This is Jazz at Studio 61, an 18-min TV show from 1959. I picked it because it contains rare footage of the Ahmad Jamal Trio. As a bonus, we get our second look in three weeks at a group led by tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Here's the set list, along with approximate starting points.
Ahmad Jamal Trio
Darn That Dream 0.00
Ahmad's Blues 5.37
Ben Webster Sextet
Chelsea Bridge 9.24
C-Jam Blues 13.25
Webster and his group stand behind the Jamal Trio as they play. You may also notice jazz critic Nat Hentoff, with the beard and pipe.
Because Black people were seldom booked on network television, we have few early videos of even some of the most popular pioneers of rock and roll. Fortunately, there were low budget movies. Here's Little Richard lip-syncing "Tutti Frutti" from the 1956 film Don't Knock the Rock. Unfortunately, he's not looking at the camera, and he's upstaged by dancers.
"Long Tall Sally" from the same film is more watchable. The tenor sax solo is by Lee Allen. The three men seated at the table are Alan Freed, Bill Haley and pop singer Alan Dale, the male lead of the film.
Richard also appears briefly on screen (in color) in The Girl Can't Help It, but his performance is buried by the film's insipid dialogue.
This outstanding half-hour 1962 episode of Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual features blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and long-time Duke Ellington tenor sax man Ben Webster. They are accompanied by the Vince Guaraldi Trio--Guaraldi on piano, Monte Budwig on bass and Colin Bailey on drums. Here's the program:
Times' Gettin' Tougher
Ain't Nobody's Business
Cotton Tail
Chelsea Bridge
I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
Roll 'Em, Pete
Jimmy Witherspoon sing the first two and last two songs. The middle two are Webster instrumentals. Between the first two songs, Gleason does a surprisingly rapid-fire interview of Witherspoon. Webster closes with an instrumental blues I can't identify.
The West Coast TV show Frankly Jazz, with Frank Evans, seems to have existed mainly to promote Pacific Jazz Records. Here is Texas tenor sax man Curtis Amy playing "Katanga," the title tune of his 1963 Pacific Jazz album. The song was written by his mysterious legendary trumpeter Dupree Bolton. Also featured are Ray Crawford, guitar; Doyle Coker, piano; Victor Gaskin, bass and Ronnie Sellico (sp?), drums. The song ends about 5 minutes into the video. The rest is awkward chatting by the host.
There is more where that came from. The Curtis Amy Sextet also plays "Blues For Amy" and "Summertime," and Amy sits out while Dupree Bolton and the rhythm section play "Laura." All the videos are shorter than they appear, since they have the same opening and closing remarks by Frank Evans.
Josh White was a popularizer of the blues. He recorded authentic country blues in the 1930s. After World War II, he developed a smoother style, billed himself as a folk singer, and played concert halls and coffee houses to primarily white audiences.
I recently saw a movie on TV with Josh White in a supporting role. The Walking Hills (1949) is a Western in a contemporary setting directed by John Sturges and starring Randolph Scott. It's a story of greed, similar to 1948's successful The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but not as good. Josh White sings parts of three other songs, but gets to sing "The Riddle (I Gave My Love a Cherry)" all the way through. You may recognize cast members John Ireland, Edgar Buchanan, Ella Raines and William Bishop.
The other song fragments can be found here and here.
Here is the Charles Lloyd Quartet appearing on Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual in 1968. Charles Lloyd plays tenor sax and flute; Keith Jarrett, piano; Ron McClure, bass; and Jack DeJohnette, drums. The 29-min program includes "Love Ship," "Tagore," "Passin' Through," and "Forest Flower."
