Jazz for aficionados

When I was a child, my aunt had a big diamond in her ring that sparkled all the colors of the rainbow as you turned it under a bright light. Tired of me holding her finger and turning it, she took the ring off when she came home from work.

I never tired of watching the brilliant sparkling colors that ring emitted. I just discovered "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" is exactly like that diamond, he sparkles endlessly; old LP's that I've had forever are emitting new colors.

Today I was listening to the computer play list when the music really grabbed me. Although I knew it was Rahsaan, I still don't know the name of the tune because unlike CD's, cuts on Lp's aren't listed; therefore, I can only share with you some of his music that might be from that LP. Remember, when listening to Rahsaan it's not just his virtuosity on the unusual instruments he plays, but the totality of his music which is so different from everyone else's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAyStpDSNzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWPUKskCv7E

Enjoy the music.

Rok, it wont be long before Mrs. Orpheus will be dragging out her Christmas collection, and it will consist of all the Carols we sang as kids; that's when I stuff my ears, smile and pretend I'm listening; but until that time, I gonna Bop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BB1pci8_o

Enjoy the music.

O-10

Great clips. Enjoyed them all. Esp Kirk's version of 'The Entertainer'. I bet Scott Joplin didn't know he wrote THAT!!

Dizzy's trumpet was not bent upwards. Do you know when, and why, he did that?

Cheers

Hi O-10 - thanks for reposting those links. It made me realize I had heard of Willie Ruff also in the context of Yale, but never put two and two together that this was the same jazz horn player. I haven't Googled him, so I don't know if he is still living. He certainly hasn't been at Yale in decades now.

The one clip that had him playing horn was quite short, just the Stompin at the Savoy tune. Fine rendition, as far as it goes, doesn't really show off much improvisational skill. I don't have any albums of his other than the one I mentioned where he is playing hymn tunes in a church. I'd love to hear more of him, to really check out what he could do. It's possible that he didn't improvise a whole lot - he certainly would have learned that skill later in his horn playing life, judging from the comments he makes to Gumbel.

He certainly wasn't the best out there in the New York jazz scene back in the day, though this should not be taken to mean he was not a good player. The best jazz hornist out there was Julius Watkins - I have a few albums of his that he did as leader, though usually he was a side man, as pretty much most jazz horn players are. Robert Northern was another, and even Gunther Schuller played quite a bit of jazz on the side back in the day when he wasn't in the pit at the Metropolitan Opera. All three of these men appeared with Miles Davis, at least two of them on Birth of the Cool. Julius Watkins records are worth seeking out, though they are very hard to find and usually very expensive, being Blue Notes. There is one he did for Philips called French Horns For My Lady, all Quincy Jones arrangements.

The story that Diz told was that at his wife's birthday celebration a couple of dancers fell on his horn and bent it. He played it that night anyway, bent and all, and in spite of the fact that it was now harder to play he liked the sound. He then commissioned a trumpet with an upturned bell and the rest is history.

BTW, the trumpet player on that clip is not Dizzy. I guess it's time for the 3rd installment of the "Lobotomy Award". Who can name the trumpet player? As always, NO CHEATING! And to make things really interesting (in case someone cheats) whoever can name the saxophone player also wins the "No blues, no Jazz" prize.