A weblog in English and Dutch about jazz and related music, record collecting and other music projects originally created by Hans Koert.|Een webblog in het Engels en het Nederlands over jazz, jazz-verwante muziek, platen verzamelen en verrassende projecten, oorspronkelijk opgezet door Hans Koert.
Cherokee (1938) is a jazz standard - also known as Cherokee (Indian Love Song) - written by Ray Noble and originally intended as the first of five movements for an Indian Suite (Cherokee, Comanche War Dance, Iroquois, Seminole, and Sioux Sue).
Ray Noble (1903-1978)
Cherokee has been recorded over the years by many jazz musicians and singers, including Charlie Parker, Charlie Barnetand His Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan,Art Tatum a.o.
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parkerused Cherokee for the basis of his 1945 composition Ko-Ko. The song has also been covered as an instrumental by Bud Powell, Clifford Brown, Don Byas, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Harry James, Johnny Smith a.o.
Below is inserted some examples of different versions of Cherokee. The original version by Ray Noble and his Orchestrawas recorded in October 1938 for Brunswick
Charlie Barnet (ts) and his orchestra
Billy May arranged Noble's Cherokee for Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra, which had a hit in 1939 with the probably best known version of the tune. Here's Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra in a filmed presentation of Cherokee
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker recorded his first version of Cherokee in September 1942 featuring Efferge Ware (g) and Little Phil Phillips (d)
In 1946 Charlie Parker took part in a live recording session in Los Angeles featuring Nat King Cole Trio extended with Benny Carter and Willie Smith(as) besides Parker; one of the recorded tunes was Cherokee
As mentioned above, Charlie Parker used Cherokee as the basis for his own composition Ko-Ko, first recorded by Parker's Reboppers featuring Dizzy Gillespie (tp,p), Curley Russel (b) and Max Roach (d) in November 1945
Another version of Cherokee explored by be bop giant of the piano Bud Powell was recorded in 1950
Harry James (tp) and Buddy Rich (dm) together in a TV presentation of Harry James and his Orchestra from 1964 end this small review of a famous jazz standard used as a vehichle for improvisation by both swing and be bop musicians
"One time I went to New York, for only four days... and they didn`t allow me to play because I was not associated to the Federation of Musicians. And the Federation required at least six months of residence before being accepted. Then if they said no, I had to get back. Imagine that I had the money to spend during those six months, but if they then didn`t accept me? How could I return [...], having run out of money? I went away and never returned."(Sopeña, G.:Oscar Alemán. Abrazado a mi cavaquinho. Crisis, Nº 21 pp. 29-35 - January 1975) (English translation by 'Tito' Liber)
In March 1944, Oscar Alemán made a mysterious trip to New York. Mysterious, as I haven't been able to find info on the background of this trip. Was it a promotion effort, possibly sponsored by the Argentine devision of Odeon Records to market their recent and successful Latin artist in The Big Apple? Or was it merely Alemán's personal attempt at a breakthrough in the United States to follow up on the success in Argentina? No exact info about the decision and circumstances that gave rise to his trip to the United States seems to be available. Nevertheless, as stated in the short passage of an interview quoted above, he stayed 4 days in New York City. Alemán's problem, however, was that he had not got a license to work as a musician in the USA in advance of the trip. This meant that he could not perform in any of the music venues of the city, which had an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians, nor was he allowed to record without a license. Overall, the trip seems to have depended on a wrong decision of time and place, as music business in the US in addition was in the middle of a strike launched by the American Federation of Musicians.
AFM seal
On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians (AMF) had started a strike against the major American recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments.This meant that union organized musicians no longer were allowed to record for any record company, however, union musicians were allowed to participate on radio programs and other kinds of musical entertainment, but not in a recording session. The AMF recording ban was part of a struggle to get royalties from record sales for a union fund for organized out-of-work musicians. The union had previously opposed the recording of music, or “canned music”. The argument was that musicians were replaced with records in radio, and in cafes and bars bands were replaced with jukeboxes.
Record companies recorded as much music as they could in the run up to the strike and released this backlog through, but also resorted to re-releasing old recordings. Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were among the singers that had to release records without instrumental accompaniment (vocalists were not in the union as they were not considered musicians). One record company recorded and released Shakespeare’s Othello when they had no music to release. An exception to the strike was “victory discs” (V-Discs), which were recorded for US soldiers fighting in World War II and sent to them overseas. Another exception was some small speciality labels.
The strike stopped business between major record labels and musicians under contract with them. With recording and manufacturing equipment idle from the strike, enterprising music promoters, record distributors, and store owners with the right connections took the opportunity to start small specialty labels, such as Savoy (1942) and Apollo (1943–44), that catered to musicians who were not under contract. Sometimes musicians under contract restrictions recorded for them under pseudonyms. That business model worked in large urban markets such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where concentrated markets allowed a sufficient return from local distribution. Many of the historically important recordings of jazz and R&B from the mid-1940s originated from these small labels. Although not lucrative for musicians, these small labels gained them exposure that later led to contracts with more established labels.
Decca and Capitol gave into the AFM in 1943, RCA Victor and Columbia held out but eventually backed down in November 1944, and the recording ban ended. (info excerpted from Wikipedia, here, and another online source, here).
It was these circumstances that met Oscar Alemán when he arrived in New York March 1944. The mentioned record ban was still on and the demand of a six month residence before a musician's license card to work possibly would be allowed him made the situation rather unsecure and hopeless, as a foreign musician eventually would be considered a possible blackleg and a thread to the strike. However, Alemán stayed in NYC for 4 days and surprisingly managed to record a session on March 17, before he decided to return to Argentina!
According to the online OA discographyHans Koert has listed two recordings by Alemán made on March 17, 1944 in NYC. No details about the label and personnel besides Alemán are available, just the matrix numbers and the title of the two tunes. Alemán's latest hit in Argentina was one of the recorded tunes, Bésame mucho (mx 71882), the other was Sweet Georgia Brown (mx 71883). However, these two recordings were unissued and remain an unsolved mystery.
I have not been able to point out a specific record label which may have made the recordings, any help from readers, discographers and collectors would be much appreciated. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to discuss this matter with Hans Koert, he may have had more info, at least from which source he had the knowledge of a record by Alemán made in NYC with added titles and mx-numbers. My friend and collector of the recently updated Alemán discograpy, 'Tito' Liber, forwarded the short passage of an interwiev with Alemán touching on the trip to the US, but he found no further info on the subject in Argentine sources.
So, to end this, I encourage anybody with more knowledge about this Alemán trip and the two recordings made in NYC on March 17, 1944 to respond to my request for further info. Contact me by using the e-mail stated below, or feel free to use the comment facility with this blog entry. Thanks in advance!
NB! This entry will also be posted at the Oscar Alemán blog.
Today the phenomenal Danish jazz violinist, Svend Asmussen, can celebrate his 100th birthday. The Keep(it)swinging blog likes to mark this great day by inserting some examples of music by Svend Asmussen from a career that spans more than 80 years of artistic activity at an absolute toplevel by international standards. A short career profile in English is available here.
Always attentive (photo in public domain)
Svend Asmussen debuted in 1933 with his own quartet - inspired by Joe Venuti's Blue Four. In 1935 he recorded his first record under his own name Tiger Rag / My Blue Heaven with a sextet - Here is Tiger Rag
In 1940, Svend Asmussen recorded the initial version of June Night, which has become his signature tune, in a trio setting. Asmussen contributes the lead vocal and plays violin as well as vibraphone
Svend Asmussen's orchestra - most often a quintet with changing sidemen - had great success in Denmark during the 1940s. Denmark was occupied by the German Nazi regime 1940 - 45, which cut off the opportunities of an international career for artists like Svend Asmussen. Nevertheless, some of his best recordings were made in those years, unfortunately mostly unknown outside Scandinavia until much later. Below some highlights recorded in 1940 are inserted to mark this important period of Asmussen's recording career. - Here is first Honeysuckle Rose
Also from 1940, Asmussen and his quintet recorded Some of These Days 18.08.40, the leader again contributes the vocal and great violin playing
Another great recording from this period is the quintet's version of After You've Gone, recorded 11.09.40
Svend Asmussen's career has been rich in facets as a musician, but also as an actor and entertainer. He has appeared in a number of Danish music films and revues 1943-57, where he performed with the siblings Gerda and Ulrik Neumann (1943-45).Cooperation with the latter led to the establishment of the successful trio Swe-Danes (1958-61) with the Swedish singer Alice Babs. - Here I'll mark this corner of Asmussen's career by inserting two examples of musical entertainment at the highest artistic level, first a TV performance by Asmussen and his companion Ulrik Neumann presented in Dutch TV 1961
Together with Swedish singer Alice Babs, Svend Asmussen and Ulrik Neumann had success internationally as the Swe-Danes, here is a short TV performance of the trio's signature tune, Scandinavian Shuffle
Svend Asmussen has made a number of recordings with internationally acclaimed artists including Duke Ellington, pianists John Lewis, Jan Johansson and Kenny Drew and instrument colleagues Stephane Grappelliand Stuff Smith. - Here's an example from Asmussen's cooperation with Duke Ellington in 1963, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, from Ellington's jazzviolin sessions feat. Stephane Grappelli and Ray Nance besides Asmussen, who is playing the viola
Svend Asmussen stands out as one of the greatest Danish jazz musicians ever. He has enriched the 1900s and the beginning of a new century with a wide range of timeless recordings, ranging from the Swing era of the 1930s and 1940s to seriously balanced cooperation with the best musicians of a younger generation. - To mark the succesfull years of Asmussen's later career with his jazz quartet feat. excellent Danish sidemen including Jacob Fischer on guitar, here's a recording by this ensemble performing Stardust
Let's end this small musical portrait of Svend Asmussen's long and succesfull career enjoying his signature tune, June Night, one more time and this way express our best wishes for a Happy 100th Birthday!
Storyville Records has just released a box-set of 5 CDs + 1 DVD of recordings by Svend Asmussen - more info to be found here
Georg Lankester has collected info about the
legendary Gypsy swing ensemble WASO
and shares the story in two parts. Below follows the second part, the first
part is available here
WASO Further in the Eighties
By now
WASO frequently was a welcome guest
in the jazz scene of the Benelux and France although Fapy sometimes also was
invited to play in England. There he joined other musicians and occasionally
performed with Koen. NOTE: It is a fact that
the British were always very fond of Django’s and Stéphane’s performances and that
their swing style is appreciated up to the present day.
WASO Quartet (courtesy decauterfam.be)
In
1983, two special events are worthwhile to be reported.
Due to
WASO’s continuing successes “Munich Records” made again studio recordings in March,
which shortly afterwards, were issued on the album Gipsy Swing Vol. 5
This record
includes 13 tracks and it is striking that again a great variety in the
repertoire is shown. Django themes, French ‘chansons’ and compositions of Koen
and Fapy, all of these can be found on this fine long play record. Just a few
examples: Sweet chorus, Waso, (composed by Koen) Django’s tiger, Minor swing and Fapy’s composition Aurore !
Again
recordings which belong to the gems of my collection.
Hot Club de France - Holland
The
spring of 1983 had seen the birth of a Django society in the Netherlands. On my
ininitiative and in close cooperation with some jazz friends I founded such a
society in order to keep the Hot Club Music alive.
At
the end of that particular year, my society invited WASO for a club concert in Utrecht. I had heard them before in the city-theatre
of Haarlem and was most impressed. Here was an opportunity to show this ensemble
to the members of our society with - among them - many guitarists. During an
unforgettable evening concert we could experience one set where Fapy was
playing violin while Koen took his guitar for accompaniment and solos..- A
rare photo shows their unique performances that particular night (10 November
1983).
WASO in live performance (Utrecht, 1983)
After
a few more years playing in the usual line-up, the end of this formation was
now approaching. Towards the end of 1985
a change within the quartet would follow. Fapy, who then had some health
problems, considered to leave the formation. He was thinking of a new career
and had received a few offers. So early 1986 the WASO line-up fell apart after abtout 11 years of existence.
I
happened to be present at their very last concert which took place in a jazz
café in the town of Haarlem. In a cosy ‘ambiance’ the four musicians - for the
very last time - created a gypsy swing in which those present could taste the
unforgettable sounds of the past. As far
as I remember this must have been early 1986. My story ends here.
For those
who never were aware of this extraordinary Gypsy Jazz formation, I would strongly
recommend to listen tracks on the
Internet, or try to obtain some of their
vinly albums or cds. You will enjoy listening to one of the best Django groups Europe
has had.
Koen’s
WASO quartet would continue with
different musicians, thereby often performing with great jazzmen and producing
more jazz albums (more info, here). Since
2003 the latest formation (WASO 7) includes several of Koen’s children (all
experienced in gypsy swing, jazz and French chansons).
Young Koen and Fapy, 1969 (courtesy petrus53.com)
Some caracteristics on the leading WASO men (1975 –
1986)
Fapy Lafertin, 1984
Fapy Lafertin (born in March 1950). Growing
up in a very musical environmentthis
talented Romani son concentrated on all kinds of instruments, but in particular
the guitar. As he once told me, he studied very seriously to get control over
this string instrument and he indeed managed to master the Django technique
completely, however, always adding to his improvisations his own interpretation.
Fapy
can be considered as the guitarist who comes the nearest to Django. He produces
a beautiful liquid tone in charming melodies and has a strong but fluid rhythm.
He can play ten instruments, among which also the guitarra (Fado guitar).
Apart
from WASO he played with great
jazzmen in the UK and USA and formed several own formations, which is
illustrated by lots of cds.. He is a highly respected jazz improvisator.
Koen de Cauter, 1983
Koen de Cauter (born in 1950). Was
already as a boy fascinated by music, especially Flamenco guitar. Became a
pupil of masters such as Manitas de Plata
and Manolo Sanlucar. Very interested
in gypsymusic he started (at early age)
to play with Fapy Lafertin, Vivi Limberger and many others.
Became
a singer and multi-instrumentalist, capable to play (next to guitar): banjo,
violin, clarinet, soprano- alto- and tenor sax. Is active in gypsy swing, jazz
eg. New Orleans and also Musette. Performs with his children in a family band
and is moreover an excellent interpreter
of George Brassens. He can
be considered as one of the best Belgian artists.
Koen and Fapy (courtesy decauterfam.be)
February 2016 – with thanks to my Belgian
friend Jef Van Gool for very useful information
Georg Lankesterhas collected info about the
legendary Belgian Gypsy swing ensemble WASO
and shares the story in two parts. Below is published the first part, the
second part will follow here.
One
of The Greatest Django Interpreters of The Benelux
We
have to go back to the year 1975 when Koen de Cautertook
the initiative to form, together with his
friend Fapy Lafertin, a
quartet in the Hot Club de France
style, which was created about 40 years earlier in France by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli.
l-r: Fapy Lafertin and Koen de Cauter (courtesy petrus53.com)
There
is a certain parallel with the original French quintet. The new formation also
had two great soloists because Fapy and Koen were both acknowledged musicians
in Belgium.
The Origins of the Gypsy Jazz
The original Hot Club quintet was founded in 1934
and received international reputation due to the unparalleled playing of Manouche guitarist Django Reinhardt and
the great jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, backed up by a three-men rhythm
section.
Quintette du Hot Club de France (1937)
These
five musicians formed the first jazz string quintet the world had ever seen and
which surprised jazz fans all over Europe and even in the USA. The
many records of this French quintet -in
particular those released between 1934 and ’39 - are still available everywhere,
even today. These show marvellous guitar and violin improvisations in a unique
swing rhythm– a new kind of jazz, but now
created in Europe. When
the secondWorld War broke out the
cooperation between the two giants suddenly ended. During five years Stéphane
stayed in England whereas Django lived in Paris, now playing with
clarinettistHubert Rostaing. - It is probably the latter formation which has
inspired Fapy and Koen afterlistening
to the records of the Forties of last century.
Quintette du Hot Club de France (1940s)
The First Years of WASO
WASO quartet - early 1970s
In
the early days of the formation WASO included: Fapy Lafertin solo guitar with Jeff
C. Wickle rhythm guitar, Koen de
Cauter clarinet/sax, violin & vocals and Michel Verstraeten double bass. - As
far as I know this Django-formation of the Seventies was one of the first in the
authentic line-up of the war time, in which the focus was on guitar and a reed instrument. Several
Django compositions formed part of the group’s repertoire, sometimes re-arranged
by Fapy or Koen and it also included American jazz standards and some own
compositions.
Koen with Sammy Rimington
During
the first year WASO made a tour in Belgium with the British soprano saxophonist
Sammy Rimington. They often
performed in Gent and one of their
‘live’ concerts was recorded in April 1976, later released on an LP titled WASO ‘live’ at Gringo’s.
WASO - Live at Gringo's, LP (1976) (info, click here)
The
album reveals interesting recordings which show ‘Django guitarist’ ’Fapy Lafertin
in all tracks and the versatility of Koen on soprano- and alto
sax, violin and in vocals. Remarkable is a certain New Orleans influence in
Koen’s clarinet playing. - Some
titles: Hot lips, Running wild, Swing ’41, Tears and the
first recording of Fapy’s beautiful composition Fleur de lavande.
In
the course of 1976 rhythm guitarist Jeff went back to the USA and was replaced
by Vivi Limberger (member of a well-known gypsy family in the Benelux). Vivi
formed part of the “Piottos” and his strong rhythm on guitar (and vocals) could
from now on be heard giving the right
swing to the WASO quartet.
WASO - late 1970s
Increasing Popularity
The
performances of the reformed WASO group
were more and more noticed and the formation was invited in the UK,
Scandinavia, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and France, where they played in jazz clubs and in all
kinds of theatres.
In
1977, a second WASO album was released
called Rommageson which the musicians in several tracks could be
heard with singer Jacques Mercier –
born in the French Ardennes and called Valentin.
The recordings were made in Belgium,
probably partly in the preceeding year. Some of the 12 titles are: Une petite amie, Tu restes, Credo and, of
course, Rommages (an homage to the
Romani). In the cover text Fapy’s name
gets special attention.
That
same year Didier Geerts joined the
group for a short time on drums.
In
the late Seventies WASO got a Dutch
impressario (Elly Joosten) and as a result the band had more bookings in
Holland. The musicians could now be heard at big Jazz Festivals eg. in Maastricht
and Breda as well as in jazzclubs throughout the country.
Later,
when the Django society for Holland was founded, I invited them as well (see
further on in this review).
More Albums And a (Recorded) Radio
Broadcast
At
the end of 1979 “Munich Records”in Heelsum (Holland) arranged – on the initiative
of WASO’s management - recordings for a
new LP record. The producer was Job Zomer, an enthusiastic jazz specialist and
his engineers were experienced in recording small groups as well. The result
was an album with 12 fine jazz tracks with Django themes such as Si tu savais and Cavalerie, the Hawkins theme Mop
Mop and Summertime.
The
different titles offer again a lot of variety because – next to Koen’s clarinet
and sax playing - he can be heard on guitar and in vocals. Fapy’s guitar solos
are charming and show his own
interpretation of Django Reinhardt’s playing in the Thirties/Forties.
One
year later, in August, a radio broadcast was made from a popular jazz café in
Laren (not far from Amsterdam) where jazz sessionsfrequently took place. Their
‘live’ concert that evening was recorded by Polydor and later released on an
album called WASO live in Laren. It is a great and historical album also because
of the enthousiastic audience which created a real jazzy atmosphere,
The
formation was in top form and one can now hear the announcements which Koen usually
made and some of his special vocals. Beautiful ballads as well as up-tempo themes demonstrate the quality of
the group as a unit, but also in the individual improvisations of Fapy and
Koen. Some titles: Douce ambiance, Si tu savais, It had to”be you and the unforgettable Le danseur de Charleston with Koen’s special vocal and announcement.
In June
1979 a festival in Belgium named “Folk
aan Zee” took place where a friend of mine played with his group .During
this festival WASO was also present
with a real gypsy repertoire. My friend remembers that he heard great gypsy themes which they produced like Tu djaial and a beautiful execution by Fapy of the waltz La Gitane (composed by Tchan-Tchou). Koen
also played violin and Vivi was singing as well.
WASO feat. Denis Vereeckeren (1978)
Both
in 1979 and 1980 WASO occasionally had Denis
Vereecken as a guest player on guitar.(here shown on a rare picture above).
Streetview, West 52nd street, NYC (1947) (William P. Gottlieb collection)
The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on West 52nd Street in New York City. The Onyx Club opened in 1927 at 35 West 52nd Street as a speakeasy. In February of 1934, after the end of prohibition, the Onyx Club became an authorized club in a new location — 72 West 52nd Street. The Onyx featured musicians that included the Spirits of Rhythm and Art Tatum, who then was the regular intermission pianist. It burned down in 1935, but was rebuilt and reopened July 13, 1935 with Red McKenzie, Stuff Smith, Jonah Jones, John Kirby, Maxine Sullivan, and others. (info excerpted from Wikipedia)
Stuff Smith outside the Onyx Club (YouTube still photo)
Violinist and vocalist Stuff Smithhad come to New York early 1930s after having toured and recorded with the Texas based Alphonso Trent and his Orchestra. In 1935, he was discovered by saxophonist and empresario Dick Stabile, who booked Smith to play at the Onyx Club with his regular ensemble. In 1936, Smith signed a contract with Vocalion that labeled the band as Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys.
Stuff Smith a.h. Onyx Club Boys (1936)
The initial formation of The Onyx Club Boys consisted of: Stuff Smith (v,voc), Jonah Jones (tp), Raymond Smith (p), Bobby Bennett (g), Mack Walker (b) and John Washington (d). This sextet recorded four sides for Vocalion on February 11, 1936, among them was Smith's I'se A Muggin'
I'se A Muggin' was in two parts, the inserted audio video only covers the first. The text is non-sense, if you are unfamiliar with the slang and jive talking associated with Harlem's 'tea parties', another word for social gatherings involving the consume of narcotics, i.e. marihuana (reefer), a customary habit among jazz musicians at the time. There was in fact a whole catalog of songs at the time associated with the consume of narcotics, often referred to as reefer songs, and Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys also contributed to this catalog with another song, You'se A Viper that was a hit with the reefer smoking public
A viper is another word for a person addicted to smoking reefer (a marijuana cigarette). As mentioned, the song became a hit for The Onyx Club Boys, it was recorded at the second session for Vocalion on March 13, 1936. The sextet had now a change of personnel, as Raymond Smith was replaced by James Sherman (p) and John Washington was replaced by Cozy Cole (d). This formation of The Onyx Club Boys recorded twelve sides for Vocalion at four sessions from March to August 1936. The flip-side of You'se A Viper also recorded March 13, 1936 was the sextet's version of the standard After You've Gone - a tune, which Smith had recorded with Alphonso Trent and his Orchestra in 1930 (- Trent's version is available here)
On July 1st 1936 the Onyx Club Boys and Stuff Smith recorded three tunes, among them was a version of It Ain't Right
Also from the July 1st session was a recording of yet another popular song, Old Joe's Hittin' The Jug
On August 21 1936 The Onyx Club Boys recorded another song associated with the catalog of reefer songs - Here Comes The Man With The Jive
There were no new recordings by the ensemble until May 1937. Now the sextet had been extended to a septet by adding Buster Bailey (cl); piano player James Sherman further was replaced by Clyde Hart. This formation of The Onyx Club Boys recorded four sides for Brunswick/Decca on May 4, 1937, among them the instrumental Upstairs - a hot swinging tune featuring great solos by Jones, Hart and Smith
Another tune recorded at the same session, which in fact was the last session labeled as Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys, was dedicated to the Onyx Club. The title of the tune was Onyx Club Spree, which was recorded in two versions (takes)
The recordings of Stuff Smith and His Onyx Club Boys1936-37 belong to the core of small band swing contributions of the 1930s, the leader's violin playing was among the foremost examples of swing violin at the same high level as i.e. Stephane Grappelli. Later Stuff Smith would continue his career in other combinations, but that's another story.
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