the atelier format jukebox 003
“Never play anything the same way twice.” Louis Armstrong
In the navigation bar you can hit the “tunes” button and find all the music posts all in one place. Genius!
This week I’m going to expand a little further on the musical posts and see how it feels. A significant core pillar of my love of music rests with the jazz form and all that is inspired by and derived from it. And really so much comes from those jazz roots.
Center to my musical series is one I call “at the jazz club”.
Based on my experiences going to jazz clubs as well as the mythical version cemented in cinema, I imagine a neon sign illuminating a dark metropolitan street around 1am, not much action at street level save for the siren like music coming from below somewhere. Descending the steps the music grows louder and smoke spills out from the the club’s entrance at the bottom of the stairs. Through the nondescript doors opens you into a wonderful world of music, like minded outsiders, and toe tapping strangers that feel like family. My jazz club is one where dancing is inevitable. So this week the mix blends together a selection of sure fire jazz bounce heavyweights. Why that name? Well jazz bounce cause you’re either bouncing your head or on your feet shaking your thing.
I definitely have a thing for the trumpet not just because I played it when I was a kid, but I think my first experiences watching Miles Davis were foundational. From there I’ve been seduced by Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, all the way to today’s new generation like Emma-Jean Thackray, Jaimie Branch (RIP), Takuya Kuroda, Theo Croker and more. In this mix I have two other greats that just swing, Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham. I think I can say I like anything either do and here I have Lee’s “Davisamba” from his Blue Note album “The Rajah”. From Kenny it’s the track “Minor’s Holiday” (alternative take) from his seriously fire album “Afro-Cuban”. This album needs to be in everyone’s collection.
I started things off with the track “Who walks in when I walk out” from Barbara Gale. I don’t remember when I first heard this but it’s from a genre/style I like to refer to as tropical curiosities that have an infectious rhythm that I imagine is immortalized seductively through a black and white film somewhere.
The SH Quintet, sometimes referred to as simply SHQ, are a Czech jazz combo led by Karel Velebný and Jan Konopásek. They didn’t cut too many albums during the 60s and early 70s but the quality is top notch. They have great versions of “Cubano Chant” and “Jordu”. In the mix is their version of “Gone with the wind” titled “Odváto Větrem”.
Then comes two tracks I first came across from the great re-issue 7” label from Germany, Seven Up Records. “Uncle” from Dee Felice Trio and “Little Bird” from Elise Bianchi Trio. I swear not all their releases feature trios! Both with a latin bounce to it. If you see a Seven Up record in a store, pick it up, it’s bound to be quality.
Sandwiched between these two is another classic that I discovered first via Jazzman Records in the UK who re-issued this Frances Faye track on their Popcorn label. Titled “Night and Day” this Cole Porter cover is a sure fire one for me.
Click to listen to the mix in a new window that will pop up. Let me know what you think. Did it get you bouncing?
at the jazz club #337 tracklist
Barbara Gale & The Larks - Who walks in when I walk out
Teddy Edwards - Brazilian Skies
LTC - Menino das Laranjas
SH Quintet - Odvato vetrem
Dee Felice Trio - Uncle
Frances Faye - Night and day
Elise Bianchi Trio - Little bird
Lee Morgan - Davisamba
Nicola Conte - Caravan ft Philipp Weiss
Kenny Dorham - Minors Holiday (Alternative version)
Karl Hector & The Malcouns - Toure Samar
Natalie Cole - La Costa
Knoel Scott - Less Funambules ft Marshall Allen
Figured I’d keep this little blurb from post #1 here as well to help explain things!
I’m figuring out the format of how I share the mixes. I use Mixcloud because they pay royalties to the artists just like a radio station does and there are no copyright takedowns.
I did some research on this. There’s no native way for me to share the mix here. So you see the image above, click it and it’ll send you to the mixcloud platform where you can listen. I wish there was a way to listen to it directly in the post but alas, maybe in the future. Or if you know a better way, please share in the comments.
If you want more from the jazz club sessions, you can find them here.