tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post8795778472181443094..comments2024-01-06T18:34:30.188-08:00Comments on I Witness: Thrush HourIWitnessEdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-22391489104126818062010-12-18T15:46:18.615-08:002010-12-18T15:46:18.615-08:00Let's examine the confusing elements: Russ Gar...Let's examine the confusing elements: Russ Garcia gets the nod to shape O'Day's Sings the Winners, 12 tracks split 6 and 6 between Garcia and Marty Paich, recorded April 2 and 3. CD reissue and maybe original LP credit among others Perkins, Kamuca, Shank, and Chaiken. Mosaic's O'Day set book claims a different group tapped (and taped)including Perkins, Herbie Mann, Med Flory, Jack Sheldon (openly named), and Mel Lewis.<br /><br />Bill Holman gets the call for August 1960 sessions, 12 tracks that become The Incomparable album, players (says O'Day book) including Perkins, Kamuca, Joe Maini, Conte Candoli, Mel Lewis. Supporting this line-up and approximate date are several photos snapped by William Claxton at sessions. Easily recognized are Holman, Perkins, Lewis, Frank Rosolino, Lou Levy, and maybe Kamuca and Candoli. BUT one sax guy looks to be Bud Shank. <br /><br />Given the booklet's claims for Winners personnel, is it possible for Flory or Mann to be the soloists you have identified otherwise? (Meaning with Perkins and Sheldon confirmed but Shank and Kamuca denied.)<br /><br />I got the Weary Blues from waitin', and tryin' to hear...IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-53404198418998641972010-12-18T12:03:09.784-08:002010-12-18T12:03:09.784-08:00I have the utmost respect for Will Friedwald, who ...I have the utmost respect for Will Friedwald, who is a scholar and a gentleman. But irrespective of what method one uses, if Will disputes my account of Messrs. Sheldon, Shank, Perkins and Kamuca on tracks 1 thru 6, he's simply mistaken. Fifty-year-old union contracts are fallible. In those pre-computer days, paperwork was often mishandled. I know because my earliest jobs were as a lowly office clerk during that era, and I saw tons of sloppy paperwork firsthand. Naturally I did my best to sort things out, but it was a losing effort.<br /><br />Incidentally, Google reveals that "Jules Chaiken" is a real person in the Hollywood music industry, who's worked for decades as an orchestra contractor. Far from persuading me that early in his career he played trumpet in Kenton's band, it merely reinforces my conviction that Jack Sheldon used "Jules Chaiken" as a pseudonym. It makes sense that, given Sheldon's exclusive artist ties to GNP/Crescendo in 1958, he would've asked the session contractor to enter a pseudonym on the paperwork. And it makes further sense that the contractor, in droll cahoots with that scamp Sheldon, would've substituted his own name.<br /><br />But come on, now. Am I really the only listener who can identify solos by such oft-recorded jazzmen as Sheldon, Shank, Perkins and Kamuca? Is there no one else out there with ears to hear, you honor?Alan Kurtzhttp://www.amazon.com/Stereotypes-Black-Music-African-American-Compromise/dp/1453853669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291054567&sr=1-1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-17409359352832718832010-12-17T09:06:09.973-08:002010-12-17T09:06:09.973-08:00back from trip...
Email from Will Friedwald conte...back from trip...<br /><br />Email from Will Friedwald contests the just-listen method; he says the O'Day booklet info is definitive and correct now, all based on union contracts filed per the session dates, and not anyone's recollections or unquestioned auditory skills. The debate may not be over.IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-91563773826179023002010-12-11T12:02:09.899-08:002010-12-11T12:02:09.899-08:00Just to belabor the point, I see that during the p...Just to belabor the point, I see that during the period in question, Jack Sheldon was under exclusive contract to GNP/Crescendo, which further substantiates his use of a witty pseudonym on the Anita O'Day session. Yet circumstantial evidence is only supportive. What's dispositive is to trust one's ear. I've been digging Jack's solos on recordings since 1958, meaning I long ago developed the capacity to instantly recognize his distinctive style. Ditto Perkins and Kamuca. In such cases, one doesn't need a discographer. Just listen, your honor.Alan Kurtzhttp://www.amazon.com/Stereotypes-Black-Music-African-American-Compromise/dp/1453853669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291054567&sr=1-1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-91565559526857980322010-12-10T17:57:27.862-08:002010-12-10T17:57:27.862-08:00Well, boy howdy. Alan, you have outdone yourself i...Well, boy howdy. Alan, you have outdone yourself in the Jazz minutiae department, even if "bated." Of course, your new evidence conflicts with BOTH of previous personnel lists, so I scratch my head yet again. Perkins plays on so dang many LPs and CDs that I keep finding new ones to mull over, but it's time to put up or shut up, so... Soon. Eventually. Before the Millenium.IWitnessEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312808828448124509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5241063190450464888.post-50232494156900942142010-12-10T15:42:18.150-08:002010-12-10T15:42:18.150-08:00OK, here's the deal. Sometimes each new reissu...OK, here's the deal. Sometimes each new reissue of a CD provides updated discographical data to correct false information from preceding releases. Other times, a new reissue itself introduces errata that confuse everyone forever after. <i>Anita O'Day Sings the Winners</i> is a case in point. I'll restrict myself to tracks 1 thru 6 of the 1999 PolyGram reissue, which correspond to Side 1 of the original Verve LP. Personnel listed are correct, with two exceptions: (1) the uncredited flute soloist is Bud Shank; (2) trumpet soloist is Jack Sheldon, that inveterate jokester who is listed humorously and pseudonymously as Jules Chaiken. Otherwise, everything is spot on. The session, with arrangements by Marty Paich, is clearly from 1958, when most of the personnel were members of Kenton's band: trumpeters, trombonists except Enevoldsen, Niehaus, Red Kelly, and Bill Perkins.<br /><br />And yes, this session does include both Perk and Richie Kamuca, who are fleetingly featured on two tracks apiece. Perk solos on "Take the 'A' Train" from 1:27 thru 1:38, and on "A Night in Tunisia" from 1:43 thru 2:02. Richie solos on "Four" from 1:27 thru 1:41, and trades fours with Anita on "Four Brothers" from 0:49 thru 1:04.<br /><br />As for Side 2 (tracks 7 thru 12), with Russ Garcia's arrangements, I hear neither Perkins nor Kamuca. There's a tenor solo on, as might be expected, "Body and Soul," where the player may be trying to imitate Hawk; but whoever it is, he sounds nothing like the Pres-inspired Perkins/Kamuca tandem.<br /><br />Now, damn it, hurry up with Part 3 of your Perkins/Kamuca survey. I've been waiting with bated breath for your thoughts on one of my all-time favorites, <i>Grand Encounter: 2° East, 3° West</i>.Alan Kurtzhttp://www.amazon.com/Stereotypes-Black-Music-African-American-Compromise/dp/1453853669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291054567&sr=1-1noreply@blogger.com