Make a Jazz Noise Here

[Leo K.]

The Rhythmic Eight
2CD set RTR79059

My reason for buying this is to hear the artistry of cornetest Sylvester Ahola. Ahola sounds both "hot and cool," and clearly a much undervalued player of the Bix Era. Ahola was in England from late December 1927 until September 1931.

"My trumpet playing on those Rhythmic Eight Records is "pitched" between the styles of Bix Beiderbecke and Red Nichols, and is adapted for a schooled type of trumpet player, just as I was. I wanted that pure tone and nice vibrato, and I always preferred that sound." --Sylvester Ahola

The Rhythmic Eight's output continued unchanged in terms of quantity into the early 1930s but diminished considerably in terms of quality after the end of the 1920s. This was not helped by the UK's Ministry of Labour, who in early 1930 banned Sylvester Ahola from fulfilling any further lucrative freelance work, after receiving group, the Rhythmic Eight's personnel was remarkably consistent. Danny Polo was present on many sessions after mid-1929. Most of the arrangements were stock, but Rollini-influenced British saxophonist Arthur Lally contributed a few excellent special arrangements (such as "Don't Be Like That") as well as a few great bass sax and alto solos! Even the stock arrangements had reworked passages cooked-up on the spot by members of the band; Holley remembered The Rhythmic Eight recorded prolifically during 1928 and 1929 and produced a large number of excellent, hot sides, most of which are now as rare as hens' teeth. When Ahola couldn't make a particular Rhythmic Eight session, as happened on several occasions in 1928 and 1929, Bert (and later his brother John) Firman would hire Norman Payne, Jack Jackson or Max Goldberg (Goldberg more often).

I also want to mention the great bass sax soloist Arthur Lally, also heard all over the recording mentioned above. Lally's tone is remarkably "Rollini-ish" (I'm referencing the bass sax stylings of Adrian Rollini), as is his phrasing. It is likely that Lally heard A Mug Of Ale on Parlophone; the side was released by Parlophone just a few months after its initial release on OKeh.


Arthur Lally was born in Seaforth, just outside Liverpool, England, in December 1900. His father James taught him to play the cornet. Arthur switched to trombone before his teens, and by 1914 he was proficient also on trumpet, piano, violin and clarinet. He started his professional musical career in the early 1920s, initially playing trombone in a Liverpool dance band, before moving to London, working (as a saxophonist) with bands in various venues, including the Hammersmith Palais de Danse, Rector's Club and the Rhythmic Eight at Zonophone in the 1928-1930 period.

Apart from music he had a passion for motor-cars, as well as interests in electrical engineering and wireless. He also had a full pilot's licence, and in 1940 he asked to be allowed to pilot a bomb-laden airplane to Hitler's mountain hide-out in Berchtesgarten. The request was turned down by the War Office, and sadly he took his own life in his London flat in May 1940. In 1929 he organised Decca's first studio house band, which waxed many sides in the 1929-1932 period, some of the early ones being notable for hot solos from Sylvester Ahola as well as Lally himself (mainly on alto, baritone and bass sax). He was briefly in the great Ambrose Orchestra in the late 1920s, at the Mayfair Hotel in London, and worked for Ambrose and others as an arranger in the 1930s. Some of his advanced arrangements were used by in Tottenham Court Road, the Grafton Galleries in Regent Street and the Hotel Cecil in The Strand. In mid-1926, Lally joined the Savoy Orpheans at the Savoy Hotel, playing clarinet, alto sax and baritone sax. He remained with Orpheans until early 1927, when he joined Bert Firman's band at the Devonshire Restaurant. During this time he was heavily in demand for recording sessions, so much so that an article in the Melody Maker claimed that he "has recorded for nearly every gramophone company in England."

[Leo K.]

Perhaps inspiration is more of a general stimulation toward creativity, and the result may bear no resemblance to the source of inspiration or mind of the individual influenced and results in a creative output that has features that display a similarity to the characteristics of the source. Inspiration is Both result in consequences on the creativity of the individual inspired or influenced. But inspiration is "general" whereas "influence is "specific." Influence produces effects on the Inspiration and influence are sometimes used interchangeably. I use these words in two distinct ways. Both have an effect on the inspired or influenced individual.

Jimmy McPartland says it well in an article in the January 1954 issue of Down Beat: "I think almost any jazz musician--besides all the brass men--have one way or another been influenced by Bix." The key phrase is "one way or another." with him, or listened to him-–live or in records--during their careers. I hear Bix's explicitly in early Goodman, but not in later Goodman. Does this mean that Bix's influence ceased: no! Bix continued being an inspiration for Benny throughout his life. In the same manner, Bix was an inspiration for all the musicians who came into contact with him: Hoagy Carmichael, Eddie Condon, the Dorseys, Miff Mole, Bing Crosby, Adrian Rollini, etc, they drove the band in the same way. If you had any talent at all he made you play better. It had to do for one thing with the way he played lead. It had to do with his whole feeling for ensemble playing." This an example of what I call inspiration: Bix inspired his fellow musicians to do their best. But inspiration also means that musicians thought of Bix after they had played have listed above emulations of Bix in the 1920s and 1930s. What about a long-lasting influence of Bix? Here, I want to make a distinction between influence and inspiration. Clearly, the examples above are instances of influence. But there is something more subtle which I will refer to as inspiration. Bix was a catalyst for other musicians performing at their best.

After the Feb 4, 1927 recording of "Singin' the Blues" was issued, Chauncey Morehouse, the drummer for the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, said,"You couldn't go anywhere in New York without hearing some guy trying to play like Bix. They copied his tone, his attack, his figures. Some guys tried to take his stuff right off the records. Others just came and listened. It was amazing."

Early (c. 1944-45) bebop is explosive and extroverted, similar to early Dixieland. Miles Davis was probably the prime mover who took Bix, the ingoing, classic, musician's musician style beyond and into the future. In the 1920s, Louis Armstrong and Bix were the alpha and omega of original jazz trumpeter/cornetists - Louis, the outgoing, virtuosic, all-around entertainer; Bix in a more reflective, impressionistic direction; If we look past the issue of direct musical/stylistic influence, there is indeed a parallel between those two and Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

[Leo K.]

Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues."



Jazz textbooks now recognize it as a landmark recording, and classical-music textbooks discuss it alongside Beethoven symphonies and Schubert songs. "West End Blues" has been transcribed and published in the series "Essential Jazz Editions" so that high-school and college ensembles can perform and learn from it. It is even included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll." After 80 years, Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" is still musically fresh and emotionally compelling. Now those are signs of transcendent art. kinds of music. He became, to fellow musicians, a hero of epic proportions. The "West End Blues" track has been widely reissued. It is available on the single-disc "Ken Burns' Jazz: Louis Armstrong" (Sony Legacy), as well as on the four-disc "Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings" (Sony Legacy). JSP Records has issued them as the four-CD "Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives and Sevens," with superior remastering by the U.K. engineer John R.T. Davies.

While musicians long recognized the brilliance of the recording -- it was a favorite of young Billie Holiday -- the canonization of Armstrong's disc took on momentum in 1968 when composer-conductor Gunther Schuller, in his "Early Jazz," devoted five pages of the book to extolling the virtues of "West End Blues." It "served notice to compete with the highest order of previously known expression." he argued.

This jazz had the potential, Armstrong boldly opens the piece in this surprising, unaccompanied way. Its bravura nature underscores the influence that opera had on Armstrong: Growing up in culturally polyglot New Orleans, he was a musical sponge. Except for a lackluster trombone solo in the second chorus, each of the five choruses makes musical magic. One marvels at the clarion sound of Armstrong's trumpet, the unique tone of his scatting vocals, the unpredictable piano solo of Earl Hines, and Armstrong's long-held note in the final chorus. With this recording, Armstrong inaugurated an era of modern musical expression where individuality and genius could dazzle and shine. As a trumpeter and singer, Armstrong set a sky-high benchmark of originality and artistry, and he came to influence -- directly or indirectly -- just about every instrumentalist and singer in jazz and, ultimately, many performers of other in Chicago and created his supreme masterpiece, one that summarizes the brilliance of his art and points a way forward for all jazz -- and many other kinds of music as well. He chose a piece composed by his mentor, King Oliver, called "West End Blues" -- a work named for a resort outside of New Orleans, the city from which both Armstrong and Oliver had come. Oliver recorded "West End Blues" nine days before Armstrong, but it is Armstrong's June 20 version that made history. In it, he transforms Oliver's piece from an ordinary, slow blues into an artistic achievement of the highest order. Right off the bat, in the dazzling opening cadenza, you can hear Armstrong's musical virtuosity, daring and imagination. In classical music, a cadenza -- a free-sounding, virtuosic passage -- typically comes at the end. Having switched in 1925 from the cornet to the trumpet, Armstrong set new standards for trumpeters, extending the playable range of the instrument with impressive high notes. Besides his technical mastery, what else set him apart? His big, beautiful tone; his rich imagination as a soloist; his perfect sense of time; his deep understanding of the blues; his projection and authority; and the force of his musical personality. And he boasted a gift for personalizing the material he recorded, transforming it into music that is unmistakably his in sound and style and ownership. The essence of jazz -- making something new out of something old, making something personal out of something shared -- has no finer exemplar than Armstrong.

[Mirror Image]

I've been revisiting this set from Mosaic:



Jazz doesn't get much better than this, folks. Dizzy Gillespie is one of the finest trumpeters that ever lived. Besides his obvious technical facility on his instrument, he was a consummate band leader. This particular set is worth its weight in gold and is a must-have for all Gillespie fans. I remember buying this set at a Best Buy (of all places) and getting it for $20 (just a note: it's worth $100+, Best Buy made a pricing error). Anyway, if you can find one whether you pay full price or half price: BUY IT!

[Henk]

I will try to get it at a lower price than you did at Best Buy. Some kind of challenge..   

[Octave]

I've been revisiting this set from Mosaic:
I remember buying this set at a Best Buy (of all places) and getting it for $20 (just a note: it's worth $100+, Best Buy made a pricing error). Anyway, if you can find one whether you pay full price or half price: BUY IT!

When did Mosaic start selling through retailers?  I thought you had to buy through them directly.  Though it's been ages since I've purchased one...

[San Antone]

I've been revisiting this set from Mosaic:



Jazz doesn't get much better than this, folks. Dizzy Gillespie is one of the finest trumpeters that ever lived. Besides his obvious technical facility on his instrument, he was a consummate band leader. This particular set is worth its weight in gold and is a must-have for all Gillespie fans. I remember buying this set at a Best Buy (of all places) and getting it for $20 (just a note: it's worth $100+, Best Buy made a pricing error). Anyway, if you can find one whether you pay full price or half price: BUY IT!

I've got that one and agree it is very good.  I have probably 20+ Mosaic boxes and feel that way about all of them.

[Henk]

I've been revisiting this set from Mosaic:



Jazz doesn't get much better than this, folks. Dizzy Gillespie is one of the finest trumpeters that ever lived. Besides his obvious technical facility on his instrument, he was a consummate band leader. This particular set is worth its weight in gold and is a must-have for all Gillespie fans. I remember buying this set at a Best Buy (of all places) and getting it for $20 (just a note: it's worth $100+, Best Buy made a pricing error). Anyway, if you can find one whether you pay full price or half price: BUY IT!

The rythms of Gillespie's band in the 80s/90s, so great, when they start playing. The bass, the percussion, we can learn from that I think.

[Bogey]

Also amazed by the Roy Hargrove Quintet's "Earfood"  and "Nothing Special" records. Wow.

Leo, Do you have this one?

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I heard a cut today and put it on my wish-list.

[Mirror Image]

I've got that one and agree it is very good.  I have probably 20+ Mosaic boxes and feel that way about all of them.

I wish I had bought more of those Mosaic sets back when they were selling relatively cheaper. Now so many of them are OOP or just too expensive. I guess you own the Carmell Jones set? That's one of the sets I really wanted because he's such an underrated trumpeter IMHO. Do you have a favorite Mosaic set or should I say one that you find completely indispensable?

[Mirror Image]

The rythms of Gillespie's band in the 80s/90s, so great, when they start playing. The bass, the percussion, we can learn from that I think.

I never got into Dizzy when he started getting into the Cuban music. I'm bebopper all the way.

[Mirror Image]

When did Mosaic start selling through retailers?  I thought you had to buy through them directly.  Though it's been ages since I've purchased one...

Beats the heck out of me! I don't even know how they obtained this set, but whatever the case may be, I'm glad I bought it.

(Special note: when I bought the set, they had two left.)

[Bogey]

Foot tapping time.

[Bogey]

I never got into Dizzy when he started getting into the Cuban music. I'm bebopper all the way.

Word.

[Henk]

Leo, Do you have this one?

[asin]B0000046V3[/asin]

I heard a cut today and put it on my wish-list.

That's a good recording. I like Habana very much as well, that's my favourite recording by Roy Hargrove.

[Bogey]

Thanks, Henk.

On a side note, I enjoy streaming past shows from here:

http://www.wgbh.org/Jazz/?MM=1

Jackson usually has a great mix.  Try his 1/6/2013 show (where I got the above):

http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Eric-in-the-Evening-287/episodes/Eric-in-the-Evening-162013-43532

[Mirror Image]

I think Hargrove is at his best IMHO in ballads like this recording:

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I wouldn't call Hargrove a true bebopper though in some of his recordings he does touch on that kind of musical phrasing. But the honest truth is I don't listen to Hargrove that much. I may be out of bounds when I say that jazz was at its' best during the '40s, '50s, and early '60s. For me, it doesn't get much better than this period for jazz. Guys like Louie Armstrong weren't fond of bebop, but the reason these guys weren't is because 1. they simply couldn't play it and 2. they didn't understand the idea of it. But I'm not going to knock the old swing guys because this was an important part of the development of bebop. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at Minton's Playhouse where the supposed birth of bebop occurred where musicians like Dizzy and Parker would play long into the night.

[Leo K.]

I have one Mosaic set, and it is really special (all Mosaic releases are lovingly put together).


The Complete Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker

One of the most (in)famous set of recordings of all time by a fan who wanted to capture every note that Bird played...and nothing else beyond Bird's notes. It would be akin to a fan capturing every solo Hendrix played on guitar, and shutting off his recorder for the non-Hendrix sections.

I would recommend this to someone who is a real Charlie Parker nut, but not someone who only enjoys high fidelity recordings, or someone who doesn't yet have the commercial recordings of Parker. And the booklet is fantastic in every way. Phil Shaap made a herculean effort with this set, and I'm so very glad he did. And this is a set that BELONGS to Mosaic, their labor of love as well. There are some complete performances here but most are just Bird solos, and the playing in this material is phenomenal in my opinion. There are also some recordings of Beneditti himself that are very interesting, If 'forties aircheck sound quality is something you can't handle, don't even consider this set. Even the portions here that sound the best are not good really acceptable recordings to an audiophile. That's not a big problem for me.

Benedetti might seem like a bit of an obsessive fan for recording just Bird's solos and nothing else, but my understanding is he did this for two very logical reasons: 1.) to conserve expensive disc space; and 2.) to facilitate studying Bird's approach (Benedetti was an aspiring musician).

[Leo K.]

Leo, Do you have this one?

[asin]B0000046V3[/asin]

I heard a cut today and put it on my wish-list.

I have not heard this one, I think it is on Spotify so I'll check it out!

[Leo K.]

As a jazz fan, I started with Bepop. It is still my first love, and this year I've moved into early jazz and swing, hearing stuff I never thought I'd experience. For some reason, I'm become obsessed with the cornet and trumpet. I can't stop collecting this stuff. One of my favorite trumpet players is Bunny Berigan.

When listening to a Berigan recording, we often put up with a few minutes of boring and/or corny renditions of a song until Berigan's fleeting solo begins. Berigan lifts an otherwise worthless Tin Pan Alley song from its triteness or banality. Other characteristics are the originality and usually musically soundness of his solos, and sometimes interesting tail-endings to his phrases/solos. The last chorus of his Victor recording of In a Little Spanish Town, it seems he is so emotionally overwhelmed that he does not achieve his aim, and how in just a few measures of playing he could save in our everyday lives, we invariably admire creativity that sometimes fails more than we admire flawless but rote activity.

Moreover, a likely alternative occasionally applying reason for his 'missing' life is his sheer excitement about the music. In, for example, we are reminded of his tragic alcohol addiction which became his demise, and wish that modern treatment programs had been available back then. Berigan's spirited but short solos mirror his life; both serve as examples of the admitedly trite phrase, "a candle burned at both ends." Able to hear the performance live, instead of through 60-year-old recordings.

When he succeeds, something very tantalizing about a soloist whose solos are wonderful but kept short. One places far greater value on these than on a those of a typical modern soloist who goes on and on for half an hour. One is reminded of the musician who said that, when given the chance to play in Sousa's band, he was so overwhelmed with the experience that he was unable to play a single note.