Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Feb. 13

Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Feb. 13

Music History Events: Jazz albums recorded Feb. 13:

Stan Kenton – The Formative Years (1942)

The Formative Years is a compilation album, often titled The Formative Years (1941-1942), that features early recordings by Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, showcasing their initial, distinctive swing sound. The tracks are primarily drawn from two sessions: September 11, 1941, and February 13, 1942. 

Tracklist:

1. El Choclo
2. Gambler’s Blues
3. Lamento Gitano (Gypsy Lament)
4. The Nango
5. Tabu (Taboo)
6. This Love of Mine
7. Reed Rapture
8. Concerto for Doghouse
9. Adiós 

The recordings highlight Kenton’s early ability to blend traditional swing with Latin influences and his signature, driving orchestral sound.

Personnel (1942 Sessions):

• Piano/Leader: Stan Kenton
• Saxophones: Claude Lakey (alto), Jack Ordean (alto), Ted Romersa (alto), Bob Gioga (baritone)
• Bass: Howard Rumsey
• Drums: Marvin George
• Guitar: Al Costi
• Vocals: Red Doris 

Sonny Rollins – The Bridge (1962)

The Bridge is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded in 1962. It was Rollins’s first release following a three-year sabbatical and was his first album for RCA Victor. The saxophonist was joined by the musicians with whom he recorded for the next segment of his career: Jim Hall on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Ben Riley on drums.

Track listing:

"Without a Song" (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 7:26
"Where Are You?" (Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh) – 5:10
"John S." (Sonny Rollins) – 7:46
"The Bridge" (Sonny Rollins) – 5:59
"God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) – 7:27
"You Do Something to Me" (Cole Porter) – 6:51

Personnel:

Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
Jim Hall – guitar
Bob Cranshaw – bass
Ben Riley – drums (all but track 5)
Harry "H.T." Saunders – drums (track 5 only)

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Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba (1962)

Jazz Samba is a bossa nova album by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd, released by Verve Records in 1962. Jazz Samba signaled the beginning of the bossa nova craze in America. Stan Getz was the featured soloist and the tracks were arranged by Charlie Byrd, who had first heard bossa nova during a tour of Brazil in 1961.

Getz and Byrd were accompanied by two bassists: Keter Betts and Joe Byrd, Charlie Byrd’s brother who also played guitar. They were joined by two drummers: Buddy Deppenschmidt and Bill Reichenbach. The album was recorded at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C., on February 13, 1962, and released in April of that year.

Two songs, “Desafinado” (Off Key or Out of Tune) and “Samba de Uma Nota Só” (One Note Samba) were composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and were released as singles in the U.S. and Europe. Charlie Byrd wrote one song, “Samba Dees Days”, while the rest were by Brazilian composers. The painting on the cover is by Olga Albizu.

Stan Getz won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for “Desafinado”, and went on to make many other bossa nova recordings, notably with João Gilberto and Astrud Gilberto and the popular song “The Girl from Ipanema“. “Desafinado” was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, while Jazz Samba was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

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Track listing:

Side one

1. “Desafinado” (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça) — 5:51
2. “Samba Dees Days” (Charlie Byrd) – 3:34
3. “O Pato” (Jayme Silva, Neuza Teixeira) – 2:31
4. “Samba Triste” (Baden Powell, Billy Blanco) – 4:47

Side two

1. “Samba de Uma Nota Só” (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça) – 6:11
2. “É Luxo Só” (Ary Barroso) – 3:40
3. “Bahia” (aka ‘Baia’) (Ary Barroso) – 6:38

Bonus track on CD reissue

1. “Desafinado” (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça) 45 rpm issue – 2:00

Personnel:

• Stan Getz – tenor saxophone
• Charlie Byrd – guitar
• Gene Byrd – guitar, bass
• Keter Betts – double bass
• Buddy Deppenschmidt – drums, percussion
• Bill Reichenbach Sr. – drums, percussion

Barney Kessel – Feeling Free (1969)

Feeling Free is an album by guitarist Barney Kessel recorded in 1969 and released on the Contemporary label. The album marked a brief return to the label before Kessel embarked on an extended stay in Europe.

Track listing

All compositions by Barney Kessel except as indicated

"Moving Up" - 5:14
"Blue Grass" - 9:24
"This Guy's in Love with You" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) - 5:14
"Blues up, Down and All Around" - 8:21
"The Sound of Silence" (Paul Simon) - 7:39
"Two Note Samba" - 4:55

Personnel

Barney Kessel - guitar
Bobby Hutcherson - vibraphone
Chuck Domanico - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

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Phineas Newborn Jr. – Harlem Blues (1969)

Harlem Blues is an album by American jazz pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. recorded in 1969 but not released on the Contemporary label until 1975. The album was recorded at the same sessions that produced Please Send Me Someone to Love.

0:00:02 H̲a̲r̲l̲e̲m̲ ̲B̲l̲u̲e̲s̲ 0:04:13 ̲S̲w̲e̲e̲t̲ ̲A̲n̲d̲ ̲L̲o̲v̲e̲l̲y̲ 0:11:49 ̲L̲i̲t̲t̲l̲e̲ ̲G̲i̲r̲l̲ ̲B̲l̲u̲e̲ 0:18:06 ̲R̲a̲y̲’̲s̲ ̲I̲d̲e̲a̲ 0:23:32 ̲S̲t̲e̲l̲l̲a̲ ̲B̲y̲ ̲S̲t̲a̲r̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ 0:29:30 ̲T̲e̲n̲d̲e̲r̲l̲y̲ 0:35:30 ̲C̲o̲o̲k̲i̲n̲’̲ ̲A̲t̲ ̲T̲h̲e̲ ̲C̲o̲n̲t̲i̲n̲e̲n̲t̲a̲l̲

Track listing

"Harlem Blues" (Phineas Newborn Jr.) – 4:12
"Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Arnheim, Jules LeMare, Harry Tobias) – 7:38
"Little Girl Blue" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 6:14
"Ray's Idea" (Ray Brown, Gil Fuller) – 5:21
"Stella by Starlight" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 6:02
"Tenderly" (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) – 5:55
"Cookin' at the Continental" (Horace Silver) – 3:07

Personnel

Phineas Newborn Jr. – piano
Ray Brown – bass
Elvin Jones – drums

Mary Lou Williams – Mary Lou’s Mass (1970)

Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions).

Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie.

She has been noted for her 1954 conversion to Catholicism, which led to a musical hiatus and a later transformation in the nature of her music. She continued to perform and work as a philanthropist, educator, and youth mentor until her death from bladder cancer in 1981.

All other titles recorded early 1970 – formerly issued on Mary Lou Williams – “Music For Peace”.

Entire album remixed and remastered at Media Sound, NYC 1975.

Over the course of her nearly 60-year career, Mary Lou Williams was like a Swiss army knife of jazz, having a go at just about every movement between ragtime and free jazz. This lifelong musical exploration culminated in a devotion to ecclesiastical music; most of her later recordings are spiritually informed (Black Christ of the Andes and Zoning, two other excellent recent Smithsonian Folkways reissues, are excellent examples).

Mary Lou Williams’ spirituality awakening happened most suddenly in 1954 when, at the age of 44, she walked off a Parisian stage in the middle of a performance. She disappeared for three years and reemerged as a confirmed Catholic who would spend much of the rest of her life spreading the twin gospels of music and the Lord. These two passions meet to great effect on Mary Lou’s Mass, a long out-of-print, papally commissioned suite that showcases some of Williams’ most personal and mature work.

Blending late-’60s funk, show-tune quality cabaret singing and biblical scripture, Mass is often shocking in its commingling of styles: “Lamb of God” is Williams’ successful attempt at writing a modern Gregorian chant; “Lazarus” uncannily juxtaposes a jaunty guitar melody over bassist Carline Ray’s vocals retelling of the scripture; “It Is Always Spring” sets inspired back-and-forth play between Williams’ piano and soloist Roger Glenn’s flute underneath Leon Thomas’ wordless yodeling.

Some songs represent more genre-homogenous explorations, such as the authentic Southern gospel flavor of “The Lord Says” or the rousing bop of “Willis,” but every take snaps with innovation and life. This sumptuous and richly annotated re-release is long overdue and utterly praiseworthy.

Herb Ellis/Joe Pass – Two for the Road (1974)

Two for the Road is an album by jazz guitarists Herb Ellis and Joe Pass that was released in 1974. It was the third and last album that they recorded together.

Tracklist: 1 L̲o̲v̲e̲ ̲F̲o̲r̲ ̲S̲a̲l̲e̲ 0:00:00 2 ̲C̲a̲r̲n̲i̲v̲a̲l̲ ̲(̲M̲a̲n̲h̲ã̲ ̲D̲e̲ ̲C̲a̲r̲n̲a̲v̲a̲l̲)̲ 0:04:50 3 ̲A̲m̲ ̲I̲ ̲B̲l̲u̲e̲ 0:08:20 4 ̲S̲e̲v̲e̲n̲ ̲C̲o̲m̲e̲ ̲E̲l̲e̲v̲e̲n̲ 0:11:30 5 ̲G̲u̲i̲t̲a̲r̲ ̲B̲l̲u̲e̲s̲ 0:16:04 6 ̲O̲h̲ ̲L̲a̲d̲y̲,̲ ̲B̲e̲ ̲G̲o̲o̲d̲ 0:18:54 7 ̲C̲h̲e̲r̲o̲k̲e̲e̲ ̲(̲C̲o̲n̲c̲e̲p̲t̲ ̲I̲)̲ 0:22:53 8 ̲C̲h̲e̲r̲o̲k̲e̲e̲ ̲(̲C̲o̲n̲c̲e̲p̲t̲ ̲I̲I̲)̲ 0:25:43 9 ̲S̲e̲u̲l̲b̲ 0:29:52 10 ̲G̲e̲e̲ ̲B̲a̲b̲y̲,̲ ̲A̲i̲n̲’̲t̲ ̲I̲ ̲G̲o̲o̲d̲ ̲T̲o̲ ̲Y̲o̲u̲ 0:33:17 11 ̲T̲r̲y̲ ̲A̲ ̲L̲i̲t̲t̲l̲e̲ ̲T̲e̲n̲d̲e̲r̲n̲e̲s̲s̲ 0:35:45 12 ̲I̲’̲v̲e̲ ̲F̲o̲u̲n̲d̲ ̲A̲ ̲N̲e̲w̲ ̲B̲a̲b̲y̲ 0:38:05 13 ̲A̲n̲g̲e̲l̲ ̲E̲y̲e̲s̲ 0:42:05

Personnel:

Herb Ellis – guitar
Joe Pass – guitar

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