Stars of Birdland on Tour

[Larry Kart]

This two CD-set preserves a  two-hour Topeka, Kansas,  Feb. 1955 concert, with the Basie Band, with Joe Williams and guest soloists Lester Young and Stan Getz (seperately, not together); the George Shearing Quintet; Erroll Garner Trio; and Sarah Vaughan. The Basie band is in fine form (fSonny Payne surprisingly to me plays his ass off); Frank Foster is exceptionally good (especially on "Basie Talks"),  as is Williams (this vivid version of "Every Day I Have  the Blues" preceded the hit recording); and the three tracks with Pres ("Jumping at the Woodside," "I'm Confessin," and "Every Tub") are to me worth the price of the album, though others might disagree. Yes, Pres is not in terrific shape physically here, but that leads him (forces him?) to play (and mostly to make things work) in about as abstract-minimalist a manner as one could imagine. It's not quite like anything I've heard from him, before or later. "I'm Confessin" is superb, a journey into caverns of the soul; and on "Every Tub" Pres is eventiually quite forceful, especially his fog-horn-like low-register honks that are, again, different from  any honks I've heard from Pres before  -- not I think his usual false-fingered honks but a dense, deep and dark, near-multi-noted sound that might have come from Albert Ayler! Works like gangbusters in the context of the chart too,  A nice added touch is that there's a mic right next to Basie at the keyboard, and one can hear the quite specific at times sounds of encouragement and response  (even perhaps wonderment) that he directs at Pres. 

https://www.amazon.com/Count-Basie-Lester-Young-Birdland/dp/B000001LZ5/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1535405821&sr=1-1&keywords=stars+of+birdland+on+tour

[Simon Weil]

Sold.

[JSngry]

Twice.

[medjuck]

Me three.   Likes  a bit like the Roulette "Birdland All-Stars at Carnegie Hall" but with George Shearing and Erroll Garner instead of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. 

[JSngry]

1 minute ago, medjuck said:

Me three.   Likes  a bit like the Roulette "Birdland All-Stars at Carnegie Hall" but with George Shearing and Erroll Garner instead of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. 

Don't know how fair a trade that really is, but hell, life is not fair, right?

 

[jlhoots]

Ordered - $13 at B & N, $64 at Amazon - strange. I took the $13 option!!

[JSngry]

Wow, 14.16 at amazon when I bought.

Dammit Larry, you're breaking the jazz record market!

[Brad]

Another sale. 

[king ubu]

good set ... have had this longer than the Roulette one, and I may actually prefer it, Bird or not (don't mess with Garner!)

[JSngry]

Started it today, and yeah, Basie band in good old-fashioned swing you into bad health mode, geez, big bands don't SOUND like this anymore, hear Basie live twice and geez, all that air moving all around you...one of the finer things in life.

What never ceases to amaze me about "ill Prez" is how his mind adjusted time. He'd bend/stretch it to his will. The phrases all started and ended on point, but in between, jeeeeeezus, a normal human would simply collapse. At best, there would be some heistation. But Prez jsut made everything move at its own speed within itself.

Gotta love Pee wee Marquette too, the legendary half a motherfucker.

[Larry Kart]

First time I heard a big band live was Basie on this very tour. "All that air moving around you" is a fine way to put it. IIRC, the first tune they played at that concert was the semi-flagwaver "Stereophonic," and after the trumpets cut in I pretty much had to pick myself up from the floor. Think I was sitting just a few rows from the stage, too. And that sax section!
 

 

[JSngry]

very few records even begin to capture what it is like to be in the room with a big band...not these rehearsal bands, but seasoned players who know what it means to play and project without amplification. Those days are probably gone, but still, yeah, section(s), what a great thing to have had, just the sounds and the colors of the different bands.

[JSngry]

Good to hear Pee Wee speaking on behalf of the Fire Marshal and in favor of obeying the law. Why do I not think that he demonstrated the same attention to good citizenship back home?

And oh yes, that raises another question - who subbed for Pee Wee when the legendary half a motherfucker had a road gig?

[medjuck]

I just noticed (in  very small print on he Roulette release)  that Getz wasn't actually at the Carnegie Hall gig but was recorded at Birdland.  Fun to hear one of Pres's "grey boy" followers playing with the Basie band. I think he plays well on both cds. A couple of questions:  Is Sarah's accompanist  Jimmy Jones the same Jimmy Jones who often subbed for Duke in various Ellingtonian aggregations?  When a singer was backed by a big band for a few gigs did they bring their own arrangements?    And do you think Getz and Pres talked about anything with each other having been brought all the way to Topeka to play a handful of numbers?  (Though I guess this was part of a tour. Anyone know?) 

[JSngry]

I can answer the Jimmy Jones question - yes. Jimmy Jones was around a long time in a lot of ways. Check him out, if you haven't already!

As for singers bringing their own arrangements - yes, usually. Definitely at this level anyway. Guys writing a "show" for a singer were a standard source of income for freelance arrangers, and I'd be shocked if Sarah didn't have the financial backing to have a book for big band, mid-size band, and of course, combo. There were any number of possible writers for this, not the least of whom would be Jimmy Jones.

Also want to give props to Al McKibbon on the Shearing set. He gets one solo and it is obvious that he has one of those huuuuuge old schol sounds, wonderful to hear that, even in this less-than-hi-fi recording, absolutely wonderful.

[JSngry]

are there other documents of Sarah Vaughan inciting this visceral a reaction from an audience? I mean, I totally get it, I've just not heard it before.

I now feel as if I should have this, to make my package complete!

[bichos]

On ‎26‎.‎09‎.‎2018 at 2:49 AM, Larry Kart said:

First time I heard a big band live was Basie on this very tour. "All that air moving around you" is a fine way to put it. IIRC, the first tune they played at that concert was the semi-flagwaver "Stereophonic," and after the trumpets cut in I pretty much had to pick myself up from the floor. Think I was sitting just a few rows from the stage, too. And that sax section!
 

 

i´m not a musician, but is this ernie wilkins tune based on this?:

 

i don´t have any liner notes to basie´s Verve recording but it is mentioned anywhere?

Keep boppin´

marcel