When in 1996, as he exited his beloved Kinks after more than thirty year to enter a new career as a solo artist, the risks were great. When his U.S. tour came to Chicago, my brother-in-law and I attended his performance at the Apollo Theatre on the North Side in 1998.
The Apollo was nothing like its namesake in Harlem. There was seating for an audience of about 200 people, with folding chairs set up in the front row. From beginning to end, Ray and his extra guitar player managed to put on a show that was one of the best I've ever seen, including Kinks shows promoting their latest album, from Everybody's in Showbiz in 1972 to Phobia in 1993.
Ray's show, 20th Century Man, coincided with the publication of his first memoir, X-ray, so it came as no surprise to hear tales from his childhood, a narrative punctuated by songs both old and new.
Before going on about 20th Century Man, it's useful to jump ahead a couple of years to Ray's first album, apart from soundtrack music for the film Escape to Waterloo decades earlier:
The Storyteller (EMI/ Konk, 1998)
Other People's Lives (V2, 2006)
This is finely crafted verse set to music that isn't memorable and really doesn't rock.
Working Man's Cafe (V2, 2007)
Same as the previous year's stuff. I want to like it, but aside from the title tune, I couldn't name any of the others. Nothing seems to stand out.
The Kinks Choral Collection (Universal/ Decca, 2009)
Here Ray returns to the tried and true and scores through the beautiful choir behind his lead vocal.
NPR download, 2009 New York City
See My Friends (Decca, 2010)
Going back to his Kinks material seems to be a habit, this time with various artists in duets. I wonder if Ray's guests were in the same room with him when they laid down their vocals. It's time for something truly new.
Americana (Legacy, 2017) and Our Country: Americana, Act II (2018)
This is the album I'd been waiting for. Ray's backing band, the Jayhawks, rocks with a slant all its own. In fact, it is the musical equivalent of Ray's second memoir, which bears the same title. This album, in fact, picks up where Storyteller left off, the Kinks' arrival in America in 1964. The next chapter in Ray's story involves the USA exclusively and examines his experience here with an outpouring of music that is Ray's best since the Kinks called it quits in 1996.
It really does require a second act to complete the story of Ray's travails in America.
IN ROTATION:
The Red Norvo Trio with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus: The Savoy 6 Sessions (Savoy, 1950, '51)
lightly & politely....
Phineas Newborn,Solo Piano (Atlantic/ 32 Jazz, 1975)
Garry Giddens's critical biography of Louis Armstrong, is slim at 238 pages, but it remains my favorite Armstrong reference ever since it appeared thirty-five years ago. The book is scholarly, authoritative and still up-to-date after more than thirty years. Drawn from primary sources, including Armstrong's baptismal certificate, news articles, and Armstrong's own writings, Giddins disputes many common assumptions (such as Armstrong's having the middle name Daniel, though even Wikipedia still says otherwise). Most importantly, Giddins approaches his subject by challenging the prevailing notion that Armstrong's greatest works were all recorded before 1930, and that he "sold out" for the rest of his long career.
The author's approach is to divide the book into two parts: "The Artist As Entertainer" "The Entertainer As Artist." Within each sections he provides necessary details to make his case. At the start Giddins investigates documents concerning Armstrong's true date of birth. He follows his subject's early years in New Orleans: how a Jewish family from which he had a job took him under its wing; Armstrong's brief residency in the New Orleans Colored Waifs' Home, for which he received his first cornet; his early musical training and jobs and his first, short-lived marriage.
We learn of his apprenticeship on the Mississippi riverboat band led by Fate Marable, then on to Chicago in 1923 to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (Armstrong had played previously in Oliver's band in New Orleans.). Oliver's band with Armstrong made their first recordings for the Okeh and Gennett labels the same year.
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
Fletcher Henderson, seated at piano.
In 1924 Louis Armstrong joined the famous orchestra of Fletcher Henderson, playing alongside Coleman Hawkins and recording often, thereby broadening his influence and building his reputation as a popular artist. He returned to Chicago to play in Erskine Tate's band at the Vendome theater on State Street, along the "Stroll," as it was then known, on the South Side. Armstrong made a pair of recordings as a sideman for Tate, as well as for Carroll Dickerson at the Sunset Cafe. From the 1920s through the 1940s, he became an icon nationally and internationally, regarded as a great American creator, along with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Walt Disney.
Almost all dismissive criticism of Armstrong, beginning in the late '40s, is directed at the small-groups with Louis and his All-Stars and the end. The critics carped at Armstrong's sidemen, asserting their inferiority beside the Hot Five recordings. The enormous, chart-topping success of "Hello Dolly" seemed to anger them.
Such a viewpoint stems from the assumption that Armstrong, after his pioneering records of the 1920s, began his decline only a decade after he left New Orleans. The unspoken assumption that Armstrong "sold out" in some way to become an international success with millions of admirers.
Gary Giddens begins his book with a discussion of the assumed dichotomy between art and entertainment. Satchmo continues by arguing persuasively in favor of Armstrong's professional career, from beginning to end.
"Struttin' With Some Barbecue"
Not least of this book's features are the full bibliography and useful album discography appended directly after the text.
My closing thought on Satchmo and Armstrong himself is to repeat Duke Ellington's comment about him after his death in 1971:
"I loved and respected Lous Armstrong. He was born poor, died rich, and never hurt anyone on the way."
IN ROTATION:
Elis Regina, O fino do Bossa (Velas 3-CD set, 1965-1967)
posthumous release, begins in her first year in Rio, television show broadcast nationally, soon to be the highest paid singer in Brazil; Jaire Rodrigues, Baden Powell, Zimbo Trio, etc. guests
Jazz Artists Guild, Newport Rebel s (Epic/ Legacy, 1973-2005)
outstanding compilation; Jeff Lynne; ends with Chuck Berry, oldies tribute "Rock & Roll Is King"
Erroll Garner The Greatest Garner (Atlantic, 1949 and 1950)
Will Friedwald, The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums. Pantheon Books, 2019
Will Friedwald is one of the finest writers about music today. He is erudite and obviously more than familiar with literally hundreds of jazz and pop vocal albums. His book is intelligent, resourceful, and a treat to read. I already was well-acquainted with sixteen of the fifty-seven albums it extolled, so I had at least a good start in the records I owned.
I have enlarged my collection from advice of this book. There have been no outright disappointments, so far.
In his preface Friedwald describes his way of determining his "playlist." Along with his editor, Robert Gottlieb, the author outlines a rather odd methodology:
[M]ost of these albums just jumped out at us without our having to give the question a lot of soul-searching thought. We began by listing the albums that absolutely had to be in here, most of which immediately leapt to mind. What we didn't need to do was study lists of artists and proceed from there; in other words, we thought at once of Lullabies of Birdland and Mack the Knife, rather than ask ourselves, "What are the essential albums by Ella Fitzgerald?"
Such a method is bound to become restrictive and exclusive in many ways. Judging from the albums listed, a large majority of Friedwald's choices date from the 1950s and early '60s, with a smattering from the years following, all the way up to two albums from 2002. With one only exception, Friedwald's choices are designed to play as albums, rather than compilations. Almost all his selections consist of music from the "Great American Songbook," the music of our parents' generation. (My quibbles can't be a matter of generations, because Friedwald is thirteen years younger than I.) Likewise, all the artists he chooses sing in the English language: hence no Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, or any other foreign-language pop. Friedwald lists no Broadway or Hollywood cast albums. Such restriction leads one to challenge his nominees, but perhaps that is part of his intention.
One huge problem in this book is its lack of definitions fo "jazz" and "pop." My list is also subjective, but among pop singers, I couldn't fail to include albums from the 1970s through the 1990s. More puzzling still is Friedman's chapter on the aforementioned album by Barb Jungr, Every Grain of Sand, a Bob Dylan tribute from twenty years ago (Friedman begins the chapter comparing Jungr's version of "It Ain't Me Babe"to Dylan's original, but this particular song is not included on the album.) A more pertinent question is why Friedman chose to spotlight an English cabaret singer of whom most Americans have never heard, instead of an album by Bob Dylan himself.
However, I believe this book's main flaw is the sin of omission. Here, therefore, are a few albums and artists, from my own "playlist," that Friedman either ignored or overlooked, presented via Youtube:
This album was one of the best of the 1960s. Her next album, Wildflowers would be a gigantic step up in Collins's career (helping launch Joni Mitchell's career as well). But previously with In My Life, she brought to my attention for the first time Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and Leonard Cohen's lovely"Suzanne." Collins's eclectic tastes also admit Bob Dylan, Donovan, and Brecht and Weill, with "Pirate Jenny"from the Threepenny Opera. The album properly ends with a remarkable reading the Beatles' "In My Life," after which the album itself is titled. I prefer Collins's rendition, framed by a single acoustic guitar, to that of the Fab Four.
Sam Cooke, "the man who invented soul," was famous mainly as a singer of hit singles, nearly all of which he wrote himself. Before his tragic death the following year, he recorded a bona fide album, Night Beat, an album with a strong after-hours ambience. Here all songs are by other songwriters. The performances, which included a young Billy Preston at the organ, are very informal and laid back. Best are the final two tracks, "Fool's Paradise" (one of my favorite songs) and Joe Turner's rollicking "Shake, Rattle and Roll."
Nilsson's voice was one of the most admired in the late '60s and early '70s. Although he was a prolific songwriter, I chose this album of standards, one of the first ever by a rock-era singer, with lush string accompaniment by Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra. These are the songs Harry loved from childhood, on an album that must have perplexed the money men at RCA Victor. Of all the vocal albums I've heard, this one stands out. The CD reissue adds many great tracks not found on the original LP.
The same year of Nilsson's brilliant look into the American Songbook another immense talent mines the same ore. Here are ten tracks, each a home run, from an eclectic group of songwriters, from Hoagy Carmichael to Bob Dylan on the first side alone. A classic, I think better than her first release, The Divine Miss M.
Blue is one of the most-heard albums of its time and one to which millions still listen. For a very personal songwriter, this is one of Joni Mitchell's most intimate, with more memorable music and lyrics than many of her later releases.
I admit to being a late convert to so-called outlaw country music, but this album is the sub-genre's progenitor. Nelson knows how to put emotions into a song, without emoting. I could have chosen many other album's, including his own forays into the Great American Songbook, but this song cycle of murder and its aftermath serves well as a primer.
Betty Carter was a firecracker for more than forty years, a jazz singer among jazz singers. How could any great albums list omit her? She was at her best with an enthusiastic live audience, and my choice is one of her best, released just a few years before her untimely death.
As is the case with A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, this album features a prolific, hugely talented songwriter singing songs from the Great American Soul repertoire. As with Nilsson's inspiration, these are the songs Nyro most treasured from her childhood, classics that propelled her own music. She could not have found better background singers than Patti LaBelle & co. Production by Gamble & Huff is also top-notch.
A superior songwriter for many years previously, Carole King finally found her own voice with this album, a great spark for the late-'60s singer-songwriter trend and a hugely popular album in its own right. It's certainly her most popular album of the past fifty-odd years. Many of the tracks feature King's take on songs that already had been big hits for other artists.
When I want to listen to Ray Charles, almost any of his '50s albums for Atlantic are ahead of his '60s ABC-Paramount/ Tangerine productions, including his Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Friedman's choice. In other words, I choose Charles the songwriter over Charles the interpreter.
As I've already asked, why choose a Dylan tribute recording over any of Dylan's own, especially from the 1960s, when his influence on popular music was at its greatest. John Wesley Harding is usually my go-to Dylan album, for all its puzzling lyrics. I prefer Dylan's version of "All Along the Watchtower" to Jimi Hendrix's more widely known recording.
I prefer this L, H & R album totheir earlier Sing a Song of Basie, Friedman's pick, because it offers much more: the actual Basie band with Joe Williams and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. My favorite track is the last, "Li'l Darlin'." Despite its extremely slow tempo, performance is for me the album's climactic track.
Elis is not only my favorite Brazilian singer but also (maybe) my favorite vocalist, period. I chose this particular album, a studio version of her live show, mostly because it spreads the music over two discs, doubling the content of any other of her many fine recordings. As usual, the very best of Elis's contemporary songwriters are featured Her performance of Jobim's "Sabia" is breathtaking in itself and probably my favorite track.
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Orange Crate Art (1995)
This Wilson-Parks collaboration, the only one since the Beach Boys' aborted SMiLE album in 1967, was my favorite recording of any genre in 1995, despite its poor sales. I was most happy to receive a new 2022 edition, with three recently recorded tracks and a separate disc presenting a backing-track only rendition, on the Omnivore label.
Brian Wilson, by his own admission, wrote none of the arrangements for this album. Still, it is uncanny how Parks's vocal arrangements, performed and overdubbed perfectly, resemble what Wilson might have done himself. The orchestral arrangements, including Parks's version of Gershwin's "Lullaby," are outstanding. No one but Parks could have produced this recording.
The two-disc, edition is worth hearing also for its three added tracks: a stacked, a cappella version of the theme from Rhapsody in Blue, a Four Freshman-styled of "Our Love Is Here to Stay,"and a touching "What a Wonderful World." Brian's voice here isn't what it was on the original tracks, but effective nonetheless.
I can't fathom how Johnny Cash could be omitted from any great-albums playlist. The San Quentin performance, a huge seller among '60s recordings, also boasts Shel Silverstein's wry "A Boy Named Sue." Shame on Friedman for ignoring this album!
I am not knocking Friedman's Sinatra chapter, but Sinatra at the Sands, with its appreciative live audience, Count Basie's band, and Quincy Jones's arrangements, is my go-to.
This is my favorite among all Tatum's recordings, and that's saying a lot. His performances here confirm the album's title: I've never heard a better demonstration than these, recorded at private parties at the Beverly Hills home of Ray Heindorf on two occasions set apart by several years.
As always, I marvel at Tatum's complete mastery of the keyboard, his advanced harmonics, his knowledge of seemingly all contemporary popular music, and his resourcefulness at every turn. In these particular recordings, there are the additional assets of a fine instrument and the relaxed atmosphere of a private party, an ambience not present on his studio or concert recordings.
Twentieth Century Piano Genius has an interesting history. It first came out on the Twentieth Century Fox label with barely half of what this double-CD contains, and some of the originally released tracks were incomplete. The remaining tracks came out in dribs and drabs overs the years, including a Smithsonian Records release (Pieces of Eight) in the 1970s. The Verve CD reissue adds 11 more to comprise the full 29 tracks.
The collection begins with an attractive but all-but-forgotten ballad, "Just Like a Butterfly (That's Caught in the Rain)." I hear an unusual degree of dissonance in this performance, as in Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" a few tracks later. On the most-frequently played tunes, Tatum early on developed set routines; long-time admirers always knew what to expect in a performance, yet no performances were exactly alike (compare, for example, the 1951 version of "Body and Soul"to the one played in 1955).
I recall Charles Mingus once opining that Art Tatum might have become a composer himself, were his mind not so occupied with almost every pop song ever written during his lifetime. His death came in 1956, a few months after the later of the dates was played. I'd like to have been there.
lightly and politely...
The Art Tatum Collection, 1932-1947 (Acrobat 4-CD box)
Ancillary to all the above; these great, imaginative Decca recordings were early Art for me.
Charles Lloyd, Forest Flower (Atlantic, 196?)
Charles Lloyd, Love-In (Atlantic/ Collectables, 1967)
Hank Mobley Sextet (Blue Note, 1956)
Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band, En Concert Olympia 19 Novembre, 1960 (Europe1 2-CD)
Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill: Berlin & American Theater Songs (Columbia, 1955 and 1957)
The Great Ray Charles (Atlantic, 1959)
Here's Lee Morgan (VeeJay, 1960)
Don Cherry, Mu- First Part and Mu- Second Part (Charley/ BYG, 1969)
Earl "Fatha" Hines, Classic Jazz Archive (Membran 2-CD compilation, 1928-1947)
Steve Lacy and Roswell Rudd, Monk's Dream (Verve, 1999)
