What's I've Been Up Too

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So I haven't posted here for a couple weeks, so I figured I should fill you in with what I've been up to. I'm proud to say that I'm working on a new Instagram page, so i've been putting a lot of effort into getting that up and running. It's going to be a daily "today in music" kind of thing, so if you're into that, go give it a follow. I have something fun planned for all of next week, so you don't wanna miss out! As for the blog, I'm going to keep posting here, but it may be a bit more infrequent. I want to post the best material, so I want to take the time to make sure that what I post in really presentable. So go check out the new Insta page, thanks for reading, and party on dudes!

An Ode To Peter Green

“…the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.” - B.B. King

In an all too brief period of five years, Peter Green reshaped rock music as we know it. He co founded one of the most recognizable bands of the last 50 years, wrote some of the great rock standards, and could play guitar as well as the blues masters who proceeded him. Nobody could play a guitar like Peter Green. Not Clapton, not Beck, not Page, not Blackmore. Nobody. His perfection of phrasing and sound proved to the world that he could outplay any one of his contemporaries.  Look, I love Eric Clapton to death, but his phrasing was NOWHERE near Greens. I mean, Clapton set the bar in regards to British guitar players; A white kid who had a strong appreciation of the blues, as well as a strong work ethic and technique that could challenge anyone. How many of us guitar players have worshipped John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers Featuring Eric Clapton? Sure we’ve all studied it, but it’s the album afterwords that also deserves a listen, A Hard Road, with Peter Green taking over on guitar. Listening to that, as well as archival live recordings shows that Peter Green was as equal, if not better, than Clapton. Personally, I’ve always felt that during slower songs, Clapton overplays. Listen to “Have You Heard” off his album with Mayall. The phrases he plays  are as powerful and face melting as Otis Rush, but it doesn’t replicate the same way. Now listen to Greeny play on a version of Buddy Guy's “Stone Crazy” (With Rod Stewart, Jack Bruce, and Anysley Dunbar to boot!). There’s a more natural emotional delivery in his playing, and he doesn't need to go overboard with a barrage of notes. This is not to any sort of crack at Clapton because, as the adage goes, “Clapton is God”. What this is, though, is a simple ode to Peter Green, a man who has just left this world, and a man who is not talked about enough today as his contemporaries. Besides the Blues, Green's songwriting would find appreciation within the hard rock and mental community. Everyone knows the powerful Santana performance on “Black Magic Woman”; Written by Peter Green. Judas Priest nuts love “Green Manalishi”; Written by Peter Green. Aerosmith played "Rattlesnake Shake" live during their formative years; Written by Peter Green. Although a short one due to an acid trip giving him schizophrenia, his presence was felt within every aspect of rock music for years to come. Even when he did get himself help and returned to play, every guitar slinger to this day revered him when he made his presence. I implore anyone who isn’t familiar with his work to seek out Peter Green, and perhaps a new generation can appreciate one of rocks most overlooked casualties, but legend to highest degree. Rest in peace Mr Green, and may you shred in the valley of the kings.

Woody Herman - Chick, Donald, Walter & Woodrow (1978)

The 1970s was a questionable era for a jazz big band. Groups led by Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich and Woody Herman tried to encapsulate the ideas of jazz fusion while still holding true the ideas of the golden age of Big Bands of the 1940’s and 50’s. What you get are these funky, powerful, and at times, cheesy arrangements played by masterful musicians old and new. Some albums and arrangements work and are still played today, like Maynard Ferguson’s immortal version of "Chameleon", while others, well, let’s get to Chick, Donald, Walter & Woodrow.

Woody Herman is one of the most important figures in the Big Band era. In his prime, his “Heard” was one of the most popular bands of their day, mixing in sounds of the blues and bebop better than any white band at the time. Hell, Stravinsky was so impressed he wrote a piece for the band. By the 1970’s, his band was just like every other big band, trying to find work and trying to stay relevant. Throughout the 70’s, his band recored many fusion based albums of varying quality (HIGHLY recommend the album Giant Steps). by 1978 with the release of Chick, Donald, Walter & Woodrow, the Fusion sounds of the Woody Herman band had started to reach it’s last few breaths.

The album opens with a massive 19 minute, three movement piece written by Chick Corea entitled “Suite for a Hot Band”. If you dig Corea’s writing and harmonic ideas, it’s really worth your time. I really don’t know any other tunes he arranged for a large ensemble such as this and it’s a treat! The first movement is typical 70’s era Corea, writing fusion ideas for a large ensemble. Then we get to the second movement. I think what pushes this to the extreme is when Herman starts SINGING (about 9:30 in for the curious). The 3rd section of the suite is a typical Corea latin inspired tune that I keep mistaking for "Armando’s Rhumba". Overall, despite the vocals, it’s a really cool piece. If you dig Corea’s writing and harmonic ideas, it’s really worth your time.As for the rest of the album, we’re left of covers of Steely Dan tunes (mostly from Aja), and all I can say is… They Work! There’s really not too much to say, Steely Dan tunes make great jazz arrangements. A little schmaltzy, elevator music esq at times, but in theory they work.

Chick, Donald, Walter & Woodrow is comparable to a mid life crisis; trying to stay as hip as possible for fear that you’re growing old. Regardless, this album really does have a few surprises that warrant a good listen. What I always forget about the 70’s version of Herman’s band is that Joe Lovano was a member of it. I don’t why, but all throughout its existence, the Woody Herman band always had the best sax players. Even at this era of his career, Woody Herman still knew how to stack a band. Is this an immortal album that should be regarded as the return to big band jazz? Not at all! Is it an interesting novelty of the fusion era that should be given a good listen? Absolutely! 

Gary Stewart - Out Of Hand (1975)

By 1975, popular country music, like today, was oriented towards the general pop market and success in the Nashville system was measured by crossover success. Nashville producers had been pushing this more lush, orchestrated sound since the 1950’s to legitimize themselves and to steer away from the idea that country musicians were just plain Hillbillies. Also at this time, musicians such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, outcasts of the Nashville system, wanted to record music they wanted to make and have more creative control on what they worked on, and thus would motivate these outlaws to reshape the whole idea of country music. Regardless of all that, Nashville still had a slew of musicians and songwriters on the major labels that were releasing material, gaining varying amounts of attention.  One of these musicians was Gary Stewart.  Stewart had already been a Nashville songwriter, backing musician and outcast by 1973. RCA producer Roy Dea came across his demo tape and put him up to record an album. The result is 1975's "Out of Hand", a beer drenched, cigarette stained, honky tonk masterpiece.  

The first thing I notice is the sound of this album; No lush strings, nothing pop oriented, just barroom jukebox country music. There's almost southern rock thing going on as well, like on the song “Honky Tonkin’”. It’s not as heavy a rock sound as the Allman’s (who were friends of Stewart) or Lynyrd Skynyrd, but that usage of guitar and steel guitar to replicate Duane & Dicky duel guitar thing adds to it.  With that in mind, it melds together with Stewarts quiver in his voice. His voice rocks on the rockers and it adds another dimension to the heartbreak of the lyrics of the tearjerkers. The sound is what draws you in, but the songwriting is the real gem of this album. A thing to note about the songwriting is how bleak they lyrics truly are. Many of us think of a good drinking song as “let’s get tanked and go nuts”, but the true poetic side is the truly relatable. “Drinking Thing” ,for example, shows the idea of how lost one can get when someone leaves you,  trying to put the puzzle together of what happened and filling up this empty hole with glass after glass of booze. Is it bleak, yes, but it’s that grim reminder of what many of us do in these circumstances. Look, I’m not gonna sit here and say if this is a good thing to do or not, but many of us feel that this is the kind of escape we need, and it's the only answer to the question of “why did they leave”.

At the time of it's release, "Out of Hand" did really well chart wise, hitting number six on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and the singles "Drinking Thing", the title track, and "She's Acting Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" hitting numbers ten, four and one respectively. Even famous critic Robert Christgau approved of the album, stating it's "the best regular issue country LP I've heard in about five years". It's a shame people don't talk about this album as much as they should, because it too laid the groundwork for what outlaw country would become, and did as much as albums recorded by Willie & Waylon.

The Genius of Stan Freberg

    Stan Freberg was a comedian, a voice actor, a director, a writer and all around silly person who stuck his fingers in many facets of entertainment from the mid 1940’s until his passing in 2015. Chances are you don’t know his name, but you certainly have come across something he’s done; Voice work for Looney Tunes, hosting one of the last radio shows on American airwaves during it's golden era, basically inventing the comedic commercial, which won him 21 Clio awards (the marketing people awards), and recording a comedy album revered by the likes of Steven Spielberg and Paul McCartney (but we’ll talk about that one another time). Even though all of that is impressive, Freberg shined the brightest when recording singles for Capitol in the 1950's.  His first success with the label was with a single he recorded called “John & Marsha”, a take off of sappy soap opera romance, and hit number 21 on the Billboard charts. With that success in mind, he would spend the rest of the 1950's warping Capitol Tower to his likeness.

    The track that really got me hip to Stan Freberg was his rendition of the Calypso classic “ Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)". Many of us know the Harry Belafonte recording of this song (*Insert Beetlejuice Scene*), but Freberg takes it in a new direction. Freberg, the singer, is arguing with his beatnik bongo player about screaming "Day O", so much that his bongo player will leave if Freberg doesn’t stop yelling. The only way Freberg can continue with his yelling is for him to rush out into the hallway, do the “Day O” part, and run back into the studio. I won’t spoil the end, but it’s easily one of Freberg’s funniest records. Many of Freberg’s records include some sort of instrumentalist feeling he can do and play what he wants while pissing Freberg off in the process; The aforementioned “Banana Boat Song”, a choir that changes songs halfway though “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, An obnoxiously loud snare drummer on “Yellow Rose of Texas”, or A Jazz pianist wanting to break loose and cut on “The Great Pretender”. Freberg hit it right on the nail with these songs because every musician who has ever lived will add more to a song, whether you like it or not. I can assure that any of the session musicians on these tracks have been found guilty of doing this at one point or another. The whole idea of having a man trying to record a record at the world famous Capitol Records in Los Angeles, and being met with insolent and uncooperative musicians is not only brilliant, but downright hilarious.

    Regardless of obnoxious musicians, Stan Freberg poked fun at many popular records at the time in some way shape or form. “Try” is a sendoff of Johnnie Ray’s “Cry”, “A Dear John & Marsha Letter” rips not only on himself, but country record “A Dear John Letter”, but what would give Freberg the greatest results was his poking fun at the biggest fad plaguing society at the time, Rock N Roll. Many of these singles rip hard on Rock n Roll; “Sh Boom” but with mumbled lyrics to create an “authentic” Doo Wop record, “Heartbreak Hotel” with excessive slap back echo while the singer keeps dancing and ripping his pants (like certain a rock singer),  or “Wide-Screen Mama Blues” but with undecipherable lyrics. Being such an easy target at the time, how can you not parody this new music?

    If Stan Freberg  wasn’t poking fun at music, he would poke fun at something else hugely popular at the time.  Look at “St George & The Dragonet” from 1953. At the time, “Dragnet” was one of the most popular radio shows and TV shows in the country, so how do you not satire that? Instead of a gritty story of crime in Los Angeles, it’s now a story of Knight’s fighting dragons in the Middle Ages. I can’t recommend this record enough, this is the closest you will ever get to a full fledged Looney Tunes cartoon on record. First, the writing is superb and requires many listens to appreciate all the humor. Second, the cast doesn’t just feature Stan Freberg, but a who's who of legendary voice actors, like Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound) and June Foray (Granny, Rocky The Flying Squirrel). This record was such a success that Freberg did another Christmas themed Dragnet as a followup. This one’s a bit more straightforward as it's a direct parody of the show, but it’s still a funny record to throw on at your next Christmas party.

  The brilliance of these records is that Stan Freberg was able to create his own twisted world on record with silly voices, insolent musicians, crazy effects and fantastic production. Only a genius like Stan Freberg could create and replicate certain styles without having his records just sound sloppy. It takes a genius to arrange every one of these musical fall offs. Looking at "The Great Pretender" again, notice all the instances with the piano that either goes off from the music, holds out his passage, or speeds up. All of these elements had to have been heavily arranged to get this result and get the proper comedic timing so the humor doesn't fall flat, and only someone like Stan Freberg could do it. Weird Al Yankovic has that same sense of timing with his work, but I notice it more in his music videos. While extremely impressive, it's not same as doing it only with sound on a record. Stan Freberg took the idea of satire and made it look so unintelligent, that it was intelligent, and only a true genius could pull that off.

Lester Young & The Oscar Peterson Trio

    I just finished re installing my record player into my room. I had it there for a while but as my record catalogue grew, I couldn’t house everything, so I moved operations to the basement. As my home life extends and the lingering sets, I felt I needed it back up for my sanity. To re christen my baby, I pulled out a double LP compilation of the great tenor sax innovator, Lester Young. The first record is a session with Teddy Wilson, and the second LP is with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Two LP’s of Prez with the great Pianists, but I decided to spin the Peterson disc.

    First and foremost, what’s left to be said about Lester Young? he developed his own laidback, lyrical approach to playing that is a complete contrast to his contemporary, Coleman Hawkins. With that, he is playing with perhaps the strongest backing band in Jazz music at the time. Oscar Peterson is perhaps the most celebrated pianist of his day, and his explosive soloing and masterful comping makes any jazz musician want to have him for his session. Ray Brown is without a doubt the most fervent bassist of the 1950’s, and Barney Kessell holds down the fort on Guitar. J.C. Heard is the drummer on these recordings, and even though he's a great drummer, his addition isn't needed for the Peterson Trio, they always do fine on their own. 

    The up tunes on this album are very good, Lester shines on "Ad Lib Blues", but what always gets me is his remarkable ballad playing. His version of “I Can’t Get Started”, is without a doubt one of my favorite ballad performances in all of jazz music. Young’s so sincere and tender with his playing, nothing is over played, nothing is played just to be played, every note is right where it belongs and has a reason for existing. Kessell’s steady arpeggiated chordal playing and Brown’s off beat quarter and eighth note passages give the tune proper forward momentum. This is the type of record I would give a rhythm section member to teach them how to play a ballad at a masterful level.

    This was recorded in 1952, at a time before Young’s alcoholism would destroy him and tarnish his playing for good. His playing isn’t as fiery as with Count Basie, but it’s not gone yet, like recordings later in the decade would show. The Oscar Peterson Trio could adapt to any musician or singer and really make the soloist sound ten times better. If you're looking for a Jazz album that is very approachable and yet still gives off high sophistication, then this is the disk for. Even though I hadn't mentioned it, the Teddy Wilson session is also worth your time.

Listen for the ballads, stay for the bop!

Blossom: Unpacking Her Story

"She has a tiny voice, Without a microphone it wouldn't reach the second floor of a doll's house." - Whitney Balliett 

    I grew up on a lot of good television on the suggestion of my mother; Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, and Schoolhouse Rock. I tell ya, I wouldn’t have been able to count my fives tables without that catchy song. Regardless, many of the Schoolhouse Rock songs were performed by jazz artists from the 50’s and 60’s, such as Bob Dorough, Jack Sheldon, and Grady Tate. a while back I was listening to a Verve Records compilation of Gershwin songs, and one song struck me funny. It was a recording of “Someone To Watch Over Me”, and it was performed by someone named Blossom Dearie. While listening, I thought that I must have heard this recording somewhere before. That voice was so distinctive, almost as though I knew the voice all my life, but that name didn’t ring a bell. After a quick search on the internet and a quick skim though the book Verve: The Sound Of America, I realized that Blossom Dearie was the singer on the Schoolhouse Rock song, “Unpack Your Adjectives”.  I hadn’t  come across any recording of a singer who performed on Schoolhouse Rock before, except for Grady Tate, who was the drummer for the Jimmy Smith Trio.  It also struck me funny that Dearie’s first album for Verve was released in 1957, during the golden decade of this great Jazz label, and being very familiar this great label, I had never heard of her prior. To make a long story short, I was completely blown away by her soft, light vocals as well as her earnest delivery. So, I took it upon myself to find out who is Blossom Dearie, and why is she such a forgotten figure of Jazz.

    I haven’t seen many interviews with Blossom Dearie, but the few I have seen show that she was reluctant to disclose anything about her life. Once asked by NPR’s Karen Mitchell, she responded with "I'd rather not go into this biography, It's just — it's — I find it boring." I find that an interesting statement because her life was anything but boring. She was born Margrethe Blossom Dearie in East Durham, New York, on April 28th, 1924. Like many musicians of her era, she started as a classical pianist, but soon found the world of Jazz and decided to pursue that path instead. After she graduated from school, she went to New York to continue pursuing music, meeting the likes of Dave Lambert (as in the Lambert that’s with Hendricks & Ross), who introduced her to Gil Evans. Dearie would be present in the same get togethers that would inspire a young Miles Davis to make his “Birth of the Cool” recordings (Miles Davis of Blossom Dearie;"the only white woman who ever had soul.”)  After singing around with Big Band vocal groups, she moved to Paris to start a solo career.  While there, she would record with, and share an apartment with, Annie Ross (the Ross of the aforementioned singing group), fall in love and subsequently marry for a short time a French Saxophonist, and also catch the eye of a well to do jazz impresario and producer, Norman Granz. Blossom Dearie would record six albums for Granz’s label, Verve; Her best known recordings. 

    Looking at her first of her albums, simply titled Blossom Dearie, the thing to hear is how distinguishing her vocals are. Without trying to sound repetitive, her voice is light, soft, childlike and contained, all of which is not to speak ill of. She has a way to lightly dabble upon the lyrics of a song, without any sort of extra emphasis, to deliver a light, lofty, and yet, articulate rendition of the words. Comparing her to other vocalists of her day, I can't think of a jazz vocalist with a lighter touch, others had there moments, but never for an entire album. The other thing to notice is her eclectic choice of material. Although there are better known songs, like "Lover Man" and "It Might As Well Be Spring", Dearie chose to dig deeper into the Rogers and Hart catalogue as well, with "Wait Till You See Her" and "Thou Swell" (both of which are great songs I don't hear played much today). She even performs a couple tunes in French (“It Might As Well Be Spring” and “Tout Doucement”).

    After her tenure with Verve, Blossom Dearie would record for other labels, as well as forming and releasing albums on her own label, Daffodil, from 1974 onwards.  She would frequent many of New York’s supper clubs and continue to travel and play around the world, making a return to Paris, and made appearances at London's premier jazz destination, Ronnie Scott’s. As mentioned previously, many of us know Dearie from her few appearances singing songs for “Schoolhouse Rock”, singing  the aforementioned “Unpack Your Adjectives”, and “Figure Eight”.  Blossom Dearie continued to play the New York clubs until 2006, and sadly passed on February 9th, 2009. 

    In an age where society is searching for more important female figures, Blossom Dearie is one that often gets overlooked. And why should she? She had her own distinctive voice in jazz, was signed to one of the premier labels of the day, and could play and write as well as any of her male contemporaries.  If anyone does remember her, it’s mainly for her work with Schoolhouse Rock, and that seems wrong to me, because her body of work prior is so good and she is very much more an original then her contemporaries. Do yourself a favor and find any of her Verve LP’s and give a listen. Even more so, listen to her sing this song that best represents her, because Blossom Dearie is, and always should be, an Important voice in jazz music and as hip as anyone before or after her.

Rocking Down Under: Kallaj’s Guide To Aussie Rock [PART THREE]

So it's been a year. Don't worry, I didn't forget about finishing this off, lets go!




1: "Rock N Roll Outlaw”: Rose Tattoo 

Rose Tattoo kicks serious ass, just look at these guys!! 

Like AC/DC, their first album was produced by George Young and Harry Vanda (sensing a theme yet?).  Also, their hard rock meets hard blues sound is the perfect mix where nether side oversteps and comes off as a distinctive sound.  With this sound, Rose Tattoo made themselves big favorites on the Aussie pub circuit. Rock N Roll Outlaw gives a great glimpse into what I’m talking about. Rose Tattoo were one of the many bands who recorded for Albert Productions of Sydney, the label that launched careers of The Easybeats, Stevie Wright, and AC/DC. The big thing about the recordings produced at Alberts is that the guitar sound on any of these recordings is very distinctive. As with this record, the guitar is largely present and very crunchy. Young & Vanda are very overlooked as producers, and they helped develop a great sound for their label.  Also, the lead vocalist, get this, Angry Anderson (seriously), has not only the best name in 70s rock, but also puts himself on the list of great voices for a frontman. If you dig this, give their S/T album a spin.

2: “Boys in Town”: The Divinyls

Yes… These guys…

All Austin Powers jokes aside, I’m a big fan of the Divinyls first couple albums, with "Boys In Town" being a strong highlight.  There’s almost a Blondie quality about this song; a strong female frontwoman, a very prominent new wave sound, so If that’s your bag, then go no further and find a copy of their first album, Desperate. Watching these guys live in 1982 shows they aren’t just a Blondie knockoff though. I love how their lead vocalist, Chrissy Amphlett, is totally rocking, and wearing schoolgirl outfit  almost like a female… 

Well… 

You know. 

The crazy thing is is the whole transformation from this to “Touch Myself” in 1991. The first two albums are very rock oriented and then they made a shift towards a more popish sound. It’s a shame they never released more harder rocking tracks after the first two albums.

Aussie Rock Today:

     

Even though I've been going old school doesn't mean there aren't good modern bands. Two great groups that come to mind are King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Amyl & The Sniffers. King Gizzard are very much in the psychedelic brand of things mixed with a bunch of other sounds that would take too long to list here, so if you like surprises and eclecticism with your music, then these guys are for you. Amyl & The Sniffers, on the other hand, are old school as they come. Mixing 70's punk with Aussie pub rock, they are one of the most exciting bands I've seen in the last couple years.

Bonus: Other great songs to check out

Below, I’ve added some other songs that’s are pretty awesome that I didn’t have a chance to talk about, but are still very much worth your time. 

• “Wild Weekend” - The Thunderbirds
• “Bombora” -  The Atlantics
• “The Loved One” - The Loved Ones
• “The Real Thing” - Russell Morris
• “Ball Power” (Whole Album) - Colored Balls 
• “Boppin The Blues” - Blackfeather
• “Eagle Rock” - Daddy Cool
• “The Freak” - Zoot
• “Riff in my Head” - Hush
• “Jump in my Car” - Ted Mulry Gang
• “Aloha Steve & Danno” - Radio Birdman
• “(I’m) Stranded” - The Saints
• “Take A Long Line” - The Angles
• “Am I Ever Going To See Your Face Again” - The Angles
• “Beautiful People” - Australian Crawl
• “Run to Paradise” - Choirboys

Final thought: If you did not get hip to Aussie rock, go back to Part One and read though again. Repeat as many times if necessary.

Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

Steely Dan
Aja

ABC 1977

I’ve always felt very conflicted about Steely Dan. I never was a fan of their radio fodder like “Do It Again” or “Rikki Don’t Loose That Number," so that always left me with a funny taste in my mouth when anybody would talk about them. Having recently dived deeper into 1977’s Aja, their seminal work, I find them to be very compelling musicians and very smart in the studio, but yet, I still find it hard to put away my conflictions. 

Here’s the skinny, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker knew the sound that they wanted, and it can’t be more apparent than with this recording. The amount of musicians they brought in to help capture this sound is so cool. From the master of the groove Bernard Purdie, to sax mastermind Wayne Shorter, every other L.A. session cat who was hot at the time is here in one way or another (Steve Gadd, Larry Carlton, Tom Scott, Chuck Rainey, etc.).  Each performer brings a different element to the table, and it is mixed together in each track with such care and precision that the regular pop listener all the way up to an audiophile will find joy in something. That’s why Fagen and Becker intrigue me, they knew all these cats so they totally knew what they were getting into, and not many artists of this time really took the time to figure out the mastery of these great musicians. 

With music put aside, I can’t get behind the lyrics to any of these songs,  I find the lyrics incredibly pretentious. Looking at “Deacon Blues”, probably my favorite track on the album,  it is described by Becker as “... a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life”. The problem is,  I can’t get behind these guys and it doesn’t feel legit, it feels as though they're posers. One of the things that makes a great lyricist, is the ability to understand and feel where they are coming from; Bruce Springsteen and Merle Haggard come to mind.  I also get a lyricist who chooses to use a strong poetic approach, also heavily seen within the lyrics on this album. But again, I don’t feel that they truly are trying to be poetic. Look at how Tom Waits does it on Small Change, that is very much something that you can get behind, as with Patti Smith’s Horses. I get that Fagen and Becker like to romanticize the life of being a jazz musician, or the hopeful rise of a movie star, but as strong as their music ability comes, their lyrics do not reach that level.  This is what happens when you mix an album correctly, you get a great sounding piece of art that makes you want to pick it up again to uncover other little gems that you missed the first few times you hear it. 

Although I wouldn’t call Fagen and Becker jazz musicians, they can comprehend, understand, (steal), and appreciate the jazz process to bring that sort of musicianship to their recordings... Just don't take the lyrics to heart, and "Drink your big black cow and get out of here".

Rocking Down Under: Kallaj’s Guide To Aussie Rock [PART TWO]

Grabbed another Fosters?



Awesome, then let's get back into it!

1. “Live At Sunbury 1972”: Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs

Ok, this is an album, but bear with me.

Thorpe & The Aztecs started out sounding like the British bands of the era, very beat oriented. They were the best band in all the land until the Easybeats showed up. By the late 60’s, Thorpe was trying to change his image; growing his hair out, playing louder rock music, attempting to try LSD live on TV, the usual moves. Come 1972, the Aztecs reformed, Thorpe started belting the blues and they appeared at Sunbury. What is Sunbury? Why it’s Australia’s equivalent to Woodstock! After a day of great Aussie rock, The Aztecs came out and blew the audience away. Don’t believe me? Well lucky for us they recorded their set.  The only word I can find to describe this is; explosive. Think about it, a long day of music, drinking beer, getting kinda tired from sitting in the hot sun all day, and then the Aztecs walk out, start playing "CC Rider" and poof, you’re along for the ride. The only downside to this, is that some of the songs drag on for way too long, kinda jam band like, but not even close. Regardless, once you get hooked in, you’re good to go!

     2. “Black Eyed Bruiser”: Stevie Wright

Long after the Easybeats, George Young and Harry Vanda became very successful songwriters and producers. Setting up shop in Albert Studios, the duo wrote and produced hits John Paul Young, "Love Is In The Air", and produced the first albums for George’s brothers band, AC/DC. At the same time that AC/DC was working on their first albums, former Easybeat vocalist Stevie Wright was working on a solo career for himself. After releasing the album Hard Road in 1974 to great success, Wright was getting deeper into a drug addiction that proved to be bothersome to the production of the next album. The outcome, Black Eyed Bruiser, would be Wright’s last album for nearly 15 years, and destroy any hope for a truly prosperous solo career. Although not as successful as previous singles such as “Evie” or "Hard Road", this song was one of my first exposures into deeper tracks in Aussie Rock. If you’re an AC/DC fan, this song is for you. That opening riff is very Malcom Young esc, and Wright sounds like Bon Scott for a couple moments.  It’s just a great record to pump you up for a barroom brawl!

       3. "Khe Sanh": Cold Chisel 

Once again, I give you an artist that you probably have never heard off, but this one always strikes me funny. Cold Chisel is one of Australia’s most famous bands and many consider one of the best alongside AC/DC. And why shouldn’t they be?  Their song, ”Khe Sanh”, a song about a returning Vietnam vet, troubled by the war, and his struggles to adjust back into society, has been called one of the best Australian songs by the Australasian Performing Right Association. Cold Chisel combines a lot of different elements into their work; from Hard Rock blasters ("Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)") to more new wave-ish pop songs ("Cheap Wine").  Their sound reminds me of bands like Boston & Bad Company, mixed in part with the new wave feel of The Police. So if you're a fan of the very familiar 70’s/80’s hard rock (you know the songs/bands I mean), I strongly suggest you check these guys out. 

Look out for part 3, coming soon!

Tubby Hayes - Tubbs (1961)

Tubby Hayes
Tubbs
Fontana, 1961

For the last couple months,  I’ve been diving into the mysterious world of British Jazz, particularly of the 1950’s & 60’s. Why is it mysterious? Because we as Americans have never felt the full blown power of jazz from across the pond. During this period, England’s Jazz scene was split by two contrasting sounds. On one side, musicians such as Chris Barber, Ken Coyler, and Humphrey Lyttleton played in the style of the Polyphonic New Orleans tradition, known as Trad Jazz. 

On the other side, musicians were looking toward the modern sounds of Charlie Parker and Horace Silver, inspiring the likes of Ronnie Scott, Joe Harriott, and Tubby Hayes. 

While there is nothing wrong with the Trad Jazz boom, I’ve found the the Modern Jazz scene and sound to be extremely interesting. When I picked up the Tubby Hayes album “Tubbs”, I was gobsmacked. 

This album is somewhat split, some of the tracks feature Hayes playing with a big band, while the other tracks feature him with a quartet. I was shocked to hear a Saxophonist who could easily hold his own and, dare I say, outplay these masters.  Hayes was 26 at the time of this recording, and to put it into perspective, Coltrane was 34, and Rollins was 30. Put on Hayes’s take on "Cherokee" to get the best taste. Even then, on two of the tracks, “S’posin” and “The Folks Who Live On The Hill”, Hayes puts the sax down and shreds on vibes!  

Hayes’s playing has a high level of technical proficiency as heard in the blowing, but also, he gives off a strong proficiency in the blues and shows the appropriate vocab, like in the track “Tubbsville”. All these things mentioned can be seen in each of the other tracks on this album. Even his vibe playing shows great skill, I can’t name another sax player who goes and plays both these instruments very well. 

After hearing this album, I’m left with two questions, Why does nobody talk about Tubby Hayes and why does nobody in America know anything about Jazz in England? Even though Hayes came to America on a few occasions to play, he went practically unnoticed (except for recording an album with Clark Terry, and being the first British musician to play at the Half Note).  I’m always impressed with how music is able to travel, for example, many of these British musicians got their hands on American jazz records somehow. Using Blue Trane as an example, that album was only released in the United States when first released in 1957. The UK’s first official release of that album wasn’t until 1977, twenty years later. So somehow, these British players got American records, but vice versa, American players never got hold of these British records. It’s a shame that most musicians of the time never got to hear these records, but today, thanks to the internet, we can appreciate these breathtaking recordings.