Random Flip Through the Quincy Jones “Quictionary” #3

On quincyjones.com, Quincy has what he calls a Quictionary – described as “a glossary of people, places and things associated with Quincy.” We all know that Q has had a busy career, but there are a variety of things that you may have never known about him, or projects he was related to until you saw it on the Quictionary. Periodically I will pull a random entry from the Quictionary and post it. Here are a few randomly pulled entries:

C

Count Basie - One of Quincy’s idols and the best bandleader of the swing era. Quincy arranged his landmark collaboration with Ella Fitzgerald, Ella and Basie in 1963.

J

Joseph Powe – Quincy babysat his children when he was 11 so he could study his music books on scoring and arranging. Powe was a military officer and directed the vocal group Wings Over Jordan. He recruited young Quincy to join an a cappella group called the Challengers.

W

“We Are the World” - The landmark 1985 single produced and arranged by Quincy to aid famine-relief efforts in Ethiopia.  The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by an all-star cast following the American Music Awards.

Random Flip Through the Quincy Jones “Quictionary” #2

Random Flip Through the Quincy Jones “Quictionary” #1

Happy Birthday Sonny Rollins…but how old are you?

First of all, a happy birthday today to one of the greatest sax players, Sonny Rollins.

But could someone please confirm the actual year of birth of Sonny for me?

The Smithsonian Jazz website has him born in 1929, making him 80 today. All About Jazz has it at 1930, making him 79.

I decided that allmusic.com would be the tiebreaker for me, but they felt differently. On the left side of his bio page on All Music it lists him being born in 1930, but in his bio right next to that it says he was born in 1929…again, all on the same web page.

Does someone have the right year for me?

Anita O’Day: Life of a Jazz Singer

When you talk about the greatest jazz singers ever, you always mention the Big Three: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. No surprises. From there, though, where do you go? Let me suggest Anita O’Day.

Her first appearances with the bands of Gene Krupa, Woody Herman & Stan Kenton shattered the standard image of a female jazz singer as demure and beautiful. Though she was a knockout, she was “one of the guys” – a musician’s singer – able to scat incredibly fast lines as well as break down ballad standards like Charlie Parker. Her time with drummer Krupa, especially, developed her rhythmic and melodic improvising abilities to the point where she was bored with these bands and struck out to sing with small groups who could keep up with her.

Unlike many jazz singers, she found more success with jazz audiences than popular music fans, releasing almost 20 records for Verve in the 50’s & 60’s that established Anita as one of the most talented singers of the day. Sadly, Anita O’Day wouldn’t be scared away from another jazz staple, heroin addiction. Amazingly, after 15 years she managed to kick and had a successful comeback, mostly appearing in Japan. At age 86, Anita recorded one last album, appropriately titled Indestructable, and was earning a new audience rightfully impressed by the amazing stories of her life.

Now, the documentary finished just before her death – Anita O’Day: Life of a Jazz Singer – is out on DVD. I caught this film in the theater last Spring with a very small crowd, and I hope more people will see this movie and get a better idea of the amazing talents of this often overlooked jazz superstar. For me, this is how jazz movies should be made – it focuses on her developing skills as a singer, her love of jazz rhythms and improvisation, and her personality – surely one of the most interesting characters in a world full of them.

I just watched the DVD again this week and I’ll probably buy my own copy soon, and I highly recommend it to all fans of jazz, singers, and musicians of all stripes. Terry Gross’ interview with Anita from 1987 can be heard here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106968810

and here’s the documentary trailer:

Duke Ellington: the 1952 Seattle Concert Celebrates an Anniversary

I’m guessing that I’m not the only one who wasn’t aware that Duke Ellington’s The 1952 Seattle Concert was his first legitimate live performance release (with the exception of a few V-Discs). To be honest, I didn’t even know there was a Ellington Seattle concert recording until I came across it, and and today marks the 57th Anniversary of this concert.

One of the interesting things about this recording (aside from the fact that this is an anniversary of it and that it took place in my backyard), is that it showcases some new members at a time after Duke’s top star, Johnny Hodges, and two others, had departed. Drummer Louis Bellson was perhaps the most notable addition, along with valve trombonist Juan Tizol, slide trombonist Britt Woodman, saxophonist Willie Smith, and trumpeter Willie Cook.

The new members contributed not only with their instruments to this concert, but with their compositions as well. The band performed Skin Deep (the opening number) and The Hawk Talks by new drummer Bellson, as well as contributions by Tizol including Caravan and Perdido.

Perdido became a showcase tune for trumpet section leader Clark Terry. I interviewed Terry a couple of years ago, and while he might not be able to play like he did 57 years ago (triple-tounging notes as only he could), he maintains the same personality in his playing that he did when playing with Duke. Clark Terry shines on this recording, and did with the band until he left in 1959.

Other highlights of the release include multiple Ellington standards including It Don’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain’t Got That Swing, In a Sentimental Mood, Mood Indigo, as well as a 15 minute version of Ellington’s Harlem Suite.

This is a nice item to add to a jazz collection, again as it highlights the beginning of a series of great live recordings released by Ellington. While Duke’s Newport live recording from 1956 still might be his live performance highlight, this album is highly recommended.

The FBI Files of Billie Holiday

Thanks to the wonders of the web (not to mention the Freedom of Information Act), I happened to come across some documents relating to the arrest of Billie Holiday. Files include a variety of interesting things, including newspaper clippings, and letters to and from J. Edgar Hoover. Take a look!

Jazz Grammy Winners Are In!!!

The Grammy award winners were announced today during the 51st annual Grammy Awards. Below is a list of who won which jazz Grammy awards.

We conducted a poll in a blog a while back asking you who you thought would win these awards. Below each winner is the percentage of Groove Notes readers who voted in favor of that particular winner in our poll. Congratulations to all of the winners!!!

Best Instrumental Jazz Album Winner:

The New Crystal Silence
Chick Corea & Gary Burton

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 8%

Best Jazz Vocal Album Winner:

Loverly
Cassandra Wilson

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 53%

Best Contemporary Jazz Album Winner:

Randy In Brasil
Randy Brecker

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 33%

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Winner:

Be-Bop
Terence Blanchard, soloist
Track from: Live At The 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars)

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 33%

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Winner:

Monday Night Live At The Village Vanguard
The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 56%

Best Latin Jazz Album Winner:

Song For Chico
Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 45%

Best Instrumental Composition Winner*:

The Adventures Of Mutt (From Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull)
John Williams, composer (John Williams)
Track from: Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull — Soundtrack

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 0%

Best Instrumental Arrangement Winner*:

Define Dancing (From Wall-E)
Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman, arrangers (Thomas Newman)
Track from: Wall-E — Soundtrack

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 13%

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Winner*:

Here’s That Rainy Day
Nan Schwartz, arranger (Natalie Cole)
Track from: Still Unforgettable

Percentage of readers picking this winner: 14%

* = Not a jazz category, but contained jazz artists/songs/albums within its list of nominees.

And the results of the Groove Notes poll for ” Which artist deserved a nomination but didn’t receive it this year?”:

Roy Hargrove: 64%

Eva Cassidy: 18%

Melody Gardot: 9%

Nicholas Payton: 9%

Other: 0%

Once again, congratulations to all of the winners!!!

Welcome to Groove Notes!

Groove Notes will provide the opportunity to examine and discuss all things jazz. It will offer a perspective on recordings new and old, artist information, concert happenings, and any other jazz related topics big or small. Groove Notes will also allow readers a chance to hear and see audio and video related to these topics and give them a chance to offer their own responses to any of the postings.