CHICAGO SKYLINERS - Bill O'Connell

CHICAGO SKYLINERS

Bill O’Connell

I Love Being Here With You

There’s another of my videos from Fitzerald’s, this one features Leslie Beukleman with Jarod Bufe on tenor. Be sure to check out the lead trumpet, Mike McGrath at the beginning.

Saxes:

Ken Partyka - alto

Andy Schlinder - alto

Jarod Bufe - tenor

Alex Beltran - tenor

Steve Schnall - Bari

Tromboner:

John Mose

Dan Johnson

Adam Gross

Ryan Miller

Trumpets:

Mike McGrath

Drew Hanson

Brian Finn

Nick Grill

Rhythm Section:

Carl Kennedy - piano

Keith Brady - Bass

Bill O’Connell - Drums, Leader

WOODY HERMAN-Greasy Sack Blues

WOODY HERMAN

Woody's Winners

Greasy Sack Blues 

Of the many exciting recordings by the Swinging Herd of the '60s, this is the definitive set. With such soloists as trumpeters Bill Chase, Dusko Goykovich, and Don Rader, and tenors Sal Nistico, Andrew McGhee, and Gary Klein, this orchestra rarely had any difficulty raising the temperature. Recorded live at Basin Street West in late June of 1965, this set finds the enthusiastic band featuring a three-way trumpet battle on "23 Red," reworking "Northwest Passage" (highlighted by Sal Nistico's long tenor solo), and romping on a lengthy version of "Opus De Funk" in addition to interpreting a few ballads and blues. A very memorable CD that is available as a two-fer, (Jazz Hoot/Woody's Winners), Woody's Winners is worth inclusion in every jazz collector's library.

- Scott Yanow, All Music -

Don Rader’s arrangement and solo on this cut are iconic.

Baritone Saxophone – Tom Anastas

Bass – Anthony Leonardi*

Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Woody Herman

Drums – Ronnie Zito

Piano – Nat Pierce

Tenor Saxophone – Andy McGhee*, Gary Klein (2), Salvatore Nistico*

Trombone – Donald Doane, Frank Tesinsky, Henry Southall

Trumpet – Bill Chase, Bob Shew*, Don Rader, Dusko Goykovich, Gerald Lamy*

STAN GETZ / CLARKE & BOWLING

Clarke Boland Big Band - Stan Getz

Change of Scenes (full album)

What a wonderful recording. Clarke, Bowling  & Getz, who could ask for more?
I had never heard this before.  What a wonderful writer Bowling was. Totally different for both him and Getz

That this rare album was originally released only in Europe testifies to the dominance of jazz-rock in 1971 and not to the staggering quantity of imagination that one hears on the session today. Still co-leading his legendary European unit (this was their last recording), Francy Boland unleashed his classical training to produce dazzling, fantastically complex writing often loaded with dissonances, unusual groupings of instruments, freeform freakouts, alternating sections in 5/4 and 4/4, loose-jointed structures, and firestorm endings. Yet Getz's great ear picks everything up intuitively; his solos, though brief in playing time, are loaded with sometimes strident emotion and occasionally flirt with the outside. The Clarke/Boland band itself is in dynamic, bold, and brassy form, playing the hell out of these tough pieces (dig the Kenton-ian buildup near the close of "Provocations"). Within the band, Albert Mangelsdorff breathes fire on trombone, Herb Geller doubles -- or quintuples -- effectively on five instruments, including English horn, piccolo, and oboe (along with tenor and alto), and Boland occasionally appears on ghostly organ and electric piano. Not only was this Getz's most adventurous session since Focus and the first few bossa nova records, it was very much out of character for Boland, who usually played it safer than this.

Extravagances - 0:00 solos: Getz, Shihab (fl), Coe (cl), Shihab (ss), Getz

Symptones - 6:05 solos: Getz, Clarke, Geller, Getz, Shihab, Boland

Quiproquos - 11:57 solos: Geller, Getz, Bailey, Manglesdordf, Van Lier, Getz, Warland, Getz

Escarmouches - 21:18 solos: Van Rooyen, Geller, Persson, Getz, Manglesdorff, Getz, Coe (ts)

Touchstone - 26:06 solos: Boland, Getz, Saltzmann, Scott, Farmer, Getz

Provocations - 32:42 solos: Getz, Coe (cl), Shihab (ss), Manglesdorff, Persson, Getz

Stan Getz - tenor saxophone;

Francy Boland - piano, arranger;

Kenny Clarke - drums;

Benny Bailey, Art Farmer, Rick Kiefer, Manfred Schoof, Ack van Rooyen - trumpet, flugelhorn;

Erik van Lier, Albert Mangelsdorff, Åke Persson - trombone;

Herb Geller - alto saxophone, flute, oboe, English horn;

Ronnie Scott - tenor saxophone;

Stan Sulzmann - tenor saxophone, flute, soprano saxophone;

Tony Coe - tenor saxophone, clarinet;

Sahib Shihab - baritone saxophone, flute, soprano saxophone;

Jean Warland - bass;

Tony Inzalaco - percussion

WOODY HERMAN - Bass Folk Song

WOODY HERMAN

THE THUNDERING HERD - 1974

Bass Folk Song

Of all the big-band leaders of the swing era, Woody Herman went the most out of his way to interpret current material and keep his orchestra young, enthusiastic, and modern. For this Fantasy date, Herman's band not only plays two John Coltrane songs, but material from Frank Zappa ("America Drinks and Goes Home"), Stanley Clarke ("Bass Folk Song"), and even Carole King ("Corazon"). This is one of Herman's most successful efforts of the period, for the arrangements (by Alan Broadbent, Bill Stapleton, and Tony Klatka) are inventive and generally swinging, with such soloists as Frank Tiberi on tenor, flügelhornist Klatka, and electric keyboardist Andy Laverne keeping the music continually interesting. "Blues for Poland," "Lazy Bird," and the Zappa piece are high points.

-  All Music, Scott Yanow -

Gary Anderson

Flute, Sax (Tenor), Saxophone

Bill Byrne

Trumpet

Ron Davis

Drums

Richard Dollarhide

Congas

Harold Garrett

Trombone, Trombone (Bass)

Gregory Herbert

Flute, Piccolo, Sax (Tenor)

Chip Jackson

Bass (Electric)

Tony Klatka

Arranger, Flugelhorn

Steve Kohlbacher

Trombone

Jan Konopasek

Sax (Baritone)

Andy LaVerne

Piano, Piano (Electric)

Buddy Powers

Flugelhorn

Dory Previn

Composer

Jim Pugh

Trombone

John Rae

Percussion

Johnny Rae

Percussion

Dave Stahl

Flugelhorn

Bill Stapelton

Flugelhorn

Frank Tiberi

Bassoon, Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)

TOSHIKO AKIOSHI Tuning Up

TOSHIKO AKIOSHI-LEW TABAKIN

Tuning Up

Road Time was the first live concert recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The recording was made at three concerts in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, during a 1976 Japan tour and the double album received a 1977 Grammy nomination in the "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" category.

• Toshiko Akiyoshi – piano

• Lew Tabackin – tenor saxophone and flute

• Tom Peterson – tenor saxophone

• Dick Spencer – alto saxophone

• Gary Foster – alto saxophone

• Bill Byrne – baritone saxophone

• Steven Huffsteter – trumpet

• Bobby Shew – trumpet

• Richard Cooper – trumpet

• Mike Price – trumpet

• Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone

• Jim Sawyer – trombone

• Jimmy Knepper – trombone

• Phil Teele – bass trombone

• Don Baldwin – bass

• Peter Donald – drums

MJQ & Orchestra

The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra - Divertimento

This may again be pushing the genre a little again but it’s pretty interesting

For this set, the Modern Jazz Quartet (pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay) were joined by a Germany symphony orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller. Although these third-stream pieces (Schuller's three-movement "Concertino for Jazz Quartet & Orchestra," Andre Hodeir's "Around the Blues," Werner Heider's "Divertimento" and Lewis' inventive adaptation of "England's Carol") may not have had much potential, they avoid the potential pitfalls of being overly serious and pompous that sometimes plague similar works. "Around the Blues" has its swinging moments; most of the pieces are episodic, with good spots for Jackson and Lewis' soloing. Overall, this is a successful effort worth listening to several times.

-All Music-

THE SINGERS UNLIMITED WITH ROB McCONNELL 

AND THE BOSS BRASS

A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP”

The Singers Unlimited are without doubt one of the very best jazz vocal groups to have been around. Two of its members, Don Shelton, also a studio alto sax player and Gene Puerling were founding members of the Hi Los. They moved to Chicago and along with Bonnie Herman and Len Dressler formed The Singers Unlimited.

Rob McConnell was a Canadian valve trombone player and arranger. His band from Toronto was truly world class. Put them together and you end up with this great recording.

Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass – Don Thompson (2)

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Ed Bickert

Arranged By [Instrumental] – Rob McConnell

Bass Trombone – Ron Hughes

Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone – Gary Morgan (2)

Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Rick Wilkins

Directed By [Musical Director] – Willi Fruth

Drums – Terry Clarke

Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Jerry Toth

Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Eugene Amaro

French Horn – Brad Warnaar, George Stimpson

Percussion – Marty Morell

Piano, Electric Piano – James Dale*

Piccolo Flute, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Moe Koffman

Trombone – Dave McMurdo

Trombone [Lead] – Bob Livingston (2), Ian McDougall

Trumpet [Lead], Flugelhorn – Arnie Chycoski, Erich Traugott

Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Bruce Cassidy, Guido Basso, Sam Noto

Vocals – Bonnie Herman, Don Shelton (2), Len Dresslar

Vocals, Producer, Arranged By [Vocals] – Gene Puerling

/credits

JOE GRANSDEN
Live at Cafe 290

Cherokee



JOE GRANSDEN

A friend of mine and former follege classmate,the bari sax player on this band, sent me a CD of this gig several years ago. I really didn’t listen to it that much at the time No real reason. I just didn’t. I decided yesterday to see if the band was on You Tube. It is and it is great.  In honesty I just didn't expect this kind of quality coming out of Georgia. I guess it just proves we all have to approach things with an open mind.

Joe Gransden - Leader, Trumpet

Saxohones:

Mace Hibbard, Brian Hogans, Sam Skelton, Don Erdman

Trumpets:

Mike Barry, Keven Lyons, Lester King,Gordon Vernick, Lee King

Trombones:

Wes, Funderburk, Eric Alexander, Tom Gibson, Major Bailey, Les Watts

Rhythm Section:

Geoff Haydon-piano, Neal Starkey-bass, Justin Varnes-drums

WOODY HERMAN - ENCORE 1963 - Caldonia

WOODY HERMAN
ENCORE 1963
Caldonia

I was in college when this was released and like a few other recordings, this was on everyone’s stereo playing at top volume. Sal Nistico totally kills it. A little bit of  trivia that most people know by now is that tenor player Sal Nistico and arranger Sammy Nestico are cousins. It’s really a kick given the spelling of their names.

Another thing about this chart that always knocked me out is the double tonguing trumpet section. But I once asked a friend who was in Woody’s trumpet section how difficult it was to play. He said it wasn’t difficult at all,usually, as the technique is something all trumpet players learn. But he said that sometimes Woody would sometimes count off this and other tunes at ridiculous tempos. From what  he told me this recording was really at best medium tempo. 

Woody Herman (cl, voc), Tommy Anastas (bars), Gary Klein, Sal Nistico, Joe Romano (ts), Bill Chase, Paul Fontaine, Billy Hunt, Danny Nolan, Gerald Lamy (t), Henry Southall, Phil Wilson, Kenny Wenzel (tb), Nat Pierce (p), Chuck Andrus (b), Jake Hanna (d).

MAYNARD FERGUSON - OLE

Composed by Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton, arr. Maynard Ferguson. This recording was released by the now defunct EMUS label (ES-12024, side A) with offices formerly at 17 West 60th Street in New York City. This was performed by Maynard Ferguson and His Orchestra, exact date unknown. Orchestra consisted of the following personnel: Chet Ferretti, Bill Berry, Rolf Ericson, Ray Winslow, Kenny Rupp, Lanny Morgan, Willie Maiden, Joseph Carl Firrantello AKA Joe Farrell, Frank Hittner, Jaki Byard, Charlie Saunders, and Rufus Jones. This is a different arrangement of OLE than what is located at Youtube channel joakybass, beginning at the 1:12 mark and again at 2:08 on that recording .

THis is the same recording as the Maynard's original version of Maria was on