R.I.P. - Blossom Dearie

I was saddened to hear of another passing of a great musician, this time jazz chanteuse Blossom Dearie. With her wispy, girlish voice and playful demeanor, Dearie was entirely unique among jazz singers.

The obituary in The New York Times explains why Dearie was a woman after my own heart:

But just under her fey camouflage lay a needling wit. If you listened closely, you could hear the scathing contempt she brought to one of her signature songs, “I’m Hip,” the Dave Frishberg-Bob Dorough demolition of a namedropping bohemian poseur.

Further,

Ms. Dearie didn’t suffer fools gladly and was unafraid to voice her disdain for music she didn’t like; the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber were a particular pet peeve.

Seriously, anyone who hates Andrew Lloyd Webber is okay with me.

But while Dearie was best known for her unique interpretations of jazz standards, she first came to my attention (and I suspect many of my generation) through her work on the educational Saturday morning cartoon series Schoolhouse Rocks. It was Dearie who taught me how to unpack my adjectives and the simple beauty of the figure eight.



It wasn't until many years later that I discovered Dearie's voice could be equally enchanting singing jazz standards. Here are two of my favorites that were associated with her. Her version of "Rhode Island Is Famous For You" ought to be adopted as our official state song. Even though it was Ethel Merman who first introduced Cole Porter's "Give Him The Ooh-La-La" it sounds like it was written for Dearie's playful voice.

R.I.P. Max Roach

Max Roach died Wednesday night at age 83. Another giant no longer walks among us. Another link to our past is gone. All we are left with is the music. He was one of the best.

Gary McFarland - Soft Samba

Gary McFarland sold a ton of records with the mix of bossa nova, Beatles songs and easy listening found on his 1964 album Soft Samba. Jazz purists have yet to forgive him for it. At the risk of being forever banished from the fraternity of music snobs, I have to say I absolutely love this album. It would be a shame for Soft Samba to be remembered as nothing more than "bachelor pad" kitsch (although it will serve quite nicely in that capacity if that is what you are looking for).

In addition to having a notable influence on Jobim himself (who plays guitar on several tracks), I strongly suspect the album had an impact on Arthur Lee and Brian MacLean of Love as they sought to expanded their sonic palette on Da Capo and Forever Changes. Listen to the last thirty seconds of "Orange Skies," and see if you can convince yourself that MacLean and Lee had never heard McFarland's distinctive vocalese and were unfamiliar with his inventive arrangements of popular songs.

Additionally, McFarland deserves much credit for recognizing the melodic sophistication that lay at the heart of the Beatles appeal while many of his contemporaries were dismissing the Fab Four as teenie-bopper garbage.

And how many albums have had a cocktail named after them?

Soft Samba Cocktail

Pour two ounces of dry (fino) Spanish Sherry over two ice cubes in an old fashioned glass. Add half and ounce of tropical fruit juice or pineapple juice. Add a dash of Angostura Bitters.
(Courtesy Spanish Sherry Institute)

Bob Brookmeyer - Trombone Jazz Samba

After Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd had a big hit in 1962 with "Desafinado" off their Jazz Samba LP, the market literally flooded with "Bossa Nova" releases, many of which had little to do with the idiom pioneered by Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto in Brazil, most notoriously Edie Gorme's "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" and Elvis' "Bossa Nova Baby." (both of which I love).

As a result, many otherwise fine releases fell through the cracks at the time. Many of these have been rediscovered over the years, but here is one that has not. Considering how thoroughly the Verve vaults have been plundered over the years, it is a little surprising that Bob Brookmeyer's Trombone Jazz Samba has never been reissued on CD or LP (not even in Japan!).

Yes, this is a "me too" effort--Brookmeyer recorded this just a few months after Getz and Byrd recorded Jazz Samba--but it is a very good "me too" effort. Guitarist Jim Hall slides into the Brazilian style perhaps even more effortlessly than Byrd, Gary McFarland provides some excellent vibraphone, and a three Latin percussionists (including Willie Bobo) keep things brisk. Brookmeyer's own playing is highly melodic and engaging, if not as brilliant as Getz's.

There is probably not much chance of UMG reissuing this album in the U.S., but we can always hope that Verve Japan will release it in one of their beautiful LP-style slipcase reissues, as they did with Brookmeyer and Lalo Schifrin's Samba Para Dos. While they tend to be pricey, I always enjoy seeing the way Japanese record companies are able to exactly and authentically duplicate vintage LP packaging at 1/4 the original size. It is as if someone took a shrink ray to a mint condition LP and put a CD inside (not to mention the fact the the Japanese CDs almost inevitably sound better than their American counterparts).

R.I.P.: Anita O'Day & Betty Comden

This website might give you a very skewed picture of the kind of music I listen to. Believe it or not, I don’t spend the majority of my listening time with old Get Hip 7” singles, Feelies offshoots, and bubblegum music. In fact, I am much more likely to drop a jazz vocalist or string quartet on my turntable these days than a limited-edition, colored vinyl, Sub Pop fan club release by the Lonely Moans or Lubricated Goat.

Anyway, that is a long way of getting around to the fact that I want to pay tribute to two fantastically talented women who recently passed away: Anita O’Day and Betty Comden.

Back during her wild days in the 50s and 60s few would have predicted Anita O’Day would live to the ripe old age of 87. O’Day came to the public’s attention via some fantastic sides she cut with Gene Krupa and Roy Eldridge. She later cut some big hits with Stan Kenton's band, and then went on to a successful solo career that was hampered somewhat by long-term drug problems. O’Day had a very unique voice. She helped define the “Cool School” vibrato-less singing style, which ironically in her case was the result of a childhood tonsillectomy gone wrong that accidentally removed her uvula.

Betty Comden, half of the famous Comden and Green songwriting team that was responsible for Singin’ In The Rain, On The Town and many other classics, also passed on recently at the age of 89.

Back in 1996 I attended a special screening of Bells Are Ringing with Comden and Green as honored guests. In their own very modest way these two geniuses electrified the room with their mere presence. It’s a hard thing to describe, but some people really do light up a room when they walk into it, and Betty Comden certainly was one of those people. (Her songwriting partner Adolf Green died in 2002).

In tribute to these two talented women of song I offer two Comden and Green classics from Bells Are Ringing sung by Anita O’Day. These tracks are taken from an album O’Day cut with Latin Jazz master Cal Tjader, and are easily available so I’m only leaving them up for a few days.

The Party's Over [available for purchase]
Just In Time [available for purchase]

Welcome Samuel Paul Devin

Congratulations to Anne Flounders and Pete Devin on the birth of their first child:

SAMUEL PAUL DEVIN
November 21, 2006, 11:02 AM
8 lbs, 3 oz
21.5 inches

Billy Strayhorn

Quick, think of a Duke Ellington composition. Did you think of "Take the 'A' Train"? Or maybe "Satin Doll," or "Something To Live For," or "Day Dream"? Those are indeed some of the best-known songs associated with Ellington and his orchestra, but Ellington didn't write them. They were written by his lesser known counterpart, and musical soul mate, Billy Strayhorn.

Strayhorn wrote and arranged hundreds of compositions for the Ellington Orchestra, but was content to mainly stay in the background while Ellington received the lion's share of the acclaim. As David Hadju points out in his biography of Strayhorn, his decision to work in Ellington's shadow was no doubt in part influenced by the fact that he was an openly gay black man in an era less tolerant of homosexuality than our own. (BTW, I highly recommend Hadju's Strayhorn biography, Lush Life, one of the best musical biographies I have ever read).

The Peaceful Side, released by United Artists in 1961, is the only album I am aware of that was credited to Strayhorn alone during his lifetime. It sounds very different from anything recorded by Ellington, with a pronounced easy-listening feeling. Vinyl copies are extremely difficult to find. I own a Solid State reissue with grotesquely manipulated cover art. I'd like to find an original, but they tend to be pricey. The album was reissued on CD by Blue Note, but it too is out-of-print and hard to find.

Here is a version of Strayhorn's signature tune, "Lush Life" from The Peaceful Side. This is the composition most associated with Strayhorn, perhaps because it was never recorded by an Ellington band, or perhaps because it matches the image of Strayhorn as a world-weary sophisticate so well. He was a teenager living in Dayton, OH when he wrote it. I love this version of the song with its wordless sighing chorus and strings. It's perfect.

Tony Bennett

This year marks Tony Bennett's 80th year on planet earth. A new duets album is being released to mark the occasion. But it should also be occassion for Sony to re-think its slipshod reissue policy on Bennett's catalogue. For an artist of Bennett's caliber and influence, the simple fact that many of his LPs have never been reissued on CD is outrageous. Adding insult to injury, many of the CDs that are on the market are early CD-era relics with sub-par sound quality that are badly in need of fresh remastering. Others contain bonus tracks with no discernable relationship to the album. Meanwhile, Sony/BMG's Legacy label is busy cranking out deluxe-digipack Journey reissues.

I don't know who is at fault, Sony or Bennett's management, but despite the existence of some well-chosen anthologies, Tony Bennett's catalogue is a mess. There appears to be no rational reissue strategy at work. If you think I'm exaggerating, check out the discography from Bennett's website. Click on the individual releases, and notice how many say "Not currently available." I count over twenty. It's outrageous--a lot of these are amazing albums. While it's true that even the best of these albums were not as carefully thought out as Sinatra's Capitol "concept" records, that is no excuse for them being absent from the market altogether for such a long period of time.

Tony's artistry has near universal appeal. 90-year-old Grandmas, toddlers, and the hippest hipsters all find something that speaks to them in the magic of Tony's voice. When my son was two he saw a brief clip of Tony performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on TV, and he was absolutely captivated. So I threw "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" on the turntable for him, and for months all he wanted to hear was "Tony Bennett music." At one point he decided that the name "Tony Bennett" wasn't a good enough and that he should change his name to "Tony Soda." Since Bennett is only a stage name anyway, I felt like writing Mr. Anthony Benedetto and telling him that although he had a nice 50 year run with the name Bennett, my toddler felt it was time for a change of pace and perhaps he should consider changing his name to "Tony Soda." I never got around to that, but you have to admit "Tony Soda" has a certain ring-a-ding-ding to it.

Anyway, this version of "Speak Low" comes from one of Tony Soda's best LPs, When Lights Are Low. Amazingly, this LP has never been reissued on CD in the United States. It's a wonderful relaxed, jazzy session he cut with just his then regular trio fronted by pianist Ralph Sharon, and the easy interplay between singer and instrumentalists is evident. This album is the equal of his more celebrated sessions with legendary pianist Bill Evans. Some key tracks from the album can be found on the 50 Years of Artistry and Jazz anthologies, but not this one. Enjoy!