Digital’s
VOICES Notes and news on Digital releases
Birdland's Best Bebop
26 OCT 09 ANNE FARNSWORTH
In 1954, Henri Renaud, a French pianist and producer, came to New York to organize a series of record dates with the cream of the super-hot '50s-era bebop scene revolving around the Birdland jazz club. With an all-star roster of players at the top of their game, credited under the name The Birdlanders, the results of Renaud's efforts were released as The Birdlanders, Vol. 1 & 2. Now available as a digital download, it's a musical snapshot of a very special time.
Like filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, Renaud was a Frenchman who fell in love with America's art music. For many years, he accompanied jazz artists appearing in Paris before coming to New York, the center of the jazz universe.
Renaud must have been on cloud 9 playing in the rhythm section with Oscar Pettiford, guitarist Tal Farlow and Max Roach. Another date featured pianist Duke Jordon (whose "Jordu" is here called "Minor Escamp"), Gene Ramey and Lee Abrams. There were four sessions in all, with four different combinations of rhythm section and front line. Milt Jackson appears, as do trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding and saxophonist Al Cohn.
Anyone with an interest in this era, one of the most fascinating periods of jazz, needs to have these recordings in their collection.
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Minor Escamp (A.K.A. Jordu)
The Birdlanders, from The Birdlanders, ...
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Stardust
The Birdlanders, from The Birdlanders, ...
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Bop Scotch
Oscar Pettiford, from The New Oscar ...
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I Hear A Rhapsody
Tal Farlow, from Chromatic Palette
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There Will Never Be Another You
Max Roach, from Deeds, Not Words
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Django
Milt Jackson, from Memories Of ...
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Azure
J.J. Johnson, from Concepts In Blue
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How Long Has This Been Going On
J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding & Bennie Green ...
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Help Keep Your City Clean Blues
Al Cohn, from Broadway
in this playlist.
Fun 'N' Funk
05 AUG 09 DAVID NATHAN
Rufus Thomas is still best remembered for "The Funky Chicken," the 1970 runaway pop and R&B international smash that give audiences a chance to see the 52-year-old clad in pink hot pants demonstrating the dance with great zest and zeal. Now available in the Digital Only section, the reissue of Funky Chicken is filled with the kind of Thomas-styled grooves that made him the Stax label's No. 1 showman.
The early-'60s hit, "Walking The Dog" set the stage for Rufus and his unique mix of fun and funk but, before that, he had a hand in fostering the future of Stax. It is probably safe to say the fate of the start-up Memphis label might have played out differently if Rufus and his then-teenage daughter Carla hadn't provided the company's first taste of airplay and sales with "Cause I Love You." Ironic indeed how that 45 gave music listeners a chance to hear the former vaudeville star/local radio personality sing -- and yet how virtually all of the success the irascible Rufus subsequently experienced would come from his comedic approach to dance crazes.
On Funky Chicken, Thomas is backed by funk and soul group The Bar-Kays. The digital version of the album includes four rare singles, both A and B sides.
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Do The Funky Chicken
Rufus Thomas, from Funky Chicken
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My Man Believes In Me
Carla Thomas, from Stax Profiles: Carla ...
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Monster
The Bar-Kays, from Money Talks
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Memphis Train '75
Rufus Thomas, from Funkiest Man Alive: ...
in this playlist.
Download This
04 AUG 09 DAVID VIENNA
Last month, we highlighted just a few of the out-of-print and titles available in the new Digital Only section. We'll continue to point out albums and cuts you should hear, but don't wait for us. If you haven't yet, peruse the section and check out rarities such as Red Garland's Soul Burnin' and Carla Thomas' Sugar. Oh, yeah. And did I mention all digital tracks from Concord Music Group are DRM-free? Well, they are. If you missed my first post about it, I'll recap.
The Digital Only section offers more than just out-of-print titles. You'll also find many titles from Ray Charles' stunning career, including Crying Time and Ray's Moods, available digitally for the first time ever. And if you're looking to explore, check out the new Six Pack series, which serves up tracks from artists like Wes Montgomery and The Dramatics.
Click through and read our writers' thoughts on some of these digital only sets. Keep checking back for more exclusive releases and collector's albums.
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On Green Dolphin Street
Red Garland, from Soul Burnin'
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I'm Trying
Carla Thomas, from Sugar
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We Don't See Eye To Eye
Ray Charles, from Crying Time
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It's A Man's World
Ray Charles, from Ray's Moods
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Moanin'
Wes Montgomery, from Jazz Six Pack
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Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get (45 Version)
The Dramatics, from Soul Six Pack
in this playlist.
Unlocking Gentle Jaws
30 JUL 09 CHRIS SLAWECKI
Gentle Jaws provides the exception in the prolific Prestige catalog of tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. He was best known for his uptown, up-tempo swinging, but Gentle Jaws, originally the first title in the Prestige subsidiary Moodsville and now part of Concord's Digital Only download section, exclusively features ballads.
Davis mainly draws upon standards for his Gentle ballad songbook (though he does include Red Garland's tune "The Red Blues"). He wraps his tenor sound completely around "It Could Happen to You" to lose himself in the reverie of its embrace. He turns in a classic take on "Serenade in Blue" and his tenor soulfully sings and improvises on "The Man I Love" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Best of all, Davis' light, elegant glide through "The Very Thought of You" legitimizes him in the lineage of such tenor legacies as Ben Webster and Lester Young.
The Red Garland Trio and Shirley Scott Trio each provide Gentle rhythmic support. Curiously, Scott, who often recorded as Davis' organ player -- for example, on Davis' famously hot Cookbook, Volumes 1 and 2, plus Jaws, another title in this Digital series -- switches to piano for these sessions, leaving its romantic atmosphere unbroken. The leader tastefully lays completely out of "The Blue Room" and "Stella by Starlight," thereby allowing Garland's beautiful piano trio voice to be heard.
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It Could Happen To You
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Red Garland & ...
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What Can I Say (After I Say I'm Sorry)?
Red Garland Trio, from Groovy [Rudy Van ...
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S'Posin'
Shirley Scott, from Trio Classics, Vol. 1
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Three Deuces
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, from The Eddie ...
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I Surrender Dear
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, from The Eddie ...
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Old Devil Moon
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Shirley Scott ...
in this playlist.
BROWSE ARCHIVE OF DIGITAL VOICES
OUT OF PRINT, AVAILABLE AS MP3's
