Dexter Gordon: More Than You Know
After recording A Swinging Affair for Blue Note in August 1962, Dexter Gordon took off for a successful two-week season at Ronnie Scott’s club in London. He then moved to Copenhagen and apart from the occasional visit back home he remained in Europe for the next 14 years. The Jazzhus Montmartre in the city almost became his spiritual home-from-home where he was usually to be found with Kenny Drew. During his European sojourn he worked with numerous expatriates like Sahib Shihab, Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard. He also recorded Tenor Titans with Ben Webster in 1969 and it was Webster who sold him a Selmer Mark V1 when Gordon’s old Conn was lost during a trip to Paris.
Returning to the USA in December 1976 he found queues around the block at his first Village Vanguard booking. Two years later Downbeat voted him The Musician of the Year and in 1980 he was inducted into their Jazz Hall of Fame. He was a big man (6’6” tall) with a huge sound and a rich timbre throughout his considerable range. One of the great individualists of the tenor he became well known for frequently quoting songs and even operatic arias in his solos and there are numerous examples on this release of previously unissued material. The brief LTD & Intro allows Gordon to introduce the group who regularly worked with him in the 80s. The remaining four titles are somewhat over-long, averaging 18 minutes each. There is even a 10-minute drum solo on Back Stairs. For this reason I feel More Than You Know will really appeal to completists. Others might try his 1976 Biting The Apple or the 1978 Great Encounters with Johnny Griffin, which have been awarded five and four stars respectively in The All Music Guide to Jazz.
Discography
CD1: It’s You Or No One; HI Fly (30.47)
CD2: Back Stairs; Ltd & Intro; More Than You Know (48.44)
Gordon (ts); Kirk Lightsey (p); David Eubanks (b); Eddie Gladden (d). Genoa, Italy, 7 July 1981.
GleAM Records AM7040
Stefano Rielli: So Far
This CD brings back happy memories of Jimmy Smith’s tenor and Hammond organ groups. He used Leslie speakers which was an essential element in his soulful sound. It is unclear whether Vince Abbracciante here uses a Leslie but he certainly gets close to Smith’s concept. The group revisit Dewey Square, one of Charlie Parker’s more obscure originals (and a Lady Be Good contrafact). Parker recorded it in 1947 and Ross Russell’s biography Bird Lives reveals that the title is a reference to the Dewey Square Hotel on 117th Street, NYC where Parker lived for about a year. It is a duet between leader Stefano Rielli on bass and guest Gabriele Mirabassi on clarinet. Rielli accurately doubles the melody with Mirabassi and his solo chorus with the bow reveals cello-like fluency. Rielli studied the double bass at the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona and his unaccompanied Endless Lawns, with double-stops, is another example of his formidable technique.
The group replicate Jimmy Smith’s Off The Top arrangement from his 1982 recording. It features a series of inventive exchanges between Abbracciante and some fluent Stanley Turrentine-style tenor from Emanuele Coluccia. There is also some attractive interplay between the two on Wayne Shorter’s folk-like Where To Find it. This is an interesting release although the playing time – at just over 30 minutes – is rather brief.
Discography
Off The Top; Like Sonny; Dewey Square: My Love Effendi; Seesaw; Endless Lawns; Where To Find It (30.06)
Emanuele Coluccia (ts); Gabriele Mirabassi (cl); Vince Abbracciante (org); Stefano Rielli (b); Marco Girardo (d). Guagnano, Italy, 3 & 4 May 2023.
GleAM Records AM7038
Tito Puente: Dance The Cha Cha Cha
The cha cha rhythm was created in Cuba in the early 50s by Enrique Jervin and was introduced to American audiences at a 1954 Carnegie Hall concert featuring Tito Puente and Gilberto Valdez. Those of a certain age will remember two of the genre’s early hits – Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White (Perez Prado in 1955) and Tea For Two Cha Cha (Warren Covington leading Tommy Dorsey’s band in 1958). Over a million copies of each were sold.
Initially inspired by Gene Krupa, Puente became known as the King of the Timbales. He studied at the Julliard School of Music and during the 50s his band became very popular, combining jazz with Afro Cuban and Caribbean sounds like the mambo and cha cha to mainstream audiences. Over the years (he died in 2000) he recorded a number of albums that would be of interest to Jazz Journal readers: Puente Goes Jazz with Dave Schildkraut and the dilettante of the tenor Allen Eager (1956), On Broadway (1982), El Rey (1984), Salsa Meets Jazz with Phil Woods (1988), Out Of This World (1990) and Special Delivery with Maynard Ferguson (1996). He also collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Benny Golson and Sonny Stitt.
Dance The Cha Cha Cha is performed immaculately by Puente’s well-drilled ensemble. There are though 19 titles averaging less than three minutes playing time each. Attention begins to wander as one cha cha cha is swiftly followed by another. As the album title implies, this LP is clearly intended for the dance community rather than the jazz community. There are six bonus tracks included.
Discography
Adelle: The Knockout; The Man From Jamaica; Organ Mi Cha Cha Cha; Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White; Hot Tamales; Oye Mi Guaguanco; Ran Kan Kan; El Cayuco; Rico Vacilon; Espinita; Cogele Bien El Compas; Cha Cha Cha For Lovers; Carolina; Mangue; La Gloria Eres Tu; Mambo Gozon; Oye Como Va (54.09)
Selective personnel: Tito Puente (tim, vib, v); Ray Gonzalez (t, flh); Bobby Rodriguez (b); Johnny Rodriguez (bgo, cga, v); Joel Madera (cga, tim); Francisco Aguabella (cga). NYC, 1954-55.
Descarga! 637015
