Billie Holiday – Broadcast Performances

THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF BILLIE HOLIDAY'S BIRTH

★★★★

   Billie Holiday was first great jazz vocalist. Many believe she is the greatest jazz vocalist ever. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 7th, 1915 as Eleanora Fagan, she took her name after  her father, a jazz guitarist who left her and her mother whom he never marriage. Her childhood and youth were extremely difficult, she experienced attempted rape, work in a brothel, heroin addiction – she was living on the edge being poor teenager as well as famous artist. She was complex but free and honest. In her own words, “I never hurt nobody but myself and that's nobody's business but my own”, we can feel the same personality as in 1939 song Strange Fruit.
   She was active in era of swing, bebop and cool, and recognized by every era style setters she was one of modern musicians showing interpretative skills and great sensitiveness over the borderlines. She became first vocalist in history of jazz who was conscious partner to instrumentalists. Her style, the way she was using voice and interpreting music created whole new spectrum of musical phenomena in more than two decades from late thirties to her premature death in 1959. She was swing era singer with some elements of modern jazz, especially cool style looks close considering the way she was restraining her improvisations to interpretative changes of melodic motifs only.

Billie Holiday – Broadcast Performances (1975)

   In series of archive recordings ESP Disk published in 1973 third volume Broadcast Performances 1956-1958. Material of this album was republished two years later in Poland, giving Lady Day first phonographic presentation in Eastern Europe. This Polish edition under the national label of Polskie Nagrania (SX 1269) was titled eponymously Billie Holiday. One small change in program was moving last song from second side When Your Lover has Gone (rec. in Newark, NJ July 25th, 1958) to the end of first side. This changed chronological order of original album. Performed during the same radio broadcast Moaning Low and Don’t Explain are ending the second side of the record.
   Opening second side Fine and Mellow is groundbreaking take recorded in New York City December 8th, 1957 for the telecast The Sound of Jazz. This recording shows solos of three great tenor saxophonists Ben Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, trombonist Vic Dickenson and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. This song gives a chance for some solos showing how alive was jazz in 1956, decade after swing ended with bebop and in time of cool and hard bop new perspectives.

Billie Holiday - Fine and Mellow (1957)

   Publishing this choice of broadcast recordings as first record of Billie Holiday for East Europe was reasonable choice. After 1956 artist was at the peak of her career. The autobiography of Billie Holiday Lady Sings the Blues was in print, she was recognized and had position of a prominent jazz singer. Nevertheless she was famous for popular song recordings. In 1956 and 1957 Billie Holiday was singing with the band of great musicians who generally were: Doc Cheatham and Roy Eldridge (trumpets), Vic Dickenson (trombone), Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young (tenor saxophones), Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone), Danny Barker (guitar), Mal Waldron (piano), Milt Hinton (bass) and Osie Johnson (drums). According to discogs.com, basic band was expanded also by trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen, pianist Count Basie and some other musicians.
   As the defect of this edition we may consider the lack of information about places and time of recordings. Only songs published in different takes has information on month and year of recording. And such information can be interesting for the listener. For example session recorded October 27th, 1956 comprises four songs Nice Work If You Can Get It, God Bless the Child, Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone and Don’t Explain. And every song is interpreted in style slightly different than others. It’s highly interesting how singer and arranger of Gershwin’s Nice Work made it tended to cool jazz style. It is worth to remember these broadcast performances were in many cases improvised. Art Farmer who hosted Billie Holiday four times in 1958, announced his Jazz Party as “uninhibited, most inspired and most unrehearsed American jazz”.
   Excluding mentioned above Fine and Mellow, complete second side was recorded during life broadcasting sessions in July 1958. It is possible in these songs Lady Day sung with Buck Clayton and Charlie Shavers (trumpets), Georgie Auld (tenor sax), Tyree Glenn (trombone), Harry Sheppard (vibraphone) and Mary Osborne (guitar). The album of broadcast recordings presents Billie Holiday as active performer, jazz interpreter, and great artist. Though her voice was not as clear as decades earlier, it sometimes sound tired and aged, the more authentic these takes are, and more moving they are. Three and half of star with strong tendency for more.

The Bebop Era in CBS Jazz Masterpieces series

★★★★

   The era of deep political and economic crisis was also the crucial moment in the history of 20th century music. Many historians see this movement as an effect of 2nd world war, but its range shows it could have been a reaction for wider cultural processes including rise of totalitarian regimes and social crisis changing traditional social preferences. In fact, late 30’s and early 40’s marked the dark period of European history, were even dance music was in shade of marching bands. On the other hand, those were the years of great changes in American culture. Participation in war, economic boom and redefinition of world politics were the background of various social movements marking the general change of American and global culture. It was also the turning moment of great change between traditional and modern jazz – first bebop, than hard bop and cool jazz, the outburst of new tendencies rapidly reshaped great part of musical culture.
   The bebop style became recognized as a new style in early 1940’s, although some elements of this trend were presented earlier in Kansas City school and in some swing big bands during 1930’s. Many big bands especially from Kansas City metropolitan area were evolving new style and played music including elements of the new style. Unlike swing and earlier styles being offshoot from popular dance music, in bebop era jazz became genre of artistic. In place of dance structures with improvised choruses typical for swing music, bebop introduced more free style of improvisations based on harmonies and some variations loosely connected to the theme. Fast tempos and virtuosity didn’t left too much place for doubts – main purpose of this music was just to create listener’s impression. Such attitude makes bebop closer to idea of concert music than traditional Dixieland hot style.

Jazz – The Bebop Era (1987)

   The compilation of bebop masterpieces remastered from original analog tapes is a try to comprise the vast spectrum of most creative jazz recordings from 1942-1951. The long list of few dozens of albums in CBS Jazz Masterpieces series presents best albums published as re-editions of complete remastered recordings. Some compilations were made to show best of CBS artists, like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie or Billie Holiday, some are dedicated to one type of recordings, vocalists, combos or big bands. One of such editions is compilation showing most representative bebop era recordings. It’s needless to say, with just one LP is just impossible to fulfill such promise. But still this selection of 14 tracks can be both informative and nice to listen.
   One can find here selected recordings of artists forming foundations of new style and late masterworks like classical live performance of Ornithology by Charlie Parker Quintet with Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Curly Russell and Art Blakey in Birdland, June 30th, 1950 or 'Round Midnight played by Charlie Parker & The All-Stars with Gillespie, Powell, Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes in Birdland, March 31st, 1951. The perfect example of full-blown bebop style is Double Date recorded by legendary band Metronome All-Stars (band traditionally assembled of winners in annual Metronome magazine readers poll) with solos by Billy Bauer (g), Lennie Tristano (p), Serge Chaloff (bs), Lee Konitz (as), Buddy DeFranco (cl), Kai Winding (tb), Stan Getz (ts), Dizzy Gillespie (tr), Eddie Safranski (b) and Max Roach (dr). In fact whole of this short piece is a series of virtuoso solos connected by few bridges. Arranged by Pete Rugolo this was small musical jewel joining jazz with elements of contemporary classical music. The same artists besides Dizzy Gillespie were played in No Figs. The harmonic progression of this tune is based on the same sequence as Donna Lee. Choruses here are longer and slower tempo gives a chance to react on fellow musicians solos. Both tracks were recorded January 10th 1950. Great stuff in every phrase!

Metronome All-Stars – Double Date / No Figs (1950)

   Every track of this collection is worth of noteworthy. With hard to find recordings of orchestras led by Cootie Williams, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Claude Thornhill, Chubby Jackson and Elliot Lawrence, with Dizzy Gillespie’s All-Stars and Metronome All-Stars album brings whole league of unforgettable artists. Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Tadd Dameron, Woody Herman and arrangers Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans are most recognizable but there are many others. Great solo of Miles Davis in Don’t Blame Me played with Tadd Dameron Quintet at the International Jazz Festival May 8th, 1949 in Paris. Great musicians are merged with perfectly bebop themes starting and ending with two Thelonious Monk’s themes Epistrophy recorded by Cootie Williams & His Orchestra, and 'Round Midnight recorded by Charlie Parker & The All-Stars. Four stars for good taste, quality of remastering and edition deciding every position in CBS Jazz Masterpieces series has its place in good collection.

Gerry Mulligan – California Concerts

   The legendary baritone saxophonist, closely associated with of cool jazz also referred as West Coast style, was one of most creative musicians of his time. While he was most famous bari player ever, Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996) takes his fame evenly from mastery he achieved on every level from precise light sound, through catching compositions and inspired improvisations, to noted arrangements for Miles Davis and Stan Kenton and his artistic personality. Born in Queens Village (NY), he was raised mainly on the East Coast urban areas. Here from 1948 he was working with famous nonet run by Miles Davis, both as instrumentalist and as arranger. Compilation of recordings of nonets performances were published in 1956 as Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool album, giving the name for the whole style. 

   In spring of 1952 Gerry Mulligan moved to Los Angeles where he started to write arrangements for Stan Kenton’s Orchestra, and playing at The Haig jazz club. While jam sessions he met with young trumpeter from Oklahoma Chet Baker, with whom he established long time artistic cooperation. With drummer Chico Hamilton and Bob Whitlock on bass they created pianoless quartet. Lack of piano based chordal structures gave more space for modern polyphony in group improvisations, being both the overpassing of traditional chord changes and turn to traditional way of creating structures as an effect of concurrent improvisations. In later editions of this quartet Gerry Mulligan was sometimes switching from saxophone to piano.

Gerry Mulligan – California Concerts (1955)

   In 1953 Mulligan was arrested on charge of drug possession. After half year in prison he had to re-assemble his band, but Chet Baker was already involved in some other commitments. Mulligan sought to restore the quartet with Bob Brookmeyer playing valve trombone. Sometimes he played also with trumpeters Jon Eardley and Art Farmer, or saxophonists Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Lee Konitz. In 1954, in California they played concerts in Jazz Goes To High School project. Fragments of two concerts were published next year by Pacific Jazz Records. After many reeditions, full recordings were published in 1987 and in 1988. First volume was San Diego Hoover High School in December 14, 1954 published by EMI – Manhattan Records (CDP 7 46860 2). Second Stockton High School in December 12, 1954 published by Pacific Jazz Records (CDP 7 46864 2). First and most significant album contained material from both concerts shortened to about one third but dense and meaty.
First side recorded in Stockton is showing Mulligan’s quartet with Jon Eardley, Chico Hamilton and Red Mitchell. Program starts with Blues Ging Up and Little Girl Blue. In Piano Blues Gerry Mulligan is playing piano and Jon Eardley is playing trumpet theme. After solos by Mulligan and Red Mitchell on bass with neat dialoguing section, trumpet with piano back with theme and piano with section closes in coda. At the end of this side Yardbird Suite is swinging and sounds pretty smooth. Second side recorded in San Diego with sextet including Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone, Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone and piano, Jon Eardley on trumpet, Red Mitchell on bass, Larry Bunker on drums and leader Gerry Mulligan on baritone. In first part of the San Diego concert quartet was playing with the same lineup as two days earlier in Stockton, in second half Bunker changed Hamilton and Sims and Brookmeyer joined quartet. The program are three compositions Western Reunion, I Know I Don’t Know and The Red Door. It is a great recording with perfect feeling and great technique. It’s hard to believe it sounds so alive. Four and a half of the stars can shine as five.