Harry "Sweets" Edison

Harry "Sweets" Edison was born on October 10, 1915 in Columbus, Ohio. At the age of 12 he was playing trumpet with local bands. When he was 18 he joined the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland.

In 1937 Edison moved to New York and joined the Count Basie Orchestra. This is when he got the nickname "Sweets" from Lester Young. He stayed with the Basie Band until it broke up in 1950.

In the 1950's "Sweets" toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic. He moved to Los Angeles and played as a studio musician, most notably for Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. In the 1960's and 1970's he worked with many orchestras on TV and on Count Basie reunions.

During the 1980's and 1990's he led groups and toured in Europe and Japan. Harry "Sweets" Edison died July 27, 1999 in Columbus, Ohio.

Earlier this afternoon I listened to "Live at the Iridium." This is a 1997 Telarc release. The personnel are Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet, Clark Terry on trumpet and fluglehorn, Frank Wess on flute and tenor sax, Junior Mance on piano, Marcus McLaurine on bass, and David Gibson on drums.

There are four Edison originals including the well known "Centerpiece." The other four tunes on this recording include the standard "Emily," "I Wish I Knew," "Midgets," and "Doggin' Around."

Here's a video of "Sweets" playing "There Is No Greater Love."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PDkduz8gmQ&feature=player_detailpage

Benny Carter

Benny Carter was born Bennett Lester Carter on August 8, 1907 in Harlem, NY. He learned to play the piano from his mother and eventually took up the trumpet and then the saxophone. By the age of 15, Carter was playing in Harlem's night clubs.

His first recording was with Charlie Johnson's Orchestra, also being the arranger, in 1928. He played and arranged for Fletcher Henderson in 1930 and 1931. He led the Detroit based Mckinney's Cotton Pickers before returning to New York to lead his own band in 1932-1934.

Carter moved to Europe in 1935 and played trumpet with Willie Lewis's orchestra and he became the arranger for the BBC dance orchestra. He returned to Harlem in 1938 and formed another orchestra which played at the Savoy Ballroom through 1940.

Benny relocated to Los Angeles in 1943 and started arranging for the film and television industries. With a few exceptions, he gave up leadership of a full time orchestra in 1946.

In 1969 Carter turned his talents to education. In 1974 Princeton awarded him a honorary masters of humanities degree.He won a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 1987. In 1990 he was named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by Downbeat and Jazz Times Critics' polls.

Carter is the receipient of numerous awards including the Golden Score Award of the American Society of Music Arrangers. He composed such standards as "Blues in My Heart," "When Lights are Low," "Cow-Cow Boogie" "Key Largo," "All That Jazz," and "Only Trust Your Heart."

Benny Carter's career spanned eight decades. He played the alto sax and trumpet. He was a composer, an arranger, a bandleader and an educator. He was known as "The King." He died on July 12, 2003 in Los Angeles, Ca.

This afternoon I listened to "All That Jazz-Live at Princeton." The line-up includes Benny Carter on alto sax, Clark Terry on flugelhorn, Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums. Billy Hill is on vocals on four of the tracks.

The tunes include "Hackensack," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "Misty," "Now's the Time," "When Sunny Gets Blue," "All That Jazz," "We Were in Love," "All of Me," and more.

This was a very enjoyable live concert date and would be a nice addition to every jazz library.

Here's a video of Benny playing "When Lights are Low" in Copenhagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighsUS177QY&feature=player_detailpage

Art Farmer

Art Farmer was born Arthur Stewart Farmer on August 21, 1928, along with his twin brother Addison, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona when Art was four years old. Art played the piano and violin in elementary school and by the age of 15 he was playing trumpet.

At the age of 16, Art and his brother moved to Los Angeles and during the late 1940's performed with the bands of Johnny Otis and Jay McShann among others. Art joined Lionel Hampton in 1952 and toured Europe.

After leaving Hampton's band, Art settled in New York City. In 1953 he recorded his first album as a leader and during the mid 1950's performed with Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Gerry Mulligan. It was in 1959 that Art formed the "Jazztet" along with saxophonist Benny Golson. The "Jazztet" lasted till 1962 and it was during this period that Art started playing Flugelhorn.

In 1968 Art moved to Vienna where he joined the Austrian Radio Orchestra. He continued to tour around the U.S. and in 1982 Art and Benny Golson re-formed the "Jazztet." This lasted until the late 1980's.

Art maintained a residence in Manhattan as well as Vienna and during his late career he continued to perform with quartets and quintets. Art Farmer died October 4, 1999 in NYC.

This afternoon I listened to "Blame It On My Youth" on the Contemporary label. It was recorded and released in 1988. The personnel include Art Farmer on flugelhorn, Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, James Williams on piano, Rufus Reid on bass and Victor Lewis on drums.

The tunes include "Blame It on My Youth," "Fairy Tale Countryside," "The Smile of the Snake," "Third Avenue," "Summer Serenade," Progress Report," and "I'll Be Around."

Art Farmer is in top form and this recording was very enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Here's a video of Art and his quintet playing "Summer Serenade."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=q_tHol39Jrw

Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader was born Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. on July 16, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri to Swedish American vaudevillians. When he was 2 the family moved to San Mateo, Ca and opened a dance studio. His mother taught him piano and his father taught him to tap dance. At age 16 he won a Gene Krupa drum solo contest.

After high school and a tour in the Navy as a medic, Cal went to San Francisco State College and met Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. They formed the Dave Brubeck Octet and Cal played drums. When the Octet broke up, Tjader and Brubeck formed a trio and it was during this period that he taught himself the vibraphone.

In 1953 he joined George Shearing's group. They made frequent trips to New York and Cal would go and see the Latin Bands of Tito Puente and Machito. When he left the Shearing band the following year, he formed his own group, The Cal Tjader Modern Mambo Quintet, and started recording for Fantasy. He also had several straight ahead bebop groups and was part of San Francisco's jazz scene. He recorded prolifically for Fantasy until 1962.

Tjader signed on with Verve and in 1963 he experimented with combining Jazz and Asian music, recording two albums. In 1964, returning to Latin Jazz he had a hit album called "Soul Sauce."

During the 1970's Cal returned to the Fantasy label. He experimented with Rock music and added electronic instruments to his band. In 1979 he signed on with Concord Picante and again returned to all Latin Jazz. His first album "La Onda Va Bien" won a Grammy award. On May 5, 1982 Cal died from a heart attack while on tour in Manila, Philipines.

I'm listening to the CD "Monterey Concerts." This is a 2 LP reissue of "Concerts by the Sea Vol 1&2." This is a live concert date on April 20, 1959 for the Monterey Jazz Festival.

The band is composed of Tjader on vibes; Paul Horn on flute and alto sax; Lonnie Hewitt on piano; Al Mckibbon on bass; Willie Bobo on drums and timbales; and Mongo Santamaria on percussion.

This recording is a mixture of straight ahead Jazz and Latin Jazz. The tunes include "Doxy," Afro-Blue," "Laura," "'Round Midnight," "A Night in Tunisia," "Lover, Come Back to Me," and "Tumbao."

Here's a video of Cal Tjader playing "Guachi Guara"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JQMvidVo5Y&feature=player_detailpage

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw was born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky on May 23, 1910 in NYC. He grew up in New Haven, Ct and at the age of 15 was playing alto sax and clarinet in Johnny Cavallaro's band. In 1928 he traveled to California and joined Irving Aaronson's band and stayed with him till 1930.

In 1931 Shaw moved to New York where he found steady work as a studio musician. He retired from the music business for the first time in 1934 to write a book. But his money soon ran out and he returned to New York. In 1936 he got a break and shared the bill with Glenn Miller at the Imperial Theatre. He dissolved this band in 1937 due to lack of commercial success.

In 1938 Artie formed another band and had a hit single in Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" which brought him instant fame. With his third band he followed up with such hits as "Stardust" and "Frenesi."

In 1939 he married actress Lana Turner, but it lasted only several months. He broke up his orchestra in 1941 and formed an even larger one. After WWII began, Shaw joined the Navy and led a Navy band and he also married Jerome Kern's daughter Elizabeth. But in 1944 he received a medical discharge from the Navy. He soon was divorced again and in 1945 wed actress Ava Gardner. This lasted about a year and then he married writer Kathleen Winsor.

Shaw effectively retired from the music business in the 1950's and wrote an autobiography, He spent the 1950's and 1960's living in Spain with his eighth wife, actress Evelyn Keyes. By 1970 he had separated from Keyes and moved to Newbury Park, Ca. where he remained until his death on December 30, 2004.

I'm listening to "Begin the Beguine" on the RCA/Bluebird label. It is a compilation of Artie Shaw's greatest hits. These include his theme song "Nightmare," "Back Bay Shuffle," "Any Old Time" with Billie Holiday on vocals, "Traffic Jam," "Comes Love" with Helen Forest on vocals, "Begin the Beguine," "Frenesi," "Deep Purple," "Summit Ridge Drive" with the Gramercy Five, "Stardust," "Moonglow," and more. This is a must-have CD for anyone intersted in the Swing Era in general and Artie Shaw in particular.

Here's a video of Artie and his Orchestra doing "Begin the Beguine."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ps05TaQuYvc

Roy Eldridge

Roy Eldridge was born on January 30, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pa. He started out playing drums at the age of six and moved on to the bugle and then the trumpet. He formed his first band when he was a teenager and during the 1920's played with the territory bands of Horace Henderson and Zach White.

In 1930 he arrived in New York and worked with Cecil Scott, Teddy Hill, Mckinney's Cotton Pickers, and Elmer Snowden in Harlem. He was featured with the Fletcher Henderson orchestra. During the 1940's, Eldridge played with Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw. He lived in Paris for a couple of years and after returning spent most of the 1950's touring with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic.

He accompanied Ella Fitzgerald and played with the Count Basie Band during the 1960's and from 1970-1980 held a steady gig at Jimmy Ryan's club in Manhattan. A stroke in 1980 ended his career as a full time musician. Roy Eldridge died February 26, 1989 in Valley Stream, NY.

"Decidedly" is a 2002 Fantasy release of a 1975 live concert in Antibes, France. The personnel are Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Johnny Griffin on tenor sax, Ray Bryant and Milt Jackson on piano, Joe Pass on guitar, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass and Louis Bellson on drums.

There are four tunes on this session. Eldridge's original "Bee's Blues," "Lover Man," "Undecided,' and Monk's "Hackensack." The recording is over 53 minutes and the musicians get a chance to stretch out a bit. A fine recording.

Roy Eldridge received the nickname "Little Jazz" early in his career and it lasted his whole life. He had a hard driving style and was the leading trumpet player of his era. He served as a link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie.

Here's a video of Roy with Anita O'Day and the Gene Krupa Orchestra doing "Let Me Off Uptown"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8yaW6BluwY&feature=player_detailpage