Jerry's Records is a Pittsburgh store
run by Jerry Weber and his son Willie that specializes in rare
vinyl—or in this case, shellac. He made the news in November when
he bought several boxes of old 78 rpm records for $50. The stash
turned out to include a rare copy of Robert Johnson's 1936 recording
of “I Believe I'll Dust My Broom” (Vocalion 03475). The record
was in VG condition (that is, worn but still listenable) and was
valued at between $6,000 and $12,000.
A couple of weeks ago, Jerry and Willie had another stroke of good luck—although this is the kind of luck
that is most likely to come to experts in their field. They bought a
group of 78s by Blind Lemon Jefferson—for a lot more than $50, I'm
sure—and discovered in the set an extremely rare country blues
recording: “Adam and Eve in the Garden”/”I Heard the Voice of
a Pork Chop” (Paramount 12693), by Bogus Ben Covington, recorded in
September 1928. This one is in mint condition, making it very
valuable.
Little is known about Ben Covington.
His real name may be Ben Curry, and he also recorded as Blind Ben
Covington and Memphis Ben. The nickname “Bogus” is said to come
from the fact that he pretended to be blind while busking.
Fortunately, both sides are posted on You Tube. They can also be
found on two 4-CD box sets on the British JSP label. “Adam and
Eve” is on When the Levee Breaks: Mississippi Blues, Rare Cuts,
1926-1941, and “Pork Chop”
is on A Richer Tradition: Country Blues and String Band
Music, 1923-1942.
Both
sides are essentially the same tune with very different lyrics.
Covington accompanies himself on banjo, and probably on harmonica as
well. (On old records, you can usually tell whether a singer is
accompanying himself by the overlap, or lack of it, between voice and
harmonica.) Rather than suggesting that Covington was schizophrenic
or religious, the talking pork chop song is a novelty about his
dietary preferences. The style of these songs is consistent with the
hypothesis that he was a minstrel show performer.
The
story gets even more interesting. The great cartoonist Robert Crumb,
who now lives in France, is an avid country blues collector. You may
have seen Crumb's trading cards with drawings of early jazz and blues
artists. A mutual friend arranged a trade between the Webers and
Crumb. In exchange for the Covington 78, he has done a drawing of
Jerry and Willie which they are free to use in promoting their
business. They expect to have a T-shirt with the drawing available
in the Spring.
Okeh Records, a historic race music
label, is being revived by Sony as a jazz label. The new Okeh will
be overseen by Wulf Muller and Chuck Mitchell, and will feature only
new jazz CDs. Their slogan will be “global expressions in jazz.”
The first release, scheduled for April 9, will be A Different
Time by pianist John Medeski.
The second, as yet untitled, will be by David Sanborn and Bob James.
Also signed are Bill Frisell and Dhafer Youssef.
Okeh
(pronounced “O.K.”) was founded in 1918 by German immigrant Otto
K. E. Heinemann. The name comes from his initials. It started as an
all-purpose label, but had a surprise hit in 1920 with Mamie Smith's
“Crazy Blues,” considered by many to be the first blues
recording.
After
that, they concentrated on race music—music by and for
African-Americans, namely jazz and blues—under the direction of
Clarence Williams. Featured artists included King Oliver, Louis
Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, Mississippi John Hurt,
Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lonnie Johnson. The label was discontinued
in 1933.
Okeh
was successfully revived in 1949 as a rhythm and blues label,
featuring artists such as Chuck Willis, the Ravens, the Treniers, Big
Maybelle, and this man, Jalacy (“Screamin' Jay”) Hawkins.
The tenor sax solo was by Sam "The Man" Taylor. A long
out-of-print three CD set, The Okeh Rhythm and Blues Story,
1949-1957, is well worth seeking
out.
As
rhythm and blues changed, Okeh morphed into a Chicago-style “soft
soul” label in the early '60s, under the direction of Carl Davis,
with many of the songs written by Curtis Mayfield. Artists included Walter
Jackson, Major Lance, Ted Taylor, Larry Williams and Johnny “Guitar”
Watson. The well dried up when Davis moved to Brunswick, where he
was even more successful.
Okeh
was briefly revived as a blues label in the '90s. It has been used
intermittently for reissues.
Check this blog every weekend, when I'll select a new "soundie" for your approval. Soundies were early music videos that were shown in theatres in the '40s and early '50s. Corny as some of them are, they are our best opportunity to view some of our past musical giants performing. Here's a preview of a PBS documentary on the soundies that was shown several years ago.
Our first soundie is Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," with vocal by Ivie Anderson, which was recorded in 1941. Although he's not on camera, the alto sax solo is by Johnny Hodges.
Morris Holt, better known as Magic
Slim, died yesterday. He was hospitalized about a month ago with a
bleeding ulcer, along with heart, lung and kidney ailments, while on
tour in Philadelphia. He was 75. Slim was known for his rough,
booming voice and his vibrato-laden guitar style, which he played
both with and without a slide. For more than 45 years, Magic Slim
and the Teardrops have been the quintessential Chicago blues band.
Living Blues magazine said, “Magic Slim consistently offers
no frills houserockin' blues. He and his band are a national
treasure.”
Morris Holt was born in Granada,
Mississippi on August 7, 1937. His first instrument was the piano,
but when he lost the little finger of his right hand in a cotton gin accident,
he switched to the guitar. He moved to Chicago in 1955, where he
played bass in the band of his boyhood friend, Magic Sam (Sam
Maghett). Magic Sam gave Slim his nickname, which
stayed with him long after it was no longer appropriate.
Slim formed the Teardrops in 1965. The
band included guitarist Alabama Junior Pettis, and his brothers, Nick
Holt on bass and Douglas “Lee Baby” Holt on drums. His first
recording was “Scufflin',” for the Ja-Wes label in 1966. He
recorded his first LP, Born Under a Bad Sign,
for the French MCM label in 1977. His career received a boost
when four tracks by the group were included on the 1979 Alligator
anthology, Living Chicago Blues.
Following Muddy Waters' death in 1983, John Primer, Muddy's last
guitarist, joined the Teardrops and remained with them for 13 years
before leaving to form his own group.
The Teardrops were
known for their large repetoire of blues songs. Here's a four song clip from
1991, a time when the Teardrops were at their very best. The front
line is (l. to r.) Nick Holt, John Primer, and Magic Slim. The
drummer is Jerry Porter.
Slim
recorded over 30 CDs. Many of them appeared on the Austrian Wolf
label, and should be approached with caution, since they were
sometimes recorded under less than ideal conditions. Among those to
seek out are Raw Magic
on Alligator in 1980 and Grand Slam
on Rooster Blues in 1982. In 1990, he began a long and mutually
profitable association with Blind Pig, which produced nine CDs and
one DVD. His 1999 CD Snakebite
may well be the best Chicago blues album of the last 25 years. The Teardrops won the Blues Music Award as Best Blues Band of the Year six times.
Slim moved to
Lincoln, Nebraska in 2004, reportedly out of concern that Chicago was
not the best environment for his guitarist son, Shawn “Lil Slim”
Holt. His brother Nick died in 2009. His son Shawn recently began touring with the band. Here's Slim in 2011 doing the title song from
his final Blind Pig CD, Bad Boy, released in 2012.
At an age, 60, when most musicians are
repeating themselves, Joe Lovano is not content to rest with his
previous achievements. Five years ago, he formed Us Five, an attempt
at collective improvisation. In the
liner notes, Lovano describes their goal as “to collectively create
music within the music.” In addition to Lovano on tenor and
soprano sax, the group consists of James Weidman, piano, Esperanza
Spalding, bass, and dual drummers Otis Brown III and Francisco Mela.
Their first CD, Folk Art, was released in 2009. It was
followed in 2011 by Bird Songs, an attempt to reconceptualize
11 songs written by or associated with Charlie Parker.
Two characteristics seem to describe Folk Art and their current release:
Much
of the music is “free,” in the sense of unstructured, without a
repeated melody, and sometimes lacking a consistent tempo. Some of
the music is similar to Ornette Coleman's harmolodics, a style whose
exact meaning is somewhat obscure. (One track on Folk Art
is entitled “Ettenro.”)
As
the title of this CD implies, both the melodies and rhythm of some
of the songs can be described as international. This is abetted by
Lovano's suitcase full of offbeat woodwinds as well as some
nontraditional percussion instruments. Much of the music has a
Middle Eastern or African sound.
Most
record companies release samples from new CDs on You Tube, focusing
on tracks that are immediately accessible to a broad audience. For
this CD, they have released “Star-Crossed Lovers,” which is
unrepresentative in two ways. First, it was written by Duke
Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and is the only track on the CD not
composed by Lovano. It certainly shows that Lovano still has a way
with a beautiful ballad. Secondly, it is one of only two songs on
the CD that can be described as traditional, mainstream jazz. The
other is an up tempo track, “Royal Roost,” named for a Harlem
bebop night club of the late '40s.
Since
Esperanza Spalding's career has taken off, she is now only a
part-time member of the group. She appears on four tracks, and it is
she who solos on “Star-Crossed Lovers.” On the other numbers,
she is replaced by Peter Slavov. However, what most separates this
CD from their previous work is the participation of African guitarist
Lionel Loueke on six tracks. I particularly like the title track,
where Lovano and Loueke weave in and out at a relaxed tempo. The
most African song is “Drum Chant,” an extended duet by the two
drummers, with Loueke picking time in the background. Lovano joins
them midway on his mezzo soprano sax, followed by a brief Loueke
solo before the drummers bring it to a satisfying conclusion.
Us
Five play music that requires repeated listening, and my attitude
toward some of the more abstract tunes has changed over time as I get a
better sense of where Lovano is going. Right now, my least favorite
tracks are two completely out of tempo tunes (“Myths and Legends”
and “Journey Within”) with the drummers rolling up a storm in the
background. The opener, “Blessings in May,” is to my ear the
most Ornetteish tune. “PM,” the longest track, starts with
Lovano on tenor at a rapid tempo over a bed of cymbals. It takes a
while to find its groove, but Weidman, Loueke and two tempo changes
add a lot of interest.
If
you're not familiar with Us Five, you might want to start with Bird
Songs, which has more familiar
tunes. Since Folk Art
and Cross Culture are
more experimental, you may not care for all the results. However,
you have to admire Lovano's willingness to take risks. The CD is
quite satisfying overall, and gets better with repetition.
Tracks:
Blessings in May; Myths and Legends; Cross Culture; In a Spin;
Star-Crossed Lovers; Journey Within; Drum Chant; Golden Horn; Royal
Roost; Modern Man; PM. (62 min.)
Personnel:
Joe Lovano, tenor and soprano saxophone, autochrome, taragato,
percussion; James Weidman, piano; Lionel Loueke, guitar (6 tracks);
Peter Slavov, bass (6 tracks); Esperanza Spalding, bass (4 tracks);
Otis Brown III, Francisco Mela, drums and percussion.
Donald Byrd died on February 4 in Dover, DE. He was 80. He was the last survivor among the great trumpeters of the hard bop era of the '50s and '60s, a short list that includes Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.
Donald Byrd was born in Detroit on December 9, 1932. He completed an undergraduate degree in music at Wayne State University. After two years in the Air Force, he moved to New York to seek his fortune. His first recording was probably Bohemia After Dark, a 1955 Savoy session led by drummer Kenny Clarke. Like many of his contemporaries, he did an apprenticeship with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1955-1956.
Byrd was one of the most frequently recorded jazz musicians of his time. His long tenure with Blue Note Records from 1958 to 1976 produced 24 albums in his name, and many others as a sideman. He also recorded for Columbia, Prestige, Riverside and Verve, among others. He had a long association with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, with whom he co-led a group from 1958-1961. Mosaic released a boxed set, The Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams Studio Sessions, 1958-1967, which is now out of print. Here are two selections from that period.
He was an informal advisor to his peers, helping them to retain publishing rights and royalties from their music.
In the '70s, his career took a turn toward commercial success as he began recording jazz-rock-R&B fusion. His CD Black Byrd was Blue Note's all time best-selling album for many years, and three of his songs made the R&B charts. His music of this period was not well received by jazz critics. You can judge for yourself.
During his later years, Byrd worked primarily as a teacher. He earned a Ph.D. in Education in 1982. He taught jazz at several universities, and he also studied law. He recorded sporadically in the '80s and '90s, returning to the musical approach that made him one of the great jazzmen of the '60s.
I've been thinking about how to review new CDs; specifically, whether or not to rate them with points or stars. One argument in favor is that a rating provides a benchmark for the review, in case my opinion is not clear from the text. The main argument against it is that I've seen how my opinion changes with repeated listening.
If CDs are to be rated, how many scale points should I use? I've seen four- and five-star systems, and even a 10-point scale. If you allow half-stars, four and five stars become 7- and 9-point scales respectively. The danger of too many scale points is false precision, which itself leads to unreliability of ratings.
I've decided to go with verbal labels, adapted from the Roots & Rhythm catalog. The categories will be "not recommended," "recommended," "highly recommended" and "essential." In this context, "recommended" is a fairly lukewarm endorsement. I am anticipating that, in the short run, a lot of CDs will be "highly recommended," and very few will be "not recommended."
Does that mean I'm a generous grader? Not at all. I guarantee you that when I was at WIUP-FM listening to all the free CDs sent to us by record companies, the majority of them went into the "not recommended" pile. But these days, I have to pay for my thrills. My selections come from known favorite artists or reviews I've seen elsewhere, supplemented by internet sampling.
Maybe someday I'll have enough readers to ask the record companies to send me freebies for the blog.
The Grammys are the time we find out
the favorite jazz and blues recordings of the older pop music
performers and technicians who dominate the voting. I suspect many
of the voters don't pay much attention to either genre. Jazz and
blues fans should return the favor by not paying much attention to
the Grammys.
Blues has been demoted to a single
category. Gone is the old separation between “traditional” and
“contemporary” blues, which seemed to confuse the judges anyway.
Dr. John won the Best Blues Album Grammy for Locked Down.
The other nominees were Shemekia Copeland, 33⅓;
Ruthie Foster, Let It Burn;
the Heritage Blues Orchestra, And Still I Rise;
and Joan Osborne, Bring It On Home. I like Locked Down,
but calling it “blues” really stretches the category. I would
have given the Grammy to Shemekia or the Heritage gang.
The entire Dr. John
album is listenable on You Tube. I'm surprised Nonesuch Records
hasn't cracked down on that. I picked “Revolution” because I
like the visuals as well as the song.
One category is too
few for the blues. One indication of this is that Bonnie Raitt was honored for her CD, Slipstream, in a category called Americana. How about a Blues Song of the Year?
Jazz is spread out
over eight categories. Four of them are best CD categories. The
most competitive was Best Jazz Instrumental Album, which was won by
Pat Metheny's Unity Band. The other nominees were Chick Corea,
Eddie Gomez and Paul Motion, Further Explorations; Chick Corea
and Gary Burton, Hot House; Kenny Garrett, Seeds From the
Underground; and Ahmad Jamal, Blue Moon. I would have
given it to any of the other four over Metheny.
The Best Jazz Vocal
Album went to Esperanza Spalding for Radio Music Society.
Sadly, the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album went to Arturo Sandoval for
Dear Diz. I say “sadly” because I was pulling for Ryan
Truesdell's Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans,
my choice for best jazz CD of 2012. The Best Latin Jazz album was
¡Ritmo! by
the Clare Fisher Latin Jazz Big Band.
The remaining four
jazz categories are for individual album cuts. The Best Improvised
Jazz Solo is a potentially interesting category, if the judges would
listen to a large enough sample of CDs. The award went to Chick
Corea and Gary Burton for the title cut from Hot House, a
bebop standard composed by Tadd Dameron in 1945. Here it is.
The
Best Instrumental Composition went to Chick Corea for “Mozart Goes
Dancing,” also from HotHouse. Centennial
did manage to score one victory,
the Best Instrumental Arrangement for “How About You?” Finally,
the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist went to
Esperanza Spalding and Thara Memory for “City of Roses” from
Radio Music Society.
The International
Blues Challenge
The
International Blues Challenge is a competition among relatively
unknown blues performers sponsored by the Blues Foundation. The 29th
annual event was held in Memphis from January 29 through February 2.
The winners receive recognition, cash and gigs. A number of
well-known artists have competed in the past, including Tommy Castro,
Susan Tedeschi and Watermelon Slim. There are two categories of
competitors, Blues Bands and Solo/Duo Blues Acts. There are roughly
100 entrants in each category, sponsored by blues societies from
around the World. The Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania was
represented by the Jimmy Adler Band and the duo of Miss Freddye and
Greg “G-Man” Castille. They were not among the 17 finalists.
The winner in the Single Artist
category is Little G Weevil, sponsored by the Atlanta Blues Society.
Here's a video of his from the competition. I cannot identify the
song.
The winner of the Band competition was
the Selwyn Birchwood Band, sponsored by the Suncoast Blues Society of
Tampa, FL. Persistence pays. They were among the finalists last year. There are
several Birchwood videos available on You Tube. It's unfair to judge
a performer by amateur videos, but it's my impression that he is a
better guitarist than singer. In addition to a standard guitar, he
plays a slide guitar in his lap. Here he is doing “Crawlin'
Kingsnake,” a song originally recorded by Big Joe Williams, but
more recently identified with John Lee Hooker.
The Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Foundation also announced
this year's inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame. The ceremony is schedule for May 8. Here are the
performers:
Otis Clay, soul singer
Earl Hooker, guitarist
Little Brother Montgomery, singer and pianist
Jimmie Rodgers, country singer and
yodeler—a surpising choice
Joe Louis Walker, singer and guitarist
Jody Williams, singer and guitarist
Otis Clay, Joe Louis Walker and Jody
Williams are still alive and performing.
The non-performers to be honored are:
Dave Clark, record promoter
Henry Glover, songwriter and record
producer
Cosimo Mattisa, record producer
The following individual songs are being inducted:
Until now, there are only two known
photographs of country blues giant Robert Johnson. Now Getty Images claims
to have authenticated a third photograph. The new photo was bought
in 2005 by Zeke Schein, a classical guitarist, on eBay, where it was
wrongly advertised as a photo of B. B. King. He is said to have
donated it to Getty. The photograph has now been restored, but it's
not clearly exactly how they authenticated it. There is no date
stamped on the photo. I'll update you when I find out more details.
Photo by Robert Johnson Estate/Hutton Archives/Getty Images
The photo purports to be Johnson, on
the left, standing next to bluesman Johnny Shines. The case for it
being authentic is a 2007 analysis by a Houston forensic expert, Lois
Gibson, who compared it to the two existing pictures and claimed that
the feature placement was identical. Johnson is known to have long,
thin fingers and one eye slightly smaller than the other.
On the other hand, blues expert Bill Dahl claims it is a fake (see the comments section attached to this article). He says that when
the late David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who was a friend of both
Johnson and Shines, was shown the photo, he said, “Who is that?”
