A feast of fantastic music

[clive heath]

Two more additions to my 78 rpm catalogue to help you celebrate the festive season:

For Jazz fans there is another 20 track collection of Duke Ellington recordings listed as " Duke 2". I think fantastic is not inappropriate for the range of sonorities he gets from a relatively small group of musicians, helped by the differing acoustic qualities of the studios the band records in, including two tracks recorded in London. Ivy Anderson is on 4 of the tracks including the standard "It Don't Mean a Thing....." The other standard is "Sophisticated Lady" with the piano-player showing off. I enjoy the way he has with major and minor. "Blues of the Vagabond" has a minorish feel for 32 bars ( after an intro with banjo glissandi !) but then the mood is lifted with a new theme. "What Can a Poor Fellow Do?" has quite a lilt to it considering the bass is bowed throughout.

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_16.php

In the Chamber Music category I have put together a Woodwind Recital featuring Renè Le Roy on Flute, Leon Goossens, Oboe together with Kathleen Long and Gerald Moore taking the piano duties. The main programme comprises Flute pieces by Handel ( a Sonata) and Mozart (two quartets), an Oboe quartet by Mozart and a Piano Sonata by Haydn. This is just over a hour of pretty much pure melody, just enough to cover the last hour of Breakfast and the relentlessly cheery first item in Ess. Class.

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_13.php

I was somewhat chagrined to find that "Steamboat Shuffle" referred to in a post earlier is actually "Showboat Shuffle". Mea Culpa.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

I was somewhat chagrined to find that "Steamboat Shuffle" referred to in a post earlier is actually "Showboat Shuffle". Mea Culpa.

Clive how could you!

[clive heath]

The next instalment of Jazz 78s, Jazz 10, is now uploaded. A mixed bag as usual with some undoubted gems and some surprises. Among the gems are Louis' Hot 5 with "West End Blues", Bix on Frankie Trumbauer's "Singing the Blues" and Fletcher Henderson's "Big John's Special" from 1934 which has an early Ben Webster contribution and some crackling Henry "Red" Allen trumpet. Among the surprises are a frantic "You Rascal You" by Garland Wilson and his stride piano, a charming "Sweet Lorraine" from Joe Venuti and at some point on this 78 you can hear a high note from the violin which I calculate to be 5 Khz or thereabouts.

Following a reference to Gil Evans and his "Great Jazz Standards" with Johnny Coles, Steve Lacy and Budd Johnson, I revisited my LP with my new Ortofon cartridge. My conclusion was that this LP, uneven in quality compared to "Miles Ahead", "Porgy.." etc. is nevertheless beautifully recorded and the scoring intriguing. Evans plays quite a bit of piano and there is a guitarist who solos at length on one track, not my favourite! ( In fact he is Ray Crawford, under discussion elsewhere for his prefiguring of a Coltrane theme)

I found I had an LP by a Jimmy Woods who recorded twice under his own name and that is almost all the "All Music Guide to Jazz" has to say. The LP is called "Conflict" and is distinguished by some anguished, intense playing by the leader, some pertinent thrashing about from Elvin Jones (who also solos on the Gil Evans album) and pieces in 3/4 time that pound away interestingly. The tenor sax man is Harold Land and the trumpeter Carmell Jones (who I only know from Horace Silver albums). The pianist is Andrew Hille who I guess is the same Andrew Hill who played with Kirk and Eric Dolphy.

I also have some Harold Land with the Curtis Counce Quintet: Rolf Ericson, Elmo Hope and Frank Butler complete the line-up. There is some remarkably impassioned playing on this album, called "Exploring the Future" . (mono)

Two Mozart piano concertos have also been uploaded, both in A major, played by Marguerite Long with a Parisian orchestra and by Louis Kentner with the LPO conducted by Beecham. An interesting contrast; The K.488 is the flashier piece and has a lively acoustic while the K.414 is more down to earth and I find I have warmed to Kentner's four-square touch as heard here and at length in his Hammerklavier.

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_17.php

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/transcriptions_07.php

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/vinyl2.php

in order of the notes above.

These don't tend to sound so good on earphones, but sound fine in my front room!