Eric Seddon Originals Live @ The Bop Stop

Our historical jazz clarinet concert series comes to a finale a week from tonight, bringing Trad Jazz all the way up to the present with an evening focusing on original compositions of mine. Hope to see some of you out there for the close of a great season!

Acker Bilk and Hubert Rostaing at The Bop Stop

I've had a surge of gratitude since playing our concert last night at the Bop Stop. Those who were there know we started with a set of gypsy jazz, dedicated to Hubert Rostaing and Django Reinhardt. The second set was dedicated to Acker Bilk's compositions.

At the beginning of the second, I asked the audience how many folks had ever heard of Acker (he's not well known on this side of the pond). I was surprised that nearly every table had someone enthusiastically raising a hand.

At the very end of the gig, after we'd played "Coffee & Ackercake" I asked them how many had ever heard that song performed live. No one raised a hand...it was the first time any of them had gotten the chance to really hear it.

Both my wife (who was in the audience) and the manager of the Bop Stop, Gabe Pollack, told me stories of couples at tables reacting emotionally to what we were doing--excited to actually hear a band playing this music for once.

Acker's music has had a profound impact on my playing and song writing. It's deceptively simple, sunny music. What you find if you play it enough, though, is a unique type of joyful depth, demanding a soulful musical language of its own. To think that we brought that to people eager to hear it last night, in a creative way...to share musical goodness like that...that's what this historical jazz clarinet concert series is all about.

I love the Benny Goodman tributes, and all of those things...they are important and people love that music...but when we can perform tunes that would otherwise be entirely lost or unperformed...when we can essentially start a musical tradition before it can't be started...as an artist, let me tell you, that is truly a great privilege.

Thank you to everyone who came out last night. We play one more in this epic series--two weeks from now we'll focus on my originals (about 15-17 tunes worth of my stuff), and some other that we didn't get to this fall (I want to play "Si Tu Vois Ma Mere" by Bechet and some others yet..) So don't miss us on the 29th at 7pm--the final installment of the 2017 Historical Jazz Clarinet Series at the BOP STOP.

Eric Seddon's Hot Club at The BOP STOP in Cleveland

"Jeremiah Blues" by Eric Seddon * Live at the Bop Stop * November 1, 2017

Here's a tune I wrote earlier this Fall, called "Jeremiah Blues"...

Eric Seddon, clarinet
Jim Davis, cornet
Kevin Richards, guitar
Gene Epstein, bass
Bill Fuller, drums

video, William Laufer

'Go Down, Moses' live at the BOP STOP

I'm very grateful Bill Laufer captured this performance on film at our most recent concert at the Bop Stop in Cleveland. One of my persistent goals with this band has been to present new, fresh versions of the traditional spirituals which form the backbone of jazz history. At the Bop Stop, I spoke a bit about my theories of jazz clarinet--that the klezmer influences of the great Jewish American players like Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman melded with the African American and Creole New Orleans styles, creating a uniquely lyrical, virtuosic, and soulful legacy. A Spiritual like "Go Down Moses", poetically touching both major streams of American Jazz clarinet heritage, seemed the perfect meeting place stylistically.

I think this moment was a special one in our concert series so far. Very glad it was recorded--thanks Bill!

yours truly, clarinet
Jim Davis, cornet
Kevin Richards, guitar
Gene Epstein, bass
Bill Fuller, drums

video by Bill Laufer

Benny Goodman: Blue Collar Virtuoso * Live at The Bop Stop

Last Wednesday's tribute to Benny Goodman at Cleveland's Bop Stop nightclub was a blast. Here are some videos...

First, my chorus on a favorite Benny Goodman number, "A Smooth One"

Next,  the ending theme of an original of mine called "(That's Just) The Way It Goes" (captured and shared by Hot Club enthusiast Bill Laufer).

Enjoy, and Keep Swinging!

Eric Seddon, clarinet

Jim Davis, cornet

Kevin Richards, guitar

Gene Epstein, bass

Bill Fuller, drums 

Eric Seddon's Hot Club Live @ The Bop Stop in Cleveland, OH (photo: Bill Laufer)

Eric Seddon's Hot Club live @ The Bop Stop

Last night we continued our six concert Trad Jazz Invasion of one of the finest jazz rooms in Cleveland--The Bop Stop. A fan caught a few choruses of my tune 'Everything's Jake' on her phone and shared it with us--you can check it out below.

Eric Seddon, clarinet
Jim Davis, cornet
Kevin Richards, guitar
Gene Epstein, bass
Bill Fuller, drums

Some Photos from The Cleveland Museum of Art's Jazz Cafe Series

George Foley and I kicked off the Jazz Cafe at the Cleveland Museum of Art yesterday: a musical series to coincide with their exquisite Jazz Age exhibit. I was particularly gratified that they chose Josephine Baker as the symbol of their exhibit. In tribute, George and I lead off with Sidney Bechet's "What a Dream", Bechet having played in her Revue Negre in Paris...

Eric Seddon (& Josephine Baker)

George Foley (piano) & Eric Seddon (clarinet)

 

Eric Seddon's Hot Club live @ The Music Box Supper Club TONIGHT

Almost exactly two years ago, The Music Box Supper Club gave us our first chance to play a nightclub in Cleveland. Before then,the gigs had been tough to scratch out; after that they came steadily. Ever since, we've always been happy to return to one of our favorite place to play. Here's a clip (taken by friend of the band, Reid Patterson) of our performance opening for Preservation Hall Jazz Band earlier this summer. Tonight's show starts at 7--we'll play two full sets of music, including several originals that will receive their Cleveland debuts tonight. Hope to see you there!

At The Music Box Supper Club tomorrow at 7pm!

Eric Seddon, clarinet
Jim Davis, cornet
Kevin Richards, guitar
Gene Epstein, upright bass
Bill Fuller, drums

Some Upcoming Hot Club Dates at The Bop Stop

Eric Seddon's Hot Club Live in Cleveland Public Square

Come here us play tonight from 6-8pm! The concert is FREE

Eric Seddon, clarinet
Kevin Richards, guitar
Bill Fuller, drums
Gene Epstein, upright bass

'Past Midnight' live at Tri-C JazzFest 2017 in Cleveland's Playhouse Square

Eric Seddon, clarinet

George Foley, piano

Jim Davis, cornet

Kevin Richards, guitar

Gene Epstein, upright bass

Bill Fuller, drums

June 23, 2017 

Cleveland

The Pork Pie goes to Tri-C JazzFest

Under the Chandelier in Cleveland's Playhouse Square for Tri-C JazzFest 2017

Eric Seddon's Hot Club @ Tri-C Jazz Fest 2017!

Join us live in Cleveland's Playhouse Square on Friday June 23rd at 7:55pm as part of an all-evening lineup of jazz! We'll be playing on the Strassman Insurance Stage and it's free to the public!

Tri-C is one of the premier jazz festivals in the country, and the jewel in the crown of the Cleveland jazz scene each year. We in the Hot Club are happy to be sharing our interpretation of a century worth of Trad Jazz with this Festival!

Our lineup that evening will be:

Eric Seddon, clarinet
Jim Davis, cornet
Kevin Richards, guitar
George Foley, piano
Gene Epstein, upright bass
Bill Fuller, drums

Gethsemane

This a tune of mine, part Gregorian Chant, part Klezmer, all Blues, meant as a mediation on Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. I first wrote it about seventeen years ago, but haven't had the chance to perform it publicly. Recorded on a Tascam DR-40 in my studio just now. For some reason I like sharing rough takes, and this certainly is one. Blessings on everyone this Good Friday.

"Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me?" (Matthew 26:36-46)

Jazz Proverbs

It's better for a musician to have their technique pulled forward by expression, rather than the other way around.

Always be listening, engaging, acting and reacting in music. Never just recite: participate.

Music is the thing that happens between you and the others in the room, not whatever you think you prepared beforehand.

Always allow the moment to be what it truly is. Don't try to force it to be something else.

A good jazz solo shouldn't be bossed around by the one playing it. It needs its own freedom too.

Masterclass at the Cleveland Institute of Music

Some photos of my masterclass with Franklin Cohen's studio at CIM last week:

The Porkpie Goes to The Conservatory

Hanging out with a talented bunch of young players (Photo: Franklin Cohen)

(Obligatory group selfie: we had to get Frank into the picture too!)

Happy Mardi Gras!

To all the readers of The Jazz Clarinet, Happy Mardi Gras! My band will be performing at BLU Jazz + in Akron, Ohio. This year will be an extra special celebration of the music of Pete Fountain. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy celebration!

Two Sides of Bill Smith * CRI * 1974

Concerto for Jazz Soloist and Orchestra
William O. Smith, clarinet
Orchestra U.S.A.; Gunther Schuller, conductor

Mosaic 
William O. Smith, clarinet
Robert Suderburg, piano 

Variants for solo clarinet
William O. Smith, clarinet


I first heard this recording on LP, nearly twenty five years ago, while an undergraduate clarinet performance major at the Hartt School of Music. Our 20th century form and analysis professor, Dr. David Macbride, had given us the assignment of presenting the class with recorded examples of extended techniques on our major instrument. I presented two clarinetists: Artie Shaw and this album by William O. Smith. Shaw's Concerto for Clarinet served as a primer for how jazz timbral language had broadened our understanding of the expressive sonorities possible on the clarinet, outside of the classical canon. William O. Smith took matters even further, showing how a clarinetist equally comfortable in jazz and classical realms could expand both genres exponentially.

I'm not going to do a full analysis of this album, which would look and read more like a graduate thesis than a blog post. Suffice it to say there is actually enough material here for a graduate thesis, and a good one at that. There have been many attempts at concerti for jazz soloists and orchestra, and many clarinet concerti have been written with jazz clarinetists in mind. But this has to be one of the finest. Applying his extensive knowledge of jazz, modern classical methods (such as serialism) and an inside knowledge of extended clarinet techniques (many of which he discovered and charted), the concerto on Side 1 is a unique tour de force. I know of no other wind player who has done anything quite like it for their instrument--expanding our knowledge of the capabilities of the instrument while mastering multiple genres, seamlessly fused together in a thrilling and meaningful musical expression.

It helps tremendously that the orchestra was sympathetic, could swing and articulate like a jazz band, and was lead by a champion of  this music. Indeed, the conductor, Gunther Schuller, coined the term "Third Stream" to describe a potential fusion between European concert music and jazz, so successfully accomplished here. Beyond that, the music itself is fully effective: the liner notes to the album point out the following:

A twelve-tone row is the basis for both the orchestral material and the improvised clarinet part. Although the listener is not expected to follow the various permutations of the row, it is hoped that he will feel a psychological cohesion. The row itself utilizes only two basic intervals, the major 2nd and the minor 3rd, and is simply the transposition of a four note figure which happens to be the first four notes of I Got Rhythm. The simplicity of the the row lends itself to spontaneous improvisation. The four movements correspond roughly to traditional concerto form. In style, the jazz idiom is consistently employed. 

Here serialism isn't presented as dry or melodically meaningless. Upon listening, the reasons for using twelve tone method seems to be manifold, but include a chance to focus more on timbral issues, and tone color. There is an expansive, lyrical quality to it rather than restrictive (the technique can be used either way), and the connection to jazz history really works.

Side 2 features a more intimate chamber setting, and for those interested in Smith's jaw dropping, abstracted use of extended techniques (including multiphonics, extreme altissimo, and even mutes, if my memory of the score to Variants is accurate after 25 years) this will keep you interested. When I was in music school, it was common for clarinetists to program William O. Smith's Five Pieces for Clarinet Solo on recitals. Those are great pieces, and a worthy addition to the unaccompanied clarinet repertoire, but I always thought the more challenging and intriguing pieces of his for solo clarinet were the Variants. They are certainly more demanding on both the clarinetist and the audience, and are also the fruits of Smith's extensive research in the area of extended techniques. Combined with this recording of the composer himself, the Variants represent a real watershed moment in the history of the clarinet.

This album is off the charts, should be in every clarinetist's library, and ought to be more widely available. Buy one of the vinyl copies still to be found before they're all gone.  

Chris Barber & Hugh Laurie * Abbey Road Studios * 2013

Here's a fascinating YouTube video by Rick Walker featuring famous actor and not-so-closeted bluesman Hugh Laurie with one of his heroes, trad jazz trombone icon Chris Barber. Though short, this brief presentation and interview can help fill in the gaps of our understanding of 20th century music, and the significant role trad jazz and New Orleans style played in the various waves of British rock and pop music.

I'm greatly heartened that Laurie would take the time to honor Barber and the music. I've argued for years that soulfulness and melody will never go out of style: he and Chris Barber have offered further proof!  

Jazz Clarinet Gear Review: 1958 Selmer Centered Tone Clarinet in A

Several years ago, while playing gypsy jazz in many keys particularly well suited to guitarists, but more rarely used in the jazz clarinet repertoire--keys like D major and A major at concert pitch--I began experimenting with the use of a clarinet in the key of A for certain numbers. At first, my matched pair of 1951 Fritz Wurlitzer Reform-Boehms yielded good results. Eventually, though, I found myself wanting to use my regular gigging horn, a 1955 Selmer Centered Tone, and switching between the Selmer Bb and the Wurlitzer A was proving too awkward. The breathing, mouthpiece, reeds, and voicings demanded of Wurlitzers are very different from those of a Selmer, making for an uncomfortable evening if attempting them both. Beyond that, to really get the most out of either a Selmer or a Wurlitzer, I've always found it best to be committed, daily, to one or the other. To command all of the colors or power of either, it usually takes me a couple of weeks serious practice, at least, after having been away from a certain model. So in a sense, for me at least, it's all or nothing when playing these instruments.

With that in mind, I picked up this 1958 Centered Tone, Model 806 (seven rings, with articulated G# and left hand Ab/Eb key, serial number R-1***). It's a beautiful horn, with a huge, rich sound; possibly the most purely beautiful tone of any clarinet I've played.    

1958 Selmer Centered Tone Model 806 in A

The chalumeau is so big it has what I call the "crackle" or "crunch" sound you can get on a bass clarinet, opening up interesting timbral possiblities. Like all Centered Tones, you can really lay into the chalumeau without going terribly flat--in stark contrast to more contemporary model clarinets of nearly all manufacturers, with the popular small, reverse-conical or polycylindrical bores. This is one of the major reasons the CT is regarded as a great jazz clarinet--models designed for the classical market seem to miss the importance of being able to really crank in the chalumeau, with a variety of timbres.

The clarion register on this Centered Tone is mellow and rich, and the altissimo is the famed Selmer altissimo, as usual--simply the best ever made, in my opinion. 

When this R-series A first arrived in my hands, its silver keywork was in disrepair, needing quite a bit of work. While the basic tone quality was remarkable; obviously a fine instrument under all the problems, I couldn't quite get all of the subtlety needed from it. My decision then was to put it away and play all of the gypsy rep on the Bb in keys like E, B, etc. In retrospect, this was the right decision. With a couple of studio sessions coming up, though, it seemed the right time to get this gem of a horn refurbished and ready to capture on record. This CT came back from my tech on Friday...he did an outstanding job, and it's as ready to go as it could have been in 1958. Stay tuned! I'm looking forward to performing and recording this classic Selmer Centered Tone.     

Musical Proverb of the Day

All jazz is local.

Whether some world famous jazz musician is visiting your city, playing to a packed theater with three balconies of adoring fans, or you're in some tavern with a band squeezed into a corner and competing with the television set over the bar, all jazz happens in real time with real people in the audience. It's the art of interaction; of the musicians giving something to you and you reciprocating in that place, at that time. It's the art of being present and joyous. It's the art the art that breaks down emotional barriers and allows for everything to come out. It's freedom in honesty, but it can't happen in a room by yourself. It can't happen over the internet via live streaming. It's the real breath of a person through a mouthpiece, the real strike of a hand on a drum skin, the real pull on a bass, the real bodies swaying to that beat, the real eruptions of enthusiasm or, equally important, the hush of reflection that settles over a crowd. There is no substitute for reality, and being who and where you really are. Jazz emphasizes that, and affirms the goodness of reality and existence, even in the midst of great troubles. So if you have some famous cat rolling into town tonight, go hear them: they are jazz for you tonight. But if not, don't be afraid to be a part of what jazz is: the real time sharing of something, of influencing the direction and sound of a band by your very presence. 

All jazz is local.   

When the Jazz Wars Went Global * Ken Colyer & The First Traditional Jazz Band

Below is a short but fascinating YouTube video detailing the outbreak of one theater of the jazz wars: Great Britain in the late 1940s. Around that time, trumpeter Ken Colyer espoused the idea that real, traditional New Orleans Jazz had never left the city of its birth and that those who had moved to Chicago in the 1920s (King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Noone, et al) represented an innovation. Following the light of his hero, Bunk Johnson, and determined to prove his thesis, he joined the Merchant Navy and worked his way to New Orleans where he sat in with many bands, including George Lewis's.

The result, both before and after his trip, was a split within the British jazz scene between New Orleans Revivalists and New Orleans Traditionalists. However hair splitting that might sound (it actually isn't), the creative tension and dedication of the musicians involved produced decades worth of extraordinary jazz.

Chris Barber, Monty Sunshine, and other seminal figures make appearances in this video--it's a great introduction to the vitality of the professional jazz scene and what players were willing to do for their art in the UK of the '40s and '50s.

 

Sidney Bechet & Albert Nicholas with Jelly Roll Morton * September 14, 1939 * Bluebird * NYC

Oh, Didn't He Ramble
High Society
I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say
Winin' Boy Blues

Stanley De Paris, trumpet
Claude Jones, trombone, speech
Albert Nicholas, clarinet
Sidney Bechet, soprano saxophone
Happy Cauldwell, tenor saxophone
Jelly Roll Morton,  piano
Laurence Lucie, guitar
Wellman Braud, bass
Zutty Singleton, drums


Sidney Bechet plus Jelly Roll Morton equals a winning equation, no matter how you calculate it, and no matter how much tension there may have been in the studio at the time. These four tracks from September 14, 1939 serve as a quick proof. Opening up with a quote from "Flee as a Bird" for a solemn preamble, then the mock-solemn intonation...

Ashes to ashes, 
dust to dust,
if the women don't get ya
the liquor must...

...the band bursts into "Oh Didn't He Ramble", confidently swinging with a unanimous groove, each voice knowing exactly where to place himself. Bechet's soprano is comfortable, diving and singing, Stanley De Paris's trumpet well balanced (though apparently he and Bechet were not happy to find each other on the same date), and Albert Nicholas played the right supporting role along with the rest of the band before they break off for a dirge fade out.

The version of "High Society" they cut that day is of interest mostly for the rarity of hearing both Bechet (on soprano) and Albert Nicholas (on clarinet) play the "test solo." I'll let others come to their own conclusions as to who won this duel, but I think Albert delivers it more confidently and cleanly. His swagger for the last choruses of the tune seem to indicate pride in the accomplishment, and I can't help but wonder what Bechet thought of the resulting disc (it obviously didn't hurt his relationship with Nicholas, who he was to record with again, with great results).

The soprano soloing on "I Thought I heard Buddy Bolden Say" and "Winin' Boy Blues" are vintage Bechet and we are left, once again, wondering what would have happened if the association between Morton and the great soloist could have continued longer. But it wasn't to happen. Bechet had begun an engagement in Fonda, in upstate New York along the Mohawk River, and wasn't to make the return to New York City for the next session (Chilton, 123).

Just as so many of Jelly Roll's recordings sound like vignettes, so Bechet's time in the recording studio with him was just another vignette in the life of a great soloist. He would have one more recording session in 1939 as a sideman with The Haitian Orchestra, then turn his sites to leading his own band again. Perhaps the frustrations in the studio during 1939 made him realize it was time to take matters into his own hands as a leader, but whatever the impetus, 1940 would be a banner year for Bechet's legacy, and this date with Jelly Roll just a harbinger of things to come.

Further Reading:

Chilton, John. Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz. OUP, 1987.

Zammarchi, Fabrice. "Sidney Bechet". Notes to Sidney Bechet: The Complete American Masters, 1931-1953. Universal Music Classics & Jazz, France, 2011.

Nat Gonella's Georgia Jazz Band * Runnin' Wild * 1955

All of Me
Ain't Misbehavin'
Blues
Shine
Confessin'
Runnin' Wild
Satchmo Blues
Indiana
St. James Infirmary
Struttin' With Some Barbecue
On a Slow Boat to China

Nat Gonella, trumpet + vocals
Archie Semple, clarinet
Roy Crimmins, trombone
Fred Hunt, piano
Bill Reid, bass
Johnny Richardson, drums


In many ways, it's difficult to imagine this was recorded in 1955. Jazz in the USA had moved far in the direction of bop and other modern styles, and the various revival bands in America often sounded either too polished on the one hand or too broadly nostalgic on the other. A useful parallel is 1955's Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy, which, while enjoyable in many ways, gives us such broad and grandiose versions of the tunes that it can feel as though we're listening to a tribute to a bygone era rather than experiencing living music.

By contrast, Nat Gonella--a seminal figure in the British Trad Jazz scene, admittedly decisively influenced by Armstrong in his style both as a brass player and vocalist--produced a live set here that, if we set aside our preconceptions, rivals the greats of the previous generation.

I've listened to this album repeatedly for the last couple of years, ever since stumbling upon it in an Intense Media 10 disc box set filled with gems of the European Trad Jazz scene of the '50 and '60s. At first, I wasn't sure what to think of it. I'd never heard Gonella, and the immediate comparison to Armstrong was obvious. As a general rule, we're taught to be wary of imitators, and there are many good reasons for this (some of them social, racial,  economic, etc--and all of them compelling). But I found this disc impossible to ignore for long. The performances are too satisfying to leave behind. Gonella's vocal takes on tunes such as "All of Me" and "Ain't Misbehavin'" are simply among my favorites. However much they might owe to Satch, they aren't copies, but real expression. Likewise, the unflagging energy of the band--the real thing, emotionally--can be difficult to find in any era. Because this is a live date (or a series of them compiled), the band isn't as stiflingly precise as studio dates can get. There is a certain natural raggedness to the group, and the balance of the microphones isn't perfect--the wind instruments tend to overpower the rhythm section. But I wouldn't trade that for the spiritual and emotional impact of this record. It has an elusive quality not even found on many live albums: the feel of a real live gig, unpretentious and un-self-conscious.

Archie Semple's clarinet playing seems the perfect compliment to Gonella's trumpet and vocal, in that his family resemblance to Edmond Hall (undoubtedly his template) is undeniable. But like Gonella, his ideas within the style are legitimate, original, and ring emotionally true. Roy Cummins's trombone, like so many of the British Trad trombonists of that era, is full, crisp and lush simultaneously. It's gotten so that I almost prefer the sound of British Trad brass to Americans at times (and for any American jazz musician, this is not easy to admit).      

For someone raised with the preconceptions of jazz history as taught here in America, all of this raises some interesting questions: if the mainstream of jazz education and criticism will accept generation after generation of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane imitators of various levels of worthiness; if such offerings can be praised as excellent examples of legitimate jazz, why shouldn't the same level of respect be given to those who have worked in the styles developed by earlier jazz giants? If Mozart isn't derided for following in the footsteps of Haydn, Mahler isn't condemned for his learning from Wagner, or Ravel for his debt to Satie and Debussy, why should Gonella and Semple be ignored in America because they learned their art from the likes of Armstrong and Hall? Their work alone is proof that they are not merely derivative, but instead expanded the great music we have by plowing forward in the style after it had been neglected, in many ways, in its homeland.

In general, the British Trad scene of the '50s and '60s demonstrated far less of the crippling anxiety of influence and cultural baggage than Americans carried with them. This is music of vitality, and sounds as though it could have been recorded yesterday. The box I found it in, for a ridiculously low price, is highly recommended, including albums by Acker Bilk, Ken Colyer,  Terry Lightfoot, Sidney Bechet, George Lewis, and others.

Eiji Kitamura * Seven Stars * Concord Jazz CJ 217 * 1981

Avalon
Misty 
Old Lads (Eiji Kitamura, Kazuo Yashiro)
Stardust
The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
Satin Doll
Someone to Watch Over Me
I Wanna Go Home

Eiji Kitamura, clarinet
Teddy Wilson, piano
Cal Tjader, vibes ("Avalon", "Old Lads", "Satin Doll")
Ernestine Anderson, vocal (on "Someone to Watch Over Me")
Eddie Duran, guitar
Bob Maize, bass
Jake Hanna, drums

Coast Records, San Francisco, August 1981 (Released 1983)

1981 was a surprisingly good year for jazz clarinet, as it saw the release of one of Pete Fountain's best small combo recordings, Pete Fountain & Friends (Capitol Records), while Japanese clarinetist Eiji Kitamura recorded Seven Stars for Concord Jazz. Of historic significance, Kitamura's album was to be Teddy Wilson's last in arguably his finest setting: small combo work with a strong clarinet soloist.

Japanese audiences will already be familiar with Eiji Kitamura's playing, as he has had a prolific career spanning several decades, many albums, and television. For those unfamiliar with his work, though, this album serves as an impressive introduction. His playing is firmly in the Goodman-Fountain continuum, but unlike so many Goodman imitators, he is his own man. He has the blistering technique required of the style, and flashes it throughout the album, perhaps most on "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise." His tone is nicely balanced, with the biting quality needed for swing, but with it's own flavor of dusky depth in the chalumeau. He certainly has command of his style and the tunes, and while he is not a revolutionary, Kitamura is without question a confident master of swing clarinet. I was particularly grateful to hear his own tune, "Old Lads", blending so well with the rest of the set list and reminiscent of such tunes as Artie Shaw's "When the Quail Come Back From San Quentin." Kitamura's take on "Satin Doll" is one of the nicest by a jazz clarinetist on record. In it he goes from laid back to outspoken, from double time bop licks back to confident, well placed statements of melody. Likewise, his ideas on tunes like "Stardust" are never derivative,  and always interesting and original.

Teddy Wilson's playing seems to have been the perfect match for jazz clarinet. Light, yet colorful, never so dense that the texture gets weighed down; he never lost his inimitable ability to both support and step out, weaving his perfect counterpoint to the clarinet. Though he recorded with giants of the saxophone no less prestigious than Lester Young and Benny Carter, his playing never seemed as perfectly balanced, ensemble-wise as when playing with Benny Goodman, Edmond Hall, Dave Shepherd, or in this case Eiji Kitamura.

This isn't a nostalgic album. Each of the musicians approach the well known standards with vitality and a matter-of-factness that indicates their continued dedication to the music as a way of life. There is nothing earth shattering or ground breaking about the album, except perhaps the new ways in which they discover together the endless variations and potential of swing. Having said that, it's one of those albums every fan of jazz clarinet will want to know, of an excellent clarinetist deserving of greater international attention.

   

Some Thoughts on Unmixed Sound

Here are some thoughts of mine on music that popped up in my Facebook memory feed today. I thought they might just as well be shared here, as they have implications for jazz performance. I've noticed musicians like Paquito D'Rivera suggesting similar things over the last couple of years as well.

*

What would happen to our musical culture if there was a five year ban imposed upon light shows, auto tune, click tracks, concert mixing boards, and outrageous levels of artificial amplification?

The American public knows the difference between fresh food and frozen. Knows the difference between Madden and real football. Knows the difference between a real body and an airbrushed photo of a woman who had ten plastic surgeries. But most folks really have no knowledge of the difference between mixed and unmixed sound--or music done with or without producers making it sound acceptable.

Isn't it time musicians began promoting real, honest sound--coming from the actual breath or touch of the musicians?

Let's face it, folks...the real musicians in the industry are taking a pounding, economically. We're basically at the point where we have nothing to lose by being honest. So why not promote honest, real, intimate music making?

(And it's not just the pop industry that I'm talking about....) 

*

Sing for the Korg and only the Korg will love you.

#MusicalProverbs #MusicMadeByPeople

*

There's a difference between Time and Pulse.

A click track will tell you one, but can't resuscitate the other.

#MusicalProverbs #MusicMadeByPeople

Sidney Bechet and the Port of Harlem Seven * June 8, 1939 * Blue Note Records * NYC

Blues for Tommy Ladnier
Summertime
Pounding Heart Blues

Frankie Newton, trumpet
J. C.  Higgenbotham, trombone
Sidney Bechet, soprano sax & clarinet
Meade Lux Lewis, piano
Teddy Bunn, guitar
Johnny Williams, bass
Sid Catlett, drums

On June 4, 1939, Sidney Bechet's collaborator Tommy Ladnier died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 39. Like Bechet, Ladnier was a Louisiana native, against the playing of "commercial" music, known to leave better paying gigs to play the music he loved, and was attracted to the more colorblind European scene. The French critic and jazz impressario, Hugues Panassié, when on a mission to record real jazz in the United States, made a point of hunting him down in Newburgh, New York to arrange a recording session with Sidney Bechet the year before. Four days after Ladnier's death, Bechet went into the studio and cut the very first of the Blue Note records which have become such a significant part of his legacy. The Port of Harlem Seven would only have this one recording session together, but it was to be meaningful.

The first tune cut on the session was, appropriately, "Blues for Tommy Ladnier." Frankie Newton's trumpet is mellow and balanced, his solo reflectively sympathetic without becoming sentimental. Bechet too, offers his eulogy, with each band member commenting in turn before bursting into an out chorus. It's then that Newton finally allows some high notes to sound and Bechet's soprano shouts back in concurrence. The feeling isn't so much of a dirge, but of a warm, heartfelt glimpse into their appreciation of the man who had just left them.

So much has been written about Bechet's recording of "Summertime" that there is little to add. It's impossible to praise this moment in jazz history too much. Here is Bechet at zenith, his five heartbreaking choruses taking us deeper and deeper into a southern sunset, and probing the themes associated with the song: birth, death, resurrection, suffering, redemption. It's one of a handful of the most important recordings of the twentieth century, a meditation that unites thought, feeling, meaning, and soul as one.

The last of that day's recorded triptych was "Pounding Heart Blues", a traditional tune perhaps hinting, too, at Ladnier's death. The mood is solemn, respectful, reflective, bringing to a close this important moment in recorded history.

Tommy Ladnier playing was so soulful, he was nicknamed "The Praying Cornet" during his lifetime. On this session, Bechet would leave us one of his most heartfelt performances, bookended with emotionally solemn, yet warm hearted remembrances.

The Port of Harlem Seven were never to record under that name again, but they made their permanent mark on jazz history that day.

You have a problem: 

You want to drink beer, watch the Cavs game, and hear live jazz, simultaneously.

We have a solution: 

Come to Christopher's Pub. TONIGHT at 8.

Q: What's the biggest difference between drinking a beer in a 1920s speakeasy and going to hear us tonight at Christopher's Pub?

A: The feds won't bust in and arrest you.

Conclusion: It's good to live in 2017. Come celebrate the end of Prohibition with us tonight.

Sidney Bechet with Tommy Ladnier & His Orchestra * November 28, 1938 * New York City * Bluebird Records

Ja-Da
Really The Blues
When You and I Were Young, Maggie
Weary Blues

Tommy Ladnier, trumpet
Sidney Bechet, soprano sax & clarinet
Mezz Mezzrow, clarinet & tenor sax
Cliff Jackson, piano
Teddy Bunn, guitar
Elmer James, bass
Manzie Johnson, drums


Just a few weeks after his recording debut as a bandleader, Sidney Bechet returned to the studio with his old friend, Louisiana born trumpeter Tommy Ladnier, to cut some sides for RCA Bluebird label.

According to John Chilton (pg 119) this band was hand picked by Hughes Panassié , the French impressario and critic, who wanted to record top notch American jazz musicians. He hunted down Tommy Ladnier, who was then gigging halfway up the Hudson River in Newburgh, New York. Sidney Bechet had to be given permission to record with the group by Irving Mills, and only on the condition he wouldn't be billed as the leader. The resulting records were worth the humility, as they are some of the finest trad jazz sides ever cut.  

The enthusiasm is there right from the beginning of "Ja-Da." Cliff Jackson's left hand is strong hinting at the boogie woogie craze about to blow, and the band seems comfortable and happy to be together throughout the first choruses. Bechet embellishes the head on soprano saxophone, but takes his solo chorus on clarinet. There is an important lesson here for historians and others who would try to understand Bechet's musical mind, and a potential misconception to correct. I can't remember where I  first read the rumor that Sidney Bechet had abandoned clarinet for the soprano saxophone rather early on, and that he took the clarinet out in later life only because trumpet players like Wild Bill Davison or Bunk Johnson didn't think the soprano appropriate for a traditional New Orleans style front line. I'm not sure about Bunk or Wild Bill's opinions, but whatever they were, and however Bechet might have focused on soprano in the later years of his career, there is a tremendous amount of clarinet and soprano doubling that he does all throughout the '20s, '30s and '40s. Working with trumpet players as diverse as Charlie Shavers, Tommy Ladnier, Louis Armstrong, Mugsy Spanier, and even as a bandleader himself without a trumpet, Bechet routinely recorded clarinet numbers or switched off within the same tune. So for a significant part of his career, the clarinet remained a nearly equal voice with soprano sax, independent of the band in question. Because of that, I think it's probably safe to say the appearance of clarinet on any sides was most likely a decision made by Bechet himself rather than anyone else. Besides, does anyone think the psychology of Sidney Bechet was typically acquiescent to the demands of the trumpet players he worked with? He wasn't known for being obsequious.  

To get back to the recordings, though, "Really the Blues" is a classic blues drag written by Mezz Mezzrow, the feisty clarinetist whose later autobiography (bearing the same name of the tune) was to make an early case against commercialism and big band era arrangements while forcefully arguing in favor of black musicians and bands. On the head of this tune, as the two clarinetists are playing together, it's Mezz who takes the lead line, but when the solos come, we hear Bechet's soprano sax tell the story, delivering vintage soul, the band murmuring assents throughout. The tune itself is excellent, and as one of the first collaborations between Mezz and Bechet, it is important historically.

"When You and I Were Young, Maggie" is a light, toe tapping number featuring Ladnier's trumpet lead, a competent chorus by Mezzrow on tenor, and some ebullient clarinet work by Bechet to round out the cut.

The last track from this session, "Weary Blues" is one of the best known in Bechet's clarinet catalog. From the outset, Sidney's musical voice is dominant throughout, with Mezzrow shadowing in harmony, and Ladnier holding the mellow line as usual. Bechet's clarinet solo opens with growling zest, then gets to wailing with expertly controlled pitch bends--each idea unfolding naturally. The whole session had the relaxed, joyous feel of musicians who understood each other and wanted to work together.  

Stylistically, though one could glean this from any number of recordings by Bechet prior to this, these are excellent examples of Bechet's unique soloing style, which was so much more than variations on a theme. His use of rhythm, meter, playing over the bar, linking his phrases organically rather than through pattern repetition, tend to be underappreciated, generally speaking, by many in the jazz education field. The music, so far beyond conventional analysis, isn't easily taught because it was so connected to Bechet's individual soul. But if our goal is lyricism and originality, if a player wants to learn how to please and surprise an audience simultaneously and consistently throughout a solo performance, recordings like these will always be a template and guide.


Further reading:

Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz. John Chilton, OUP, NY (1987)