A Couple of Foundational Organists in Honor of Vinyl Day

Today is vinyl record day (I just found out myself, thanks to the great post on "The Hits Just Keep on Comin" and "Flea Market Funk"). To celebrate I thought I'd post a couple of albums from the first generation of great B3 organists.

Wild Bill Davis first convinced a reluctant Louis Jordan to allow him to play organ in his group in the 1940s. It was a huge success and from that point on Davis was an organist. Davis, who could swing straight ahead and get pretty greasy on the B3, was Jimmy Smith's inspiration in his transition from piano to B3. He kept swinging until he passed in 1995 at the age of 77.

This 1961 album, One More Time, finds Davis in the company of always fiery organ accompanist Grady Tate (drums) and guitarist Bill Jennings. There's a little exotic travel theme going on with many of the tunes (a la Sinatra - I guess people dug that back then but I've got to ask: did Americans ever live in fear of hearing the "Hawaiian War Chant"?), and some of Davis's organ sounds make me think of hot dogs and Cracker Jacks (and the Yankees losing yet again, but I'll save that rant for another blog), but on the other hand, some of his sounds are downright powerful and one can see how Mr. Davis turned the ivory-ticklin' world upside down when he dropped his first long notes on Jordan's band. My favorite track here is definitely "African Waltz."

Next up is organist Jack McDuff's first commercial recording, an organ/guitar/vox n' harmonica trio with the blues singer Shakey Jake. It's great stuff, even sans drums. I don't have too many words of wisdom about it other than it's a window into the not-so-rigidly-defined music life of African-American instrumentalists in the mid-20th century. Though it might seem strange to jazz followers now if Wynton Marsalis went and recorded with Buddy Guy (or at the least it would be a corporate mega-production stripped of spontaneity most likely), back then people just played with people for the most part.

Links in the comments.

Desperate Request: Rueben Wilson "Blue Mode"

I've been looking for this one forever! Every time it's on Ebay I get outbid, and it hasn't been on any blogs that I know of recently. If you've got it, please share!

Jonnny Lytle - The Soulful Rebel

Just a Monday afternoon quicky here: a moderately great session led by the tragically overlooked Johnny Lytle. This isn't my favorite of his recordings but it certainly isn't bad, and Miloramona over at anythingbuttherecords.blogspot.com had it up as a request so I thought I'd throw it up here.

It's early 70's jazz funk, replete with scratchy guitar and funky drums and the obligatory percussion of the 1970s (those were good years to be a percussionist man!). Though my tone probably doesn't make you want to run it right down don't be fooled, the album is certainly worth a listen!

Link is in the comments, please leave one too!

Post Hard-Bop Blakey

The mid-60s hit mainstream, non-organ jazz like a sack of bricks. Some artists adjusted, with varying results, and some artists just kept doing what they did, also with varied results. This Blakey recording from 1966 demonstrates a little of both. On one hand, I have to admit that I really enjoy Chuck Mangione's compositions, particularly the title track. Mangione's islandy "happy jazz" seems to work great for this short lived version of the Jazz Messengers, including Blakey who gives it a funky calypso beat but still really sounds like himself. The tune is also an ideal vehicle for a young Keith Jarrett who was performing with his characteristic full body presence way back in 1966.

On the other hand, Blakey does sound a little out of his element at times. His drum solo on "Recuerdo" is one of the least inspiring on record, and when the tune segues into "The Theme," one can feel the surge as he eagerly dives back into familiar territory. Saxophonist Frank Mitchell is also an example of jazz-at-the-crossroads in the mid 60s. He's good, but he's clearly been drinking from the well of Coltrane, and honestly, Blakey's music just doesn't want that. We can say that he was one of the first of the nearly 10 million saxophonists to try and play John Coltrane on everything all the time! Sometimes a melody is a fantastic thing though man!

Overall though, I'd say this is an incredible album, and I just can't believe it hasn't been reissued, especially since it has both Mangione and Jarrett on it.

Post in comments. Leave one yourself!

Calvin Bubbles Cameron

Ok, so it seems like no one liked the Bootsy! It's got almost no downloads but the jazz stuff was flying off the server! Well, I'm still not back to the jazz (but there's plenty coming, have no fear). Next up is a very rare bit of nyabingi/jazz.

Though he's been around seemingly for ever, recording on all the classic nyabingi/jazz albums--Cedric IM Brooks' Light of Saba, The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari's Groundation and many others--Bubbles' own albums have flown largely under the radar. In fact, after stumbling across this record at a small store I did an internet search to see what I'd found and came up with ZERO hits. It's almost like this one doesn't exist.

However, it does exist, and it's got some great tunes on it. They're a great combination of tight nyabingi drumming and Bubbles' strong trombone playing. His tunes are unusual too, he seems to excel at writing melodies with odd forms, and it sounds like the group really worked on pulling this material together; it's not a fireside jam.

Sorry for bad scan of the cover! I actually lent this album to my friend to rip, and he just sent me the files digitally so I don't have it back to take a photo of yet.

The link is in the comments - please leave a comment behind too!

Bootsy!

I wanted to make sure I didn't get started with nothing but the Hammond Organ so I did a little digging at home and found this gem. I remember the day I got it. Freshly equipped with a driver's license way back in 1993 I set out for a record store in West Haven, CT armed with the notion that I was going to find some "real funk" (I think my drum teacher told me I'd better get to work on that if I didn't want to sound too square forever). At the time, I don't think I knew Parliment/Funkadelic from Kenny G, so clearly, the cover sold me on this one.

But, what a find it was! Sometimes you can judge an album by it's cover. And what a lineup too! Wow. Admittedly I hadn't pulled it out in years, but now that I have, I think I like it more than I ever did before. Too bad whoever the original owner was ended up with the cutout glasses! And, let's get it out in the open: Bootsy was the Player of the Year when Dave Chappelle was still a toddler!

Yes, Bootsy is over the top. Yes, sometimes the lengthy vamps and the "Yabba dabba doooo babies!" get a wee bit monotonous, but overall, this album is really quite excellent. I think my favorite track has to be "Very Yes," but they're all good, or at least charming. I don't think I could listen to "As In I Love You" very many times, but hearing Bootsy trying to be sincere is pretty priceless. Oh yeah, and Maceo shows up strong on this one. Catfish Phelps, Fred Wesley, P-Nut...The Link is in the comments.

Have you heard of Rusty Bryant?

Honestly, you probably have not. But that's okay. The fine contributors over at My Favourite Sound, who always have outstanding posts, have just put up a couple of Bryant sides that are so good I had to post about them.

I really can't say enough about the album "Fire Eater" that Jazzypier just posted over there. Bryant is a titan on tenor, the little recorded and a bit Melvin Sparksian guitarist Wilber Longmire leaves one wondering just why more people didn't record him, and Idris Muhammad delivers one of the most inspired performances I've ever heard from him, he's hitting hard.

Go check it out for yoself!