Decode yourselves, but shh! - Speake low.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sat 6 June
5pm - J to Z
Kevin Le Gendre presents highlights from lockdown streaming festival Live from Our Living Rooms, including a fiery duo set from pianist Fabian Almazan and bassist Linda May Han Ohand and an intimate solo performance by guitar great Bill Frisell. And US trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire shares music that has inspired and influenced him.

That should encourage a few posts on here!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jvb5

12midnight - Freeness
Corey Mwamba presents a new reissue of a rare Japanese pressing by the US fusion drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, British saxophonist Trevor Watts plays some lockdown-inspired sounds, and London-based sound artist Gawain Hewitt records a real-time collaboration remotely to capture a stirring performance by Kaidi Akinnibi (saxophone) and Dominic Canning (piano).

This is believed to be the first sound artist to have been named after an opera by Harrison Birtwistle. No neighbours were harmed in the making of this programme. There is also a singer called Alexa featured, by the way; she is ready with advice on any subject, and obtainable by rubbing the standby oil lamp you keep for just-in-case-needed on your sideboard or bedside table.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jvbc

Sun 7 June
4pm - Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton with recordings by Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Martin Speake and others.

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mooojt5y

Tues 9 June
11pm - The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jvly

Thurs 11 June - Channel 4 TV
10pm - Amy (2015)
Captivating Oscar-winning documentary. Using archive footage, previously unseen material and contemporary interviews, director Asif Kapadia paints an intimate portrait of singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse, who died at the age of just 27. [RT Film of the Week].

Amy's "contribution" to last week's CH 4 documentary on jazz divas was arguably one of the more interesting, amid a plethora of Sunday Night at the Streatham Palais-type Variety acts. By the way, did anyone see the preceding Ella documentary? I thought it was pretty good.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, I saw and enjoyed the Ella documentary. It seems her harsh childhood contributed to her own relationship issues later on, but also to her strong will and becoming a singer. So a double-edged sword.

Indeed - in my ignorance I had always assumed that Ella must have had a happy upbringing and been treated well from her showbiz debut - the comparisons with Billie Holiday were very upsetting and disturbing.

[Ian Thumwood]

SA

The first link seems to bring you out on to a webpage for the lame comedy "My family!" I hope that you have not unwittingly revealed a guilty secret! Not sure how you are going to get out of this apparent lack of credibility! Only the depressingly unfunny "Mrs Brown's Boy" is worse! I would have had you down as someone who would have preferred a bit of satire such as "Have I got news for you." You are better off listening to the comedy on Radio 4 which is usually much better. Start off with "Mark Steel's in town" and then perhaps try Ed Reardon. There are a number of people who understand and will be willing to help!

[Serial_Apologist]

SA

The first link seems to bring you out on to a webpage for the lame comedy "My family!" I hope that you have not unwittingly revealed a guilty secret! Not sure how you are going to get out of this apparent lack of credibility! Only the depressingly unfunny "Mrs Brown's Boy" is worse! I would have had you down as someone who would have preferred a bit of satire such as "Have I got news for you." You are better off listening to the comedy on Radio 4 which is usually much better. Start off with "Mark Steel's in town" and then perhaps try Ed Reardon. There are a number of people who understand and will be willing to help!

Oops! Thanks for drawing that to my detention, Ian - duly corrected. At least I now know that somebody reads my posts!

BTW I listen to The News Show on R4 - on which Mark Steele sometimes "appears", but not his own show. I nearly bumped into Mark Steele passing one of the local railway stations a couple of years ago. I was on the point of saying, "Your Mark Steele aren't you!" without being definite, and managed to stop myself. It was only subsequently I found out he lives in the district and is in fact a sarf Londoner - which should be apparent from the way he speaks.

[Ian Thumwood]

Yes, I saw and enjoyed the Ella documentary. It seems her harsh childhood contributed to her own relationship issues later on, but also to her strong will and becoming a singer. So a double-edged sword.

I watched most of the programme. The most interesting aspect was regarding his discovery by Chick Webb who, although a renowned bandleader and drummer then, has really faded from the consciousness of most jazz fans. What reputation Webb now enjoys would tend to stem from his mentoring of Fitzgerald yet I find that a lot of the material she sang was often risible. The charts were largely written by a white arranger called Van Alexander who also worked with other dance bands such as Larry Clinton before having a successful career in Hollywood writing scores for film and TV. At the time, Webb enjoyed almost legendary status and there is a great story about his band challenging Basie's to a battle of the bands at the Savoy Ballroom on the same night as Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert. I used to have a tape of a radio broadcast by Webb's band from the Savoy which shows how devastatingly exciting it could be.

Webb's studio recordings are quite sensational. Edgar Sampson initially composed for the band and his charts for numbers such as "Don't be that way", "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Blue Lou" eventually found their way in to Benny Goodman's book. However, less familiar pieces like "Go Harlem, " "Spinning the Webb", "Strictly jive", "Liza" and the incredible "Harlem Congo" are maybe more typical and reveal his orchestra to sound like Benny Goodman's on steroids. The better instrumental charts are demonstrative of how aligned 1930s swing bands were to jazz.

I would have to say that the comment about Webb being hard on Ella did not really surprise me and I always had the impression that he was very much a tough character. There is an account of him running down a hard-on-his -luck Jelly Roll Morton and dismissing the pianist's brand of jazz as old-fashioned. To pick up the double-edge sword metaphor, I have always felt that this story was extremely ironic for, more than many of his contemporaries, Webb's band has always struck me as being The archetypal 1930s band. Webb was a tremendous and powerful drummer and someone whose playing also manifested itself in his other famous prodigy, Art Blakey. (Shame that this story is not better known.) However, I have always wondered what the emergence of Basie's more modern band would have meant for Webb had he lived. Check out other bands such as Luckily Millinder, Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine and the influence of Basie on many of their charts is abundantly obvious. It would have been fascinating to see how Webb adapted. My gut feeling is that it might have started to sound a bit anachronistic by the early 1940s.

[Serial_Apologist]

I watched most of the programme. The most interesting aspect was regarding his discovery by Chick Webb who, although a renowned bandleader and drummer then, has really faded from the consciousness of most jazz fans. What reputation Webb now enjoys would tend to stem from his mentoring of Fitzgerald yet I find that a lot of the material she sang was often risible. The charts were largely written by a white arranger called Van Alexander who also worked with other dance bands such as Larry Clinton before having a successful career in Hollywood writing scores for film and TV. At the time, Webb enjoyed almost legendary status and there is a great story about his band challenging Basie's to a battle of the bands at the Savoy Ballroom on the same night as Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert. I used to have a tape of a radio broadcast by Webb's band from the Savoy which shows how devastatingly exciting it could be.

Webb's studio recordings are quite sensational. Edgar Sampson initially composed for the band and his charts for numbers such as "Don't be that way", "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Blue Lou" eventually found their way in to Benny Goodman's book. However, less familiar pieces like "Go Harlem, " "Spinning the Webb", "Strictly jive", "Liza" and the incredible "Harlem Congo" are maybe more typical and reveal his orchestra to sound like Benny Goodman's on steroids. The better instrumental charts are demonstrative of how aligned 1930s swing bands were to jazz.

I would have to say that the comment about Webb being hard on Ella did not really surprise me and I always had the impression that he was very much a tough character. There is an account of him running down a hard-on-his -luck Jelly Roll Morton and dismissing the pianist's brand of jazz as old-fashioned. To pick up the double-edge sword metaphor, I have always felt that this story was extremely ironic for, more than many of his contemporaries, Webb's band has always struck me as being The archetypal 1930s band. Webb was a tremendous and powerful drummer and someone whose playing also manifested itself in his other famous prodigy, Art Blakey. (Shame that this story is not better known.) However, I have always wondered what the emergence of Basie's more modern band would have meant for Webb had he lived. Check out other bands such as Luckily Millinder, Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine and the influence of Basie on many of their charts is abundantly obvious. It would have been fascinating to see how Webb adapted. My gut feeling is that it might have started to sound a bit anachronistic by the early 1940s.

Yes I think I agree with that last sentiment. Certain traits coalesced in Swing performances to create a visceral kind of mass excitement, one based particularly on quite crude riffs, building up repetitively to end resolving on mostly predictable cadences; when these were replaced by more complex overlapping polymetrical repeating figures in the early bebop big bands such as Gillespie's and Herman's, arrangers abandoned such basics and, probably I would guess, large parts of the audiences, who would have transferred allegiances to the smaller backing riff outfits of R'n'B singers emerging in the 1940s, so paving the way for rock and roll's faster pace and appeal to a new generation.

[Ian Thumwood]

Yes I think I agree with that last sentiment. Certain traits coalesced in Swing performances to create a visceral kind of mass excitement, one based particularly on quite crude riffs, building up repetitively to end resolving on mostly predictable cadences; when these were replaced by more complex overlapping polymetrical repeating figures in the early bebop big bands such as Gillespie's and Herman's, arrangers abandoned such basics and, probably I would guess, large parts of the audiences, who would have transferred allegiances to the smaller backing riff outfits of R'n'B singers emerging in the 1940s, so paving the way for rock and roll's faster pace and appeal to a new generation.

SA

Whilst the use of riffs has been a big part of jazz especially from the period 1920s-50's as well as other forms of popular music, it is unrealistic to consider many of the arrangers from the 30sand 40s as crude. Webb's initial success was built upon charts written by Edgar Sampson whose ability marked him out for the attention of Benny Goodman but he also employed Teddy McCrae who was no slouch either. McCrae continued to write for the band once Ella took over the leadership. There were undoubtedly some pretty hammy bands around this time yet arrangers like Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Mundy, Mary Lou Williams, Horace Henderson, Edgar Sampson, Benny Carter, Sy Oliver etc were all lauded because of their writing abilities. The best example of a bank craning out crude riffs is probably Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, which I think was an 8-piece that was the house band at The Savoy. AL Cooper's band may have been popular with dancers but the music is extremely limited. In my opinion, they are probably unique in this respect amongst the black bands and, indeed, the writing for bands as diverse as those as Goodman, Dorsey, Herman, Barnet, Shaw and even Miller was often of a really high calibre. I agree that the likes of Gillespie and Herman were more sophisticated yet there big band writing had already reached a degree of sophistication by about 1930 even if you discount Ellington. Undoubtedly there were some arrangers who were hacks yet I have always been impressed by how good the writing often is with big bands, the best of which deserved their reputations. The "pop" material and reliance on girl singers is something that I have found off-putting about this era. The jazz / instrumental side afforded the opportunity for jazz to cut it's teeth with increasing sophistication and remarkably quickly. It is worth pointing out that the likes of Gillespie and Tadd Dameron were both employed as arrangers by numerous bands throughout this time , with Dameron's career predating Ella's by a number of years. ("Lady Bird" was written in 1937, I believe.) If you think of the distance covered by big band writing between 1930 and 45, it is difficult not to be impressed, especially when you reflect that throughout the 1920s arrangers had had to grabble with the problem of writing jazz which sounded both cohesive and maintained the excitement and dynamics of improvised performance. The early records by Fletcher Henderson reveal what a hard won battle this ultimately proved to be as these blokes were working from scratch with no real precedents.

Webb's problems would have been more problematical. The stuff with Ella strikes me as been indicative of the way the commercial aspect of big band reinforced itself in some respects in the 1940s. Van Alexander arranged a lot of nursery rhymes for the big band which are truly execrable and it is easy to understand why a side musician like Garvin Bushell dismissed Webb as trying to get his band to sound white. I think this was probably an unfair criticism as the instrumental charts are excellent. What would have been the problem would have been Webb's style of drumming. Disregarding Be-bop, it would have sounded old-fashioned within a matter of years because the music at that time was moving so fast. Even Goodman's band from the early 40s is radically different from the one he had as late as 1939 - far more modern (due to the likes of Eddie Sauter's writing) and a better musical unit. A number of bands from the 30s never quite made the transition into the next decade so that the records by the likes of Andy Kirk or Bob Crosby (to take 2 examples) ended up sounding quite ordinary as the size of the bands increased in the 1940s. The main problem that I feel big bands had to address was the influence of Basie's band which effectively revolutionized the rhythmic aspect of jazz. As I said above, the more you listen to bands from the 1940s, the more you appreciate how Basie's band influenced other bands which no longer seemed quite so modern in comparison. I feel that Webb's style of drumming would have had to have changed a lot too, as exciting as it was in the context of the 1930s.

Returning to Ella, it is a shame that her 1930s material lacks the stature of Billie Holiday's but Holiday was clearly a mature artist at that point whereas Ella was at the start of her career. The later appearances with Basie under the auspices of Norman Granz are deservedly cherished. However, it would have been interesting to have heard her with the earlier incarnation of Basie's band. I recall that she also recorded with Goodman in the late 30s although I cannot recall the name of the song. The documentary was very good at pointing out Ella's involvement in Be-bop and the proposal to cut the song book material was more inspired than I had imagined. I struck me as bold to get a "modern" jazz musician to change tack quite so dramatically. The results were often definitive.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sun 7 June
4pm - Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton with recordings by Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Martin Speake and others.

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mooojt5y

If Sandy Brown insisted on singing the blues, for authenticity he should have sung in his Scottish accent - like Jack Bruce would do.

[Jazzrook]

SA

Whilst the use of riffs has been a big part of jazz especially from the period 1920s-50's as well as other forms of popular music, it is unrealistic to consider many of the arrangers from the 30sand 40s as crude. Webb's initial success was built upon charts written by Edgar Sampson whose ability marked him out for the attention of Benny Goodman but he also employed Teddy McCrae who was no slouch either. McCrae continued to write for the band once Ella took over the leadership. There were undoubtedly some pretty hammy bands around this time yet arrangers like Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Mundy, Mary Lou Williams, Horace Henderson, Edgar Sampson, Benny Carter, Sy Oliver etc were all lauded because of their writing abilities. The best example of a bank craning out crude riffs is probably Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, which I think was an 8-piece that was the house band at The Savoy. AL Cooper's band may have been popular with dancers but the music is extremely limited. In my opinion, they are probably unique in this respect amongst the black bands and, indeed, the writing for bands as diverse as those as Goodman, Dorsey, Herman, Barnet, Shaw and even Miller was often of a really high calibre. I agree that the likes of Gillespie and Herman were more sophisticated yet there big band writing had already reached a degree of sophistication by about 1930 even if you discount Ellington. Undoubtedly there were some arrangers who were hacks yet I have always been impressed by how good the writing often is with big bands, the best of which deserved their reputations. The "pop" material and reliance on girl singers is something that I have found off-putting about this era. The jazz / instrumental side afforded the opportunity for jazz to cut it's teeth with increasing sophistication and remarkably quickly. It is worth pointing out that the likes of Gillespie and Tadd Dameron were both employed as arrangers by numerous bands throughout this time , with Dameron's career predating Ella's by a number of years. ("Lady Bird" was written in 1937, I believe.) If you think of the distance covered by big band writing between 1930 and 45, it is difficult not to be impressed, especially when you reflect that throughout the 1920s arrangers had had to grabble with the problem of writing jazz which sounded both cohesive and maintained the excitement and dynamics of improvised performance. The early records by Fletcher Henderson reveal what a hard won battle this ultimately proved to be as these blokes were working from scratch with no real precedents.

Webb's problems would have been more problematical. The stuff with Ella strikes me as been indicative of the way the commercial aspect of big band reinforced itself in some respects in the 1940s. Van Alexander arranged a lot of nursery rhymes for the big band which are truly execrable and it is easy to understand why a side musician like Garvin Bushell dismissed Webb as trying to get his band to sound white. I think this was probably an unfair criticism as the instrumental charts are excellent. What would have been the problem would have been Webb's style of drumming. Disregarding Be-bop, it would have sounded old-fashioned within a matter of years because the music at that time was moving so fast. Even Goodman's band from the early 40s is radically different from the one he had as late as 1939 - far more modern (due to the likes of Eddie Sauter's writing) and a better musical unit. A number of bands from the 30s never quite made the transition into the next decade so that the records by the likes of Andy Kirk or Bob Crosby (to take 2 examples) ended up sounding quite ordinary as the size of the bands increased in the 1940s. The main problem that I feel big bands had to address was the influence of Basie's band which effectively revolutionized the rhythmic aspect of jazz. As I said above, the more you listen to bands from the 1940s, the more you appreciate how Basie's band influenced other bands which no longer seemed quite so modern in comparison. I feel that Webb's style of drumming would have had to have changed a lot too, as exciting as it was in the context of the 1930s.

Returning to Ella, it is a shame that her 1930s material lacks the stature of Billie Holiday's but Holiday was clearly a mature artist at that point whereas Ella was at the start of her career. The later appearances with Basie under the auspices of Norman Granz are deservedly cherished. However, it would have been interesting to have heard her with the earlier incarnation of Basie's band. I recall that she also recorded with Goodman in the late 30s although I cannot recall the name of the song. The documentary was very good at pointing out Ella's involvement in Be-bop and the proposal to cut the song book material was more inspired than I had imagined. I struck me as bold to get a "modern" jazz musician to change tack quite so dramatically. The results were often definitive.

Was this Ella/Goodman song(1936) the one you were thinking about?

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=XjhsgHDz8h4

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

Was this Ella/Goodman song(1936) the one you were thinking about?

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=XjhsgHDz8h4

JR

yes!

Thanks for posting this. It is a record that I haven't heard for years. When I first heard this record I assumed that Ella was Goodman's regular singer. I would imagine that John Hammond had probably something to do with this collaboration which is fascinating given Goodman's reputation of not liking singers.

[Quarky]

Sat 6 June
5pm - J to Z
Kevin Le Gendre presents highlights from lockdown streaming festival Live from Our Living Rooms, including a fiery duo set from pianist Fabian Almazan and bassist Linda May Han Ohand and an intimate solo performance by guitar great Bill Frisell. And US trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire shares music that has inspired and influenced him.

That should encourage a few posts on here!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jvb5

12midnight - Freeness
Corey Mwamba presents a new reissue of a rare Japanese pressing by the US fusion drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, British saxophonist Trevor Watts plays some lockdown-inspired sounds, and London-based sound artist Gawain Hewitt records a real-time collaboration remotely to capture a stirring performance by Kaidi Akinnibi (saxophone) and Dominic Canning (piano).

This is believed to be the first sound artist to have been named after an opera by Harrison Birtwistle. No neighbours were harmed in the making of this programme. There is also a singer called Alexa featured, by the way; she is ready with advice on any subject, and obtainable by rubbing the standby oil lamp you keep for just-in-case-needed on your sideboard or bedside table.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jvbc

.

The fing I like about Kevin Legendre and Corey Mwamba, is that it's all up to date and current music, innit? No need to delve into the history books, and ancient recordings.

This is typified by Ambrose Akinmusire - bang up to date, wonderful musician, and much-needed antidote to the Coltrane set.

[MarkG]

For those interested there is an interview in the latest (July) edition of the Wire with guitarist John Russell about the MOPOMOSO club.

[Serial_Apologist]

For those interested there is an interview in the latest (July) edition of the Wire with guitarist John Russell about the MOPOMOSO club.

Thanks Mark - off to the local WH Smurds for a copy tomorrow.

[Alyn_Shipton]

But Quarky we were featuring Ambrose Akinmusire live in concert on Jazz Now three years ago. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093p3b4

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks Mark - off to the local WH Smurds for a copy tomorrow.

Sadly no copies were available, having queued for 15 minutes to get into a shop that doubles as post office. So I ended up getting the June Jazzwise - the last copy of which I bought a year ago. Nearest possible source for The Wire would probably be Victoria Station, and I'm not getting a train just for that. Anyways, from the front cover of JW there are articles on Charles Lloyd, Jasper Hoiby, William Parker, Chris Montague and Mike Westbrook, no less, among others, so not a totally wasted ride on a nice day on quiet streets.