Tag Archives: Jazz

Various Artists: ‘Twas the Night Before Hanukkah

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Jews sing of both Hanukkah and Christmas

A musical battle between Hanukkah and Christmas is really no battle at all. As the popularity of recorded music grew through the twentieth century, so did the Christian-to-Jew population advantage. A 50:1 advantage in 1900 grew to a 150:1 advantage by 2000, and magnified by Western commercialization of Christmas, its celebrants produced an unparalleled abundance of popular holiday music. Hanukkah, in contrast, mostly made good with candles, dreidels, latkes and music that bore more resemblance to traditional Jewish melodies than the top of the pops. Sure, there’s the catchy “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel,” but it’s more of a nursery rhyme than a hit single, and Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukkah Song” (covered by both Neil Diamond and the hardcore rockers Yidcore) was a heartfelt, but ultimately self-conscious response to the dearth of Hanukkah songs. Beck, They Might Be Giants and Ben Kweller, to name a few, have given it a shot, but don’t expect to be humming along to a Muzak™ version of Tom Lehrer’s “I’m Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica” any time soon.

Even with the LeeVees’ Hanukkah Rocks on the shelves, Hanukkah fights the musical battle with both arms tied behind its back. If Christmas is the Beatles, Hanukkah is at best a lounge band covering the Four Seasons (cf: The International Battle of the Century). The relentless repetition of Top 40 hits, on the radio and in stores, has made dozens of Christmas songs icons of the season. And in keeping with the secularization of Christmas as aU.S. celebration, many of the best-loved Christmas songs were written or sung by Jews. The Idelsohn Society’s two-disc set traces the transformation of Christmas from a religious holiday to a popular bonanza, and further emphasizes the second-banana position into which the relatively minor holiday of Hanukkah was pressed. The songs on disc two demonstrate how Christmas cut across cultural lines to become as much a secular seasonal feeling as a religious celebration. As the set’s liner notes point out, American Jews celebrated Christmas “not because it was Christian, but because it was American.”

At the same time, the designation of Christmas as a national holiday in 1870 set off a desire among some Jews for Hanukkah parity. And though Hanukkah songs were written and revived, none ever reached true popular acclaim. Disc one, “Happy Hanukkah,” includes historical odes, folk songs (including Woody Guthrie’s “Hanukkah Dance”), traditional melodies, klezmer, cantorial standards, children’s songs, chorals and humor. The disc’s one hit is Don McLean’s “Dreidel,” which just missed the Top 20 in 1972, and is really only Hanukkah-themed in its title. Disc two is filled with popularly familiar artists (The Ramones, Bob Dylan, Benny Goodman, Sammy Davis Jr., Herb Alpert, Mel Torme), all of whom are Jewish. The song list features many perennials, including Irving Berlin’s classic “White Christmas,” which author Phillip Roth characterized as subversively turning “Christmas into a holiday about snow.”

The two discs and accompanying 36-page booklet are entertaining and thought-provoking. The story of Jewish assimilation into American society is perhaps nowhere more evident than the secularized national celebration of Christmas, and the failed (and perhaps misguided) attempt to bring Hanukkah to parity. Christmas iconography – Santa, reindeer, snow, trees, candy canes, decorations, lights and brightly wrapped presents – are generally more visible than Christian religious symbols, and the holiday’s musical hits, even when referencing historical places and people, have more often taken a general celebratory tone than one of liturgy or dogma. Jews may sing a Hanukkah song or two by the menorah, but the soundtrack to most holiday gatherings, office parties and shopping – for Jews and Gentiles alike – is filled with Christmas music. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas

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2012 remaster of a Christmas classic with two Thanksgiving bonuses

Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas did as much to define the Peanuts gang as it did to capture what Charles Schulz wrote in his strip. In the same way that the television special literally animated the characters, Guaraldi’s music provided an emotional soundtrack to which they moved and danced, fleshing out a whole new dimension of the characters’ personalities. Every song on the soundtrack, even the traditional tunes adapted by Guaraldi, quickly become sense memories of the special, and a few, such as “Linus and Lucy,” “Skating” and “Christmas is Coming” were indelibly wed to their animated sequences. Like the television special, the soundtrack is a perennial. It’s been reissued on CD twice before, initially in 1988, and as recently as 2006, the latter being the subject of mastering mistakes, changes from the original album and much heated discussion.

The 2012 edition features a new re-master by Joe Tarantino that returns to original stereo album master, including its mix and edits. The piano arpeggio that opened “O Tannenbaum” on the 2006 reissue is once again removed, the end of the instrumental “Christmas Time is Here” is once again faded, and the end of “Skating” once again fades before the bass solo. The bonus “Greensleeves,” which had been added to the original CD reissue is retained and augmented by two more bonuses: “Great Pumpkin Waltz” and “Thanksgiving Theme.” These latter two seem to have been drawn from the mono television soundtrack, rather than master tapes, sounding the same as they do on Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits. Unfortunately, the 2012 release drops the alternate takes that appeared on the 2006 edition, despite there being room left at the end of this forty-five minute CD. Audiophiles can argue the merits of each remaster (the piano here feels as if it’s pushed forward to the point of harshness in spots), but what can’t be disputed is the beauty and lasting emotional resonance of Guaraldi’s music. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Dave Brubeck: The Very Best of the Fantasy Era – 1949-1953

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Sample of Brubeck’s pre-Columbia work on Fantasy

When fans think of Dave Brubeck’s golden era, they usually focus on the quartet of Brubeck, Desmond, Morello and Wright that solidified in 1958 and began a string of memorable albums with 1959’s Time Out on Columbia. Brubeck’s earlier work on Fantasy had set the table with a trio that included Cal Tjader (heard here on drums and bongos, but not vibes), and later with a quartet that introduced Paul Desmond on alto sax. The pre-Desmond pieces are pleasant, though mostly uneventful, sounding a bit like the jazz-inflected easy-listening prevalent in the 1950s. Even here though, the contrast between Desmond’s alto sax and Brubeck’s heavy hands was immediately compelling. The time changes that would become the later quartet’s calling card can be heard in early form on “Frenesi” and other tracks, but not yet with the free swinging joie de vivre later brought to “Take Five” or “Blue Rondo Ala Turk.” Brubeck’s use of classical motifs is also in evidence early on. Concord’s reissued Brubeck’s Fantasy material in a number of forms, including original albums such as Jazz at Oberlin, and compilations that include The Definitive Dave Brubeck on Fantasy and Concord and Telarc. This single disc collection is a good introduction to Brubeck’s pre-Columbia sides, but not the place to start your appreciation of his catalog. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Vince Guaraldi: The Very Best Of

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Much more than just “Linus & Lucy”

San Francisco jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi would have been remembered in the popular music conscience for his 1962 hit “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” had he not redefined his legacy three years later with the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. The animated special’s annual broadcast turned Guaraldi’s score, particularly the instrumental “Linus and Lucy,” into an indelible musical signature. The two bouts of popular acclaim obscured the rest of Guaraldi’s career, which began in the 1950s backing Cal Tjader, blossomed into his own trio and first struck pay dirt with his tribute, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus. It was from this latter album that the Guaraldi original “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” sprung onto the airwaves as the B-side of his cover of Luiz Bonfa’s “Samba de Orfeu.” Though the latter isn’t included here, another of the film’s themes, “Manha de Carnaval,” shows off Guaraldi’s interest in Latin rhythms, as well as the contemplative side of his playing.

Brazillian music played an on-going role in Guaraldi’s repertoire, as he covered the bossa nova “Outra Vez,” and collaborated with guitarist Bola Sete on the gentle “Star Song,” the rush-hour “Ginza” and a live recording of “El Matador.” The latter shows how easily Guaraldi transitioned back and forth from straight to swing time, much as he does in “Linus and Lucy,” his left hand beating out boogie-woogie as his right hand picks out melodies. 1964’s “Treat Street” attempted to follow-up on the commercial success of 1962, but the swinging, Latin-tinged single failed to click with fickle radio programmers and record buyers. It wouldn’t be until the 1965 Peanuts breakthrough that Guaraldi’s music would again seep into the broad public’s consciousness. Even then, it didn’t make a mark on the singles chart, though the soundtrack albums have been perennial sellers.

In addition to writing originals, Guaraldi, like his contemporaries, also reinterpreted standards, including Frank Loesser’s “The Lady’s in Love With You” and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.” The collection closes out with three pieces from Guaraldi’s Peanuts repertoire, including “Christmas is Coming” (the theme to which the gang dances) and a six-minute instrumental version of “Christmas Time is Here.” The two-disc Definitive Vince Guaraldi, issued three years ago, provides a deeper helping of Guaraldi’s sound, and the A Charlie Brown Christmas Original Soundtrack is a must-have. But for those wishing to taste Guaraldi’s music beyond what you’ve heard on TV, this is a good place to start. [©2012 Hyperbolium]

Miles Nielsen: Presents the Rusted Hearts

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Americana touched by soul, trad jazz and modern rock

Nielsen’s name may not be immediately familiar, but the Beatles influences in his music hint strongly at his family connection to Cheap Trick guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen. The younger Nielsen’s music is less pure-pop than his father’s, with his hoarse-voiced Americana touched by modern rock, soul and trad jazz. Still, his sensibility for melodies and hooks is no doubt informed by embryonic exposure to his dad’s power-pop. It’s been three years since Nielsen’s self-titled debut, with much of that time’s been spent on the road with his band, but having finally holed up in the studio, he’s produced a very thoughtful album. Several of his songs launch from autobiographical details, including juxtaposed images of his grandmother’s childhood in Germany, and the not-so-nice repercussions of his father’s fame. Nielsen sings with first-hand experience of fatality and rusted hearts (“like empty shopping carts”), opportunities, lies and apologies, and his band’s music is a bewitching combination of country, rock and folk, loaded with pop harmonies, and touches of New Orleans and Memphis. The latter makes its strongest appearance in the closing instrumental “Soul Bash,” which sounds favorably like a vintage Stax backing track. Neilsen’s an adventurous musician, with a deft pen and a rasp-edged voice that’s at home in a wide variety of styles. Whether or not you knew his lineage, his music would cause you to pause for a listen. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Miles Nielsen’s Home Page

Wes Montgomery: The Very Best of

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Solid picks from Wes Montgomery’s years on Riverside

Guitarist Wes Montgomery had an unusually long incubation as a supporting player, and a too-short time as a leader. Throughout the 1940s and ‘50s he toured and played sessions for others, finally breaking through as a leader with a series of late-50s and early-60s releases for Riverside. Montgomery’s run with the label, sampled here, continued throughRiverside’s demise in the wake of its co-founder’s death in 1963, at which point he moved to Verve, and subsequently to A&M. It was at the last stop where the guitarist’s fame grew into the mainstream via his explorations of hit pop melodies, but this earlier work, with his sumptuous tone set against piano- and organ-trios and -quartets remains his definitive musical signature.

The eleven tracks cover the years 1959 through 1963, stretching from The Wes Montgomery Trio through Boss Guitar, omitting selections from a number of excellent albums along the way. Montgomery is heard playing with a number of rhythm sections that include his brothers Buddy and Monk, Ron Carter, Philly Joe Jones, Percy Heath, Paul Chambers, along with Mel Rhyne (Hammond), Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan (piano) and Milt Jackson (vibes). The only reed in this collection is Johnny Griffin’s tenor on a live take of the Montgomery original “Cariba.” The set features several jazz favorites, including a meditative reading of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight” and a swinging version of west coast pianist Carl Perkins’ “Groove Yard.”

Montgomery’s guitar is brilliantly engaging throughout, whether vamping behind other soloists or playing one of his wonderfully fluid leads. He picks percussively against the stabs of Rhyne’s B-3 and Jimmy Cobb’s ride cymbal on an upbeat take of “Besame Mucho” and shares the spotlight with Milt Jackson and Wynton Kelly on “Delilah.” The eleven tracks, clocking in at just over an hour, are a fair sample of Montgomery’s run on Riverside, but for those without the rest of the catalog, this will merely whet your appetite for the individual albums. For those willing to go all-in, check out The Complete Riverside Recordings. This is a good place to start; just don’t expect it to be your last Wes Montgomery purchase. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Chet Baker: The Very Best of

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A sampling of the trumpeter/vocalist’s classic ‘50s sides

As a leading exponent of the West Coast sound, trumpeter Chet Baker was as well known for his introspective vocals as his cool horn style. Prestige’s fourteen-track collection pulls together selections from nine albums drawn from the years 1952 through 1965. The bulk of the set is taken from albums made forRiversideand Jazzland in ’58 and ’59, along with an earlier side on Fantasy and two later sides on Prestige. Baker’s intimate vocals are featured on four tracks (“Do it the Hard Way,” “My Heart Stood Still,” “Old Devil Moon,” and “The Song is You”), with the rest finding his trumpet accompanied by the likes of Chico Hamilton, Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers, and sharing the spotlight with Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Griffin, Herbie Mann, Zoot Sims and others.

The set opener, a 1952 take of “My Funny Valentine” with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, is among Baker’s purest expressions, shading contrasts between romantic and wounded, confident and doubtful, pensive and expressive. Throughout the collection, Baker’s trumpet is absorbed in thought, slowly revealing itself in long lines and quiet transitions. Even when pushed to mid-tempo and goosed by saxophones, Baker’s tone and volume remain understated. He stays cool and under control, even as he navigates the complexities of “Have You Seen Miss Jones?” There’s a lot to Baker’s catalog, including albums waxed for Blue Note and Pacific Jazz before he joinedRiverside, and a tangle of labels between his stints onRiversideand Prestige, but these late ‘50s classics are a great place to start. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

The Bill Evans Trio: Moon Beams

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Bill Evans meditates on the loss of Scott LaFaro

After redefining the piano trio on a series of albums for Riverside, Bill Evans had his musical foil taken from him with the 1961 car accident that killed bassist LaFaro. Perhaps most difficult was that LaFaro’s death came less than two weeks after the trio made their tour de force stand at the Village Vanguard, as subsequently memorialized on the albums Sunday at the Village Vangaurd and Waltz for Debby. Evans withdrew from performing for several months before reemerging in 1962, with Chuck Israels filling the bass slot, with this album of ballads. The interplay of the previous trio is still to be heard, but Evans piano, pensive but not moody, steps more assertively forward.Israels’ warm tone provides a soothing bottom end for Evans’ rhythmic chords and solo flights, and Paul Motian’s drumming, particularly in the sparser passages, keeps Evans moving without pushing the tempos. This is a beautifully expressive album from start to finish. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Chris Barber: Memories of My Trip

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The rich musical life of a stellar trombonist

The list of name-famous trombonists pales in length to that of other instrumentalists. Aside from the recent renown of Trombone Shorty, one has to reach back to jazz players Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, Kai Winding and J.J. Johnson to find names that truly rise above the title. But numerous trombonists, as both featured players and ensemble members, have provided key solos and accompaniment, and gained fame among those paying attention to the musicians They often become hugely important in the careers of those they backed and integral parts of musical movements.

British trombonist Chris Barber began playing in groups in the mid-50s, blowing ragtime, swing and blues, and it was here that he met vocalist Lonnie Donegan. It was with Donegan that Barber would ignite the skiffle craze with their cover of Leadbelly’s “Rock Island Line.” Barber continued to play trad jazz, even as he was bookingUKtours for American blues artists and providing them backing, as can be heard here in his featured spots with Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters and James Cotton. Over the years, Barber also played with the cream of British blues musicians, including Eric Clapton and Rory Gallagher. The latter found Barber playing bass, rather than trombone, against Gallagher’s hard-twanging guitar and gruff vocal.

Proper’s 2-CD set collects tracks from 1959 dates with McGhee through more recent sessions with Mark Knopfler, Jeff Healey and Jools Holland, and knits them together with track note memories by Barber himself. Barber came of age as a musician at the center ofBritain’s musical revolution, and has stayed connected and vital for more than fifty years, making this a rich document of a journey that traveled from influenced to influencer. Barber was much more than a backing (or even solo) instrumentalist; as a band leader and promoter he served as a conduit for the blues, giving the British scene direct contact with their American counterparts and forbearers.

As a trombonist, Barber is adept both at providing sensitive backing riffs and mixing it up with vocalists, guitarists and other instrumentalists. The small combo take of “Weeping Willow” and an audience tape of “Kansas City” show how easily Barber moved from background to foreground, keeping pace with the guitar riffs of Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters. Among the sets greatest surprises is a hot organ-jazz tune recorded with Keith Emerson in 1966, with David Leighton and a tight rhythm section staying with Emerson’s Jimmy McGriff-styled organ and Barber’s trombone. Barber’s led a musical career that’s made him a historian by virtue of the history he’s lived, and this two-disc set (with 24-page booklet) provides a fine overview of his travels. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

Chris Barber’s Home Page

The Two Man Gentlemen Band: Two at a Time

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Country-tinged guitar-and-bass swing and jazz

The two gentlemen in question, Andy Bean on four-string electric tenor guitar and Fuller Condon on upright bass, hark back to the same era of swing that fueled Dave and Deke, Big Sandy and others of the West Coast revival. The Gentlemen are influenced by jazz and country, but with a bon vivant humor that has them worrying about watery drinks, luring females into bathing suits with a pool party, and upgrading to two-star accommodations. They don’t employ the hipster lingo of Louis Prima or Slim & Slam (though their riffing on “Tikka Masala” is a clever update of “Cement Mixer (Puti Puti)”), but still evoke a similar mood of high jive. Bean has an old-timey sound to his voice, and borrows guitar stylings from gypsy jazz, western swing and other pre-war delights; Condon’s bottom end is both melodic and percussive, adding a second instrumental voice and keeping dancers on the swinging beat. Laid down on monaural tape with vintage microphones and no digital processing, the recording holds the vitality of performance, rather than the precision of multi-track construction, complete with imperfections and even bits of tape hiss. Mostly, though, it holds the energy and nostalgia-tinged verve of two talented and well-read musicians. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]