JAZZ LEGENDS

Jeremy Elliott

Jazz is the music that reflects the 20th Century for most of us. Although American Negro in its origins, jazz quickly became the dance music of the pre-World War II period throughout the world and influenced the musical stage, classical music (Ravel and Stravinsky for example) and of course popular song compositions of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Some of the greatest jazz performances are here, performed by some of the greatest interpreters and soloists of the genre and this set also reflects the change in style from Big Band to smaller combos. 

Who better to open such an exploration than Duke Ellington, with ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’ being an anthem that led on to Ellington becoming less of a pianist and arranger to more of an ‘unsung’ composer of the 20th Century. Whilst Fletcher Henderson perhaps achieved the status of ‘best big band leader’ of the early thirties, alumni such as Coleman Hawkins went on to further their careers as soloists. Henderson’s ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ and his marvellously complex ‘Queer Notions’ are proof positive of the training Coleman Hawkins received prior to his recordings of ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, ‘What A Difference A Day Made’ and ‘Body & Soul’, amongst others in this set. ‘The Hawk Flies High’ was Hawkins’ famous album of the fifties, and here we can appreciate how Henderson gave him wings to do so. 

Johnny Hodges (‘Jeeps Blues’) also carved out some solo tracks as Ellington’s right-hand tenor player, but let us not forget the other superb bands, big and small that produced music that became indispensable jazz listening: ‘Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli And The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France’ were the epitome of European syncopation whilst Sidney Bechet was also packing the Paris clubs with his unique and expressive form of small-band swing throughout the thirties. Bechet’s ‘The Mooche’ and Reinhardt’s unmistakably swinging versions of ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’ and ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ emphasize the importance of ‘Jazz a Paris’ during that period, and it is significant that many of the immediate post-war American jazz artists used Paris as their launching pad into Europe. Dizzy Gillespie, Ike Quebec, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk are all represented here in recordings (from the USA) that changed the face of jazz after World War Two. 

Jazz standards as we know them now were the hit records of their time and the signatures by which many great jazz artists are recognised today. Bandleader and trumpeter Bunny Berigan took to singing on ‘I Can’t Get Started’ and sold over a million copies of the Gershwin / Vernon Dukes highly up-to-the-minute American song in 1937. Artie Shaw’s ‘Thou Swell’ exemplifies the individual and stylish sound that was his alone and which produced many jazz hits during the late thirties, Shaw’s interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Stardust’ also featuring on this set. Louis Armstrong’s ‘On The Sunny Side Of The Street’ was one of his many successful signature tunes of the late 1930s period and, moving into the early 1940s, who better to prove that jazz never stood still but Duke Ellington again, with ‘Perdido’: sophisticated swing on a ten inch record. 

Slightly less sophisticated swing comes from the un-sung Louis Jordan, now seemingly due for a revival as ‘Caldonia’ gains popularity as the ultimate vintage jazz / dance track, rhythm and humour in perfect harmony. 

‘Round Midnight’, Thelonious Monk’s anthem of the post-bop era, composed before Be-bop even got off the ground, brings in the new era of jazz and the great players mentioned earlier: Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Manteca’ leaves one gasping for breath, whilst Ike Quebec’s ‘Girls of My Dreams’, Wardell Gray’s ‘Easy Swing’ and Errol Garner’s ‘Overture To Dawn’ were recorded specifically to lower the pulse rate. 

Great names such as Count Basie (‘Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie’), Art Tatum (‘Tiger Rag’) and Lionel Hampton (‘Don’t Be That Way’) should never be left out of any good jazz set, but also be prepared to be surprised by the unsung and highly talented George Shearing’s ‘September In The Rain’, Shearing having to emigrate to the USA rom Battersea in London to achieve his due recognition as a pianist and arranger. Charlie Barnett’s ‘Skyliner’, Billy Eckstine’s ‘Tell Me Pretty Baby’ and the fabulous Anita O’Day’s ‘Boogie Blues’ prove that the considerable talents of the not so well known in Jazz make the music that much more fascinating. 

Source: http://www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/titlev4.php?ALBUM_ID=236&LABEL_ID=5