Pearls For July"To be on the wire is life, the rest is waiting". Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon in the tightrope scene from Bob Fosse's 1979 autobiographical film 'All That Jazz'.
"Jazz is like a great void, it waits patiently until a brave musician takes control of space and time". Chris Griffin |
Who's This?
Jimmy's brother. Not sure? - click here |
All That Jazz
The film mentioned above in this month's 'Pearls' had very little to do with jazz. Great choreography and a salutory message about personal overload in the musical theatre 
business maybe, but the title number was not even featured in the movie. Before the movie was made, All That Jazz was a 1975 stage production choreographed by Bob Fosse who was due to direct the 2002 movie Chicago in which the number does appear, as it does in the stage production. Sadly Fosse died before the movie was made. In the end, the director and choreographer was Rob Marshall, who gave more than a nod to Fosse's distinctive style. All That Jazz did, however, feature a great production number where dancers were auditioned to George Benson's recording of On Broadway. We can't link to that, but we do recommend this terrific live version played by George Benson on Later with Jools Holland and with Dave Swift on bass. Click here.
Three Wishes
Baronness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, known as Nica, befriended many great j
azz musicians during the 50s, 60s and 70s. For some she was their muse, for some their patron. In the 1960s she began a project where she asked 300 jazz musicians for their three wishes in life. Their responses are collected in the book Three Wishes - An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats, published by Abrams Image at £9.99 in the UK. The book also includes hundreds of rare candid photographs - one of those books it is nice to have around to dip into from time to time. When Nica asked David 'Fathead' Newman for his three wishes, his response was: "To get high ... right now. Tell you the rest tomorrow".
Alex Revell - Profile
Clarinettist Alex Revell has been a prominent musician in the UK jazz scene for a number of years. He was there with a young Chris Barber in the early 1950s, played with Ben Cohen, had his own bands and has a number of personal memories of Sandy Brown and Chris that will make you smile. Click here to read about Alex and to see a great picture of the 1951 Chris Barber Band.
Video Clip of the Month
Joe Pass - Satin Doll
Joseph Passalaqua was born in New Jersey in 1929, the son of Mariano Passalacqua, a Sicilian-born steel worker. Joe was inspired to play the guitar after watching the singing 
cowboy 'Gene Autry'. He went on to play with many jazz greats and is regarded by the jazz community as a one of the major influential solo guitar players. He died in 1994. For this month's video, a great interpretation of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Johnny Mercer's Satin Doll click here. For more about Joe Pass and his guitar style click here .
Goofus
No, not a cartoon character, but an instrument like a saxophone but with harmonica reeds. Its proper name is the Couesnophone. The 1920s saw a number of Goofus bands - The Goofus Tin Roofers, The Goofus Washboards, and perhaps the most well-known, Adrian Rollini's Goofus Five. In their Jazz Directory, Albert McCarthy and Dave Carey tell how Ed (Wallace Theodore) Kirkeby, a music publisher, maintained his earlier connection to Columbia Studios
so that he could arrange recording sessions for groups that he put together under a number of different pseudonyms. Kirkeby had two policy strands - one for satisfying a large public with popular tunes, the other for recording music that appealed to students and other musicians. Adrian Rollini, best known for his bass sax playing, was given the job of developing the second strand. The 'Goofus' bands were pseudonyms for 'Ed Kirkeby and his Orchestra' on the Okeh and Parlophone labels. Adrian Rollini usually played the Goofus in these bands but also for bands under other pseudonyms, e.g 'The Little Ramblers', but the rest of the personnel changed with many famous names coming and going - Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Stan King ...
Picture above: Illustration for the French Couesnophone patent 1924 (Wikipedia)
Roger Trobridge has given us a link to Pat Missin's website with more information ab
out the Goofus (click here). Pat and Roger are looking for more information about the instrument and any pictures people may know of - let them, or us, know if you can help. There is more information on Wikipedia and another picture shown at this Squeezytunes link. Some readers may also know of the song Goofus by the Carpenters. Roger is not sure whether the instrument played on the Carpenters' video (click here) is truly a Goofus - the picture is not very clear - what do you think?
Norri
e Anderson - Profile
In the early Edinburgh days of Sandy Brown's Jazz Band, the banjo player was Norrie Anderson. Norrie was with the band when they played Edinburgh's Usher Hall, but when Norrie's great pal Al Fairweather headed south with Sandy to the bright lights of London, Norrie and other band members stayed behind. Click here to read about Norrie.
'Gramophone' Archive
Wellington Choy brings to our attention the online archive of articles and reviews from Gramophone magazine. "They have archived all issues back to 1920, and you can by signing on, download or print any page you desire". says Wellington. "I've been working through all the jazz review pages, starting in 1950 - a long, slow job, but it is interesting to read what Edgar Jackson wrote of the jazz issues of the day". Click here for the jazz pages on the site.
Jazz Quiz - 'Show Time' 
Musical theatre and film have always been great sources for tunes for the jazz repertoire, but do you know which shows the tunes come from? Which show introduced the classic 'Summertime'? Was it Showboat? Porgy and Bess? In this month's quiz we give you fifteen shows and fifteen tunes that have been recorded by jazz musicians - can you match them up correctly?
Click here for the July Jazz Quiz.
UK Boogie Woogie Festival
Rather short notice, but one of the Festival announcements you may have missed is for the UK Boogie Woogie Festival at Sturminster Newton in Dorset from 3rd to 5th July. There will be workshops in boogie woogie piano, swing and dance, drumming, the history of boogie woogie and special workshops for children. For more information click here. Other festivals are listed on our 2009 Jazz Festivals page. Click here for a clip from last year's boogie woogie festival.
That Track
Bunny Berigan - I Can't Get Started
Having passed through Benny Goodman's band and on to Tommy Dorsey, trumpeter Bunny Berigan put his own band together for this classic track from 1937. I Can't Get Started, written 
by Ira Gershwin and Vernon Duke, comes from the show Zeigfield Follies of 1936. Berigan's version, in which he also sings the lyrics, virtually became his signature tune. Bunny Berigan modelled himself on Louis Armstrong who, when Bunny died, is reported to have said "The only thing wrong with Berigan was that he died too young". Bunny died in 1942 at the age of 33. The recording has featured in two major films - Roman Polanski's Chinatown, and Paper Tiger, in which Jack Lemmon as Harry Stoner is playing this track whilst driving to the office, reminding him of good times. Bunny Berigan's 1937 recording on Victor was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.
To listen to Bunny Berigan and his Orchestra playing I Can't Get Started click here. You might also enjoy this video version of the tune by Maynard Ferguson and Al Hirt: click here.
For more about Bunny, click here for Håkan Arlebrand's Bunny Berigan page or here for Wikipedia information.
Tell us about your favourite track.
New Vinyl
It is still surprising that after the demise of shellac and cassette tapes, vinyl re
cords are still being manufactured, and usually with better quality vinyl than was the case some years ago. The rumour is that CDs are on the way out and that in the future, music will just be on hard drives or 'on demand' over the internet. But some people still believe that the quality of vinyl sound is hard to beat, and so you can still find new vinyl pressings to buy.
Click here to read this month's article on New Vinyl and for a video on how a vinyl record is made.
What
ever Happened To Record Shops
'Last Shop Standing - Whatever Happened To Record Shops' is a recent book by Graham Jones published by Proper. It is subtitled 'A Journey Through An Industry In Turmoil' and is described as 'lifting the lid on an industry in tatters'. Graham Jones, who has worked in record retailing since the 1980s, has undertaken a tour of the last remaining independent record shops in Britain, and has collected a wealth of entertaining stories that explain why the best are still standing, and how the worst of them blew it. Click here for more information.
The 2010 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition
This prize for jazz composition is organised by Jazzorg with the support of Sir John Dankworth, Dame Cleo Laine and the Wavendon Foundation. There will be two prizes of £1,000, one for each of the categories of an original jazz composition in an original arrangement by the composer for:
Big band (notation for 16 players)
Small band (notation for 7-9 players)
Entries are invited from UK residents under the age of 28 years and the closing date is 4th December 2009. For more details, click here: www.jazzorg.com.
Ne
w Book - The Jazz Composer
The Jazz Composer - Moving Music Off The Paper is a new book by Graham Collier taking a philosophical look at the subject of jazz and jazz composition. Published by Northway books. "It is written and developed for all interested listeners, the novice as well as the performer ..." says Justin DiCioccio, jazz educator.
For more information and to download an extract click here.
Disc of the Month
Julian Lage - Sounding Point
Jon Turner says: "I've been playing this CD a lot in the shop - Julian Lage was a child 
prodigy on the guitar and has been playing to audiences since he was 12 or 13. This is a great album with a varied collection of tunes". Others agree. All About Jazz describes Sounding Point as: '... an eclectic album rife with vivid writing, imaginative playing and a seamless blend as challenging as it is listenable'.
Click here for more about Lulian Lage and more reviews of the album.
‘Disc of the Month’ is recommended by Jon Turner of Broad Street Jazz in Bath. 'Sounding Point' is available at £13.99 (UK postage included) from Broad Street Jazz, 11 Broad Street, Bath, BA1 5LJ.
Top Ten Records
For July's top ten recent releases, also recommended by Broad Street Jazz in Bath: click here. This month's selection includes albums by the Allan Ganley Jazz legacy, Jack Parnell, Troyka, Gary Burton with Pat Methany, and Edward Simon with John Patitucci and Brian Blade from Wayne Shorter's rhythm section .
Mailing List
Broad Street Jazz holds a list of people who are interested in receiving occasional mailings about the records they carry. If you are in the UK and would like to be included, you can contact Jon Turner by clicking here
Forum
Johnny Dankworth's Zodiac Variations
Wellington Choy writes from New Zealand: "I have been listening to Johnny Dankworth's 'Zodiac Variations' and am most impressed. One question that comes to mind is whether Dankworth's UK based musicians went to New York to play behind the US 'guest' artists (Clark Terry et. al.) or whether they dubbed the US solos over the London based band that recorded in London a few days later. The first alternative would be rather expensive, the second raises the question as to what rhythm section the US guys had - or were they listening to a 'rehearsal' date tape of the UK band. Does anyone know? (Contact us if you do).
A Simple Truth and A Great Lie
One of the benefits of the internet is to discover videos of both recorded and live jazz performances. Here's one. Alvin Roy tells us of this video of his band at London's 100 Club in 1986 with Alvin on clarinet, Alan Littlejohn (trumpet), George Oag (guitar), Boots Baker (trombone), Roger Marsden (piano), Mick Hutton (bass) and Colin Seymour (drums).
Click here: for the Alvin Roy Jazz Band playing the Woody Herman number The Great Lie.
Forum Articles
There is now a wide variety of interesting jazz articles on our Forum page. Click here to see the index.
Departure Lounge
Information that has arrived about the following musicians who have passed through the 'Departure Lounge' since our last update. Click on their names for their obituaries and the links, where given, to watch and listen to some fine video clips of their music:
Charlie Mariano - Alto sax player who contributed bebop solos in the bands of Stan Kenton and Shelly Manne. He played free jazz with his own band Osmosis and was a pioneer of rock fusion. Click here for Charlie Mariano playing with KCP4 at the TFF Rudolstadt in 2007.
Huey Long - Singer and guitarist, has died at the age of 105. Probably best remembered for being with the Ink Spots, but he also played with Frank Davis's Louisiana Jazz Band, Lil Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines and Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis. Click here for a video ofTheInk Spots singing 'I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire'.
Steve Race - Pianist, composer, arranger and broadcaster. Steve Race played with the dance bands of Harry Leader, Lew Stone, Cyril Stapleton and George Elrick but became a key, outspoken presenter of jazz programmes such as Jazz In Perspective, Jazz 625 on television and Jazz Record Requests on radio. He also wrote for many publications including Jazz Journal. A further obituary from the Times can be found here.
Koko Taylor - Born Cora Walton in Tennessee, blues singer Koko Taylor was called 'The Queen of the Blues' and 'brought a raw intensity and Southern earthiness' to the Chicago blues scene. For a video of Koko singing 'Wang Dang Doodle' with Little Walter click here.
Jazz Festivals 2009
We have started to put together a page giving details of Jazz Festivals planned for 2009. If you know of other Festivals, please contact us with the name, location, date and website address that people can refer to.
Profiles
There are now links to a number of musicians' profiles that we have put together on this site as well as other people who are included on the Who's Who page.
Click on the person's name to read their profile:
Yazz Ahmed : Norrie Anderson : Zem Audu : James Gardiner-Bateman : Bill Bramwell : Willie Burns : Bryan Corbett :
Bob Craig : Roy Crimmins : George Crockett : Kit Downes : Stu Eaton : Belle Gonzales : Rowan Hudson : Dizzy Jackson : Iestyn Jones : Dave Keir : Alan Littlejohns : Tony Milliner : Corey Mwamba : Johnny Parker : Dave Paxton : John Randall : Alex Revell : Sue Richardson :
Matana Roberts : Alvin Roy : Ron Rubin : Gerry Salisbury : Mo Umansky : Ruby Wood :
Let us know if you would like us to add a profile.
Items carried over from June
The following items appeared on the June What's New page but may still be of interest to readers:
The Cyril Davies Website and Recordings
Roger Trobridge tells us that the first set of recordings by the British blues harp pioneer, Cyril Davies, is now available. Information can be found on the Cyril Davies website where you will find the following information:
A new CD collection of folk, skiffle and country blues recordings, Blues from the Roundhouse, by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davis, was released by RSK in May 2009. It covers the period 
up to 1958 when Cyril was moving from playing his 12 String guitar to beginning to play harmonica. You can buy the CD here. We are still working to get the rest of Cyril's recordings released. About two years ago, Sanctuary were planning to release a double CD of virtually all of Cyril's recordings, Preaching the Blues, a Tribute Album, but it was cancelled when they were taken over by Universal. Details were pre-released and you can still find it on some web sites. None were ever sold.
We are also seeking information on the infamous 'London Blues & Barrelhouse Club', the intimate up-stairs venue found on the corner of Wardour and Brewer Streets in London's Soho. This venue is most commonly referred to as 'The Roundhouse or Round House' - which was actually the public house below the 'London Blues & Barrelhouse Club' on the street level. If you have any memories or photographs, please let us know!
Photograph courtesy of Cyril Davies Website
(Click here for Roger's article 'Harmonica Jazz' on this website).
Who's New? - 2009
Once again, Jazzwise magazine has asked people from the UK jazz world to predict the musicians they think we should look out for in 2009. To see the list click here. When the list was published last year we suggested that a good New Year challenge would be to try and listen to at least two of these musicians during the course of the year. We think that challenge holds good for this year too. To make it a little easier for you we shall try and profile some of the musicians over the next few months - in fact we have already profiled two of them - James Gardiner-Bateman and Zem Audu. We have also added one or two predictions of our own to the list.