MUSIC: Great Tenor Sax, by Wiggia

It is often said that the trumpet is the most defining instrument in jazz, it would be difficult to argue with that in the early days, but as the be-bop era came in the saxophone which had never been far from the front line became almost certainly the most influential instrument, Adolphe Sax had no idea what would happen to his invention when it appeared in 1841.

Many of the traditional jazz bands had saxophones in the line up, many didn’t. but once the big band era got going front lines of saxophones became the norm and it became in all its forms the driving force for most of the groups in the be-bop age.

Here I want to give some examples of the names playing the tenor saxophone that made their mark in jazz and have stood the test of time, and some of the more contemporary players who almost certainly will do the same. This is a very crowded genre, there like most of us have favourites we like to push as the best of etc, it is impossible to include all and by necessity some will have to be left out even when they automatically can lay claim, with their importance in jazz, the right to be included.

I start with Stan Getz, one of the founders of cool jazz, a West Coast advocate who had no problem fitting in wherever he played, probably best known outside of jazz circles for his association with Astrud Gilberto and the Girl from Ipanema - a huge hit in its time - and a whole period where he played and promoted Bossa Nova sounds with many influential jazz greats. He had a unique smooth sound that is never ruffled or out of place. He started at fifteen and served his apprenticeship firstly with Jack Teagardens band and then the Kenton , Dorsey, and Goodman bands before embarking on a long career in his own name.

The Steamer is my favourite album from ‘56 and I do have an extensive collection of his work; videos of him are rare or withdrawn for copyright reasons or both and the good stuff apart from the Bossa Nova era just isn’t there, so…. here with Charlie Byrd, one of the all time great guitar players and Desafinado:



And an earlier Falling Leaves.

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John Coltrane was way out in front when it came to pushing the boundaries in jazz, so far out he completely lost the plot in later life but fortunately the bulk of his work remains where it should be, at the top of the pile.

Influenced by Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins and later Charlie Parker he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostik and Johnny Hodges before his late fifties association with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, a glorious period; but his debut album as leader, Giant Steps was a seminary album, it blew me away when I first heard it and the melodic chords on this were not just very difficult to play but constituted a new sound in the saxophone, much imitated later.

All the compositions on this album were his own and the three key change chord progressions are not only difficult but gave a magic sound.



Coleman Hawkins is one of the mainstays of jazz saxophone and one of the most influential of all players. Born in 1904, you could say he saw and played it all and indeed went the full gamut of music styles and was as influential in the be-bop era as any other. His version, everyone considers this number to be the high point of accomplishment i.e. when is x going to give the definitive version, is considered the best by most.

Body and Soul:



Lester Young born in 1909 was along with Hawkins the early vanguard of modern jazz, learnt the hard way with his family band in Vaudeville, left at eighteen and went to Kansas City where he met and joined Count Basie's Orchestra and later joined Fletcher Henderson. He also worked with Billie Holliday, another one with that effortless style that just seems so easy but isn’t, known as the President for his long position in the jazz hierarchy.

Here seen with his sideways playing style in a short film, not his best number but again they are hard to come by:



Ben Webster, another “oldie” learnt piano and violin at an early age then learnt the saxophone, was in Kansas City at the time that it was a melting pot of talent, played with many bands in the thirties and ended up with Ellington for many years. After he left in ‘43 he played with many and various artists and on his own, came to Europe in ‘65 and lived out his last years playing and living in several countries including the UK.

He never really embraced the new modern way and was still in the blues and swing style to the end. He died in Denmark and after his death a foundation was set up for the promotion of jazz in the country; it has become a prestigious award. This is from the sixties here in the UK with our own, then young, Stan Tracy on piano:



Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis could never be accused of being pigeon-holed, with his music played with many different bands groups from soul to avant-garde he could blow with the best of them.

This is from ‘65, emerging from one of the greatest front lines ever assembled in jazz to perform this rousing solo:



Sonny Rollins: born in ‘30 he grew up in Harlem and was given his first musical instrument at the age of seven an alto sax, he started as a pianist and switched to tenor sax in ‘46. His high school band had, apart from himself, Jackie McLean, Art Taylor and Kenny Drew, not bad for a high school or anywhere else for that matter.

In the early fifties he was arrested for armed robbery and went to jail and later again for a breach of parole for using heroin; in ‘55 he entered the Federal Medical centre to try and break his habit and volunteered for the then experimental methadone treatment, it worked and he emerged clean, though feared his music would suffer. It didn’t, and he went on to greater things.

He played with Miles Davis Booker Little Max Roach and Clifford Brown but in ‘56 he made his seminal album Saxophone Colossus. The next three years saw him make more successful albums with various artists and formats.

In ‘59 he became frustrated with his own perceived musical limitations and took his now famous music sabbatical, during which he would play solo on the Williamsburg Bridge so as to not disturb the neighbours. He returned to performing in ‘61 with the album “The Bridge”.

After another sabbatical in ‘69 he returned again in ‘71 and has not stopped playing world wide since and has a huge recording catalogue.

This is a rare video of the time playing St Thomas (his birthplace) from the Colossus album:



Another piece with some of the more contemporary musicians will follow later.

Friday Night Is Music Night: Celtic Visionaries, by JD

Imbas forosnai is a gift of clairvoyance or visionary ability practised by the gifted poets of ancient Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbas_forosnai

Imbas is an Old Irish word meaning poetic inspiration, with overtones of ecstatic mysticism. It is the heart of the practice of filidecht, the sacred poetic tradition of Ireland and Scotland.

A gift of the Goddess Brighid, it is found in the three cauldrons within each person. The cauldrons, turned through joy and sorrow, take the raw materials of our emotions and our lives and transform them into an alchemy of poetry and magic, opening our eyes to the Otherworlds and to poetic truth and power.
















"To create is to stretch one's hand into a realm beyond sequence, beyond time, beyond death - beyond even the meaning of these words - and to share in the magic of the gods. Exiled from Eden, we are the builders of Eden, carving the everlasting forms of which we are the shadows." - John Carey; associate professor at the Department of Celtic Languages and Literature, Harvard University.

"A wood engraving by an unknown artist that first appeared in Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (1888)"
. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flammarion_Woodcut_1888_Color_2.jpg

Why Michael Moore?

"Me at Trump Tower, December 16, 2015, 3:35pm."
Source: Facebook

I enjoyed "Roger and Me", "Downsize This" and "Capitalism: A Love Story". Nice stunts - especially the crime scene tape around Goldman Sachs (was it?).

But apart from enriching himself - while wearing a faux-loser slobcap - has Michael Moore changed anything? What industrial jobs has he saved, what bankers brought to justice, what pharmaceutical company greed punished?

Along comes Donald Trump, a genuinely crass populist, but one who as soon as elected starts to take action about the haemorrhage of reasonably-paid factory work. Now, citing national security, he's also put a temporary moratorium on arrivals from a list of "countries of concern" drawn up under the previous administration.

Moore wishes us to treat him as deplorable - but the attempt to do a "Je Suis Charlie" is a stretch. We are not all Muslims, Muslims are not at all the same thing as terrorists, the ban is not on Muslims, and not all Muslim-dominated countries are on the list.

You don't have to like Trump to get a little suspicious of Moore. He's good at making us cheer his ineffectual sallies at the rich and powerful, but really, if it were up to him, would anything actually get done?

For the economic issue it may be too late, anyhow - tools and equipment shipped abroad, skills rusting and lost, money flitting elusively round the world like a Jack-'o'-Lantern - but a combination of sideshow virtue-signalling and mob-inflaming isn't going to put that or any other matter right. Many Facebook users appear to be losing their minds, insta-reacting with screams to every new issue, and Moore is happy to photobomb America's existential crisis to wind up excitable idiots and make an extra buck or two.

I wonder whether, in private, Moore thanks his Maker for Trump's election to the Presidency.

1847: A gift from the dispossessed Choctaw to the starving Irish, by JD

I've been watching this series on Ch4 with Ardal O'Hanlon doing a tour round Ireland. http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/ireland-with-ardal-ohanlon

In the third of the programmes he was talking to an artist called Waylon Gary White Deer who is of the Choctaw Nation and now lives and works in Donegal.

Their conversation centred on something I had not known about. It was that the Choctaw Nation made a donation to Irish famine relief in 1847! I think gobsmacked is the (Irish) word for my reaction to this information. I didn't know that. The story of the Great Famine in Ireland is perhaps not as well known in England as it should be. Approximately one million people starved to death. A further one million or more followed St Brendan's example and set off across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada.

Inevitably the Irish diaspora came into contact with the Choctaw who had themselves been forced from their ancestral lands, and they would learn each other's history including the Famine in Ireland.

On March 23, 1847, the Indians of the Choctaw nation took up an amazing collection. They raised $170 for Irish Famine relief, an incredible sum at the time worth in the tens of thousands of dollars today.

They had an incredible history of deprivation themselves, forced off their lands in 1831 and made to embark on a 500 mile trek to Oklahoma called “The Trail of Tears.” Ironically the man who forced them off their lands was Andrew Jackson, the son of Irish immigrants.

Here is a short video retelling the story and showing a commemorative statue erected in Cork and how that came about-



Last word must go to Waylon Gary White Deer, talking about the USA but it could apply equally in any country:

"Sadly, the day will come when all the carefully crafted and promoted white vs black and liberal vs conservative and rich vs poor and old immigrant vs new immigrant and MSNBC vs Fox News distractions will fade, and then everyone in the place they now call America will wake up surrounded by their military and finally understand how it feels to be Indian…"

http://www.waylongarywhitedeer.com/

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Other references-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan
http://ireland-calling.com/choctaw-donation-irish-famine/
http://newsok.com/article/5403735
http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears
________________
Sackerson adds:

Alfred Boisseau, "Louisiana Indians Walking Along A Bayou", 1847

Charles Joseph Staniland (1838–1916), “The Emigrant Ship”

Commemorative plaque, Mansion House, Dublin

Ladies of Jazz 2, by Wiggia

This short compilation shows female artists that emerged during the Ella, Sarah era, some indeed like the first on here started later but was born in 1930 so is a contemporary of the earlier ladies.

Abbey Lincoln (her stage name) was an actress on television and in film and also a civil rights activist. Influenced by Billie Holiday, she also wrote lyrics and composed numbers. Her first album was in ‘56 but for me the first big breakout album was in ‘61 with Straight Ahead on the Candid label. A very beautiful lady; she was married from 61-70 to Max Roach, the drummer and co-conspirator with Charlie Parker in those early days of be bop. She was still recording up until 2007 3 years before her death at 80.

A worthy obituary is here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/15/abbey-lincoln-obituary 
I liked her and so does JD !

And I lied about videos, only from now on this has to be audio only.



This is later in life and very good quality:



Norma Winstone was born in Bow East London in ‘41, so can claim to be a real cockney. Most of her earlier work is what I like but everyone to their own. A lyricist as well as a singer, she started with bands in the Dagenham area and went from there, and has worked with many European and American artists.



Rene Marie: born in the USA in ‘55, she did not start a professional career until she was 42 ! After getting married at 18 she raised two children and when she started singing her husband gave her an ultimatum: stop singing or go; she chose the music path ! There are quite a few videos of Rene but all have dubious sound so once again indulge me:



Diana Krall: in modern times this lady has been hugely successful, often her music wanders into cross over territory and is not jazz as I/we know it, but very accomplished. Born in Canada in ‘64 she had eight albums, more than anybody else at the top of female jazz artists in Billboard; a record.



Anita O’Day: became world famous overnight for her performance in the Newport Jazz Festival film Jazz on a Summers Day. Born in 1919, the year would suggest she should have been in the first list and career-wise yes, but to the likes of us her performance in that film was the start of her public acknowledgment.

Her early unhappy home life meant she left at 14 and did all sorts of strange things to earn a living including dance marathons. She was a capable drummer and married one, so as with so many of that era her background meant she could cope with anything that came up.

In ‘41 Gene Krupa asked her to join his band and that was followed with stints with Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. She had a drug problem all her life and admitted she was probably high during that famous Newport ‘58 film. Considering the drug abuse, something she discussed in detail in a documentary, it was a miracle she made 87, but she was someone who never forgot her Jazz roots.

Here at Newport ‘58:



Fairly new to me is Silje Nergaard, born in ‘66 in Norway. It was this album that projected her onto a world stage, with Pat Methany on guitar:



As with all lists nothing is definitive, and sadly some that would have been included were not, either because of nothing of note being available or what there was being obscure numbers, bad sound etc, so forgiveness for not including obvious favourites and jazz greats such as Lena Horne, Betty Carter et al.

_____________________________________
Wiggia's first Ladies of Jazz is here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-ladies-of-jazz-by-wiggia.html

China: Scaring away the Nian

As the Year of the Rooster begins, we republish a piece from 2013, about an English teacher who went to a school in Beijing and was promptly plunged into the deep end...

It didn't start off like in the brochure. A few minutes into the lesson, the teacher left Mark alone with nearly 40 Chinese children, some of them with special needs and all of them unable to understand what he was saying. And so:

From Mark's end of year report:

"English is being heavily driven in Beijing at the moment [2001-2]. As China is entering the World Trade Organisation, and also has the Olympics in 2008, it is seen as an advantage to the people of China to be able to communicate in English. Therefore the government has introduced measures to encourage this, from Chinese/English signs on streets, English language development programs on T.V. and radio, and Chinese/English publications. English is compulsory at [the] School from grade one through to senior two.

"However with China having a low percentage of non-Chinese people living or working in China and Chinese people generally not travelling outside of China, often communication with even English teachers in English can be difficult. The standard of written English is of a much higher calibre than spoken English, and English speakers' vocabulary is at a disproportionate level to the fluency with which they can use it."

The Chinese teachers at the school "followed a textbook and expanded on this where they felt it necessary," but allowed the four foreign Oral English teachers complete freedom to use their own methods.

Mark saw that there was a wide range of ability within the class, and no particular strategy for meeting the needs of the special needs children within it. Also, art was not a highly valued part of the curriculum. So his plan was English through Art: flags, maps, weather, animals, masks, cars - and doors and walls, as seen down the hutongs:

"When you stray off the main streets anywhere in the sprawling city of Beijing you can find yourself on the back streets where the humanity of Beijing reside. These alleyways, streets and back ways are affectionately referred to as 'Hu tong', they hustle and bustle with life. Whole families can be seen dodging in and out among bicycles incredibly overloaded with a three-seat sofa or cases of cabbages, open air hairdressers comprising a woman, a kitchen chair and her scissors. Life goes on past ornate and fascinating doorways, walls and architecture. What lies behind these doorways? What further dramas go on behind closed doors? Events probably not dissimilar to the family life of any household in Britain.. Often they open onto clutter, ever present bicycles, or occasionally a serene and peaceful scene, where a lonely cherry blossom tree stands central within a sunlight dappled and always dusty haven from the hustle on our side of the door."

Many of these ancient living areas were even then being cleared for modern urban projects, the former inhabitants moved far away from their jobs, local markets and lifelong neighbours.

The classroom learning continued with quizzes and games, and magic: Hallowe'en and Harry Potter, Hangman, the Hokey Cokey and Quidditch:

And celebrations, including Christmas and the New Year:

"January is a magical time in China. The Spring Festival begins with a bang for the Chinese New Year, with fireworks and lights filling the sky, almost overwhelming the eyes and ears. Chinese spring festival is a traditional holiday when people attempt to scare away mythical beasts, dragons and Nian. Nian is a mythical wild beast that preys on humans. So people light fireworks and hang lanterns to ward off Nian and keep it away from their homes.

"At this time of year homes and buildings are decorated with beautiful lanterns. The light builds to a zenith for the Lantern festival held on the fifteenth of January in two thousand and two (dependent on the Chinese lunar calendar). Lanterns come in many different colours and designs, producing a magnificant spectacle when evening falls and the lanterns bring the darkness to life."

The teaching style at the school was formal and could even be quite physically tough sometimes, but the staff felt they had something to learn from this more creative and playful approach. And so did the children:

All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment.

Friday Night Is Music Night: Dorothy Donegan's Jazz, by JD

Introducing Miss Dorothy Donegan!

I had never heard of this lady until about a month ago when she appeared as one of YouTube's recommendations while I was searching for Basie/Ellington videos. And WOW! is my only response to her piano playing. She is brilliant, playing all styles of jazz while throwing in classical references and doing it with such exuberance.

Truly one of the greatest piano players you will ever hear.









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