris, Bessie Smith and McKinney's Cotton Pickers a.o. recorded this), the Isham Jones 1924 hit I'll See You In My Dreams, Get Out Get Under The Moon ( recorded by Anette Hanshaw a.o.), Save Your Sorrow (Gene Austin a.o. had a hit with this) and the CD ends with a seldom heard or recorded song composed by Irving Berlin But Where Are You. The song was originally sung In the 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie classic Follow the Fleet by Harriet Hilliard - you can hear it and watch Harriet Hilliard singing the song in the movie here  - Here is Leon Redbone's version accompanied by pianist Paul Asaro and violin

There seems to be a preponderance of sentimental songs on the CD, and according to the mentioned interview with Mr. Redbone there is a good reason for that, quote: "Sentimentality in music, suggests Redbone, has “evaporated". It’s just noise volume level, with no sentimentality at all,” he says of contemporary music. “It didn’t get better over the years, which is unfortunate. Maybe a slight jog in the planets might make it get better!" It's my impression that Leon Redbone has put down his foot in a satisfactory way to achieve a slight jog in the planet Earth with the Flying By CD release. I highly recommend it to other fans of the great man as well as newcomers. The CD is available for purchase here. 

It's a pity that Leon Redbone has retired, but Lorne Michaels is preparing a documentary with the title Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone: The Search for Leon Redbone. A short promo has been uploaded at YouTube, here. - I don't know, if the documentary has been finished by now, but it's certainly worth waiting for. To end this, here is Leon Redbone in a live performance of Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone



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Jo
keepitswinging.domain@gmail.com

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Oscar and the Duke: An Encounter In Paris, 1933

Some time ago I received an article about the encounter between Oscar Alemán and Duke Ellington in Paris, 1933. The article is written by Luis 'Tito' Liber and is published below. It puts focus on Alemán's reactions and has quotes from interviews in Argentine printed media, here available in English for the first time.

Illustration in Gani Jakupi: Le roi invisible (Futuropolis, 2009)

One thing is that fans and collectors of today claim that Oscar Alemán is one of the best jazz guitar players, but another thing is the opinion of one of the greatest personalities in jazz history. The great Duke Ellington, and the members of his band, affirmed that Oscar Alemán was not one of the best, but THE BEST guitarist in 1930s Europe... Here is the story.

Concert ad (source: Luis Liber)

In July 1933 Ellington`s band arrived in Paris to play at the Salle Pleyel (Thursday 27th) and at the Casino de Bauville, in a tour promoted by Jack Hylton. Music-hall star Josephine Baker, convalescent at home following a car accident that had injured her hand (the driver was Oscar Alemán, and the car was seriously damaged), welcomed Ellington and introduced him to Alemán. Ellington, who was very impressed by the skills of the "chaqueño", tried to persuade Md. Baker to ‘lend’ him Alemán as a guest musician of an upcoming USA tour, but the "Venus" declined and retained Oscar as a member of her staff which impossibly could have a substitute.

Josephine Baker and her car - June 1935 (photo ABC Madrid)

Oscar Alemán later recalled in an interview:

"I met Duke Ellington by the time I had an accident. One day I was driving my car to my work at the Casino de Paris, with Josephine Baker. They crashed me. I stayed for ten days at the hospital, and later at my hotel. The first visit I made when I got out of the hotel was to see my friends from the Casino. I arrived at Josephine`s dressing room. Everybody came to salute me. She had an injured knee and some scratches on her face. I was patched  all over and walked with a stick. While I stayed at Josephine`s dressing room Duke Ellington entered with his two trombonists. One of them was Juan Tizol, the author of "Caravan", he was a Puerto Rican; he made myself understood by Duke Ellington, because Tizol spoke in Spanish. With them also was Freddie Guy, Ellington`s guitarist. The four were good "orejeros" (in Argentine: they had good ears for music). In a certain moment Duke told Josephine: "I came to greet you and to hear a recommended guitarplayer" (...) Next I asked one of the dancers to go to the second floor and bring me my guitar. The kid went running. I opened the case, took the guitar and began to play for Duke Ellington. When I finished, he told Juan Tizol to ask me if I wanted to go with him to North America (...) "You are not going as a staff guitarist, but as a soloist." Josephine objected: "No. Where am I going to find another guy who plays all the styles Oscar do: dancing, tapping, singing? Besides, I have seven suits and shoes made for him, all of the same colour. And those costumes aren`t useful to another person. And his substitute has to be black." Because of that I didn`t go to the USA and I had to stay in France." (Ardiles Gray, Julio. Historias de artistas contadas por ellos mismos. Ed. Belgrano, Bs.As. 1981, pp. 285-297).

Another Alemán comment about the encounter with Ellington in Paris, 1933:

"I should be angry with Josephine because my life would have changed. Ellington had offered me the triple than she paid me and he was going to present me better" (cited by Espinosa, R. Oscar Alemán. Hablando con Dios. 2002)

Further, Oscar later has an interesting remark on Duke`s ability for "stealing"/memorize the tunes heard for the first time. Alemán’s theme song Hombre Mío could have had the same fortune as Juan Tizol`s Caravan: "Juan Tizol was present, the Ellington`s trombonist, now already dead, who is the true author of "Caravan". Duke Ellington insisted me to play my own composition, called "Hombre mío", by that time not registered neither recorded. Tizol advised me not to play it, because he (Duke) was going to steal it from me." (El tenedor y el cuchillo. Pelo. Julio 1978).

Yet another quote of Alemán’s remembrance of his meeting with Ellington in Paris, 1933:

"What an immense emotion the day that, without expecting it, I have him in front of me, ready to juzge my guitarplayer skills! Can you imagine my nervousness?... Even today I don`t know how I had the nerve to play all the pieces he asked me and some I knew he was going to like (…) Getting up of his seat, he came to congratulate me. That ment to me the greatest honour I ever received." (Oscar Alemán tiene un galardón que es orgullo. Es amigo de Duke Ellington. Mi Cine, 22-05-1947).

Ellington Band at Cotton Club 1933

As a demonstration of fondness and admiration, the members of Ellington’s band presented Oscar with a photo similar to the shown dedicated at the reverse side by all of them.

Handwritten dedications to Oscar (click to enlarge), wrongly dated 1932

Some of the dedications read: “Muchos recuerdos para el mejor guitarrista que hemos oido” (Juan Tizol), "To my good friend Oscar Aleman, the greatest guitar player we heard in Europe" (Art Whetsol), “To Oscar, to me the greatest guitarist of today” (Fred Guy), “To the greatest guitarist in the world” (???)

During that same 1933 tour through France and the UK, Ellington`s banjoist, Fred Guy (b.1897 - d.1971), adopted permanently the guitar as part of the rythm section of the big band. Maybe the Duke had made this change after hearing the sound of the instrument in the hands of Oscar. So, the rythm section (tuba, banjo, piano, drums) changed from tuba/banjo to double bass/guitar. It is worth mentioning that Guy (who was with Ellington for 24 years: 1925-1949),after changing to guitar, became almost inaudible and a less important member of the orchestra (it was prior to electric amplification), while the loud volume of the banjo had allowed him to be heard clearly.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra at Palladium, London, July 1933 -
Notice Fred Guy is featured with both banjo and guitar

The years of Alemán’s success in Argentina during the 1940s and 1950s passed away and he came into a dark period in the 1960s. He would, however, meet Ellington again in September 1968, during Duke`s tour through Argentina. A turning point in Oscar's career. But that is another story.

Luis 'Tito' Liber

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Jo

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Ellington Saxophone Encounters

The American Jazz Institute presents the Mark Masters Ensemble
... featuring Gary Smulyan 
Hans Koert


The Duke Ellington Band must have been one of the most productive orchestras from the 20th Century.

Duke Ellington's Orchestra (source: tikiloungetalk.com)

Its leader, Duke Ellington, was one of the most creative composers of its time, in cooperation with Billy Strayhorn,  and famous because of his arrangements concentrated on the soloists of his band ….. but also its saxophone members, like Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster or Harry Carney  composed and the tunes were played by Duke's band. Duke Ellington’s music is still popular and the American Jazz Institute, directed by Mark Masters, is one of those institutes that preserves its musical heritage. Recently an all-star band recorded less known tunes, composted by members of its saxophone section and released the album Ellington Saxophone Encounters by the Mark Masters Ensemble, featuring award-winning baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. 

Gary Smulyan ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert) 

The Mark Masters Ensemble features some great names like baritone saxophone player Gary Smulyan with  Gary Foster, Pete Christlieb, Gene Cirpriano and Don Shelton on reeds; pianist Bill Cunliffe, bass player Tom Warrington and drummer Joe LaBarbera.

Gary Foster ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

The album contains a dozen tracks, all originally composed by members of Ellington’s band and arranged by Mark Masters.  Listen to its openings tune Esquire Swank a composition by Johnny Hodges and Duke Ellington, which was played as part of the Magazine Suite in 1945 and was recorded in Hollywood  in 1946 for Victor

The tracks on this album were all composed by members of Ellington’s saxophone section, like the L.H. Blues, also composed by Johnny Hodges; We’re in Love Again by Harry Carney; Get Ready and Ultra Blue by Jimmy Hamilton and Ben Webster’s Love’s Away.

Pete Christlieb ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

The members of Mark Masters Ensemble are all skilled jazz musician who have won their spurs in jazz. Gary Smulyan is known as winner of numerous Critics Polls for playing the huge baritone saxophone in bands like the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the David Holland Octet.

Gary Foster ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

Gary Foster is a Tristano influenced alto saxophone player. Pete Christlieb is a west coast tenor saxophonist, known for his work in bands like Count Basie’s, the orchestras of Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman and the ensembles of Frank Rossolino, Carl Fontana and Shelle Manne to list some great names from the west coast. 

(Capri 74118-2)

It is hard to say what track fascinated me most, …………… Jeep's Blues, Get Ready or the opening tune Esquire Swank  .....  You may find out yourself.
The latest album by Mark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters is a great album.

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

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The music of Duke Ellington facinates baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan and composer, arranger and bandleader Mark Masters.  The Ensemble, featuring great names like Gary Foster, Pete Christlieb, Gene Cirpriano, Gary Smulyan, Joe La Barbera, Tom Warrington and Bill Cunliffe recorded the music special composed by its saxophone section. A great album!

  

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Virginia Mayhew honors Mary Lou Williams and Duke Ellington

Two Women in jazz - Mary Lou Williams and Virginia Mayhew

The Duke Ellington Legacy: Single Petal of a Rose
Hans Koert  

Recently two noticeable albums have been released: Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years and Single Petal of a Rose by the Duke Ellington Legacy. Both albums have been recorded  by bands directed by the US tenor saxophone player Virginia Mayhew.

Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years: Virginia Mayhew Quartet with special guest Wycliffe Gordon (Renma Recordings 6402cd) (design: Deb Lake)

At first sight the title of the album: MARY LOU WILLIAMS - THE NEXT 100 YEARS ( in Capitals) I have in hands, seems to be a reissue of recordings by the late Mary Lou Williams, due to the fact that she was born 100 years ago. A great black and white promo photo is framed at the cover. The second part of the title - The Next 100 Years takes the edge of it ....... and seems to be an impracticability, as Mary Lou Williams passed away more then 20 years ago. But let's take a closer look at the front cover which also reads the name of the Virginia Mayhew Quartet (With Special Guest Wycliffe Gordon).  This explains what we have in hands - an album by the Virginia Mayhew Quartet dedicated to the great piano player and composer: Mary Lou Williams ........

Virginia Mayhew (photo courtesy: Ullyses Beato)

 The Mary Lou Williams project: The Next 100 Years, was born in late 2009, Virginia Mayhew explains.

I was invited to play at the Women In Jazz festival, a festival in Washington dedicated to great women in jazz and we were brainstorming on what theme would fit best ...  Tony realized at some point, that Mary Lou Williams would have celebrated her centennial in May 2010 if she still should have been around .... Virginia and Tony got all support from Father Peter O' Brien, executor of the Mary Lou Williams estate, and they were allowed to research Mary Lou Williams original handwritten charts and arrangements ............ And to cut a long story short, the musical heritage was such a rich subject, that it would have been a shame to limit it to only one concert during the festival ......... In December 2010 the music of Mary Lou Williams was recorded and released in the US, spring 2011.  Now this album is international available: “Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years".
  

 Virginia Mayhew (photo courtesy: George Kopp)

The Virginia Mayhew Quartet features Virgina Mayhew on tenor saxophone, Ed Cherry blues-tinged Dizzy-alum, as he is labeled, on the guitar, Harvie S on double bass and Andy Watson on drums. Special guest on this album is trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Virginia is active in the New York jazz scene since 1987 and played with legends like the now almost forgotten Earl Fatha Hines, Cab Calloway, Frank Zappa and veteran trombonist Al Grey to list some who "left town" and some great contemporary jazz players like pianists  Toshiko Akiyoshi, Chico O' Farrill and Claudio Roditi, the Brazilian trumpet player, whose sound fascinates me .....

  For the Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years project, Virigina selected ten tracks - eight tracks from the Mary Lou Williams musical legacy, like her 1946 recording Waltz Boogie, which was one of the first songs ever recorded in a non-duple meters and the great tune, What's Your Story Morning Glory, originally composed when she was part of the Andy Kirk Orchestra, but best remembered in a version at one of her last recordings, three years before she passed away, at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival. Virginia honors her in two own compositions, like For Mary Lou and 5 for Mary Lou, an outgrowth from Waltz Boogie in 5/4. 

 Enjoy a few fragment of some tunes played for the Mary Lou Williams project presented on the album as part of a live show at Rosy O Grady's:

The second album that was released by Renma Recordings is Single Petal of a Rose, by the Duke Ellington Legacy.  

Single Petal of a Rose - Duke Ellington Legacy with special guest Houston Person ( Renma Recordings 6403CD) ( Painting by Gaye Ellington, granddaughter of the Duke)

It's is great to learn how Virginia Mayhew regards the music as played by the great icons in jazz. She's the musical director of the Duke Ellington Legacy, a 9-piece band led by guitarist Edward Kennedy Ellington II, the grandson of the great bandleader.

Edward Kennedy Ellinngton II (photo courtesy: George Kopp)

He travelled with Duke and was the road manager of his father's band, the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, in fact Duke's band when he passed away in 1974. The Duke Ellington Legacy group wants to keep the musical legacy of the Duke alive and both Norman Simmons, who plays the piano and Virginia Mayhew made the arrangements ....  The title tune of the album, Single Petal of a Rose was originally recorded in 1958 by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Woode and was handed to the British Queen Elizabeth - Just one copy of this record exists ......

The Duke Ellington Legacy: f.l.t.r.: Jami Daubner - Paul Wells - Noah Bless - Tom DiCarlo - Norman Simmons - Edward Kennedy Ellington II - Nanvy Reed - Virginia Mayhew  (photo courtesy: Walter Karling)

 Simmons opens the album at the piano (Where's the bass player?) with that composition, originally dedicated to Duke's mother Evelyn. The album contains a dozen recordings originally known by the Duke Ellington orchestra, but also some composed by Norman Simmons, like Home Grown.  It's hard to point to the tracks that fascinated me most.  Maybe the solemn version of Blood Count with Noah Bless on trombone; or that Latin version of Johnny Come Lately featuring Paul Wells on drums and Sheila Earley on congas? I really liked to listen to the well known Ellington standards like Happy Go Luck Local, In My solitude, In A Mellow Tone or Lush Life, with guest player Houston Person - a few of the numerous standards that belong to the Duke Ellington repertoire.

 Houston Person ( at the Porgy en Bess Jazz Club in Terneuzen - The Netherlands (February 1998) ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

Isn't it great that Virginia Mayhew, fascinated by the jazz legacy of the XXth century, creates such great albums, honoring the legends of the past. Both albums should be in your cd-player. Find a copy at the her site of the one by Remma Recordings .....

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

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Recently Virginia Mayhew released two albums, both dedicated to two icons in jazz: Mary Lou Williams and Duke Ellington. A few years ago Virginia Mayhew and her Quartet ( + Wycliffe Gordon as special guest) honored the great composter and piano player Mary Lou Williams who should have celebrated het centenial: The Next 100 Years, part of the title of the album, suggests that her music should be played for ever .... Virginia Mayhew is also the musical director of the Duke Ellington Legacy band, led by Duke's grandson. A tribute of Duke's music entitled: Single Petal of a Rose, you shouldn't miss.

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