Tommy Banks, Big Miller - Legacy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:56
Size: 84.5 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[2:35] 1. Hey There
[3:30] 2. When Sunny Gets Blue
[4:30] 3. Bye Bye Blackbird
[5:35] 4. Without A Song
[5:21] 5. If I Ruled The World
[4:06] 6. But Beautiful
[2:36] 7. All Of Me
[5:17] 8. Since I Fell For You
[3:21] 9. We'll Be Together Again

The story starts in 1922 when Miller was born in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1949 he began singing with Lionel Hampton out of Kansas City and then moved to Jay McShann’s band. The same band Charlie Parker started in. Miller was big, almost 6’ 4”, and made his reputation as a Kansas City shouter. You had to be commanding to appear in front of the territory bands or you would get blown off the stage. He worked with Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and many other well-known bands.

In 1967 he got stranded in Canada when he was appearing as part of Jon Hendricks’ review – The Evolution of the Blues – and they went broke. He started taking one off gigs to raise the money to go back to the US but after visiting Edmonton and appearing with Banks on several occasions he was persuaded to stay. High praise for Banks and great news for Alberta.

This CD is a duet recording with Miller on vocals and Banks on piano. It was recorded in an afternoon in August 1989 and is a program of nine jazz standards, originally intended as a demo for a band recording that was never realized. It is a warm intimate session that could only have been produced by two old friends and consummate professionals who could hear each other breathe. ~R. Doull

Legacy mc
Legacy zippy

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Big Miller & Tommy Banks - Legacy

Size: 99,9 MB
Time: 36:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Hey There (2:34)
02. When Sunny Gets Blue (3:30)
03. Bye Bye Blackbird (4:30)
04. Without A Song (5:35)
05. If I Ruled The World (5:14)
06. But Beautiful (4:07)
07. All Of Me (2:36)
08. Since I Fell For You (5:17)
09. We'll Be Together Again (3:21)

The Edmonton Jazz Society and the Yardbird Suite are pleased to host the official release of a new duet album featuring the late and legendary jazz singer, Clarence “Big” Miller and Canadian jazz icon, Tommy Banks on piano.

The new release, Legacy, was produced by Edmonton native George Blondheim. Blondheim is recognized internationally as a multi-award winning composer, producer and pianist.

The nine never-before heard songs were originally recorded in August 1989 at Edmonton’s Beta Sound Recorders. With Big’s untimely passing in 1992, the recordings remained stored away on a hard drive. Now, almost 30 years later , Legacy is being released by Chronograph Records in conjunction with the Yardbird Suite’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, with proceeds in support of the educational programs of the Edmonton Jazz Society and Yardbird Suite.

Those who remember Big will now be able to hear that terrific voice, warm personality and unique delivery once again. A new audience of jazz lovers will appreciate his beautiful tone and timeless style. Big and Tommy began working together in the 1970s and travelled across Canada performing in many musical settings including duo concerts and CBC broadcasts. This rare moment in studio was intended as a demo session working toward an album, but fate intervened and Big and Tommy were never able to make the final recording Blondheim envisioned.

About Big Miller (1922-1992):
Clarence “Big” Miller was a jazz musician, blues singer, trombonist, and educator born in Sioux City, Iowa. By 1960, Big Miller had sung with the Jay McShann and Duke Ellington orchestras and recorded with Bob Brookmeyer, Rex Stewart and Jon Hendricks. Miller made his Canadian debut in 1962 and took up residence in Vancouver in 1967 before settling in Edmonton by 1970 where he went on to make a significant impact on the musical and cultural scene. He subsequently led a variety of small jazz and blues bands in western Canada but also toured nationally with Phil Nimmons, and travelled abroad as a soloist. He taught at the Banff Centre and Grant MacEwan College, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Athabasca University in 1985. The subject of the National Film Board documentary Big and the Blues (1980), Miller recorded several albums during his Canadian years, including the JUNO Award-winning Jazz Canada Montreux with the Tommy Banks Orchestra (1978), Live from Calgary (1982) and Live at Athabasca College (1989). Big Miller with Tommy Banks' Big Band was released posthumously in 1997. He touched many lives with his beautiful voice, his energy and most of all, his love and respect for his fellow human beings. He was an absolute original soul and talent.

Legacy

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P.J. Perry & Tommy Banks - Old Friends

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:57
Size: 160.1 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:36] 1. First Song For Ruth
[4:48] 2. For All We Know
[3:17] 3. Joy Spring
[5:23] 4. My Old Flame
[3:05] 5. The Best Things In Life Are Free
[4:36] 6. Darn That Dream
[4:21] 7. Ceora
[4:34] 8. Laura
[4:15] 9. My Foolish Heart
[4:05] 10. If You Could See Me Now
[4:41] 11. Blue And Sentimental
[4:41] 12. September Song
[4:23] 13. Delilah
[4:15] 14. My Ideal
[4:40] 15. Old Folks
[4:08] 16. You Can't Go Home Again

For their first duo record, saxophonist P.J. Perry and pianist Tommy Banks play with the unforced enthusiasm you might expect but with an added ear for nuance and detail given their spare setting. While they stick with ballads through most of this 70-minute set of standards there are still a few sprightly tempos among 16 carefully engineered tracks. Perry’s glowing alto sax remains his most revealing instrument though it’s closely matched in the big, breathy feel of his tenor outings as he conjures up romance (My Old Flame, Laura), melancholy (If You Could See Me Now, My Ideal), and fleeting joy (Joy Spring, The Best Things In Life Are Free). Banks’ solo breaks take off with elegance, cheerful lyricism (Ceora, September Song) and understated bluesiness (Blue And Sentimental) when he’s not playing the perfect foil to Perry’s fluid melodies. This is an intimate collaboration every classic jazz fan should hear for the decades of shared experience it reflects and the intangible magic of two familiar musical minds meeting up for the simple satisfaction of it all. ~Roger Levesque

Old Friends  

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Tommy Banks, Al Muirhead, Campbell Ryga, George Koller, Blaine Wikjord - All The Stars Aren't In The Sky

Styles: Traditional Jazz Combo
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:22
Size: 180,0 MB
Art: Front

(10:23)  1. Things Aint What They Used To Be
( 9:01)  2. If I Should Lose You
( 7:40)  3. I Thought About You
( 9:03)  4. Waltz For Debbie
( 6:11)  5. For All We Know
( 7:11)  6. Out Of Nowhere
( 5:54)  7. Darn That Dream
(11:04)  8. The Way You Look Tonight
( 1:52)  9. Two For The Road
( 9:56) 10. Stars Fell On Alabama

In the fifteenth century it was common for scientists, and others to sit at the feet of Artists as they were the ones who had the answer to the cosmic riddle. In the middle 1950's it was the jazz guys of New York who had a straight pipe tapping into the mother lode of what it was all about. Making the leap from amateur to fully committed artist, a Studio separate from where we lived was important. Crucial to the overall strategic plan was being able to listen to the great jazz masters of the day who were the cutting edge of contemporaneous thought. The first item of furniture purchased for the Studio was a stereophonic LP record player. Being able to listen to what “it” was all about whilst engaged in the actual act of painting was vitally important. What a gifted time it all was! Late at night standing at the easel with loaded brush and fevered mind I listened to Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, and so very many more. Playing tunes I was well familiar with such as “Stars Fell on Alabama”, “For all we know”, and “Moonlight in Vermont” they would weave intricate alternate lines contrapuntal to the musical passages written and in doing so prompt me to explore exciting alternate visual solutions.

They were the cutting edge of contemporaneous thought with intellectually challenging concepts. Their flights of fancy, and excursions into unexplored territory guided my brush, and informed my mind. My paintings of that time all owe a debt of great gratitude to those individuals, and the tunes of that day. Mounting this exhibition of works from that time I can think of no better way of celebrating them than to let the works hear the sort of sounds and music that were so instrumental in their creation so long ago. Playing those sorts of sounds, and that sort of music I can think of no finer artists than My good friend Al Muirhead, Campbell Ryga, the great Senator Tommy Banks , George Koller, and Blaine Wikjord to recreate those sounds. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tbcrgkbwam

All The Stars Aren't In The Sky

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