Category Archives: Jazz

The Bryan Ferry Orchestra – Don’t Stop the Dance (2012)

by 2010s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Bryan Ferry will release his new album “THE JAZZ AGE” in the UK on 26th November 2012.

If there was ever a musical icon and a decade destined to come together it is Bryan Ferry and the roaring 20′s. The artist – a creative powerhouse, with a dazzling career of endless surprise, delight and innovation; the Decade – a time of turbulent decadence, modernity, mayhem and the era of the bright young things – each driven on by the Thrill Of It All.

So what better way to celebrate and mark the 40th year anniversary of Ferry’s incredible career as a singer and songwriter, than by rearranging his own compositions and have them performed in a 1920′s style by his very own Jazz Orchestra?

It began as an idea, fuelled by Ferry’s fascination of that time between the wars known as “The Jazz Age”. He decided the songs were to be all completely instrumental reinterpretations.

‘Most of the music I listen to nowadays is instrumental,” he explains “and I wanted to let my songs have a different life, a life without words’.

He put together his very own jazz orchestra comprised of many of the great British jazz players from his past tribute to the 1930’s’, the album ‘As Time Goes By – including his long-term musical director Colin Good, with whom Ferry worked closely on these new arrangements.

The 13 songs have been chosen from 11 albums, from his very first release ‘Roxy Music’ (1972) to his recent solo record ‘Olympia’ (2010)

The album is now available to pre-order in the UK from AMAZON & PLAY.

Produced by Bryan Ferry and Rhett Davies, ‘The Jazz Age’ will be released on Monday, 26th November 2012 on Vinyl, CD and Digital editions.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Jazz-Bryan-Ferry-Orchestra/dp/B009NRO5XE





Jamaaladeen Tacuma – The Dream Then And Now (Movement 2) (1989)

by 1980s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Dream Then and Now a special concert performance commissioned by WXPN University of Pennsylvania Radio. This was created in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and performed live in 1989. Features The Ebony Strings Quartet and Lawerence Newton as vocalist. Words and Lyrics by Lawerence Newton and Richard Tucker. Take a listen and buy the MP3 album here.




Glenn Miller & His Orchestra – In The Mood (1939)

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by 1930s, 78s, Jazz • Tags: , ,

“In the Mood” is a big band era #1 hit recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. Joe Garland and Andy Razaf arranged “In the Mood” in 1937-1939 using a previously existing main theme (see below) composed by Glenn Miller before the start of the 1930s. Miller’s “In the Mood” did not top the charts until 1940 and one year later was featured in the movie Sun Valley Serenade.



Jamaaladeen Tacuma & Uwe Kropinski – Chromatic Driving (2009)

by 2000s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , ,

“I first met Jamaaladeen Tacuma at the Leipzig Jazz Festival in 1996. There was a concert at which three German/American duos were scheduled to perform. They were Albert Mangelsdorff and Elvin Jones; Ornette Coleman and Joachim Kuhn; and Jamaaladeen and I, who went on stage together for the first time after only a single short rehearsal for getting a feel for each other the day before. A first encounter with another player is always a challenge – especially when the musician is as outstanding as Jamaaladeen. But my dominant emotion is always one of joy at the opportunity to play with a great musician, to venture onto hitherto unknown terrain, and to experience unexpected surprises.” [Source] Buy the album on iTunes here.




Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports – I’m A Mineralist (1981)

by 1980s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason fronted the group who made the one-off self-titled album Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports in May 1981 in the UK and US, this being Mason’s first major work outside of Pink Floyd. However, the album is considered by many a Carla Bley album in all but name, since she wrote all the songs and co-produced it. It is sung by Robert Wyatt, except for the opening song. The album was recorded in November 1979 but its release was delayed for almost two years.




Jamaaladeen Tacuma – Dancing in your Head (1984)

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by 1980s, Jazz • Tags: , , , ,

Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s second free funk effort for Gramavision is almost the equal of his first (Show Stopper). Once again the first four songs feature his regular band (a quintet with guitarist Rick Iannacone and altoist James Watkins) while the second half of the program showcases his electric bass in diverse groups. “Dancing in Your Head” has some of the members of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time (including the innovative altoist); Tacuma often played with Ornette during this period. The lengthy “The Battle of Images” features Tacuma with the Ebony String Quartet and a percussionist, “There He Stood” has the leader joined by percussionists and a poet. Best is “Sparkle,” a jam with tenor saxophonist David Murray and guitarist Vernon Reid. Alththugh a bit of a mixed bag, this set should appeal to listeners open to both the avant-garde and eccentric funk.




Glenn Miller & His Orchestra – Moonlight Serenade (1939)

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by 1930s, 78s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

“Moonlight Serenade” is an American popular song with original music by Glenn Miller and subsequent lyrics by Mitchell Parish. When Miller recorded “Sunrise Serenade” in 1939, he placed this song on the back. The song, recorded on April 4, 1939 on RCA Bluebird, was a Top Ten hit on the U.S. pop charts in 1939, reaching number three on the Billboard charts, where it stayed for fifteen weeks. It was the no.5 top pop hit of 1939 on Billboard in the year end Billboard tally of the top records of 1939. Glenn Miller had 5 records in the top 20 songs of 1939 on Billboard’s list. In the UK, “Moonlight Serenade” was released as the A side of a 78 on His Master’s Voice with “American Patrol” as the B side.



UPDATE!

Sighting of Glenn Miller’s doomed plane by amateur spotter shatters theory that aircraft was downed by falling WWII bomb’

[78rpm update - Dedicated to Janette Dillerstone]

UPDATE 2:

School celebrates teacher’s 99th birthday

[Re-dedicated to Agnes 'Granny' Zhelesnik in New Jersey]

MC5 – Black To Comm (1967)

by 1960s, Classic Rock, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Their name, The MC5, reflected their Detroit roots (it was short for “Motor City Five’), was vaguely reminiscent of a sports car name (like the GTO), and echoed the Dave Clark Five, at the peak of their popularity in 1964–1965. In some ways the group was similar to other garage bands of the period, composing soon-to-be historic workouts such as “Black to Comm” during their mid-teens in the basement of the home of Wayne Kramer’s mother. The music also reflected Fred “Sonic” Smith and Kramer’s increasing interest in free jazz — the guitarists were inspired by the likes of Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra and late period John Coltrane, and tried to imitate the ecstatic sounds of the squealing, high-pitched saxophonists they adored. The MC5 even later opened for a few U.S. midwest shows for Sun Ra, whose influence is obvious in “Starship”. Kramer and Smith were also deeply inspired by Sonny Sharrock, one of the few electric guitarists working in free jazz, and they eventually developed a unique interlocking style that was like little heard before: Kramer’s solos often used a heavy, irregular vibrato, while Smith’s rhythms contained an uncommon explosive energy, including patterns that conveyed great excitement, as evidenced in “Black to Comm” and many other songs.




[Inspired by Jesper Nielsen and Patrick Bird in London - dedicated to Allan Vegenfeldt in Copenhagen and Mogens Toudahl in Berlin]

Freda Payne – Lonely Woman (1964)

by 1960s, Jazz • Tags: , , , , , ,

Composed by Ornette Coleman with lyrics by Margo Guryan. After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!! is the debut album of Freda Payne, released in 1964. This album was reissued on CD in Japan in January 2002 and then on September 13, 2005 in the United States. “Blue Piano” makes its first album appearance, while the majority of the songs on this album are cover songs. The six songs on the first side of the album were recorded on September 17 and 18 of 1963, while the second side was recorded on September 19 of that year (Payne’s twenty-first birthday). Listen to another version of the song here.


[via Margo Guryan]