by Scott Yanow,
Don Byas (1912-72) was one of the top tenor-saxophonists of all time yet he is often overlooked in jazz history books. Byas was originally strongly influenced by Coleman Hawkins before matching and some would say surpassing him by the mid-1940s He worked with many bands in the 1930s, began to record in 1939, and was a top soloist with Count Basie during 1941-43. During 1943-46, Byas was featured as both a leader and a sideman on many swing dates and some significant bop sessions including with Dizzy Gillespie. But then, after touring with Don Redman’s all-star orchestra in Europe starting in Sept. 1946, he decided to permanently stay overseas. Living in Paris, Barcelona, and from the early 1950s on in the Netherlands, he only returned to the U.S. once and not until 1970.
In his biography Sax Expat (University Press of Mississippi, 236 pages), Con Chapman tells the full story of Don Byas’ life and career. One learns that Byas was actually born as Carlos Wesley Byas, using the name Don Byas onstage because he liked the sound of it. His childhood and musical experiences of the late 1920s and ‘30s (which have rarely been written about) are covered in full as is his Basie period. Not always an admirable individual, Byas’ early and often-tumultuous experiences with women are related as are discussions of his musical influences (Art Tatum was an important one), his lifestyle, his busy mid-1940s period, and his relationships with Mary Lou Williams, trumpeter Bill Coleman, and Ben Webster among others. Byas’ decision to leave the United States does not seem to be racially-motivated (at least he always claimed that racism had nothing to do with it) and might have just been him wanting a more relaxed lifestyle. He had many hobbies outside of music and living as a happily married man in the Netherlands gave him a lot of time off. Byas kept reasonably busy in the 1950s although the ‘60s were generally a slower period and his consumption of alcohol gradually caught up with him during his later years.
Con Chapman’s well-researched, definitive and very readable biography on Don Byas fills an important gap in jazz history and is highly recommended. It is available from www.upress.state.ms.us
While Art Pepper (1925-82) had a difficult and erratic life with jail sentences dividing his career into two, somehow he never made an unworthy recording. No matter what shape he was in, every time he was recorded (even during live dates) the alto-saxophonist sounded brilliant.
There have been quite a few posthumous releases of previously unissued Pepper performances with nearly all of them being from his later period (1975-82). The four-CD set Everything Happens To Me (Omnivore OVCD-607) is an exception. Recorded at a club in Vancouver, British Columbia in Sept. 1959, Pepper is featured on no less than 30 songs. Six are incomplete with fadeouts but in most cases they include nearly all of the music that was played.
Pepper is joined by an excellent if not overly distinctive rhythm section comprised of pianist Chris Gage, bassist Tony Clitheroe, and drummer George Ursan.
This is Art Pepper at his bebop best, before he was influenced by John Coltrane, had his longest jail sentences, and started really stretching himself emotionally in his playing. He digs into the music (mostly standards and blues), swings hard, and never seems to run short of creative ideas within the bebop tradition. Pepper, who plays tenor on “What Is This Thing Called Love” and possibly one or two other numbers in a similar style, is in typically top form for the period, the recording quality is excellent, and the rhythm section works well with him.
Art Pepper fans will have to pick up this classic set which is available from www.omnivorerecordings.com and www.amazon.com. It is remarkable that it took over 66 years for it to be released.
THE LATEST REISSUES FROM ZEV FELDMAN
Zev Feldman, who I call “the Sherlock Holmes of jazz” but is often billed as “The Jazz Detective,” travels around the world unearthing vintage live recordings by jazz greats. For the recent Record Store Day, he came out with no less than 11 releases of mostly new music. In addition to the previously unreleased performances which capture all of the artists in their prime, each set has a definitive booklet filled with insightful writing, interviews with the surviving musicians, close relatives, and contemporary players, and photos. Here are reviews of four of the sets, each featuring major pianists.
Mal Waldron (1925-2002) always had a brooding style, inspired to an extent by Thelonious Monk but very much playing in his own voice. He was the house pianist for Prestige Records in the late 1950s and appeared on many of their albums, often writing much of the music. Billie Holiday’s regular accompanist during 1957-59 and the composer of “Soul Eyes” (which John Coltrane made famous), Waldron was on the famous Five Spot recordings by the Booker Little-Eric Dolphy Quintet. A drug overdose in 1963 resulted in a serious injury which resulted in him temporarily losing the ability to play music. Starting from scratch, it took him nearly two years but he made a full comeback, playing in a similar but more brooding style, one that often utilized repetition and could be quite downbeat in its mood. Waldron, who moved permanently to Europe in 1965, made regular visits back to the U.S. for performances and occasional recordings.
Stardust & Starlight At The Jazz Showcase (Resonance HCD-2087) is a single disc that features Waldron in 1979 at Chicago’s legendary Jazz Showcase. He performs five standards and two of his originals (“All Alone” and “Fire Waltz”) either as a soloist or in a trio with bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Wilbur Campbell. The tempos are all slow except for “Stella By Starlight” (which utilizes some of Waldron’s trademark repetitions) and the moods ranges from mildly happy (“It Could Happen To You”) to a bit desolate including on a nearly unrecognizable “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm.” Waldron’s chord voicings are completely his own (as is particularly obvious on “’Round Midnight”) and the overall results are quite thought-provoking.
The final two songs on the CD are showcases for altoist Sonny Stitt, who was also appearing at the Jazz Showcase that week. Stitt is accompanied by Waldron’s trio on two ballads: “Old Folks” and “Stardust.” The saxophonist caresses the melodies between typically outstanding double-time bebop runs with Waldron heard here just in a quiet supportive role. While those numbers have little to do with the first seven performances, they serve as a bonus for the release.
Also emanating from the Jazz Showcase is the masterful Ahmad Jamal (1930-2023) on the two-CD set Live In Chicago (Resonance HCD-2085) which dates from 1976. While Jamal’s style had evolved since the 1950s when his use of space and gentle melodic playing was an inspiration for Miles Davis, he still engaged in tight interplay with his trio which at this time included bassist John Heard and drummer Frank Gant. Jamal’s playing by the 1970s was more explorative than it had been earlier (and shows what seems to be the influence of McCoy Tyner at times) and his emotional range had expanded quite a bit while still retaining the essence of his unique style. He stretches out on nine songs which, other than the relatively brief “A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square,” range in time from 8:27 to the 21-minutes of “Swahilland.” Jamal plays personal and inventive versions of seven standards (including “Wave,” “Theme From M*A*S*H,” and “Dolphin Dance’) and two originals; “Swahilland” (which sometimes quotes “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”) and “Ahmad’s Song.” His playing is unpredictable and often quite dramatic, the pianist covers many moods (sometimes within the same piece), and his trio is tight under his command. Even on a piece such as “Sophisticated Lady” where Jamal states the melody throughout at a relaxed pace, his flourishes, harmonies, percussive ideas, and consistently surprising commentary make the results quite fascinating and original. While he was always an individual player, it is fair to say that by the 1970s, no one really sounded like Ahmad Jamal.
Both the Mal Waldron and Ahmad Jamal releases are available from www.resonancerecords.org and www.amazon.com.
It is fair to say that pianist Cecil Taylor brought jazz improvisation to its extreme. Jazz had a race towards freedom during 1920-70 with one style quickly “replacing” the previous one. With the rise of Ornette Coleman in the late 1950s, Sun Ra, and the “liberation” of John Coltrane and others from utilizing repeated chord structures, avant-garde jazz became a major force by the mid-1960s. Cecil Taylor (1929-2018), whose early influences were Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and (surprisingly) Dave Brubeck, along with aspects of modern classical music, developed a courageous and fearless method of playing music that was full of high energy and atonal outbursts. Although he made some noteworthy recordings in the 1960s, work was often scarce for him during that decade and it was not until 1973 that his career started becoming a little more secure.
The two-CD set Fragments (Elemental Music 5990455) features his two performances at the Paris Jazz Festival from Nov. 3, 1969. At that time Taylor’s longtime trio with altoist Jimmy Lyons and drummer Andrew Cyrille was expanded to a quartet with the addition of Sam Rivers on tenor, soprano and flute. Consisting of two very lengthy (clocking in at over 49 and 92 minutes) and mostly free improvisations, which actually contained a bit of written music titled “Fragments Of A Dedication To Duke Ellington” (Duke’s 70th birthday took place that year), it is fair to say that the music sounds nothing like Ellington’s. The very intense playing is unrelenting whether featuring the full group, Taylor in duets with Cyrille, or short solos from Rivers and Lyons (who is a bit under recorded). The pianist’s playing sometimes sounds like a thunderstorm with plenty of lightning.
If one accepts Cecil Taylor’s powerful and often-ferocious music on its own terms, there is much to marvel at and savor during these performances, with some magical moments such as the last five minutes of the evening set. Just do not expect this to be swinging bebop!
Bill Evans (1929-80), like Taylor, helped move jazz’s evolution forward although he took it down a different path. Evans and McCoy Tyner have been the main influences on acoustic jazz pianists from the early 1960s on, replacing Bud Powell who dominated the 1950s. Evans’ chord voicings and interaction with his rhythm section have been echoed by a countless number of later pianists. His playing has helped to define the jazz mainstream for the past 65 years. At The BBC (Elemental 5990458) is the 15th Evans project that producer Zev Feldman has worked on. Evans is featured on a pair of half-hour television shows for the British series Jazz 625 along with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker. Both programs were filmed on Mar. 19, 1965 and, while the shows have been released on videos, this is the first time that the music has been legitimately released on a CD.
While the trio with Israels and Bunker may not have been as innovative as the earlier one with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian, it swung hard and was a superior outlet for where Evans was as a pianist at the time. With veteran trumpeter-bandleader Humphrey Lyttelton as the genial host, the trio performs such Bill Evans standards as “Elsa,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” a beautiful rendition of “My Foolish Heart, “Israel,” and uptempo versions of “Someday My Prince Will Come” (which really cooks) and “How Deep Is The Ocean” among other songs.
The Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans releases are available from www.elemental-music.com and www.amazon.com.
UPCOMING
Flutist Lori Bell will be performing at Sam First (6171 W. Century Blvd, #180, Los Angeles, CA 90045 424-800-2006) on Thursday May 14th in a trio with pianist Josh Nelson and bassist Luca Alemanno; the performances are set to take place at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Ms. Bell, who has led 13 CDs through the years including her most recent release, Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson, will be performing standards, ballads and originals.
Catalina Bar & Grill (323-466-2210) has a strong lineup this month including singer Stacey Kent (Sunday May 10th), Veronica Swift (Saturday & Sunday May 23-24), and the Billy Childs Trio (Friday & Saturday May 29-30).
In addition, one should not miss the great guitarist Pat Metheny who will be at Disney Hall on Monday May 4.
Every recording deserves informative liner notes (I have written 1,005) and every jazz musician needs a well-written press biography along with press releases that announce important events. I write all of these and more at reasonable rates. Please contact me at 661-678-3542 or at scottyanowjazz@yahoo.com for further information about my services. My latest book, Jazz Through The Eyes Of A Jazz Journalist (My Jazz Memoirs) is available at www.amazon.com.
My latest book, Jazz Through The Eyes Of A Jazz Journalist (My Jazz Memoirs) is available at www.amazon.com.
I have a new book that is available from amazon.com. Life Through The Eyes Of A Jazz Journalist. It is subtitled My Jazz Memoirs and is my 12th book and first in a few years. I discuss in an often-humorous fashion my early days and discovery of jazz, my period as the jazz editor of Record Review, the story behind my involvement with the All Music Guide, and I reminisce about some of my adventures as an amateur musician. Included are vintage interviews with Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, and Maynard Ferguson, encounters with Clint Eastwood, summaries of the Monterey and Playboy Jazz Festivals (including a full-length review of the 1985 Playboy Festival), memories of other events (such as the IAJE Conventions), and brief snapshots of many memorable club and concert performances. There is also background information about my other books, evaluations of the jazz critics who inspired me early on, and my thoughts on jazz criticism which includes advice to up-and-coming jazz journalists. Rounding out the book is a chapter on how the jazz writing business has changed over the past 50 years, and appendixes that include the jazz greats of the past, 86 jazz giants of today, 21 young performers to look for in the future, jazz books and DVDs that everyone should own, and a dozen enjoyable Hollywood jazz films.
Life Through The Eyes Of A Jazz Journalist, a paperback book, sells for $26 through Amazon.com Signed copies (which will take 2-3 weeks) are also available for $30 (which includes free postage) by sending the money via Pay Pal to scottyanowjazz@yahoo.com and by sending your mailing address to that E-mail.