An obit, two fave new reissues, and this week’s birthdays.
One of the greats of Kansas City jazz, pianist/bandleader McShann had a lengthy career filled with great blues-infused music-making, but will always be most remembered for hiring Charlie Parker, who made his recording debut in 1941 on McShann’s record “Hootie Blues” (Hootie being McShann’s nickname).
This album, originally on Philips, compiled material from a number of 1964-65 sessions, possibly outtakes, but it’s pretty good anyway. “Four Women” is one of Simone’s most moving originals, deftly outlining the struggles of black women. For all the variety of instrumentation, ranging from a solo reading of “If I Should Lose You” to quartet arrangements (including the traditional “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” gaining a whole new layer of meaning here) to full orchestrations by Horace Ott, everything coheres because of Simone’s inimitable voice and the overall pensive tone. A classic late-night program.
The revival of ESP has brought not only the umpteenth reissues of old favorites (though at least now they’re legit), but some previously unreleased albums, notably this gem. Wright may not have been a household name, but for fans of high-energy free jazz sax, he ranks in the pantheon of the greats. His intense sound was Ayler-influenced, but his tone on tenor is even bigger and bolder. This quartet concert recording from 1974 finds him with his usual group of the time: pianist Bobby Few, bassist Alan Silva, and drummer Muhammad Ali. They create quite a ruckus; this remained “in the can” for over three decades not because of any lack of quality, but because of the label’s struggles. It’s fully up to the high standards of most of Wright’s work.
12/10
Olivier Messiaen – 1908
A French Catholic mystic who took Impressionism to its limits, Messiaen may also be the only French classical composer with a cartoon character named for his most famous work (thank you Matt Groening for Futurama). His Turangalîla Symphony, an epic work in 10 movements, has to be the most eccentric symphony ever to achieve 10 recordings. Written in the years following World War II on a remarkably open commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, its title is Sanskrit (meaning, very approximately, “game of love,” but also denoting a rhythmic pattern in ancient Hindu music) and its inspiration is the Tristan and Isolde (or Yseult) legend of transcendent love. Despite its worldwide ingredients, it is prototypically French, utilizing the cyclical structure beloved of 20th century French symphonists and emphasizing orchestral color. Recommended recordings are those conducted by Kent Nagano, Andre Previn, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Antoni Wit.
12/11
Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton – 1926
Thornton didn’t write “Hound Dog” (it was written either by Johnny Otis, whose band backed Thornton at the session, or the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who penned a number of her Peacock sides), but it was a massive hit for her in 1953, when it topped the R&B chart for seven weeks. Sure, three years later Elvis Presley kept it at #1 on the pop chart for 11 weeks (a double-sided hit with “Don’t Be Cruel”), but Thornton’s version has more spirit and energy. Her most famous songwriting effort, “Ball and Chain,” also achieved rock success when Janis Joplin sang it with Big Brother & the Holding Company (their album cover, painted by comics great/roots music aficionado Robert Crumb, included a nod to Thornton).
David Gates – 1939
Gates was the focal point of Bread thanks to his soft-rock ballads, which earned the group all 12 of its Top 40 hits (the first, “Make It with You,” hit #1). Before Bread, Gates earned footnotes in rock history by writing “Popsicles and Icicles” (#3 for the Murmaids in 1963) and producing Captain Beefheart’s A&M session (prior to Beefheart’s first LP). After Bread, Gates had a successful solo run highlighted by the theme for the Neil Simon film Goodbye Girl. In recent years he has applied his talents to country music.
12/12
Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra – 1915
The one, the only. Even after his voice lost its youthful sheen, he was such a great interpreter of songs that he remained at the top.
Joe Williams (Joseph Goreed) – 1918
Another darn good singer. The suave Williams had already had a minor hit with “Every Day I Have the Blues” when he teamed with the Count Basie big band starting in 1954. After the big band slump that started during World War II, Basie was trying to move forward into the new era with a redefinition of his sound, shifting from the earthy improvised arrangements and powerfully shouted vocals of Jimmy Rushing to polished arrangements and more urbane vocals, and Williams fit perfectly. The first LP of their collaboration, the immortal Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Swings (Verve), contained a new recording of “Every Day I Have the Blues” that did much better this time around, hitting #2 on the R&B chart. He stayed with Basie until 1961, with another highlight of their collaboration coming with Memories Ad Lib (Roulette), an intimate session with Williams accompanied by the Basie rhythm section.
Tony Williams – 1945
In the Miles Davis Quintet, Williams transformed jazz drumming. As the leader of Lifetime, he made one of the few great fusion albums.
12/13
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter – 1948
An extremely talented guitarist, Baxter joined the final lineup of the notorious Boston psych band Ultimate Spinach but achieved much greater things when he became an original member of Steely Dan. His solos on “My Old School” are especially imaginative; the last one goes into the fadeout, and I used to turn up the volume to hear as much of it as possible. I’ve always wondered what happened next that we weren’t privileged to hear. Then he moved to the Doobie Brothers and made them a lot more musically interesting than they’d been. In a bizarre twist, he became a military weapons expert and was hired by the Bush administration in 2001 as defense analyst.
12/14
Lindley Armstrong “Spike” Jones – 1911
Spike Jones was the arguably the wildest and definitely the funniest of the musical humorists. With his top-notch band, the City Slickers, he parodied the pop hits of the day by inserting weird sounds, deconstructed well-known classical pieces, and constructed hilarious originals often featuring the oddball narrations of Doodles Weaver. And Jones was a talented “straight” drummer; that’s him playing brushes on Bing Crosby’s famous recording of “White Christmas.”
12/15
John Hammond – 1910
Probably the greatest A&R man ever, Hammond had a great ear for talent. He was instrumental in the rises to fame of Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Charlie Christian, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen.
Dave Clark – 1942
The Dave Clark Five’s “Glad All Over” knocked the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the British charts in 1964, and in the U.S. were one of the most commercially successful of the British Invasion bands. They had seventeen U.S. Top 40 hits in four years, all but three of them in the Top 20. Unusually, Clark was a non-singing drummer (the band’s lead singer was Mike Smith); he was no slacker, though, also managing and producing the band. Even more unusually – especially for the time – he astutely retained the rights to the band’s music and got a very good royalty rate.
Paul Simonon – 1956
Bassist of the Clash, and thus a god among men. Later he formed Havana 3 A.M..
12/16
Ludwig van Beethoven – 1770
Beethoven was one of the most revolutionary and influential composers in history. By expanding the range of acceptable harmonies and the breadth of musical forms, he spurred the shift from the Classical style to the Romantic era. Not only were many subsequent composers in awe of Beethoven’s powers, his music became such an integral part of Western culture that even people who know practically nothing about classical music can recognize the “da-da-da dum” opening of his Fifth Symphony. His Ninth Symphony, which innovatively culminates in a choral setting of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” is a symbol of human brotherhood. His mighty symphonic works made high-art music a matter not just for the entertainment of the wealthy and privileged but also the enlightenment of the masses.
Billy Gibbons – 1949 (one of several birth dates listed for Gibbons)
The iconic guitarist of ZZ Top was already an acknowledged virtuoso in 1968, when his psych band the Moving Sidewalks toured with Jimi Hendrix, who began touting Gibbons to the press.
