I hadn't expected to post anything today. But in getting my CDs in order in connection with friends' visiting us here in Columbus, Ohio, I began thinking about two masters of the tenor saxophone - Don Byas and Lucky Thompson. But prior to this thinking episode, I was forced to think about how rare it is for one to be a part of a really tight, magical, music-making event by means of recordings. Two such magical events involving me involve Don Byas.
Recently, in connection with my Jackie McLean post, I was taken to Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (1912 - 1972) by Jackie McLean's comment that Charlie Parker had told him that he (Parker) had learned some saxophone "stuff" from Byas when he was in Paris. Check out Byas' solo on his recording "1944 Stomp" on the Savoy label. His upper register playing has an alto saxophone sound quality - compare this with Parker's relaxed playing on his "Bird of Paradise" recordings - especially the live recording.
There were other student's. Whitney Balliett wrote,
Byas, pillowy at slow tempos and demonic at fast tempos moved to Europe after the Second World War. He once told the drummer Arthur Taylor, "Trane and I were tight. Every time he came to Europe, the first place he would go to, he would ask, 'Where is Don Byas?' Always went where I was playing, never said hello . . . . He would sit in the club all night and never move. I wouldn't know he was there. I'd say to myself, That looks like Trane sitting back there. So when the set was over, I would go and ask, 'How long have you been here?' He'd say, 'I just came in.'[3]It's too bad that Don Byas's duets with bassist Slam Stewart from the famous 1945 Town Hall Concert haven't been reissued on CD. Originally released on Milt Gabler's Commodore label [2], the Town Hall Concert was subsequently reissued as an Atlantic Records' Two-fer. Byas and Stewart burn through "Back Home in Indiana" and "I Got Rhythm"; some of the most remarkable improvising we'll ever hear in a recorded format. My introduction to Don Byas was made through Dizzy Gillespie's Paris recordings with Byas, the fabulous recordings of "Blue and Sentimental", "Cocktails for Two" and three other selections. In 1944 Coleman Hawkins recorded with his Sax Ensemble for Keynote records. The first link below is the ensemble's recording of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" which features Tab Smith (as), followed by Coleman Hawkins (ts), followed by Johnny Guarnieri's piano solo, followed by Don Byas (ts), and Harry Carney (bs).
The second link below is from the aforementioned Town Hall Concert - "I got Rhythm" with Don Byas and Slam Stewart.
In 1961 Don Byas made a recording in Paris with Bud Powell (p), Kenny Clarke (d), Idrees Sulieman (t) and Pierre Michelot (b). This is a remarkable recording. With a rhythm section like this one had better be on "creative alert"; and certainly everyone involved was ready. It has been reported that Byas had lost his creative edge when he moved to Europe. This recording belies that contention. I think that it can be heard in this recording that Byas, Clarke, and Powell invigorate each other's playing. Kenny Clarke did that to musicians - witness Miles Davis's Prestige recordings of "Walkin'", "Blue 'n' Boogie", "Man I Love"....
So it matters a great deal who master musicians work with. Don Byas/Bud Powell - A Tribute To Cannonball is an outstanding Columbia Records recording, and it's available at your corner (internet) record store!
http://youtu.be/qFDjwYY-aMA
http://youtu.be/-0ypn2rWvFA
[1] From Wikipedia. Art is Art Tatum, of course.
[2] Milt Gabler was the actor Billy Crystal's uncle. He owned the Commodore record store in NYC and founded Commodore Records - recording Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Chu Berry, Buck Clayton, Bud Freeman among others.
[3] Whitney Balliett, Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz - 1954 - 2000, p. 826.
Lucky Thompson - "Soul's Nite Out"[*]
Eli "Lucky" Thompson (1924 - 2005) was introduced to me in the late 1950s via his playing on Milt Jackson's recording, The Jazz Skyline, with Hank Jones (p), Wendell Marshall (b), and Kenny Clarke (d). A link to the beautiful Hank Jones tune is below. Lucky Thompson's and Milt Jackson's playing fit together perfectly - melodic, original, beautiful sound (no matter what tempo). In addition to the magnificent recordings that Lucky Thompson made with Milt Jackson and Miles Davis his recording, Soul's Nite Out, with pianist Tete Montoliu is outstanding. On this recording Thompson plays soprano and tenor saxophones. By the way, Tete Montoliu recorded with Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. There are only a few soprano saxophone players whose playing doesn't annoy me after a short while; Lucky Thompson's soprano is a delight to my ears.
Again, it matters who a music-master-musician works with. Lucky Thompson worked and recorded with Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton, Billy Eckstein, and the masters referred to herein. His sound on both the tenor and soprano saxophones is unmistakable. His thoughts on the responsibilities of musicians and the musicians' audience were well chosen; but I'm afraid little regarded today. This master musician left the music scene too early because of the exploitive practices of the 'Culture Industry' that he notes in his talk below.
"Angel Face":
http://youtu.be/AforPj4BBQM
Lucky Thompson Speaks:
http://youtu.be/A6Y1nSasQ8I
[*] A Soul's Nite Out is available in MP-3 format from your favorite internet music store.
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