Ray Nance

[Peter Friedman]

I have long considered Ray Nance a wonderful trumpet player. His sideman work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra as well as with a number of Ellington oriented small groups is well known. Nance is also a fine jazz violinist, singer and dancer.

Yet when I checked LORD, it was rather surprising to see that there were only 5 items listed with Ray as leader over his lengthy career.

Many other Ellington players had the opportunity to record as leaders quite often - Johnny Hodges, Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves, Rex Stewart, Harold Ashby, and others.

Wonder why recording opportunities as a leader were so rare for Ray Nance?

 

 

[medjuck]

Years ago at a Duke Ellington conference someone showed a high quality colour video of a tv show starring Ray Nance and his group.  Unfortunately it was announced (to a chorus of groans and complaints) that it wasn't commercially available.

[Ken Dryden]

It is a shame, he deserved more opportunities to record as a leader.

Here's what I own under his name:

LPs:

Ray Nance w/Paul Gonsalves     Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'                              Black Lion 191
Ray Nance                      Huffin' N' Puffin'                                                          MPS/BASF 5057
Ray Nance/Cat Anderson & the Ellington Alumni    A Flower is a Lovesome Thing    Parker 827
Ray Nance                      Quartet & Sextet                                                            Unique Jazz 11

CD:

Ray Nance  The Complete 1940-1949 Non-Ducal Violin Recordings                       AB Fable 14 
Ray Nance                Body and Soul                                                               Mighty Quinn 1108 (originally issued on LP by Solid State)

 

 

 

I don't remember if I previously shared this link, but I learned about it when I interviewed Jean-Luc Ponty in May.

https://archive.org/details/calauem_000153

It contains one song featuring Ray Nance with John Lewis, Ray Brown and Louis Bellson, then a second track that also adds Ponty, Svend Asmussend and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. There is other music from that festival in the Monterey holdings of Stanford University, including a set featuring Ponty with his own rhythm section that he evidently had forgotten, plus at least one incomplete song by Nance.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Ken Dryden

[Ken Dryden]

This is what was shared by the head librarian at Stanford, with a few additions I made after viewing the video (link in earlier post):

There is the concert from 15 September 1967. As you can see he is playing on 2, 3, and 4. If he would like copies of this performance, they can be obtained from the Monterey Festival by asking the General Manager, or we can send it if we have written permission from the General Manager.

Thanks for contacting us.

Jazz Violin Conclave

RAY NANCE and trio
1. The Man I Love [incomplete]

JEAN LUC PONTY with GEORGE GRUNTZ, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, bass ; DANIEL HUMAIR, drums                                                        2. Sunday Walk
3. Carol’s Garden

SVEND ASMUSSEN, RAY NANCE, JEAN LUC PONTY with JOHN LEWIS, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, RAY BROWN, basses, LOUIS BELLSON, drums
4. Take the A Train

5. [No content]

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET
6. [Sudden Samba?]
7. Gentle Rain [incomplete] genre

JEAN LUC PONTY, violin ; with GEORGE GRUNTZ, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, bass ; DANIEL HUMAIR, drums

SVEND ASMUSSEN, RAY NANCE, JEAN LUC PONTY, violins ; with JOHN LEWIS, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, RAY BROWN, basses LOUIS BELLSON, drums

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET
(DIZZY GILLESPIE, trumpet ; JAMES MOODY, alto saxophone, flute ; MIKE LONGO, piano ; RUSSELL GEORGE, electric bass ; OTIS "CANDY" FINCH, drums)

[gmonahan]

18 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

It is a shame, he deserved more opportunities to record as a leader.

Here's what I own under his name:

LPs:

Ray Nance w/Paul Gonsalves     Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'                              Black Lion 191
Ray Nance                      Huffin' N' Puffin'                                                          MPS/BASF 5057
Ray Nance/Cat Anderson & the Ellington Alumni    A Flower is a Lovesome Thing    Parker 827
Ray Nance                      Quartet & Sextet                                                            Unique Jazz 11

CD:

Ray Nance  The Complete 1940-1949 Non-Ducal Violin Recordings                       AB Fable 14 
Ray Nance                Body and Soul                                                               Mighty Quinn 1108 (originally issued on LP by Solid State)

 

 

 

I don't remember if I previously shared this link, but I learned about it when I interviewed Jean-Luc Ponty in May.

https://archive.org/details/calauem_000153

It contains one song featuring Ray Nance with John Lewis, Ray Brown and Louis Bellson, then a second track that also adds Ponty, Svend Asmussend and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. There is other music from that festival in the Monterey holdings of Stanford University, including a set featuring Ponty with his own rhythm section that he evidently had forgotten, plus at least one incomplete song by Nance.

"Flower is a Lovesome Thing" was reissued as part of the Complete Charlie Parker Records cd set. It shares a disc with Ray Barretto's "The Mysterious Instinct," which is equally obscure.

 

 

gregmo

[Ken Dryden]

I was not aware of the Complete Charlie Parker Records CD set. I own a few of the LPs. 

It was a shame that Anthony Barnett discontinued further new releases on AB Fable, but he was having problems with others bootlegging the rare jazz violin recordings he was issuing. 

[Peter Friedman]

Many years ago - 1966 - my wife and I, recently married, took a "Europe on $5. a day" trip. When traveling through Denmark's Jutland region we spent a few evenings in the cities of Aarhus and Aalborg. In one of those two cities, can't recall which one, we discovered that an American jazz musician was appearing at a local club. 

Naturally we went to that club and were surprised to find that Ray Nance was performing. Ray backed by a local rhythm section did it all. He played trumpet, violin, and sang as well as doing some dance steps. It was a joyful evening  that I have never forgotten.

 

[paul secor]

Peter, memories like that one are a big part of the music.

[Ken Dryden]

Thanks for sharing that memory, Peter. No wonder Ray Nance's nickname was "Floorshow."

 

[AllenLowe]

the most amazing Nance I have ever heard - almost boppish, incredibly adventurous - was on an old LP (and also on CD) recorded live - at the Vanguard? Dizzy is on it too. It is essential if you have any interest in Nance - let me see if I can find it -

it is on this, though this is not the original issue:

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Village-Vanguard-Dizzy-Gillespie/dp/B000005HAZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1497229498&sr=1-1&keywords=village+vanguard+ray+nance

 

[Ken Dryden]

I think it was some of that stuff that appeared on Solid State, then maybe was reissued on LRC and Blue Note. Nance also is a lot of fun on Jaki Byard With Strings!, though Fantasy screwed up the CD reissue by alternating tracks between it and Solo then deleting Hello, Young Lovers from the solo LP. As Frank Zappa would call it, "Cheepnis..."

 

As you can tell, I didn't click on your link. I had the CD, though not in front of me...

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by Ken Dryden

[medjuck]

On 6/10/2017 at 3:04 PM, Ken Dryden said:

This is what was shared by the head librarian at Stanford, with a few additions I made after viewing the video (link in earlier post):

There is the concert from 15 September 1967. As you can see he is playing on 2, 3, and 4. If he would like copies of this performance, they can be obtained from the Monterey Festival by asking the General Manager, or we can send it if we have written permission from the General Manager.

Thanks for contacting us.

Jazz Violin Conclave

RAY NANCE and trio
1. The Man I Love [incomplete]

JEAN LUC PONTY with GEORGE GRUNTZ, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, bass ; DANIEL HUMAIR, drums                                                        2. Sunday Walk
3. Carol’s Garden

SVEND ASMUSSEN, RAY NANCE, JEAN LUC PONTY with JOHN LEWIS, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, RAY BROWN, basses, LOUIS BELLSON, drums
4. Take the A Train

5. [No content]

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET
6. [Sudden Samba?]
7. Gentle Rain [incomplete] genre

JEAN LUC PONTY, violin ; with GEORGE GRUNTZ, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, bass ; DANIEL HUMAIR, drums

SVEND ASMUSSEN, RAY NANCE, JEAN LUC PONTY, violins ; with JOHN LEWIS, piano ; NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERSEN, RAY BROWN, basses LOUIS BELLSON, drums

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET
(DIZZY GILLESPIE, trumpet ; JAMES MOODY, alto saxophone, flute ; MIKE LONGO, piano ; RUSSELL GEORGE, electric bass ; OTIS "CANDY" FINCH, drums)

IIRC (and I may not) what I saw was an hour show of just Nance. I think it was from a local Chicago program.  (And I may be wrong about all of that.)  It was in colour.

 

[Ken Dryden]

It is fun to imagine what individuals recorded off of television and radio broadcasts that aren't widely known.

One of the oddest things to happen to me occurred right after I began writing my Not For Sale column for AllAboutJazz.com. I had written one column and before I could begin on the next one, Concord Records contacted me about writing liner notes for an unreleased concert featuring Mel Torme, Gerry Mulligan and George Shearing at Carnegie Hall in 1982. My response was "I know that concert well. I recorded the Jazz Alive! broadcast of it back in the fall of 1982." Unfortunately, they omitted all of the Mulligan Big Band instrumentals, it deserved to have been a two CD set.

Though this anecdote has nothing to do with Ray Nance...what can one expect at this hour?

[hopkins]

Has anyone heard these Earl Hines / Ray Nance duets issued on this CD (tracks 7-12) ?

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/14394475-Earl-Hines-Ray-Nance-Mostly-Fats-Unissued-Sessions

Liner notes state that these recording were made "somewhere in the United States probably in the early 1970s."

 

https://archive.org/details/cd_mostly-fats_earl-hines-ray-nance

Edited April 26, 2023 by hopkins

[jazzbo]

Wow! That is probably an amazing cd. I love both of those gentlemen.

[JSngry]

Was that a France-only release?

[Teasing the Korean]

32 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Was that a France-only release?

It was a Nance-only release.

I'm here through Friday.

[Chuck Nessa]

Possibly remnants from Signature.

[Big Beat Steve]

8 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Possibly remnants from Signature.

But I suppose you are you are not really referring to the actual Signature label of the 40s but to a later Bob Thiele production venture? Did you do an aural check (which should tell the difference betwen 70s Earl Hines and a 40s recording)?

As far as the sound samples can give a clue, the vocals, for one thing  (and the general fidelity), don't sound 40s-ish to me.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Big Beat Steve

[hopkins]

If you listen to the 30sec samples on the Internet Archive you will probably come to the conclusion that it is not a 1940s recording...

Two of the samples have violin, and one has vocals.

I purchased the CD...

[Ken Dryden]

Where can you find this cd? The only copy I see today is on eBay for a ridiculous price.

it’s been on my Discogs want list for some time.

[hopkins]

I found one on Discogs, for 35€ (so a little expensive) available locally (France).

[dprfish]

Earlier today, I walked into a bookshop I visit occasionally, and right at the front of the Jazz CD section, there was a copy of Brother Ah's "Sound Awareness."

Immediately behind it, a copy of the Hines/Nance disc mentioned above.

Snagged both for $25!

[Ken Dryden]

On 6/11/2017 at 10:49 AM, gmonahan said:

"Flower is a Lovesome Thing" was reissued as part of the Complete Charlie Parker Records cd set. It shares a disc with Ray Barretto's "The Mysterious Instinct," which is equally obscure.

 

 

gregmo

I’ve read that this box set was done via needle drop and isn’t very good quality. I saw it in a store and passed.

[gmonahan]

17 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

I’ve read that this box set was done via needle drop and isn’t very good quality. I saw it in a store and passed.

Oh yeah, definitely. The documentation is slim, and it was put out by Membran. I got it because it was the only way to get some of these fairly rare records. I repackaged the discs into jewel cases, used Lord to double-check personnel and recording dates, and distributed them out under the specific artists. I listen to one or the other now and then, but the sound is definitely nothing to write home about.