100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#4) Artie Shaw Live in 1939

#4 - Artie Shaw * 'The Carioca' * Live in 1939


The unity of Artie Shaw's whole concept--from his expressive development of the altissimo register of the clarinet, to the clear band arrangements, slotting the instruments perfectly and giving space for his counterpoint--is on display from this 1939 air check. Add to that an all star crew that included a young Buddy Rich drumming and chirping the band on, and you've got one of the jazz tunes everyone should hear...

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#3) Pete Fountain Live in Santa Monica 1961

#3 - Pete Fountain 'Tin Roof Blues' Live in Santa Monica 1961

As I wrote in an album review a couple of years back, this performance of 'Tin Roof Blues' is something special:

One of several high points in the album is the 4 minute 46 second masterpiece that is 'Tin Roof Blues.' Jack Sperling's swung triplet blues pattern on drums and Stan Wrightsman's piano soul set the table for Pete's slow, unfolding blues--one of the finest captured on record, in my opinion. Like Bechet on 'Blue Horizon', Pete begins in the chalumeau and patiently climbs, singing sweetly, letting the band push, then pushing himself, the discussion between the musicians leading to an full, insistent, even piercing altissimo climax that perfectly utilizes the unique expressive power of the clarinet. This is one of those recordings that truly demonstrates the capacity of clarinet among other blues instruments.

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

National Bobblehead Day

Apparently January 7th is designated "National Bobblehead Day" by whatever authority is capable of proclaiming it. All over social media, those of us who have bobbleheads are supposed to share our favorites. Well I don't own many, but of the ones I have, this is clearly the favorite!

Pete Fountain Bobblehead
Eric Seddon Collection

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#2)

#2 - Bootie's Blues, Count Basie 'On the Road' live at Montreux 1979

Released on a relatively obscure live album by Count Basie late in his career, "Bootie's Blues" features journeyman trombone man and plunger-master Mitchell "Bootie" Wood. A native of Dayton, OH, Wood was in and out of the jazz business from the 1930s until his death in 1987. Over the course of those years he performed and recorded with many great bands, but most notably Ellington and Basie. 

This performance features Wood's plunger and blues mastery. Particularly invigorating is his intensity ramping up to the big brass climax of the number. 

Footnote: throughout this series, I'm going to try to prioritize live recordings that are not necessarily well known. Of course I'll throw in some war horses now and then (because they're great or they wouldn't be war horses) but I'd like a tune like "Bootie's Blues" to be typical--just a great number that many might have missed. I've also always thought that live jazz is the best. Despite the many great studio recordings out there, jazz is ultimately a communal and interactive art form--not just between musicians, but with the audience as well. The intensity Wood generates on this number wouldn't have been possible without the audience.    

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#1)

This isn't a comprehensive list, nor do I claim these are the "most important" or "best", but following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest are "beyond category", I'm going to start 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes that I love, and feel everyone should have the chance to hear.

Since Duke has been a guiding light to the idea, let's start with his live version of 'Take the A Train' in 1957. Though the studio version is excellent, and a must-listen in itself, this particular live version has such verve and meaning -- I particularly love how Harry Carney's baritone sax comes through, almost like he's leading from the bottom. It also gives a snapshot of the Ellington band on an average night in the late 50s; an era when it was difficult to keep a Big Band on the road or together at all. The commitment of the musicians shines through.  

Why Would Anyone Bother Playing Jazz?

Why would anyone bother playing jazz?

This is a question that inevitably comes up, maybe continuously, in the life of a jazz musician. We don't get paid enough for all the work we put in, we have a hard time getting audience; even if our work is praised, admired, and recognized by our peers and knowledgeable critics it doesn't guarantee we'll have a gig next week, or any week after that.

So why do it? Why bother putting in so much work for such bad hours and bad pay? Why put yourself out there so vulnerably after decades of learning and training, just to have some crank who knows nothing about music plug their ears at a bar, or a restaurant owner say he wants to throttle you (just because he feels like kicking someone that night and he knows he won't have to deal with you tomorrow or ever again), or a drunk heckle you, or a gig fall through because of any number of things....why bother?

Well, the question has been asked and answered many ways. But beyond every argument of culture, beauty, aesthetics, and musical theory, there lies, I think, this fundamental reality:

The jazz musician is in some ways a profound demonstration, even a type of living proof, that the human person is a unity of body, soul, and spirit. All three are active in the performance of jazz, and virtuosity of some sort is demanded of them when the music is accomplished at the highest level. In a society that is constantly tempted to deny or degrade one of those three elements (body, soul, or spirit), it is predictable that the jazz musician would be devalued. Paradoxically, that doesn't make us less necessary, but more.

Beyond this, I can only say that there is a more mysterious layer to it all. What keeps us going? Is it the moment in a dive bar when everything stops and even the bus boys are listening, then suddenly burst into applause at the end of a gut wrenching blues solo? Is it the shared experience that turns bitter men into brothers on stage by the end of a gig? Is it a need to feel that unity in ourselves? Yes to all of it. But also, in the words of Sidney Bechet, we keep playing simply because we can. I guess that puts demands on us too, and a responsibility we can't shirk.

Cleveland's BOP STOP Named #1 Jazz Club in America

Congratulations to Cleveland's legendary BOP STOP for having been named the #1 Jazz Club in America and the #2 in the World in the All About Jazz Readers Poll! I'm very proud to have recorded my band's live album -- Bootlegs from the Bop Stop --there in the Fall of 2017!

In the Fall of 2017, my band Eric Seddon's Hot Club was given the rare opportunity to lead a six concert history of jazz clarinet. At the time we jokingly called it the Trad Jazz Invasion, and were deeply grateful for the enthusiasm and support of the manager, Gabe Pollack, for giving us the opportunity and sticking with us for that entire season. We were so happy with the sound of the room and some of the performances captured by friends that we released Eric Seddon's Hot Club "Bootlegs from the Bop Stop" in 2018. You can order your copy of the album here. 

As an interesting note, only the Kozlov Club in Moscow topped the Bop Stop globally. This isn't much of surprise to me, as so many of our readers are from the Russian Federation. perhaps we'll have to do a second live album there!