Hello listeners. What’s up? What have you been listening to?
If your answer is Jazz From Blue Lake thanks for joining us for a great Jazz Appreciation month in April. You know Jazz From Blue Lake is now heard by more people than at any other time in the program’s 43 year history? Because of our jazz stream. You no longer have to stay up until 3 a.m. to hear all five hours of our weeknight jazz program. However, if you do, more power to you. Here’s the direct link to our jazz stream.
On the 28th saxophonist Jordan VanHemert and guitarist Jocelyn Gould appeared live from our studios during “Blue Lake In Session.” When that program goes up, we’ll share the link in our “Archives” area here on Blue Lake Public Radio’s web page. When the Juno award-winning Gould appeared with the loquacious saxophonist we all learned something. I mean, thank you Jocelyn for telling us Wes Montgomery’s composition “Four On Six” was about four fingers on six strings and not some rhythmic pattern.
April 29th is International Jazz Day and, coincidently, my birthday. Blue Lake featured Herbie Hancock’s music that night, specifically the pianist’s compositions played by the Miles Davis Quintet as May holds Davis’s Centennial birthday. A recent version of Hancock’s composition “Sorcerer” showed up on the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra Meets Brian Charette album. That had me thinking about Hancock’s composition again, but hearing it played by Miles' Quintet was eye opening. After the theme, unflagging chase choruses between trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist Wayne Shorter highlight the record. Check it out
We’ll return to the trumpet/tenor sax chorus exchange as a principle organizing method of an improvised piece in a bit.
As I said, International Jazz Day is also my birthday and I got money. What to buy? After some consultation with a friend, I went with Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (#277 – 10 CDs) from Mosaic Records. It was on sale!
The choice was between that and The Classic Vanguard Small Group Swing Sessions on Mosaic. Thing is, my friend bought the Vanguard set and had a few previously purchased single CDs of music that ended up in the set. So he sent those duplicates to me. One of them, an album called “Too Marvelous For Words” by a band called “The Basie Bunch” included a variation on “Sweet George Brown” called “Georgia Mae” and that opened up a rabbit hole.
First of all, “Georgia Mae” includes a swinging trombone solo by Bennie Green, who’s great at riding a note or two with rhythmic variations, as well as an imaginative go by tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson.
Then I started thinking about variations on “Sweet George Brown” and those ended up in a couple of sets broadcast on Jazz From Blue Lake. The big takeaway for me was Coleman Hawkins “Hollywood Stampede”. After the first variation melody on “Sweet George Brown” at the start of the piece and following the solos, the band plays a second variation melody on “Sweet George Brown” that is not a mere recapitulation of the opening “head” to “Hollywood Stampede” but an entirely new thing. And that “thing” becomes the Coleman Hawkins composition “Kerry” heard here with trumpeter Roy Eldridge.
And, lo and behold, the excitement of “Kerry” is in the chase choruses between trumpeter Roy Eldridge and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins near the last half of the performance. They go at it and bring the house down.
The tenor sax/trumpet chase chorus showed up again when we celebrated the 81st birthday of trumpeter Jack Walrath. The first number we played on the air that night, “Road Kill,” at about six minutes in features some hair raising exchanges between Walrath and tenor saxophonist Abraham Burton.
The excitement of tenor saxophone/trumpet chorus exchanges was just popping out after listening to what Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter had done on “Sorcerer.”
At the recent Helen Devos Legacy Award Gala at St. Cecilia Music Center where I serve on the board of directors and their jazz music programming committee. I mentioned this to a wonderful music/singer whose husband is deeply involved with vocal jazz ensembles. She dug it, and then added, demurely, that she had been checking out something unusual and probably not worthy of my attention. Of course I pulled it out of her. The theme from Fran Dresher’s program “The Nanny”! What? She insisted, It’s jazz. Holy cow, she’s right (this is why we listen to musicians when they talk about music!).
So there you go. Yes, we here at Blue Lake Public Radio and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp LOVE music. And programming more than 25 hours of jazz per week for 43 years doesn’t get old (I do but this job doesn’t) because there is so much to learn. And it’s a real kick. What have you been checking out? Please let us know via lvega@bluelake.org.
