montg Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Any love for Bud? Most of the music I have from him comes from his appearances on various Mosaic sets (Capitol and Condon Mob) and from the Mosaic single. His style strikes me at least as being kind of unique--sort of slithery and legato. I find myself liking it more and more. I think I remember reading a critic (Balliett?) who said Freeman basically had one solo that he played over and over. To me, he seems a lot more creative than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Big props for Bud, he 's one of my favorites. I've got lots of his recordings under his own name and also with the Condon mob. He always sounds interesting to me. Great harmonic sense and great groove too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Bud. . . love his tone and his suppleness. ALWAYS makes me happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 He has some great sessions on the Commodore Mosaic sets. I'm not sure if they have been separately released. Presumably they have been on Classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 He has some great sessions on the Commodore Mosaic sets. I'm not sure if they have been separately released. Presumably they have been on Classics. Yes. They were released on Classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montg Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Bud. . . love his tone and his suppleness. ALWAYS makes me happy! My thoughts exactly. Paul Gonsalves kind of reminds me of Bud Freeman's playing--kind of a supple, loose style. I wonder if Pres listened much to Bud? Not implying an equivalence between them or anything, but Pres had some of that looseness too. BTW, I couldn't find the Balliett quote I was thinking of, but I did come across another phrase where Balliett called Freeman "jouncy and monotonous". Not bouncy, but jouncy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 BTW, I couldn't find the Balliett quote I was thinking of, but I did come across another phrase where Balliett called Freeman "jouncy and monotonous". Not bouncy, but jouncy. I found this Balliett quote from a 1959 article on Pee Wee Russell: "...while throughout the record [it's not clear to me which record] Freeman emits further variations on the solo he has been at work on for several decades." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Bud was so locked-in rhythmically. Yes, he was not unwilling to repeat a phrase and use swatches of pre-fabricated material, but all in the service of driving swing. Check out the Mosaic single "Chicago/Austin High School Jazz in Hi-Fi" for some top-drawer Bud, as well as fine Teagarden, George Wettling, Jimmy McPartland, Billy Butterfield, probably the best Peanuts Hucko ever, etc. Pee Wee Russell, on the first two of the three dates collected here, sounds a bit less than his best solo-wise, but on date one (where there's no trombone) he's marvelous in the ensembles -- go figure. Another fine Bud album from the LP era that seems not to be available right now is Something Sweet, Something Tender, with guitarists George Barnes and, I think, Carl Kress. Sudhalter's "Lost Chords" extols Bud's 1937 radio broadcast solo with Tommy Dorsey on "You're a Builder-Upper" (on a Sunbeam LP). He's right about that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Freeman studied a bit w/Tristano at one point. How 'bout that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Also, don't miss Bud opposite Coleman Hawkins on the 1957 Cootie Williams Jazztone album "The Big Challenge." Everyone there -- Cootie, Rex Stewart, J.C. Higginbotham, Lawrence Brown -- was up for that one, but the Freeman-Hawkins thing was serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Freeman studied a bit w/Tristano at one point. How 'bout that? Yes. Bud, one of the world's great narcissists (there are many tales about Bud's intense fondness for mirrors, one amusing episode of which I witnessed) suffered at one point in the late 1940s of a loss of confidence in his playing (perhaps feeling that he wasn't modern enough) that was so total he couldn't produce a note. He studied with Lennie for three months -- "we just reviewed what I had known as a kid, scales and intervals" -- and his confidence returned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montg Posted January 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 BTW, I couldn't find the Balliett quote I was thinking of, but I did come across another phrase where Balliett called Freeman "jouncy and monotonous". Not bouncy, but jouncy. I found this Balliett quote from a 1959 article on Pee Wee Russell: "...while throughout the record [it's not clear to me which record] Freeman emits further variations on the solo he has been at work on for several decades." That's the quote I was looking for, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 I recommend 4 Bud Freeman CDs on the Chronogical Classics label. 1928-1938 - Classics 781 1939-1940 - Classics 811 1945-1946 - Classics 942 1946 - Classics 975 He also has some fine solos on a large variety of recordings with Eddie Condon and other members of the Chicago School. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 It took me way too long to get into Bud Freeman's playing... It was not until the release of the Commodore Mosaic boxes to find out how original he was! Great fan of the articulation of his solos by now. One unheralded session is the Flying Dutchman LP 'Bud and Bucky' with Bucky Pizzarelli. Bud Freeman looking like the perfect British gentleman! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 Not to divert attention away from Bud, but I saw Bucky play about a week ago. He's 86 and sounds as great as ever ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 (edited) Bud's book is worth reading. Edited January 27, 2007 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Watching the Super Bowl and it made me think of Bud. In his final years he moved back to Chicago and a fan with season tickets frequently passed them on to Bud. He'd call me and ask for a ride. One time after a spectacular run by Walter Payton, Bud turned to me and said "That man IS an artist". The only Bears games I ever attended were in Bud's company. Thanks Bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I love Bud - and his books are great - swings, completely original, unpredictable (Balliett is nuts), good composer, too - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 It took me way too long to get into Bud Freeman's playing... It was not until the release of the Commodore Mosaic boxes to find out how original he was! Great fan of the articulation of his solos by now. One unheralded session is the Flying Dutchman LP 'Bud and Bucky' with Bucky Pizzarelli. Bud Freeman looking like the perfect British gentleman! Love that one, brownie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Bud's book is worth reading. 3 books, actually - You Don't Look Like a Musician, if you know of a better life please tell ME, and Crazeology - The Autobiography of a Chicago Jazzman as Told to Robert Wolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Another favorite is his All Stars album from 1960 with Shorty Baker which came out on Swingville and was reissued by OJC with one 1935 session with Bunny Berigan and extracts from a Leonard Gaskin-led date: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Another favorite is his All Stars album from 1960 with Shorty Baker which came out on Swingville and was reissued by OJC with one 1935 session with Bunny Berigan and extracts from a Leonard Gaskin-led date: Thats a nice session--Harold Baker is outstanding, displaying what Balliett once called his "new meadow" tone. I met Bud once when I was in high school, and I think he got a kick out of being questioned about Chicago jazz in the 1920s--he was a very good guy. But I've always felt that Bud's solo work missed the mark somehow, that for all his evident willingness to try new things--especially late in his career--his recorded legacy is not very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRD Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Bud. . . love his tone and his suppleness. ALWAYS makes me happy! My thoughts exactly. Paul Gonsalves kind of reminds me of Bud Freeman's playing--kind of a supple, loose style. I wonder if Pres listened much to Bud? Not implying an equivalence between them or anything, but Pres had some of that looseness too. BTW, I couldn't find the Balliett quote I was thinking of, but I did come across another phrase where Balliett called Freeman "jouncy and monotonous". Not bouncy, but jouncy. As a matter of fact, Lester "Prez" Young counted Bud Freeman among his early influences. He also liked Frankie Trumbauer. Check out the liner notes to "Lester Young-The Complete Aladdin Sessions'" an excellent two CD set on Blue Note. This is one of many facts that Ken Burns left out of his film "Jazz." According to him and Wynton Marsalis, white musicians were influenced by black musicians and not the other way around. The truth is that cross pollination has been happening since the inception of jazz. Stan Getz was influenced by Lester and Joe Henderson was in turn influenced by Getz. Herbie Hancock was influenced by Bill Evans. The list goes on. Another eighteen hours could be filled with the master musicians, mostly of European descent, that Burns ignored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Tjader B. -- I'm with you on the cross pollination, but while Pres certainly was influenced by Trumbauer (and acknowledged the influence) he specifically denied, in his late-'50s Jazz Hot interview, that he had been influenced by Bud. That doesn't prove that he wasn't, just that he said he wasn't. Also, as more than one person has pointed out before, if Pres dug Tram, he almost certainly had to be picking up on what Bix was playing alongside Tram on "Singing the Blues" et al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 And Jimmy Dorsey... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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