Greg Hester Jazz

Another Jazz Diva:

Album: The Boy Next Door
Artist(s): Stacey Kent, with Dave Newton, Piano; Jim Tomlinson, Tenor/Baritone Sax; Colin Oxley, Guitar; Dave Chamberlain, Double Bass; Matt Home, Drums.
Release Date: 2003
Label: Candid

Maybe it only seems as though our jazz firmament is and has always been heavily dominated by female vocalists, although one would be hard-pressed to argue otherwise. Now you can add yet another shooting star to this already glittering galaxy. Her name is Stacey Kent and she is one terrific jazz singer.

It would seem also that there is no limit to the number of distinctive - yet evocative styles these singers are able to employ. For the most part, each  somehow imprints on her work her own individual identity stamp - her own trademark, so to speak. Sarah Vaughan, for example, did not exhibit influences from Billie Holliday or Ella or Etta or Dinah or Diana Krall. She sang only like Sarah Vaughan. Susannah McCorkle didn't sing like Blossom Dearie nor does Ernestine Anderson sound anything at all like June Christie. There is and always has been a pronounced, recognizable contrast in each of their styles.

And so there is no single vocalist, past or present, that Ms. Kent can be satisfactorily compared to. A voice quality something like Billie Holliday's, maybe, but without Holliday's dolorous, baleful tone. Stacey is one of those perky, happy singers - even when delivering a ballad. As you listen to I Get Along Without You Very Well on this album, if you close your eyes you'll probably be able to detect her soft, subtle - almost pixie-ish smile. Her's is not a particularly strong voice like, say, Ella's or Anita O'Day's. It's more girlish, more demure, but at the same time, extremely powerful in its own way. Every word is precise and impeccably clear. She delivers each note with near-perfect eloquence. Her timing and her phrasing are unfailingly smack-dab on the money.
(Photo: Stacey Kent and Jim Tomlinson)

Stacey Kent lives in London with her tenor-playing husband, Jim Tomlinson, and works mostly in Europe, where she's become a huge star. (BBC radio named her 'Best Jazz Vocalist' in 2004) She does stop by the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room in her native New York for an occasional gig, but that's about the only stateside venue where her fans may be able to see her perform in person. Although she has a number of albums to her credit, Boy Next Door is her most recent, and according to most critics, her best.

BBC Radio recently offered this critique of Stacey Kent:

I sat through 'Boy Next Door' alone, at dead of night, with a silly great grin on my face, sometimes shouting with joy, sometimes applauding, sometimes vainly trying to swallow a lump in my throat. Everything about it - from the choice of songs, the musical interplay, the glorious voice - leaves one searching for a more superlative word than 'greatest'.

Find yourself a copy of this album but before you play it, you might want to prepare yourself for a profound and rare emotional experience.
L.A.

Shades of Basie

Album Title: Play It Again, Sam
Artist(s): Frank Capp Juggernaut
Label: Concord Records
Release Date: 1997

Anyone who likes 'big band' jazz - especially the Count Basie kind - has got to go for this one. The Frank Capp Juggernaut big band may not be a household word in most jazz conversations, but, we're sure you'll agree after hearing this album, it certainly ought to be.

Frank Capp is a Los Angeles based hard driving, swinging big band drummer who, with now deceased pianist, Nat Pierce, organized this band over twenty years ago. They  played mainly at private parties, industrial functions and a few recording sessions, staying mainly in the immediate Southern California area.

Capp certainly has the chops to qualify as a big band virtuoso, having worked in the bands of Stan Kenton, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Neal Hefti, Billy May and Charlie Barnet, as well as the studio bands at Warner Brothers and The Red Skelton Show. He's played back-up for Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald,  and Keely Smith and has recorded with Stan Getz, Benny Carter, Andre Previn, Turk Murphy, Terry Gibbs and many, many others before he and Pierce, in 1975, formed the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, which later came to be known simply as 'The Juggernaut'.

Due to members' scheduling conflicts, the band's personnel changes slightly from one gig to the next, but usually remains at a steady 17 piece complement. Identifying all the players on this album becomes somewhat 'iffy', but some of them are: trumpeter Carl Saunders; Andy Martin on trombone, Chuck Berghofer on bass; John Pisano, guitar; Bob Efford, baritone sax and Gerry Wiggins on piano. The alto sax is Steve Wilkerson and the tenors are Ricky Woodard and Pete Christlieb, who, you may recall was responsible for that memorable solo on the bonus track of Diana Krall's Grammy winning album When I Look In Your Eyes. (The song's title was Should I Care, which was, incidentally, written by Clint Eastwood)

Recognizable in this 1986 photo of the band, taken at Denver's Gibson Jazz Party, are bassist Ray Brown, Nat Pierce on piano; Jake Hanna on drums; reed players Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Marshall Royal, Dick Johnson and Nick Brignola. Trombones are Bill Watrous, Urbie Green, Al Grey and Benny Powell with Joe Wilder, Snooky Young, Joe Newman and Bill Berry on trumpets.

Of the 12 outstanding tracks on this album, 10 are Sammy Nestico original compositions and arrangements, a fact alone that should say something about their swinging quality. If ever there was a band to carry on the '70s Basie tradition, this band is it. Evidence of the heavy Basie influence can be found on track 6, Wind Machine, where Wiggins' distinctive Basie-esque tinkly piano intro coupled with Capp's outstanding drum work ala Butch Miles, blaring brass/reed sections and a wonderful Woodard-Christlieb 'dueling' tenors segment are eerily reminiscent of the Count's unmistakable style.
                                                                                                                              (Photo: Ricky Woodard)

We can't overstate this: Check this one out! If  big-band jazz, Basie style with a '90s flavor is your thing, you are going to want to own this terrific album.
L.A.

Ernestine Makes Her Move

Album: Never Make Your Move Too Soon
Artist(s): Ernestine Anderson, with Monty Alexander, Piano; Ray Brown, Bass; Frank Ganti, Drums.
Label: Concord Jazz
Release Date: 1981

Ernestine Anderson, for whatever reason, is not as well known outside jazz circles as, say, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson or Sarah Vaughan, but anyone familiar with her work would have to agree that she defintely belongs in the lofty company of all these jazz 'legends'. Quincy Jones, on whose Qwest label she recorded Now and Then and Blues, News and Love News, two 1993 releases which were both nominated for Grammys, described her voice as sounding 'like honey at dusk'. It's doubtful that anyone could ever improve on Quincy's metaphor. This 1981 release Never Make Your Move Too Soon, also received a Grammy nomination.

The title song on track number one is typical of her sometimes bluesy, but always gritty trademark style, as does track number three As Long As I Live and number six, My Shining Hour, all three cuts  are aided and abetted by the fabulous comping of Monty Alexander and Ray Brown, two of the very, very best at their crafts. Frank Gant, onetime member of Ahmad Jamal's trio, completes this outstanding rhythm section.

She does upbeat about the way you'd expect from a well-seasoned pro, but this gal can deliver a ballad as well as - and arguably, better than - most, if not all of her more better known contemporaries. Just listen to Just One More Chance, Why Did I Choose You and Poor Butterfly and see if you don't agree.

This is an album you're going to want and one you'll play frequently.

Harry Connick, Jr: Jazz or Pop Star?

My star-struck, 20 something grandaughter was compelled to send the following email to her mother after attending a Harry Connick, Jr. concert in Sacramento. For those who argue that things relating to a pop artist like Connick don't really belong on a jazz blog, keep in mind that his roots are definitely jazz, having studied piano as a youngster in New Orleans under Ellis Marsalis and James Booker.

Anyway, the letter is interesting. well written and offers encouragement as to the current state of jazz among this generation of music lovers. This review is every bit as good as any you're likely to read on Amazon.  Here it is uncut and unedited.

(Photo: Harry Connick, Jr.)

OK, first things first. HE SMILED. AT ME. JUST ME. ALONE. I was 2nd in line for his autograph after the concert and when I spoke to him (more on that later) he SMILED AT ME. Dimple and all!

 

Now that that's out of the way, can I just say that was the BEST CONCERT I have EVER been to in my WHOLE LIFE. The music, the atmosphere, the comedy! Yes, the comedy. If his singing career goes down the tubes for any reason, he could be a stand up comic.

 

He joked about Arnold living at the Hyatt instead of the mansion. He joked about Rod Stewart having beaten him for the Grammy, and how Stewart's album was old standards and that Harry would show him by releasing an album of Rod's songs. He joked about having been playing this online war game right before the concert and how everyone was killing him and he wanted to tell them that he was kind of a celebrity and it was disrespectful for them to kill him like that. He joked about having met Walter Cronkite after a concert, and Cronkite invited him to come to Martha's Vineyard to go sailing, and Harry graciously accepted but was thinking, "You're really old. You're not going to be driving the boat, are you?" He joked about being at Petco and demanding that they sell him a Black Mamba, which I guess is a really dangerous snake in Australia, and how the kid behind the counter totally fell for it and was like "Um, let me check and see if we have any of those." He joked about having gone that morning to Capital Health Club, and why did they spell it CapitAL when we're in the state CapitOL. He joked about how we're California and should have better gyms with plastic surgery and stuff. So someone yelled up that this was Northern CA, and he said "Oh, that's right. Northern CA. So you guys smoke weed and stuff" and proceeded to tell a story about a concert he played in Berkley and how funny the people were there, and was making fun of stoners and how they dance.

 

His band is so talented. Harry was talking about having taken a walk through the park in front of the Capitol and he was admiring the orange trees. He turned to his band and said, "Do we know any songs about oranges? I just want to do something different." Some of the audience shouted out "Tangerine!" (which is a song he recorded about 13 years ago) and he said "I don't know if I know the whole thing." So he started to play. He started out just playing the melody, one note at a time. Then his left hand started to vamp behind the melody. Then he really started swinging. He called down his main trumpet player, Leroy Jones, and one of his trombonists, Craig Klein, and they started playing the song too. Then the bass player and drummer joined in. Soon, we were sitting in on a jam session. And he tried to say he didn't know the song. Baloney! They rocked! It was amazing watching them improvise together. They are so in sync with each other and know each other so well it sounded as good as if they'd rehearsed it.

 

The standouts of his band were Lucien Barbarin on trombone, Leroy Jones on trumpet, Jerry Weldon on tenor sax, and Craig Klein on trombone.

 

One of the songs he sat down and played was "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" and it was swinging. Then he segued into "Jesus on the Main Line" and then into "When the Saints Go Marching In." So... when I was getting his autograph, I said to him "You should think about releasing a gospel swing album next." And he said, "Maybe. Yeah!" And that's when he looked up and smiled at me. And he shook my hand. And I wanted to sing to him, "You put your hand in mine/And then you say hello/And I can hardly speak/My heart is beating so..." (which is one of the songs he'd performed that night).

 

So you heard it here first. If he releases a gospel album, it's because of me.

SARAH K. NULL

sarah.null@rcbank.com

 

 

Jazz Art

We thought you might enjoy viewing some of the fabulous jazz oriented paintings by artist Debra Hurd. She has graciously given us permission to show these, and with a little luck, we may be able to persuade her to share with us some of the interesting moments that must have gone into producing these works. (Click on thumbnail to see larger image)

Ms. Hurd invites you to check out her website http://www.debrahurd.com
where you can see her entire gallery. She might even paint one for you. (for a price, of course)

            
Trane

Diana                                                                                                     Sarah

Bird                                                                                                        Monk

Strings                                                                                                      Ella

Duke                                                                                          Miles & Bird

Horns                                                                                                   Basie

Nat Cole