Showing posts with label Tommy Newsom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tommy Newsom. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Dick Cary's Tuesday Night Friends - Catching Up

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:26
Size: 158.9 MB
Styles: Swing, Bop, Big band
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[5:06] 1. Catching Up
[3:48] 2. Oofy
[3:35] 3. September Etude
[3:55] 4. The Albatross
[6:14] 5. Late Sunday
[3:18] 6. Gramercy Park
[4:07] 7. Shim-Me-Sha Wobble Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble
[2:31] 8. Black And Blue
[4:31] 9. Between Prone And Supine
[5:34] 10. December Song
[4:52] 11. Rialto
[3:54] 12. Sea Of Cortez
[2:39] 13. B-E-T-T-Y O'-H-A-R-A
[4:44] 14. Recado
[3:45] 15. White April
[6:43] 16. Sgt. Pee Wee

Alto Saxophone – Dick Hamilton; Baritone Saxophone – Betty O'Hara, Fred Cooper, Randy Aldcroft, Tommy Newsome; Bass – Herb Mickman; Clarinet – Abe Most, John Bambridge, Tommy Newsome; Drums – Jerry White; Euphonium – Betty O'Hara; Guitar – Dave Koonse; Leader – Dick Hamilton; Piano – Dick Hamilton; Soprano Saxophone – Tommy Newsome; Tenor Saxophone – John Bambridge, Terry Harrington; Trombone – Betty O'Hara, Ernie Tack; Trumpet – Dick Hamilton, Jack Trott.

Dick Cary’s friends are keeping alive his astonishing output of undated, unclassifiable compositions and arrangements. Cary’s most visible musical roles were as pianist, trumpeter, mellophonist and alto horn operator in bands playing Dixieland. The term Dixieland rankled him but he was stuck with it because of his associations. In the early 1940s Cary was house pianist at Nick’s traditional jazz emporium in Greenwich Village. His highlights as a player came with Louis Armstrong’s original All-Stars and in a productive association with Bobby Hackett in the 1950s. Throughout his career he also worked as an arranger, for Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Gray, Hackett and his own bands, among others.

For his last couple of decades Cary, who died in 1994, held sessions once a week at his house which were populated by Los Angeles studio musicians eager to play his intriguing, unconventional charts. This album has some of those friends playing 16 of his pieces. The music is full of rich textures, unexpected rhythmic displacements, written lines that sound improvised, pungent 20th century classical harmonies, exuberance, wryness, subtlety and nothing that sounds like Dixieland. Most of the pieces are Cary’s, but when he tackled a standard like “Black and Blue” he transformed it. Cary’s arrangements inspire fine solos from the ensemblists, especially clarinetist Abe Most, tenor saxophonist Tommy Newsom and the late trombonist Betty O’Hara. Newsom, a focused and consistently interesting soloist, radiates the spirit of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. Dick Hamilton, who leads the group, is impressive on piano, trumpet and the alto horn he inherited from Cary. ~Doug Ramsey

Catching Up mc
Catching Up zippy

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Tommy Newsom, Ken Peplowski - The Feeling Of Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:52
Size: 148.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1999/2006
Art: Front

[ 5:42] 1. Opnly A Rose
[ 8:22] 2. Feeling Of Jazz
[ 4:14] 3. Too Late Now
[ 5:08] 4. Benny's Pennies
[ 3:08] 5. All Alone
[ 4:24] 6. Skylark
[ 4:15] 7. Titter Pipes
[ 7:27] 8. It's Sand Man
[ 6:19] 9. I'll Close My Eyes
[ 5:40] 10. Opus De Funk
[10:08] 11. Lover Come Back To Me

Although not promoted as such, this happy pairing of tenormen Tommy Newsom and Ken Peplowski can be regarded as, if not a tribute to, then a remembering of the classic quintet jointly but irregularly led by Al Cohn and Zoot Sims from the late 1950s on. As were Al and Zoot, so are both Tommy and Ken also well-grounded in the school of playing that places primacy on a lyrical approach to improvisation, a warm tone, a healthy respect for swinging time, and a deliberate avoidance of athletic technical displays. So, if frequent excursions into the altissimo register, squawking multiphonics, and mind-numbing, assault-gun-like rapidity of notes presently constitute your definition of saxophone artistry, prepare to have your tastes broadened.

Backed with appropriate empathy and swing by pianist Ben Aronov, guitarist Mike Peters, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer Chuck Redd, the two tenormen embrace and intertwine on such long-neglected standards as "Only a Rose," "All Alone," and "Skylark," Ellington's seldom-played "The Feeling of Jazz," Aronov's boppish "Bennie's Pennies," Newsom's "Titter Pipes," a chart he wrote decades ago for Benny Goodman, Buck Clayton's "It's Sand, Man," Horace Silver's "Opus de Funk," and the show tunes, "Too Late Now" and "Lover, Come Back to Me." While serving admirably as a palliative to so much of the anarchic, juvenile noise currently being hyped as music, the bare-boned honesty of the sounds heard here also reminds us that all is not yet lost to the gangsta-enthralled philistines, at least not as long as swingers like Tommy and Peps are given a chance. ~Jack Sohmer

The Feeling Of Jazz

Friday, July 8, 2016

Ronnie Bedford Quartet - Just Friends

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:51
Size: 155.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[ 9:14] 1. Lester Leaps In
[ 8:12] 2. Just Friends
[ 8:08] 3. Dream Dancing
[11:06] 4. Now's The Time
[ 6:22] 5. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
[ 8:02] 6. Tickle Toe
[ 6:10] 7. How Long Has This Been Going On
[10:33] 8. On Green Dolphin Street

Recorded live in concert on Oct. 1, 1993 at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, this 8 track CD features drummer Ronnie Bedford, tenor saxophonist Tommy Newsome, pianist Bill Charlap and bassist Peter Huffaker.

Just Friends

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Tommy Newsom - Friendly Fire

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:02
Size: 162.6 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[6:01] 1. Close Your Eyes
[5:27] 2. Just Friends
[5:09] 3. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
[7:17] 4. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
[4:22] 5. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)
[5:52] 6. Cotton Tail
[7:13] 7. Stardust
[5:18] 8. (I Would Do) Anything For You
[4:41] 9. Billie's Bounce
[4:48] 10. Easy Living
[4:36] 11. Take The A Train
[4:10] 12. Rainbow Connection
[6:04] 13. Things Ain't What They Used To Be

Tommy Newsom spent such a long time in the Tonight Show Orchestra that jazz fans overlook his contributions. Finally recording regularly as a leader at the dawn of the 21st century, this solidly swinging tenor saxophonist has plenty to say on this studio session, which covers the music of several decades. Joined by veteran valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen and a rhythm section including pianist John F. Hammond, guitarist Bob Bain, bassist Jim Hughart, and drummer Dave Hunt, Newsom's imaginative arrangements bring out the best in each track. The songs lean heavily toward the swing era, including an easygoing "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me," a lush "Star Dust," and a pulsating "Cotton Tail." But Newsom adds a cool-toned "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise" featuring a beautifully interwoven counter melody by Enevoldsen, a snappy take of Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce," and a waltzing treatment of a song made famous on Sesame Street, "The Rainbow Connection," the latter which omits the horns. The musicianship of all parties is superb throughout this delightful session. ~Ken Dryden

Friendly Fire

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Tommy Newsom & His Octo-Pussycats - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:13
Size: 128.7 MB
Styles: Mainstream jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:16] 1. Titter Pipes
[5:28] 2. Detour Ahead
[8:04] 3. Cinnamon And Clove
[6:55] 4. In A Mellow Tone
[7:11] 5. Speak Low
[8:02] 6. Come Sunday
[5:26] 7. Poor Little Rich Girl
[5:52] 8. Maids Of Cadiz
[4:55] 9. Upper Manhattan Medical Group

If you're over 35-years-old, chances are good that you remember Tommy Newsom (if at all) as the tenor saxophonist for the NBC Orchestra during the Johnny Carson years, and as that ensemble's stand-in conductor when Doc Severinsen wasn't around. The running joke on the show was that Newsom was so square -- he'd stand there quietly, hands clasped behind his back, a little smile on his face, while Johnny and Ed poked fun at him for his implacable Midwestern reserve. Those who bought that pose may be surprised by the fiery swing, fierce energy and uncompromising chops that Newsom brings to his recorded work -- there's nothing reticent or modest about his beautifully dancing composition "Titter Pipes" or his sturdily swinging arrangement of the Noël Coward tune "Poor Little Rich Girl." In fact, his arrangements are about as impressive as his playing and that of the rest of his octet -- though the best track of all is probably that wonderful "Titter Pipes," the sole original on what is otherwise a program of standards. The album's only less-than-stellar moment comes at the weak and out-of-tune flute solo on "Cinnamon and Clove." Highly recommended overall. ~Rick Anderson

Tommy Newsom & His Octo-Pussycats