Saturday 21st September 2024, 17:00 – House of Hard Bop. The Procastinator is an album by Lee Morgan, recorded by Blue Note in 1967 and 1969. But the release did not follow until 1978. Given the quality, you wonder why it remained on the shelf for so long. From the second half of the 1960s onwards, several Blue Note recordings by Morgan suffered the same fate. And Lee Morgan Live at the Lighthouse (1970) is the last album, and the only live recording released during his lifetime. Fireworks! The top line-up of the album The Procrastinator: besides Morgan, Wayne Shorter tenor, Bobby Hutcherson vibraphone, Herbie Hancock piano, Ron Carter bass, Billy Higgins drums. Hutcherson’s vibes are a radiant color in this sound palette. The opening piece, the refined layered The Procrastinator, shows the composer Lee Morgan at his best. In a relaxed tempo, the first 16 bars (8+8) expose an equally relaxed, unison melody. Hancock’s piano riffs contrapuntally, ‘John Lewis-like’ through it. This is followed by a change to a strongly contrasting, tension-building bridge: tension in the harmonic polyphony, and in a – agonizingly slow – chromatic ascent. The theme section is concluded by repeating the 16 opening bars. Then: bass and drums play a swing intro of 4 bars, after which… the exposition is repeated in its entirety, now with swing accompaniment in the rhythm section. The theme is captivating enough to hear it again in that variant. Now the soloists can let loose, each one chorus, which results in beautiful, concentrated solos. The conclusion also brings back the theme section twice, but now mirrored in relation to the beginning. Party Time (Morgan) keeps it – in the same tempo – a bit simpler. A blues that easily, naturally, slides into the ears – a characteristic, by the way, that can also be attributed to the high quality of the composition and the perfection of the soloistic elaborations. Pianist Hancock opens all his blues registers. Just try to sit still while listening, and keep your body still. It will be difficult. Wayne Shorter’s Dear Sir switches back in tempo and mood. The listener must switch up in concentration. Alternative: lie down quietly and let everything come over you. A typical Shorter theme, not easy to sing. Long sustained notes. Meditative atmosphere, that is retained in all solos. We don’t hear Morgan like this very often. Stop Start (Morgan) is an energetic, up-tempo bebopper. We can forgive drummer Higgins’ mistake at the beginning of the four-by-four (three bars instead of four). Rio is the second Shorter from this album. Long intro of bass, coupled with a bossa-like drum pattern. Don’t miss the pianissimo sounds of Hutcherson’s vibraphone. Just like in Dear Sir, we hear Morgan connecting with Shorter’s solo. Everyone lets themselves be steered in Shorter’s direction by this theme too. After the flowing, ‘over the bar lines’ undulating intro by pianist Hancock, Morgan’s theme Soft Touch sounds surprisingly clear. Eight bars, basic chord progression – the soloists know what to do with that. Soft Touch? Sometimes the sparks fly from Hutcherson’s vibraphone. A fitting final chord to this series of pieces. In July 1970, Lee Morgan is in the legendary jazz club The Lighthouse, in Hermosa Beach, California. Next to him saxophonist Bennie Maupin. Harold Mabern piano, Jymie Merritt bass, and Mickey Roker drums. Blue Note Records records and releases the album a year later: Lee Morgan Live at the Lighthouse. It is the last record, and the only live recording, released during Morgan’s lifetime. The Beehive is a composition by pianist Harold Mabern; one of his best-known. A tuxedo theme, consisting of short, varying phrases, alternated with solidly filled solo bars by drummer Mickey Roker. That sets the tone. The long, effervescent solos by Maupin, Morgan, Mabern and Roker – what energy bursts from that drum set! – maintain the high pressure for more than 15 minutes. A year and a half after this concert, a pistol shot from his ex ends Lee Morgan’s life. House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke Next month in House of Hard Bop: the Herbie Hancock Sextet Click for the first broadcast (1/3) of ‘Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan’ Click for the first news item (1/3) Click for the second broadcast (2/3) Click for the second News item (2/3)

Saturday 31st August, 14:00 – Past, Present & Future. John Coltrane leads a recording session for Blue Note Records in 1957: Blue Train. The record is quickly recognized as a masterpiece. We hear music from American composer and orchestra leader Maria Schneider that is far removed from the traditional ‘big band’ idiom. And Suzan Veneman (photo) is definitely ‘not an ordinary trumpet playing girl’. Past John Coltrane plays in the New York jazz club Five Spot Café in the second half of 1957. A long-term engagement. He is the frontman of the Thelonious Monk Quartet there. In that quartet: bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones – Coltrane’s bandmates from the Miles Davis quintet. In the same period he makes his debut with Blue Note Records. Chambers and Jones are also present here – together with pianist Kenny Drew. A rhythm section to savor. Next to Coltrane are trombonist Curtis Fuller and the 19-year-old! trumpeter Lee Morgan. The result, the album Blue Train, makes history. Blue Train, a composition by Coltrane, is indeed a blues. Relaxed tempo. Drummer Philly Joe Jones inserts a double time passage during each solo, which makes all the soloists feel nicely rushed. Coltrane’s Moment’s Notice became a standard, but the composer himself never recorded it a second time. The tempo increases, not only the time, but also the harmonic tempo. Paul Chambers comes with his signature, a bowed bass solo. The album Blue Train soon received wide and high appreciation. Coltrane’s career has since skyrocketed. Unfortunately for Blue Note Records, it remained his only album for the label. Present The now award-winning Maria Schneider (1960) is a composer and bandleader. The music of her orchestra – about twenty musicians – cannot be recognized as ‘big band jazz’. And ‘jazz’ is hardly applicable either. Walking by Flashlight starts step by step, at a slow pace. Meditative, probably composed clarinet melody. The orchestra slowly comes forward. No groups, rather one soft mixed colour of a rich palette. Percussion is barely noticeable. The solo part is taken over by the piano, then the clarinet again. Atmosphere and melody character remain in the same form and mood. A gradual increase in sound intensity provides a short-lived climax, although that is too big a word here. After this you will hear The Thompson Fields and A Potter’s Song. The three pieces are on Schneider’s album The Thompson Fields from 2014. The title refers to a place in rural Minnesota, where she grew up. Future The line-up of Suzan Veneman’s sextet is unusual: four trumpets/fluegelhorns, bass, percussion. No chordal instrument. That almost naturally requires unusual composition work. And Suzan knows exactly how to do that. Zinder is the title of Veneman’s second album (2024). And you can bet it’s going to be a blast. Trumpet/fluegelhorn: Suzan Veneman, Gidon Nunes Vaz, Alvaro Artime Jiménez, Kurt Weiss. Drums: Wouter Kühne. Bass: Tijs Klaassen. The Future is Now! Sunbathing Waking & Working Big Heart – Consolation Past, Present & Future – Jaap van de Klomp

Sat 17th August, 17:00 – House of Hard Bop. A continuation of the album Lee-Way from 1960 (see House of Hard Bop 1/3). Then music from the six years later recorded Delightfulee. Like Lee-Way a quintet formation, but also a larger ensemble: Oliver Nelson’s Big Band. Lee Morgan also provided his own composition for Lee-Way (Blue Note Records): The Lion and the Wolff. A tribute to the two top men of Blue Note, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. An immediately catchy, percussive intro of bass and piano, unison in the low register. Drummer Blakey joins in. Blakey is the fifth, and last soloist. But… is he starting yet? We only hear the beat. In this way he builds up the tension, and spreads it out over the twelve bars of the blues chorus. And then he begins. He starts softly, with a combination of stick and brush that is hard to imagine. As if three hands are at work. A hard cymbal blow, and then off we go with two sticks. That’s how we recognize him again. Nakatini Suite (1948) comes from the musical brain of Cal Massey. Composer/trumpeter Cal Massey (1928-1972) is a lesser-known name. His compositions are highly valued among musicians, and have been recorded countless times by, among others, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Archie Shepp and Philly Joe Jones. Nakatini was a journalist who had written positively about Massey. He returned the compliment in the form of a composition that he dedicated to him. And just like in his These Are Soulful Days (previous broadcast), there is a rhythmic hop-step-jump in it. Blakey is also the last soloist now, with an excitingly constructed course through his motif garden. The quintet on Delightfulee – another pun – consists of Joe Henderson tenor, McCoy Tyner piano, Bob Cranshaw bass and Billy Higgins drums. A completely different line-up, and we will hear that. Zambia, like the other selected pieces, is by Morgan. About the title he says: “I wanted to name a tune after the one of the newly independent African states.” What energy, in this catchy, 24-moderate theme. Energy and tension that remains at a high level in all the solos. In the final phase, Morgan heralds the eight-to-eight with Higgins with his well-known ‘fire-breathing’. In Nite Flite everything remains at the same level. When mentioning Henderson’s particularly exuberant solo, and the penetrating work of drummer Higgins who is more than on top of everything, we do the others an injustice. Let’s switch to the big band led by arranger Oliver Nelson. In addition to Morgan, Cranshaw and Tyner are back. In the strong line-up we hear tenorist Wayne Shorter and drummer Philly Joe Jones. In Need I Nelson’s arrangement work is on the modest side. Shorter, Morgan and Tyner solo. There is also room for drummer Jones. Filet of Soul slows down the tempo. That is noticeable – all the other pieces are in the same, faster tempo zone. Soul character! And finally there is the tuba of Don Butterfield in the arrangement. That deep, round, blown bass color is used too sparingly by the arrangers. Drummer Jones is soon on a sustained back beat, well suited to this soul tempo. At 5’50”, after the piano solo, an arrangement gem by Nelson sounds: a unison of flute and sax, with the characteristics of a written improvisation. The previously mentioned tuba sounds immediately at the start of Zambia, now arranged by Oliver Nelson for large ensemble. In the final passage, immediately before the return of the theme, drummer Jones lets loose for a while. Good arrangements – but wouldn’t more have been possible in that respect? The name Lee Morgan doesn’t appear much in the text above, even though the albums bear his name. In summary: as a leader, composer and trumpeter he functions here at his absolute top. The regular soloists of the big band, tenorist Wayne Shorter and pianist McCoy Tyner are equally good. This whole hour is Een-Groot-Feest! Click for the first broadcast (1/3) of ‘Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan’. Click for the first News item (1/3) House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke

Saturday July 27th, 2024, 10:00 PM – Deep Jazz. In the world of the Big Band, Count Basie is one of the big names. Basie’s orchestra, founded in the 1930s, continued to exist even after his death in 1984 and is alive and well to this day. The Count Basie Orchestra regularly collaborated with guest soloists, including vocalists. One of them was Frank Sinatra. Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First was released in 1962. Two years later, the combination created the album It Might as Well Be Swing, led by arranger/conductor Quincy Jones. He expanded the orchestra with a string section. Vocalist + arranger + orchestra appear to be an ideal match. The key word in the album title is ‘Swing’. That creates an expectation. And that is amply fulfilled. I Wish You Love is the American version of a French Chanson from the 1940s. The song has been recorded by dozens of musicians, both instrumentally and vocally. There are versions in Italian and even Arabic. The piece opens with “Goodbye (….) This is where our story ends (…)” Text, minor key and strings create a melancholy mood. But after this introduction, the verse, it all changes to major! And who has the last word in the closing bars? The Count himself, with his musical signature. ———————————– The collaboration between orchestra and vocalist suits both parties well. Quincy Jones is also the arranger/conductor when the Sinatra-Basie tandem performs in Las Vegas. Sinatra at the Sands is the title of a live recording from 1966. It is Sinatra’s first live album to be released commercially. And this is also a swing party. Come Fly with Me, written in 1958 by Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn, is a repertoire piece by Sinatra. He is in good spirits and communicates in a relaxed way with the audience and orchestra. He spreads the intro with a spoken story, and then starts the song rather abruptly. The arrangement builds tension and leads to a thrilling finale. Basie’s piano is also here – almost! – the point. “Don’t worry ’bout me, I’ll get along. Just you forget about me, Be happy, my love.”The love is really over now. How to deal with this… that’s what it’s about. A similarity with I Wish You Love. But the slow tempo and Sinatra’s tone and diction seem to be expressions of a different state of mind. “It was probably the most exciting engagement I have ever done in my life, since I started performing.” (Frank Sinatra on the concerts at The Sands in 1966) Playlist in the Guide Deep Jazz – Hans Mantel

Saturday July 20th, 2024, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop. Wonderboy Lee Morgan (photo) made his recording debut with Blue Note Records in 1956, when he was 18 years old! – Lee Morgan Indeed! His discography with the top label will amount to more than 25 titles. Two years later, in 1958, he became the frontman of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. A meteoric career. That career, by the way not a level one, came to a dramatic end after fifteen years. A gunshot from his ex kills him. Morgan will then be 33. He is influenced by trumpet virtuosos Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown. With flawless technique, mastery of the high register and a powerful tone, Morgan exudes fire from his instrument. Especially in his younger years, he never allowed himself a moment’s rest in up-tempo solos. Later, under the influence of Miles Davis, he teaches himself to create more ‘space’. Morgan: “You have to learn how to use space. If there hadn’t been Miles, I probably would still be trying to put in as much as I could get into a chorus.” One day after his debut recording Lee Morgan Indeed! he is asked to replace trumpeter Art Farmer in a studio session (Savoy) by tenorist Hank Mobley. Savoy releases the album under the title Introducing Lee Morgan. Morgan’s photo on the cover, his name in large letters, the name Mobley barely legible. Hank wouldn’t have been happy about that. And neither is Blue Note. Hank Jones piano – Doug Watkins bass – Art Taylor drums. You will hear all seven pieces. Hank’s Shout, a composition by Mobley, is the energetic opening. The blues form is also audible in the theme: a-a-b. Nostalgia (Fats Navarro) slows down a bit. Intro by pianist Hank Jones, with his pleasantly subtle touch. Relaxed solo by Morgan on stopped trumpet. Before resuming the theme, a four-by-four dialogue between tenor and trumpet. The pace of Nostalgia is maintained in Bet by Doug Watkins. After the unison theme, trumpet, sax, piano and bass each improvise two choruses, after which drummer Taylor also makes himself heard. The remaining four, somewhat shorter pieces flow into each other without interruption – a medley. Each piece features a different soloist. Everyone has their turn, except the drummer. 4. The standard Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise is a feature for bassist Watkins. The transition to the ballad 5. P.S. I Love You is not going smoothly. There is also that break in the tempo. Morgan solos. 6. The ballad tempo remains in Easy Living. Hank Jones. 7. Hank Mobley closes with That’s All. ——————————————- Four years later, Lee-Way, also spelled Leeway, appears on Blue Note. (Don’t miss the pun in the title.) Next to Morgan is altoist Jackie McLean. Furthermore, with Bobby Timmons piano, Paul Chambers bass – borrowed from Miles Davis – and Art Blakey drums. A line-up with a high Jazz Messengers quality. Morgan himself, as pianist and drummer, has been part of this top notch hard bop quintet since 1958. With tenorist Benny Golson and bassist Jymie Merritt, the Messengers line-up, with pieces such as Moanin’ and Blues March, will go down in history as ‘legendary’. These Are Soulful Days is a composition by Cal Massey. (More about this lesser-known trumpeter/composer in the next News item.) The theme contains a nice bit of asymmetry. Bassist Paul Chambers opens the improvisational choruses. Morgan, strikingly, takes the last solo. Art Blakey keeps quiet, but in the closing bars he comes up with his characteristic triplet pep figure. Midtown Blues by Jackie McLean throws us into the Soul atmosphere. Drummer Blakey opts for a – also characteristic – backbeat that he never lets go. More from this album in the next broadcast. House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke