Buddy Tate, Claude Hopkins - Buddy & Claude

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:29
Size: 171,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Is It So
(7:01)  2. Yes, Indeed
(3:26)  3. What's Your Story Morning Glory
(7:21)  4. Willow Weep For Me
(6:27)  5. Empty Bed Blues
(5:35)  6. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(4:27)  7. What Is This Thing Called Love
(4:11)  8. Buddy's Tate-A-Tate
(8:14)  9. Groun' Hog
(4:14) 10. All Too Soon
(5:39) 11. Snatchin' It Back
(6:22) 12. #20 Ladbroke Square
(7:04) 13. Take The ''A'' Train

Combining two rare Swingville sessions from the 60’ this disc is an excellent primer for those unfamiliar with the singular sounds of Buddy Tate. Tate served a lengthy tenure in Basie’s band and many other Kansas City collectives before branching out on his own and these sessions visit him in his later years still laying down a voluptuous and sultry swing. His tone on tenor has elements of many of his peers, most noticeably Coleman Hawkins without the bite, but still retains a lilting originality. Hopkins hails from D.C. and his roots in the swing lineage run equally deep. The two men converge on the first session in the company of four other players and work over a highly inviting collection of standards. The emphasis is on maintaining a temperate mood and empathic rapport and the absence of individual bravado is refreshing. It’s also a joy to hear these veterans in their element, doing what they do best under the auspices of modern recording technology. As an added benefit, the technology also allows the players to stretch out past the time limits afforded the recordings of their earlier years. The majority of tunes are taken at a soothing speed and work well off the light interplay between rhythm section and the pairing of Tate and Berry. Berry mainly sticks to muted work on his brass, contributing gently smeared slurs to the ensemble sound on a regular basis. His protracted, but carefully conceived solo on “Empty Bed Blues” is infused with a tasteful discipline that is representative of the entire quintet. 

Over the course of most of the numbers Tate’s solos are usually short and sweet suggesting an admirable economy that many modern players would be advised to take lesson from. Hopkins works magic of the changes of each tune, particularly the bluesy reading of Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” The second date presented here features a completely different group and lacks the effervescent presence of Hopkins. Fortunately his talents are traded in for the equally formidable Flanagan who in concert with Gales and Taylor gives the second half of this disc a decidedly bop-flavored bent. Tate acquaints himself well with the slightly different surroundings and digs into a program comprised of both standards and three pieces derived from Terry’s pen. The tongue-in-cheek piece titled “Buddy’s Tate-A-Tate” wastes no time in giving the saxophonist the chance to test his technique on brisker fare. Terry keeps pace alongside Tate and blows some velvety lines across Taylor’s rollicking drum breaks. On the slower tempo “Groun’ Hog” Terry turns to flugelhorn and the round sound of his larger brass works as an ideal foil for Flanagan’s polished ivories. A lengthy opening bass vamp by Gales sets the mood on “#20 Ladbroke Square” and deposits the players in another easy groove which they explore with the same enthusiastic verve as on the earlier numbers. A faithful run-down of Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train” acts as an epilogue for a session imbued with no shortage of swinging grace. Tate and Hopkins are jazz originals and disc’s such as this work as windows into a time when they and their peers were at the top of their art, if not the charts. ~ Derek Taylor https://www.allaboutjazz.com/buddy-and-claude-buddy-tate-prestige-records-review-by-derek-taylor.php

Personnel: Buddy Tate- tenor saxophone; Claude Hopkins- piano; Emmett Barry-trumpet; Wendell Marshall- bass; Osie Johnson- drums. Clark Terry- trumpet, flugelhorn; Tommy Flanagan- piano; Larry Gales- bass; Art Taylor- drums.

Buddy & Claude

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Herb Hall - Old Tyme Modern

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1969
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:46
Size: 91,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Old Fashioned Love
(4:50)  2. All Of Me
(3:21)  3. Buddy Bolden's Blues
(4:54)  4. Crying My Hear Out For You
(4:12)  5. Swinging Down Shaw's Hall
(3:57)  6. Beale Street Blues
(2:34)  7. How Come You Do Me Like You Do
(3:36)  8. Willow Weep For Me
(4:53)  9. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
(3:41) 10. Sweet Georgia Brown

A member of a distinguished New Orleans musical family, Herb Hall was the youngest of 5 brothers. His brother Edmund became a world-renowned clarinetist. After time in San Antonio and Philadelphia, Hall moved to New York and joined the Eddie Condon band in 1957. He toured France and North America with Sammy price and generated much excitement on Louisiana Lament, a studio session for Vogue. In '67 Hall shared the stage in Toronto with Don Ewell and a year later with The Jazz Giants (issued as Wild Bill Davison, the Jazz Giants, Sackville 3002). This all-star band returned to Toronto several times and it was on one of these tours that Herb recorded this quartet date on January 10, 1969. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Old-Tyme-Modern-Herb-Hall/dp/B000001741

Personnel: Herb Hall - Clarinet;  Claude Hopkins - Piano;  Arvell Shaw - Bass;  Buzzy Drootin - Drums

Old Tyme Modern

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Rex Stewart - Rex Meets Horn

Styles: Cornet Jazz
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:07
Size: 94,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:20)  1. Boy Meets Horn
(3:04)  2. Mood Indigo
(3:12)  3. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
(2:47)  4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
(3:26)  5. Solitude
(2:52)  6. Take The "A" Train
(3:42)  7. Sweethearts On Parade
(3:03)  8. My Blue Heaven
(4:42)  9. Perdido
(3:37) 10. Honeysuckle Rose
(3:09) 11. Organ Grinder's Swing
(4:07) 12. Caravan

Rex Stewart achieved his greatest glory in a subsidiary role, playing cornet 11 years in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. His famous "talking" style and half-valve effects were exploited brilliantly by countless Ellington pieces containing perfect passages tailored to showcase Stewart's sound. He played in a forceful, gripping manner that reflected the influences of Louis Armstrong, Bubber Miley, and Bix Beiderbecke, whose solos he once reproduced on record. Stewart played on Potomac riverboats before moving to Philadelphia. He went to New York in 1921. Stewart worked with Elmer Snowden in 1925, then joined Fletcher Henderson a year later. But he felt his talents were not at the necessary level, and departed Henderson's band, joining his brother Horace's band at Wilberforce College. Stewart returned in 1928. He remained five years and contributed many memorable solos. There was also a brief period in McKinney's Cotton Pickers in 1931, a stint heading his own band, and another short stay with Luis Russell before Stewart joined the Ellington Orchestra in 1934.

He was a star throughout his tenure, co-writing classics "Boy Meets Horn" and "Morning Glory." He also supervised many outside recording sessions using Ellingtonians. After leaving, Stewart led various combos and performed throughout Europe and Australia on an extensive Jazz at the Philharmonic tour from 1947-1951. He lectured at the Paris Conservatory in 1948. Stewart settled in New Jersey to run a farm in the early '50s. He was semi-retired, but found new success in the media. He worked in local radio and television, while leading a band part-time in Boston. Stewart led the Fletcher Henderson reunion band in 1957 and 1958, and recorded with them. He played at Eddie Condon's club in 1958 and 1959, then moved to the West Coast. Stewart again worked as a disc jockey and became a critic. While he published many excellent pieces, a collection containing many of his best reviews, Jazz Masters of the Thirties, came out posthumously. There's also a Stewart autobiography available. ~ Ron Wynn http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rex-stewart-mn0000888838/biography

Personnel:  Alto Saxophone – Hilton Jefferson (tracks: 1 to 6);  Baritone Saxophone – Danny Bank (tracks: 1 to 6);  Cello – Claude Hopkins (tracks: 11);  Clarinet – Danny Bank (tracks: 1 to 6);  Cornet – Rex Stewart;  Double Bass – Arvell Shaw (tracks: 7 to 12), Milt Hinton (tracks: 1 to 6);  Drums – Cozy Cole (tracks: 7 to 12), Osie Johnson (tracks: 1 to 6);  Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 7 to 12);  Piano – Claude Hopkins (tracks: 7 to 12), Hank Jones (tracks: 1 to 6);  Tenor Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins (tracks: 7 to 12);  Trombone – Lawrence Brown (tracks: 1 to 6), Tyree Glenn (tracks: 7 to 12)

Rex Meets Horn

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Claude Hopkins - Safari Stomp

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:51
Size: 146.2 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[4:08] 1. I Would Do Anything For You
[4:55] 2. Crying Out My Heart For You
[4:09] 3. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
[6:19] 4. Nice Blues
[4:31] 5. Them There Eyes
[3:25] 6. Poor Butterfly
[4:01] 7. Safari Stomp
[3:53] 8. I'm Coming Virginia
[3:41] 9. Who's Sorry Now
[4:02] 10. Cute
[2:39] 11. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
[4:23] 12. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
[3:14] 13. It's Wonderful
[3:34] 14. Safari Stomp
[4:11] 15. Cute
[2:40] 16. Struttin' With Some Barbecue

Followed only by Sophisticated Swing, a live album captured at Virginia's Manassas Jazz Festival in December 1974, Safari Stomp was hatched in Valaurisis, France six months earlier on July 17 and appears to constitute pianist and bandleader Claude Hopkins' very last studio recording. Originally released as Black & Blue by the Black & Blue record label, the album's 2003 reissue adds previously omitted titles "Cute," "It's Wonderful," "Who's Sorry Now," and "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" along with several juicy alternate takes. Hopkins, whose recording career began in 1922, is heard in relaxed communion with Louis Armstrong's longtime bassist Arvell Shaw and master percussionist Jo Jones, a cardinal member of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935-1948. This intimate and pleasantly casual outing compares nicely with latter-day trio recordings by Hopkins' colleagues Duke Ellington and Earl Fatha Hines. Hopkins' music is recommended for tooling around in your ride or preparing a big meal for trusted friends and family. ~arwulf arwulf

Safari Stomp

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Claude Hopkins - Swing Time

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:42
Size: 166.4 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 1963/1999
Art: Front

[5:41] 1. I Cried For You
[6:12] 2. Somebody Loves Me
[6:14] 3. Stormy Weather
[4:46] 4. Love Me Or Leave Me
[4:59] 5. Mitzi
[4:23] 6. Crying My Heart Out For You
[5:49] 7. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:58] 8. Offbeat Blues
[4:22] 9. I Surrender, Dear
[3:46] 10. I Apologize
[6:32] 11. Late Evening
[5:13] 12. The Way You Look Tonight
[3:58] 13. (I Would Do) Anything For You
[5:43] 14. Safari Stomp

Claude Hopkins is best-known for being a powerful stride pianist who led a big band in the 1930s; he is also known for his solo records of 1969-72. Barely on records at all from 1941-59, Hopkins cut three albums for Swingville from 1960-63; the second and third are reissued in full on this 1999 CD. The most surprising aspect to these combo dates is that Hopkins hardly strides at all and comes across as a Teddy Wilson-inspired swing pianist. Much of the time he is in the background, with the success of the sessions really due to the fine playing of the horns. Trombonist Vic Dickenson and tenor saxophonist Budd Johnson play at the high level one would expect on the Swing Time set, with the main revelation being the obscure trumpeter Bobby Johnson, a veteran of Erskine Hawkins' Orchestra, who holds his own with the stars. Hopkins' "Crying My Heart Out for You" from this date is well worth reviving again. The music from the other Swingville album, Let's Jam, gives tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate an opportunity to play his underrated clarinet on "Late Evening" and has several opportunities for the largely forgotten swing trumpeter Joe Thomas to show how lyrical a soloist he was. This CD is recommended even if Hopkins' role is much more minor than expected. ~Scott Yanow

Swing Time

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