Sandy Brown Jazz
What's New
January 2025
New Year Resolutions - they often don't last long, but perhaps you could write down a resolution reminder to go to at least one live jazz gig in 2025? That is not too onerous and after all, don't we owe that to the music? But where will you go? What type of venue suits you? Somewhere sociable? Somewhere to listen? What type of jazz do they play there? We all have different preferences, so perhaps explore what is in your area, venues large or small, and let us know if you discover something you didn't expect.
Down With Jazz!
On New Year's Day 2025, Mohill Historical Society in Ireland is hosting a nostalgic 'Down with Jazz' Celebration. It will be led by Fr. Peter Conefrey, a parish priest from Cloone, who was a prominent figure in the anti-jazz movement of the 1930s. While his opposition to jazz music reflected his concerns about moral decay, Fr Conefrey was also deeply committed to preserving Irish traditions and cultural identity. Demonstrators shouted “down with jazz” and “out with paganism” and called on the government to close the dance halls and ban all foreign dances in Ireland. President, Éamon de Valera sent a representative to the rally and wrote a letter of support. Jazz, the campaign argued, was “abominable” music that originated in central Africa and was exported to the West by “a gang of wealthy Bolshevists in the USSR to strike at church civilisation throughout the world.” You can read more about it here and here where there is also an audio documentary.
It Was A Great Day In Harlem
Almost everyone in the famous 1958 photograph by Art Kane has now passed on. Vibes player Terry Gibbs was not in the picture but remembers most of them. Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins remain from the 57 musicians in the photograph, but street naming ceremony to acknowledge the event has been postponed. Terry Gibbs' memories of those in the picture are in an article here.
April May Webb
April May Webb has won the 13th annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in New Jersey. The 2024 “Sassy Awards” held at the end of November presented the top five finalists in front of a live audience and a distinguished panel of judges that included drummer, producer and educator Terri Lyne Carrington; Bill Charlap, pianist and director of jazz studies at William Patterson University; powerhouse vocalist Lisa Fischer; bassist Christian McBride, NJPAC’s jazz advisor; and acclaimed singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux. You can read more about April May here and in this video she sings and talks about her background and singing in a church choir "I'm gonna tell you, those church ladies will let you know if you soundin' good or not!"
Jeddah Art And Jazz
Despite the current unrest in the Middle East, Nama, a new collective dedicated to empowering young creatives, hosted its first event in Jeddah in December at the bustling Huna Alhabib. A two-day Jazz Night and Silent Art Auction was a display of the power of collaboration and a cultural celebration. Nama’s debut featured more than 30 pieces by artists from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Spain, Canada, and beyond. These works were donated specifically for the auction to bridge artistic communities across borders. You can read more about it here.
Soundtrack To A Coup D'Etat
This documentary that we mentioned a few months ago is still available to watch in one or two independent cinemas (e.g. here) or available to rent or buy on Apple TV. A full review of the film from The Guardian is available here. "Johan Grimonprez’s documentary Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat reveals the curious link between Black Americans’ fight for civil rights and the assassination of Congo’s first democratically elected Black African prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Half-way through Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington’s soulful version of In a Sentimental Mood is interrupted. Suddenly, we see and hear Malcolm X giving a speech at New York’s Harlem Square in 1960. It’s like being shaken from a delicious reverie and thrown into the ice bath of reality........" A trailer for the film can be watched here. The picture shows Louis Armstrong leading his bandsmen and local trumpeters on arrival at the airport in Accra, Ghana on 30 May, 1956.
Video Juke Box
Click on the pictures to watch the videos..... or take pot luck and click on the picture of the Juke Box and see what comes up.
Guitarist Nick-Costley White introduces his new album Poncha, to be released in February on the Ubuntu label, with snatches from the recording session and with musicians Julian Siegel (saxophone); Conor Chaplin (double bass) and James Maddren (drums)
One number that sadly does not appear on Danish guitarist Jakob Bro's newly released album [see Recent Releases] is this video of Vinterhymne (Winter Hymn). The video has the same personnel as the new album with the late Lee Konitz on sax.
In 1978, the Royal Variety Performance was attended by the late Queen Mother. The second half of the show was opened by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra with special guests Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball. The picture quality of this video is not sharp, but did the music that Ma'am's feet tapping?
Guitarist Karl Clews solos on Gershwin's A Foggy Day (In London Town). Karl's new album And/Or is featured in this month's Recent Releases.
Vibes player Terry Gibbs plays Lemon Drop on the Regis Philbin Show in 1965 with Mike Melvoin (piano); Herb Ellis (guitar); Carrington Visor (flute); Monty Budwig (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums)
Glasshopper [Jonathan Chung (sax/composition); James Kitchman (guitar); Corrie Dick (drums)] play Major Hit. Their website is here.
Red Nichols and his 'Five' Pennies play The Dixieland Band in 1935. The clarinet player is Benny Goodman. Benny recorded the same song in the same year with Helen Ward (here)
Trumpeter Sean Gibbs plays When Can I See You Again? The title track from his 2021 album featuring Riley Stone-Lonergan (saxophone); Rob Brockway (piano); Calum Gourlay (bass) and Jay Davis (drums).
The Story Is Told
Do Y' Want An Egg?
Joe Temperley
"When Kathy (Stobart) finally retired, Joe Temperley took over as deputy tenorist. Joe is another Scot, with a hearty contempt for woolly convention and a voice which is guaranteed to penetrate into the farthest corners of a crowded restaurant. A skilled and zealous musician with a high professional sense, Joe has the reputation as a scourge of bandleaders whose only equipment is bluff and 'discipline'. His laugh - staccato bursts of machine-gun fire - is a deadly weapon against pomposity or fake 'dignity'. ...
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At a party given by some of the staff at Granada Television, I suffered from severe palpitations when I heard the unmistakable Scottish bark from the clamorous recesses of the room: 'This party's too respectable!'
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When he vanished from the room a few minutes later I followed, apprehensive as to what practical form his protest might take. He was in the kitchen, frying eggs. When one of the hostesses came out to investigate the frizzling sounds coming from her kitchen, she was visibly impressed when the total stranger wielding her frying pan turned and asked bluntly: 'D'you want an egg?' "​
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From Second Chorus by Humphrey Lyttelton. (Publ. Macgibbon & Kee 1958) (currently unavailable except as used copies)
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Here is Joe Temperley in 1996 with the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra and Homecoming:
Did You Know?
Flappers
Wikipedia gives us some explanation(s) of how the word "Flapper" came about: "Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for prevailing codes of decent behaviour ........"
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The article goes on to say: "The slang term "flapper" may derive from an earlier use in northern England to mean "teenage girl", referring to one whose hair is not yet put up and whose plaited pigtail "flapped" on her back, or from an older word meaning "prostitute". The slang word "flap" was used for a young prostitute as early as 1631. By the 1890s, the word "flapper" was used in some localities as slang both for a very young prostitute, and, in a more general and less derogatory sense, of any lively mid-teenage girl. The standard non-slang usage appeared in print as early as 1903 in England and 1904 in the United States, when novelist Desmond Coke used it in his college story of Oxford life, Sandford of Merton: "There's a stunning flapper". In 1907, English actor George Graves explained it to Americans as theatrical slang for acrobatic young female stage performers. The flapper was also known as a dancer, who danced like a bird - flapping her arms while doing the Charleston move. This move became quite a competitive dance during this era. ...."
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"An obituary for the "Flapper" ran on the front page of The New York Times at the end of 1928, suggesting that she was being replaced by the "Siren", a mysterious, stylish, "vaguely European" ideal woman. The flapper lifestyle and look disappeared and the roaring '20s era of glitz and glamour came to an end in America after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Unable to afford the latest trends and lifestyle, the once-vibrant flapper women returned to their dropped hemlines, and the flapper dress disappeared. A sudden serious tone washed over the public with the appearance of the Great Depression. The high-spirited attitude and hedonism were less acceptable during the economic hardships of the 1930s. When hemlines began to rise again, numerous states took action, making laws that restricted women to wear skirts with hemlines no shorter than three inches (7.5 centimeters) above the ankle. The ever-popular bobbed haircut was the cause for some women being fired from their jobs ....."
The whole article in Wikipedia is here and here is some footage from the time:
Lens America
Journalist/guitarist Filipe Freitas and photographer Clara Pereira run JazzTrail in New York City. They feature album and concert coverage, press releases and press kits, album covers and biographies. They are valued contacts for Sandy Brown Jazz in the United States. You can read Filipe's reviews of album releases here and see Clara's gallery of pictures here.
Clara Pereira took this picture of percissionist Keita Ogawa when he was playing with flutist and composer Jamie Baum and her Septet at Drom in New York City in May last year when they were playing Jamie's compositions from the poems-inspired album What Times Are These. In the same month Keita could be found as part of Infinite Connections, the album released by Korean composer and conductor Jihye Lee's Orchestra. Some readers will, of course, recognise Keita as a member of the band Snarky Puppy. Here is a video of Keita playing percussion with Jihye's Orchestra at the recording of Infinite Connections on the track Surrender (the trumpet player is Ambrose Akinmusire).
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Keita Ogawa came to America from Sasebo city, Nagasaki, in Japan and where he played regularly in Tokyo. He is a 5 times Grammy nominee and 3 times Grammy Award winner. He came to America in 2005 to study at Berklee College of Music, then for 3 months he went to Rio de Janeiro and studied with the some of the country’s most respected musicians before going on to play with some of America's top bands. Here is a video of him soloing in 2019. He is currently involved in a number of ensembles which you can read about in his website (here) which says: "Keita can virtually play any percussion instrument and musical style with fluency and unparalleled musicality. Despite his youth, he has set an example for the next generation of world-class musicians. Keita’s passion for crossing musical borders and uniting differences in cultures is a rare talent which he exhibits with a smile and an open heart."​
Snarky Puppy invests a lot in percussion - you can catch glimpses of Keita in this video of the band playing Pineapple in 2022 :
Xhosa Cole
On A Modern Genius
(Vol.1)
by Howard Lawes
The history of the Handsworth area of Birmingham includes occasions when street protests highlighted the social deprivation and racial discrimination suffered by some in the the multi-racial community. The local government and voluntary organisations worked together to create new opportunities in the area and several of those initiatives related to music and the cultural heritage of the people living there. Over the telephone, Handsworth-born Xhosa Cole described how he was able to take advantage of what was available to young people during his school days which he describes as "incredible".
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One of Xhosa’s inspirations was the Jamaican born, jazz saxophonist Andy Hamilton who arrived in the UK in 1949. Although well known in Birmingham, Andy Hamilton achieved national fame after appearing at the Soho Jazz Festival in London and releasing his first recording, Silvershine, at the age of 73. Andy Hamilton was an enthusiastic educator, founding youth bands such as The Blue Pearls and The Notebenders. The Andy Hamilton Trust, formed in 2007, continues to support and encourage musicians to achieve their potential.
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Here is a video of Andy Hamilton playing Silvershine in 1991:
However, before deciding to become a musician Xhosa attended dance lessons provided through ACE. Founded in 1996, ACE Dance and Music has become a national and international touring dance company. Although firmly rooted in Birmingham, the company now has a global perspective and are universally recognised leaders in the field of Contemporary African and Caribbean Dance.
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Xhosa was able to hire a saxophone and receive free lessons through the local education authority and attended Andy Hamilton’s Community Music School in Ladywood. He went to Holyhead School in Handsworth and became a member of the jazz band led by Ray Prince and Sid Peacock. Xhosa would later play in Peacock’s Surge Orchestra. As if to illustrate the remarkable range of opportunity available to him Xhosa also joined the Jazzlines Ensemble where tutors included Percy Pursglove, Soweto Kinch and Jean Toussaint and where he met bass player Shivraj Singh. He also joined the Birmingham Schools Symphony Orchestra, the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra and while studying at Bishop Vesey's Sixth Form, Xhosa attended courses with the National Youth Jazz Collective and National Youth Wind Orchestra. On leaving school Xhosa spent a year at the Royal Brmingham Conservatoire before gong to Trinity College of Music in London. In 2018 he won the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition with a critically acclaimed performance at The Queen Elizabeth Hall during the EFG London Jazz Festival.
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Following an education crammed full of music Xhosa’s career is equally frenetic. An early project that Xhosa became involved in was called "for-Wards". This remarkable project focussed on the diverse communities and fostered the talents of residents of all the ten wards that make up the City of Birmingham. Xhosa Cole was nominated as a composer to create music representing Ladywood and he found the project to be immensely rewarding as he writes here. The project released an album, for-Wards (2018), featuring 41 tracks that represent contributions from every part of Birmingham. Another early album, Autumn Conversations (2018), features Xhosa on the flute improvising with the electronic duo EIF.
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In 2019 Xhosa was back at the EFG London Jazz Festival playing saxophone and flute with Soweto Kinch for his commissioned Black Peril work. It was released as an album in 2019 and commemorates both the centenary of the 1919 race riots in the UK and 100 years of “black music” across the Diaspora (video excerpts here). A year later. Xhosa performed his own composition, Fajar, at a concert in Birmingham Cathedral accompanied by Shivraj Singh on bass, Mark Sanders on drums and a classical ensemble, The Ripieno Players. A recording is available on Soundcloud here.
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In the following year Xhosa released his widely acclaimed debut album, K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us (2021), celebrating the rich tapestry of music and heritage of great African American composers and improvisers that have inspired his own music. The title is a nod to Dizzy Gillespie’s tribute to Louis Armstrong “no him, no me” and as Xhosa explains, “this album acknowledges the shoulders on which all the musicians in the band stand as one. To understand me and my music is to understand all the amazing teachers and musicians who have helped me along this path”. A year later Xhosa released Ibeji (2022), the title being a Yoruba word meaning “twins” and the music featuring Xhosa, playing his own compositions, in conversation with and duetting with seven different percussionists.
Anagram
MINE NEED DRY VENT TIMER
(Rodgers and Hart song from the Broadway show Higher And Higher)
The answer is HERE
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Take Two
You Took Advantage Of Me
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
'Cause you took advantage of me!
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use
You've cooked my goose
'Cause you took advantage of me!
In 1928, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote the song You Took Advantage of Me for the musical Present Arms. Since then, there have been countless jazz versions of the song. We should start in 1928 when the song emerged and was soon picked up by different bands. Here is the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in April that year with Bix Beiderbecke, and Frankie Trumbauer (doing an 'answer' and 'reply' sequence), Bing Crosby and others.
Richard Rodgers is quoted as describing the song as a "sassy and unregretful number" which audiences liked far more than traditional contemporary love songs, and apparently the song was a particular favourite of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) who once asked singer Morton Downey to sing it eleven times during a show at the Cafe de Paris in London.
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Of all the 1928 recordings of the song, our first 'take' is an instrumental from Miff Mole and his Little Molers with a recording made in New York that July. Here are: Red Nichols (cornet); Leo McConville (trumpet); Miff Mole (trombone); Dudley Fosdick (mellophone); Fud Livingston (clarinet, tenor sax); Arthur Schutt (piano); Carl Kress (guitar); Joe Tarto (brass bass) and Stan King (drums):
It is almost a hundred years since the song was first written and recorded and in that time it has been recorded over the decades by countless jazz singers and bands.
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For our second take here is French saxophonist Xavier Richardeau in 2013 with Daïki Yasukagawa (bass) and Philippe Soirat (drums) from their album Back To The Present:
I'm so hot and bothered that I don't know
My elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time you go
And much worse when you're near
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Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
'Cause you took advantage of me
Time Out Ten
My Favourite Things
For this item you need to be able to stop for ten minutes.
We are often moving on to the next job, the next meeting, scrolling down social media, taking the next call ......'Time Out Ten' asks you to stop for ten minutes and listen to a particular piece of music; to find a time when you won't be interrupted, when you can put in/on your headphones and chill out. Ten minutes isn't long.
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This month, here is a choice of music, partly depending on what you fancy, what mood you are in, how long you can take time out, or perhaps you could listen to a version each day? My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music lends itself to many jazz interpretations.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things
Cream-coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favourite things
John Coltrane took the song as a title for one of his albums. There is a video of him playing the tune here but at 21 minutes it is far longer than our ten minutes time out.
Violinist Regina Carter dropped in to Emmet Cohen's place to play the tune with him in 2021 for just under ten minutes here.
Trumpeter Chris Botti and cellist Yo Yo Ma covered it in 4 minutes here.
Al Jarreau had an interesting nine and a half minutes in concert with it here.
But let's take the middle ground of time, just under five minutes, close your eyes and listen to Anastacia Orlova singing with Natalia Titova (flute); Andrey Bataleev (saxophone) and Arseny Vladimirov (piano):
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don't feel so bad
Where Am I?
Fortunately, streets can’t tell stories; if they could this street in Memphis would see wives throwing out their husbands, beds and all! There are a few who might get away with it – those who never drink alcohol, perhaps, oh, and that blind man who sings the blues on the corner of the street. Even so, take it from someone who has seen the seven wonders of the world, it’s worth coming here.
Click on the picture for the answer
Norman&Corrie
Twa Double Doubles
by Howard Lawes
The late 1950s were a significant time in Scotland due to the popularity of Scottish jazz musicians such as Sandy Brown, the Clyde Valley Stompers, Alex Welsh, and others playing the 'traditional' jazz that was very popular across the country at the time. In 1957, Sandy Brown and trumpeter Al Fairweather released an album called McJazz, in which they introduced their own compositions and began to move away from the tradional jazz repertoire. Despite being Scottish most of these musicians only found widespread fame after travelling south to London, highlighting a lack of prestigious jazz venues north of the border. Any aspiring Scottish jazz musician at the time also discovered there was a complete absence of formal jazz education.
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As time went on interest in jazz in Scotland increased and in 1978 the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival was founded followed by the Glasgow Jazz Festival in 1987. In 1981, a teenage tenor saxophone player called Tommy Smith was voted best soloist at the Edinburgh festival and his band also won the prize for best group. Two years later Tommy had released his first album called Giant Strides (1983), no doubt inspired by John Coltrane. Tommy travelled to America to learn jazz at the Berklee College of Music. The list of Tommy Smith’s achievements, album releases and awards is a long one and should be revisited in a further article but two of his projects are of particular importance to the young people in Scotland. These are the creation of the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra (TSYJO) in 2002 and the establishment of a jazz music course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in 2009.
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Saxophonist Norman Wilmore and drummer Corrie Dick first met at a TSYJO jazz summer school when they were both teenagers. However, as undergraduates, Norman studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and Corrie at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. While neither Norman nor Corrie graduated from the RCS the success of Tommy Smith’s course is that it has provided a vehicle for younger, Scottish jazz musicians to achieve a respected qualification and to raise the profile of contemporary jazz in Scotland where jazz is now enjoying a new golden age. The difference between this golden age and the 1960s is that Scottish jazz musicians now play jazz that is unmistakably Scottish and are attracting a whole new audience for Scottish music and culture.
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Norman and Corrie’s album Twa Double Doubles (2024) is riding on the crest of this golden wave and provides a fascinating blend of Shetland folk music and improvisation enhanced with electronics. Talking to Corrie via Zoom we agreed that Scottish jazz is buzzing and, along with some outstanding young jazz musicians, Tommy Smith has been instrumental in making it happen. Listen to Robbie Tampson's Smiddie from the album:
Listening to Twa Double Doubles one is struck by the expanse of the sound. It is difficult to believe that only two musicians, Norman Willmore on saxophones and Corrie Dick on drums are involved. The added dimension is, as Corrie explained, that elecronics are used as extra instruments in a spontaneous way. Norman’s saxophone sound is modified using organ pedals while Corrie uses drum triggers to extend the range of his playing.
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Several of the titles refer to real or historical characters from Shetland folk law. Haltadans is a stone circle on the island of Fetlar in Shetland. Legend has that it was a circle of dancing trolls (or trows); Jenny Nettles was a highland maiden who was deserted by her lover and committed suicide. Hjogravylta and other tunes refer to traditional occupations in the Shetland Isles such as fishing and boat building.
Tracks Unwrapped
I Could Write A Book
A B C D E F G,
I never learned to spell ,
At least not well.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7,
I never learned to count
A great amount.
But my busy mind is burning
To use what learning I've got.
I won't waste any time,
I'll strike while the iron is hot.
Rodgers and Hart's song originated before the classic film Pal Joey was released. It started out as a series of stories by John O'Hara in The New Yorker about a worthless 'heel' and his wealthy mistress. It was O'Hara that suggested to Richard Rodgers that the stories might be turned into a stage musical and it was agreed that Rodgers and Hart would write the songs if O'Hara wrote the book. Pal Joey was first staged in 1940.
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It was here that the true nature of Joey Evans was written. He was depicted as a totally immoral, ambitious song and dance man who dumps his girlfriend for a wealthy widow, Vera Simpson. Vera is happy to spend a great deal of money on Joey, buys him expensive clothes, a posh apartment and sets him up in a night club. But Joey is Joey, and in time he gets restless and looks for new conquests. Eventually, Vera leaves him and Joey runs into trouble with blackmailers. At the end of the play he is left alone and broke.
The production ran for 374 performances and received varying reviews. In his book Broadway's Greatest Musicals, Abe Laufe writes: 'The combination of sex, blackmail, frank lyrics, and an unromantic plot made for "adult theatre", as some critics called it, praising the production because it differed radically from standard musical fare. Pal Joey, however, was too far ahead for its time. Audiences were not yet ready to accept an unpleasant story that contained not a hint of romance, and in which the only wholesome character, Linda, was also the least colourful .... Since the story dealt with shoddy affairs, Rodgers and Hart restricted any semblance of a love song to one number, I Could Write A Book. Even this could not be interpreted as a true love song, for Joey's fickleness negated any belief audiences might have had in his sincerity.'
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Despite being 'ahead of its time' the stage show starred Gene Kelly as Joey and it brought him stardom as it did for another character, Van Johnson who was in the chorus and Gene Kelly's understudy. As for the songs, I Could Write A Book and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered became popular classics. The stage show was revived in 1952 and times had changed. 'The innuendos and frank lyrics that had shocked audiences and critics in the 1940s show now seemed more acceptable and more palatable.' The two popular songs were also now well known and a draw for audiences. The play was named 'Best Musical Of The Year' by the Critics Circle. Harold Lang played Joey and Vivienne Segal was again Vera, the part she had played 12 years earlier.
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Perhaps it was inevitable that Pal Joey became a movie. It was directed by George Sidney and released in 1957, but many changes were made. Sinatra, a singer rather than a dancer, was cast as Joey and this time a happy ending saw him become a nice guy - (Sinatra won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor). Rita Hayworth played Vera, now a wealthy widow hiding a past as a stripper and in the movie it is she who performs the 'strip' number Zip (although Jo Ann Greer sang for Hayworth, and Kim Novak, now playing Linda, had Trudy Erwin singing her part). Rather than being Vera's 'toy boy', Sinatra was actually older than Rita Hayworth and there were 'new' Rodgers and Hart songs - The Lady Is A Tramp (originally from Babes In Arms) and There's A Small Hotel (originally written for Billy Rose's Jumbo and On Your Toes). Nevertheless, I Could Write A Book stayed firmly in place.
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If they asked me, I could write a book
About the way you walk and whisper and look
I could write a preface on how we met
So the world would never forget
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Here is the clip from the film where Joey Evans sings the song to Kim Novak's Linda English:​​
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Since then it has become a 'Standard'. One of the classic jazz interpretations comes from 1956 and the Miles Davis Quintet's album Relaxin' : Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor sax); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). In the summer of 1955, Miles had played at the Newport Jazz Festival and was offered a contract by Columbia Records if he could form a regular band, so he put together his first regular quintet for a gig at the Café Bohemia in July. It had Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland, piano, Paul Chambers, bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums, but by the autumn, Rollins had left because of his heroin addiction. Miles replaced Sonny with John Coltrane - a partnership that lasted for five years and resulted in one of the legendary jazz combinations.
On the website Cafe Songbook, it is argued that Lorenz Hart was known for his acerbic wit and irony, so what was he doing writing a lyric for I Could Write a Book that is imbued with simplicity, directness and innocence, especially for a show sporting a cynical point-of-view character like Pal Joey? His partner Richard Rodgers explained: 'Throughout our score for Pal Joey, Larry and I were scrupulous in making every song adhere to the hard-edged nature of the story. Taken by itself, "I Could Write a Book" is perfectly straightforward and sincere in the context of the plot, however, Joey, who had probably never read a book in his life, sang it for no other reason than to impress a naive girl he had just picked up on the street.'
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Cafe Songbook says: 'One cannot be certain that Hart would completely agree with his partner's assessment. Seemingly ironic, Hart himself is on record as stating that "I Could Write a Book" is his favorite song from the show. One can be sure he doesn't like it so much for its romantic sentiment but much more likely for its irony, which not everyone, apparently including Rodgers, picks up on.
The Jazz Quiz
Place The Face
Jazz Trumpet Players 2
We follow on from December's Jazz Quiz with pictures of ten more jazz trumpet players - how many can you recognise?
The January Jazz Quiz is
"I Just Want To Get My Music Heard!"
by Matt Fripp of Jazzfuel
Matt Fripp set up his own music agency and website, Jazzfuel, in 2016, since when he has established a client base across many countries. Although born in the UK, Matt is currently based with his family in Paris, France, but the international aspects of his work make little difference to his location. What is different about Matt and Jazzfuel is the information that he shares publicly on his website. Matt has kindly agreed to share some of his thoughts as an agent with us from time to time:
Whilst "more gigs" and "selling CDs" are big reasons to record new music, there's often a third one which is whispered moree quietly: "I just want to get my music heard". It makes sense... Years of practice culminate into a recording which probably took months of preparation - not to mention a sizeable expense - to realise. Why wouldn't you want as many people as possible to hear it?!
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And yet when you mention 'social media' to most musicians, you'll get an eye roll, yawn and a comment about how frustrating it is to hit 'post' and hear crickets ... Maybe you're thinking about it all wrong, though..?
Social Media Six​
I could write a book (don't worry, I won't!) on how I think musicians could build huge fanbases through organic social media alone, but for now I want to simply give you 6 things to think about and try for yourself...
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Unless the people coming to your gigs and buying your music are largely under 30, you should be focusing on Facebook. Instagram may be more fun and easy-to-use, but we're not doing socials for fun, you're doing it for your career.
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Facebook shows that 463 million users have indicated an interest in jazz music. As long as they're logged in and you're posting content, there's a chance to capture their attention.
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Stop promoting things. That comes later. You only goal for 90% of your posts is to create something that a potential fan of yours will find interesting.
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The more engagement you can create, the more people will see your profile. The easiest way to do this - it will take you less than 2 minutes right now - is to type a question post with a coloured background. They look like this.
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If you don't enjoy social media, block your newsfeed and batch up your content. That's how I've been publishing 12 posts per day on a page I'm working on, without even logging into Facebook very often.
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Don't stop. Imagine having a student who gives up after 4 weeks because they haven't mastered their instrument. If you really want to see some results from socials, make a plan and then do it consistently for several months. If you stop before that, you haven't really tested.
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As I said, I could go on. But for now, simply give #4 a try and see how it goes.
All the best.
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Matt
Forum
Rosetta Howard
Stephanie Bradford has seen our recent page on vocalist Rosetta Howard (here) and writes that she has come across an old 78rpm record by Rosetta and the Big Three Trio that we write about. It is nice to know that Rosetta's original recordings are still out there.
How To Listen To Jazz - Ten Tips
Our thanks to Tim Rolfe who has written to tell us about this publication from Bob Karcy of Arkadia Records. Their website has a number of different elements and a link to items on YouTube. To download the Ten Tips (free) you need to fill in an online form. Tim has done this and passed me a photocopy of the booklet that looks worth exploring. Take a look at the details here.
James Reese Europe
Thanks to clarinettist Alvin Roy who tells us of this YouTube video from Noble Sissle about James Reese Europe who formed the African American army band in World War I and brought a different sound to the American forces. The video (7.39 minutes) is here.
Requests For Information
We have received requests for information about the following topics - can you help?
The Folk Barge, Kingston-upon-Thames
Oscar Rabin
The Viaduct Pub, Hanwell
Departure Lounge
Information has arrived about the following musicians or people connected to jazz who have passed through the 'Departure Lounge' since our last update.
When this page first started, links to newspaper obituaries were free. Then increasingly advertisements were added and now many newspapers ask for a subscription to read a full obituary. Where possible, we initially link to a Wikipedia page which is still free of charge, but we also give links to newspaper obituaries in case you want to read them.
Martial Solal
French jazz pianist and composer born in French Algiers in 1927. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, and piano by his mother, who was an opera singer. He was expelled from school in 1942 because of his parents' Jewish ancestry. Algeria was a French colony, and the Vichy regime in France was following Nazi policies. After settling in Paris in 1950, he began working with Django Reinhardt and U.S. expatriates such as SIdney Bechet and Don Byas. He formed a quartet (occasionally also leading a big band) in the late 1950s, although he had been recording as a leader since 1953. In the 1960s, his trio included bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair and from 1968, he performed and recorded with Lee Konitz in Europe and the U.S. Martial passed through the Departure Lounge on 12th December 2024. Obituaries: Wikipedia : The New York Times : The Guardian : A video of Martial Solal and his Trio playing On Green Dolphin Street is here.
Zakir Hussain
Born in Mumbai, Zakir Hussain is widely regarded as one of the greatest tabla players of all time. His playing stretched across many musical genres. and he teamed up with guitarist John McLaughlin in the band Shakti - in this video they play Bending The Rules. Obituaries : Wikipedia : The Guardian : The New York Times :
Recent Releases
A few words about recent releases / reviews:
Apart from where they are included in articles on this website, I don't have a 'Reviews' section for a number of reasons:
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I receive so many requests to review recordings it is impossible to include them all.
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Unlike some publications/blogs, Sandy Brown Jazz is not a funded website and it is not possible to pay reviewers.
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Reviews tend to be personal opinions, something a reviewer likes might not suit you, or vice versa.
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It is difficult to capture music in words, so much better to be able to listen and see whether the music interests you.
For these reasons in particular I just include a selection of recent recordings below where I share the notes issued by the musician(s) as an introduction and links to samples so you can 'taste' the music for yourselves. For those who like to read reviews, these, of course, can be checked out on other sites.
Some Recent Releases
You will find the Recent Releases page HERE Where you can scroll down and see the featured releases. Included this month are:
UK
Playtime - Morse Code Through The Lights
Kevin Figes, Julie Tippetts - Happy Apples
Raffy Bushman - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Xhosa Cole - On A Modern Genius (Vol 1)
Norman Willmore and Corrie Dick - Norman&Corrie : Twa Double Doubles
America
The Bad Plus - Complex Emotions
Euan Edwards - Beyond Hope And Fear