Sol Yaged - On Bleecker Street

Styles: Clarinet Jazz 
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 163:19
Size: 376,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:03)  1. Ain't Misbehavin'
(4:04)  2. Body and Soul
(5:42)  3. Candy
(3:09)  4. Cocktails for Two
(3:51)  5. Darn That Dream
(4:27)  6. Dearly Beloved
(3:51)  7. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
(4:27)  8. A Foggy Day
(3:35)  9. Frenesi
(5:25) 10. Georgia on My Mind
(6:50) 11. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(5:03) 12. I Don't Want to Walk Without You
(6:05) 13. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
(5:34) 14. If I Had You
(5:46) 15. I'm Confessin'
(6:22) 16. Isn't It Romantic
(3:01) 17. I've Got a Crush on You
(5:07) 18. June Night
(6:02) 19. Let's Do It
(5:10) 20. Mean to Me
(4:44) 21. More Than You Know
(4:24) 22. My Old Flame
(5:37) 23. Oh Lady Be Good
(5:01) 24. Perfidia
(2:51) 25. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
(4:22) 26. Sugar
(6:53) 27. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(4:00) 28. Its the Talk of the Town
(3:49) 29. The Very Thought of You
(3:20) 30. They Can't Take That Away from Me
(7:54) 31. Willow Weep for Me
(3:35) 32. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
(5:57) 33. You'd Be so Nice to Come Home To

Sol Yaged (born December 8, 1922) is an American jazz clarinetist who was strongly influenced by Benny Goodman. Yaged was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, and began playing clarinet at the age of 12 after hearing Goodman's broadcasts for Nabisco in 1935. He studied under a clarinetist from the New York Philharmonic; but turned down a classical career to play jazz in New York City nightclubs, such as Jimmy Ryan's and the Swing Club. Yaged became a Goodman disciple. Early in his career he imitated Goodman's runs and phrasing and even mimicked his mannerisms and speaking style. He showed up so faithfully at Goodman's engagements and recording dates that Goodman called him ''my shadow'' and would jokingly reprimand him if he showed up late. ''If it hadn't been for Benny Goodman I'd have been a juvenile delinquent,'' Mr. Yaged said. Since serving in the Army for three years during World War II, Yaged has played clarinet continuously, with such musicians as Phil Napoleon, Coleman Hawkins, Red Allen, and Jack Teagarden. Beginning in the 1960s, he began working primarily as an ensemble leader in New York City. Yaged served as a consultant on Benny Goodman's musical style for the 1956 film, The Benny Goodman Story. Has Clarinet, Will Swing Till Wee Hours; Sol Yaged, a Benny Goodman Disciple, Still Plays the Good Old Songs the Good Old Way The swing era is not over. It is stashed away in Sol Yaged's clarinet case, which he still opens nightly in a dark corner of a quiet Upper East Side restaurant.

''I bought this baby in 1938 for $125'' at a store on West 48th Street, Mr. Yaged said recently as he flipped open his worn case and took out his Conn clarinet at the restaurant, Il Valentino, on East 56th Street. The purchase turned out to be a long-term investment. He began playing professionally while still a teenager and has had few nights off since. Back then he had plenty of work on 52nd Street at clubs like the Onyx, the Three Deuces and Jimmy Ryan's. And there was the night on Grove Street, at Arthur's Tavern, when Charlie Parker showed up at the gig without his sax, and had to borrow Sol's clarinet! Sol knew everyone. Those days are long gone, but Mr. Yaged is as busy as ever. From 1999 till 2004 he played five nights a week on Bleecker Street with Bob Arkin (bass) and Albert Garzon (piano). It is from those gigs that "On Bleecker Street" evolved. Since 2004 he has been playing at Il Valentino, which is in the Hotel Sutton and was once a club run by the bandleader Eddie Condon. Each night Mr. Yaged turns back time, playing the same ol' songs the same way he did a half-century ago. This is the Sol Yaged who hired the saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and the drummer Cozy Cole as sidemen and who wrote music for the film ''The Benny Goodman Story,'' teaching Steve Allen to play the clarinet for the title role. Even now Mr. Yaged routinely plays into the wee hours; his business card includes his home phone number and the directive ''Call after 1 p.m.'' The jazz historian and radio-show host Phil Schaap said, ''Sol Yaged has always been a solid musician,'' and noted that Mr. Yaged had played in Max Kaminsky's band on the opening night of the original Birdland. Schaap continued: ''That his fame has evaporated says more about the state of jazz than it does about him. He's still an employed musician in New York, a city with 600 hard-bop bands that can't find work!" The owner of Il Valentino, Mirso Lekic, said, ''The man's a living legend and nobody knows he's still around.'' Mr. Lekic hired him to play quiet, classy music to dine by, and during the dinner hour he does just that, taking a back seat to chatting diners and to waiters reciting nightly specials. But as the evening progresses he seems to grow younger, swinging his group harder, until patrons put down their dessert forks and the dignified northern Italian restaurant turns into a festive jazz club. 

The musicians in his group sit in a corner in chairs backed against the wall, Dixieland style. They play their share of stompers, but their sets generally begin by invoking Goodman's spirit. Like Goodman's small-group ensembles, Yaged's band plays straight-ahead standards with a series of riffing choruses; though things tend to get a bit wild when the crowd grows later in the evening.  Sol is built like a linebacker, and with his shaved head he looks like a cross between Yul Brynner and Knute Rockne. He wore a wide tie with a fat knot and had a threadbare fake rose in his lapel. The gold ring on his beefy pinkie shimmered as his fingers fluttered over the clarinet keys while the group began to play ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.'' He plays with a creamy, elegant tone that evokes Goodman's lyricism. On ''Embraceable You'' he treated the melody like a fat balloon that he nonchalantly thwacked into the air. ''I first heard him play this song 50 years ago,'' said a man gripping a glass of Scotch. Sol's tight, swinging ensemble playing is infectious. They did tidy, catchy arrangements of songs like ''I Can't Give You Anything but Love'' and ''Love Is Here to Stay'' with tailgating trombone obbligato and brassy offbeat trumpet punches. Mr. Yaged's best improvising is as a showman. He is an unabashed ham, whether delivering borscht belt one-liners while fixing his reed or fake-clobbering a diner with his clarinet. He often plays with one hand and pours wine for patrons with the other. At one point he joined a discussion at a side table, but leapt up in time to play an ornamental run on the final chorus of ''How Deep Is the Ocean?'' He finished the song leaning against a dessert cart. ''So easy when you know how,'' he chuckled as the diners applauded. At around midnight the place seems like a speak-easy and Mr. Yaged swings the band like a lariat, spurring the musicians on with shouts and comments. When backing up soloists he comes up with simple, floating riffs. He applauds his sidemen's solos, clarinet tucked like an umbrella under his arm. Sometimes, when he particularly likes the way his bandmates end a tune, he will start them up again and have them play it several more times, guffawing gleefully each time. Late on that recent Saturday night a man from the bar wobbled over and stuffed a $5 bill into the tip jar. Mr. Yaged started the band off on a stomping ''St. Louis Blues'' and then ''Flying Home'' and ''King Porter Stomp.'' During ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' a man leaned over and said, ''When you write your article, say the food's terrible and the waiters are nasty so us old-timers can come and not be swamped with people.'' https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/solyaged

On Bleecker Street

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Sol Yaged - It Might as Well Be Swing

Styles: Clarinet Jazz, Swing
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:08
Size: 85,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:20)  1. Yacht Club Swing
(2:55)  2. Easy Living
(4:52)  3. Love Me or Leave Me
(3:26)  4. I'll Never Be the Same
(6:05)  5. It Might as Well Be Swing
(3:18)  6. Auf Wiedersehen My Dear
(2:47)  7. Lulu's Back in Town
(7:21)  8. After You've Gone

Sol Yaged is one of the final living legends from the original era of American Big Band & Swing music. Born 1922, playing clarinet since 1935, Sol has played alongside every jazz great you can imagine from Glen Miller to Lionel Hampton to Gene Krupa. Known as “the disciple of Benny Goodman,” Sol was amazed by Goodman’s abilities and attended nearly every single Benny Goodman orchestra live show, band rehearsal, or recording date. So much so that when it came time to film the 1956 movie “The Benny Goodman Story” Sol Yaged was hired to fly out to Hollywood for a month to teach lead role Steve Allen how to play, look and act like Benny Goodman. Now 95 years old, Sol continues to remain a world-renown clarinetist and legend in the underground jazz, big band and swing communities from players of all ages, especially in his home: New York City.  What lies before you is Sol’s debut LP release “It Might As Well Be Swing.” Released in 1956 and out of print since 1962, Pine Hill Records and Sol Yaged teamed up to bring this wonderful album back to life with a limited edition reissue on white vinyl, digipak CD, and digital. This is the first time any Sol Yaged recording has been made available digitally. This album features fellow living legend Harry Sheppard on vibraphone. At 89 years old, Harry still performs regularly in Texas where he now lives. He remains the only other surviving musician on this album. The album was delicately and passionately remastered to make it sound the highest quality possible while keeping it true to its original sound. This is a very limited edition pressing of 300 LP’s [White vinyl w/ Download Card] and 300 Digipak CD’s. Pine Hill Records is honored to bring this back over 60 years after its original release. Sol and Harry are two wonderful people who have and continue to give their entire lives to music. Don't miss out on this piece of big band history! https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/solyaged1

Personnel:  Clarinet – Sol Yaged; Bass – Mort Herbert; Drums – Mickey Sheen; Piano – Ken Kersey; Vibraphone – Harry Sheppard

It Might as Well Be Swing

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