Count Basie - 1972 Ain't Misbehavin' (aka Evergreens)

01. Blues In My Heart (Irving Mills, Benny Carter) 2:50
02. (I Don't Stand) A Ghost Of A Chance With You (Bing Crosby, Ned Washington, Victor Young) 3:51
03. Idaho (Jesse Stone) 2:17
04. Red Roses For A Blue Lady (Roy Bennett, Sid Tepper) 2:48
05. Moonglow (Irving Mills, Eddie DeLange, Will Hudson) 2:53
06. Ma (She's Making Eyes At Me) (Con Conrad, Sidney Clare) 2:12
07. Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller, Andy Razaf, Harry Brooks) 2:33
08. Sweet Lorraine (Mitchell Parish, Clifford R. Burwell) 3:20
09. M-Squad Theme () 2:16
10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) 2:54
11. As Long As I Live (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 2:38
12. I've Got The World On A String (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 2:46
13. Flight Of The Foo Birds (Neal Hefti) 3:51

Recorded in Chicago, on October 20, 1969


Count Basie (piano)
Oscar Blashear, Waymon Reed, Gene Goe, Sonny Cohn (trumpet)
Grover Mitchell, Mel Wanzo, Bill Hughes (trombone)
Marshall Royal, Bobby Plater (alto sax)
Eric Dixon (tenor sax,flute)
Eddy"Lockjaw"Davis (tenor sax)
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Norman Keenan (bass)
Harold Jones (drums)

Count Basie - 1968 Live in Antibes

01. Vine Street Rumble (3:34)
02. Pleasingly Plump (4:00)
03. Cherokee (3:12)
04. Good Time Blues (6:46)
05. Lonely Street (2:54)
06. Night In Tunisia (4:33)
07. Going To Chicago Blues (6:31)
08. I've Got Rhythm (3:27)
09. In A Mellowtone (5:35)
10. Basie's (4:34)
11. Lil' Darlin' (4:25)
12. Blues In Hoss's Flat (5:11)
13. Every Day I Have The Blues (3:22)
14. Wee Baby Blues (3:13)
15. Stormy Monday Blues (3:49)
16. Magic Flea (4:21)
17. Jumpin' At The Woodside (2:19)

Recorded live in Antibes (France), on July 1968

Count Basie - 1966-67 Broadway And Hollywood... Basie's Way

01. Hello Youg Lovers (2:09)
02. A Lot Of Livin’ To Do (3:02)
03. Just In Time (3:06)
04. Mame (3:15)
05. On A Clear Day (2:43)
06. It’s All Right With Me (2:34)
07. On The Street Where You Live (2:48)
08. Here’s That Rainy Day (3:21)
09. From This Moment On (2:41)
10. Baubles, Bangles And Beads (3:01)
11. People (2:34)
12. Everything’s Coming Up Roses (3:10)
13. Secret Love (2:48)
14. Laura (2:24)
15. In The Still Of The Night (1:56)
16. A Foggy Day (2:09)
17. The Shadow Of Your Smile (3:20)
18. The Trolley Song (2:15)
19. Strangers In The Night (2:54)
20. A Fine Romance (2:43)
21. Carioaca (2:20)
22. Hurry Sundown Blues (2:42)
23. It Might As Well Be Spring (2:29)
24. Days Of Wine And Roses (2:40)


Tracks #1-12 from the original album "Broadway - Basie's Way" (Command RS-905)

Recorded at Finesound Studio, New York, August 18 (#1, 3, 5, 7), rest of tracks on September 7 & 8, 1966
Roy Eldridge, Gene Goe, Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn (tp)
Grover Mitchell, Dick Boone, Harlan Floyd (tb)
Marshall Royal (cl, as)
Bobby Plater (fl, as)
Eric Dixon (fl, ts)
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (ts)
Charlie Fowlkes (bs)
Count Basie (p)
Freddie Green (g)
Norman Keenan (b)
Ed Shaughnessy (d)

Tracks #13-24 from the original album "Hollywood - Basie's Way" (Command RS-912)

Recorded at Finesound Studio, New York, December 14 (#13-15, 24), 21 (#16, 18, 20, 23), 1966. January 16 (#17, 19, 21-22), 1967
Harry “Sweets” Edison, Al Aarons, Gene Goe, Sonny Cohn (tp)
Grover Mitchell, Dick Boone, Harlan Floyd (tb)
Bill Hughes (btb)
Marshall Royal, Jerry Dodgion, Bobby Plater (as)
Billy Mitchell, Eric Dixon (ts)
Charlie Fowlkes (bs)
Count Basie (p)
Freddie Green (g)
Norman Keenan (b)
Eddie Shaughnessy (d)

Count Basie - 1963-65 Frankly Basie (Count Basie Plays The Hits Of Frank Sinatra)

01. The Second Time Around 4:35
02. Hey, Jealous Lover 2.49
03. I'll Never Smile Again 3.33
04. Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week 4:08
05. This Love of Mine 3:07
06. I Thought About You 2:57
07. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning 3.15
08. Come Fly With Me 2.45
09. On the Road to Mandalay 2:56
10. Only the Lonely 3:16
11. South of the Border (Down Mexico Way) 3:54
12. All of Me 2:30
13. My Kind of Town 2:43
14. Come Rain or Come Shine 2:54
15. Hey, Jealous Lover - (prev. unreleased, alt. take) 2:41

Tracks 1-12, 15
Recorded in New York, on April 8-11, 1963

Tracks 13-14
Recorded in Los Angeles, on January 13-14, 1965


Count Basie (piano)
Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Wallace Davenport, Sam Noto, Don Rader, Flip Ricard, Snooky Young (trumpets)
Henderson Chambers, Al Grey, Henry Coker, Bill Hughes, Grover Mitchell, Urbie Green, Benny Powell (trombones)
Bobby Plater (alto saxophone)
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone)
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Frank Foster (tenor saxophone)
Frank Wess (flute, tenor saxophone)
Eric Dixon (flute, tenor saxophone)
Marshall Royal (clarinet, alto saxophone)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Buddy Catlett, Wyatt Ruther (bass)
Sonny Payne, Irving Cottler, J.C. Heard (drums)

Count Basie - 1959-62 Chairman Of The Board

This compilation gathers, with exception of two numbers, two albums released at the time as "Chairman of the Board" and "Easin' It".

01 Blues in Hoss' Flat (Foster) 3:13
02 H.R.H. (Her Royal Highness) (Jones) 2:40
03 Segue in C (Wess) 6:15
04 Kansas City Shout (Wilkins) 3:34
05 Speaking of Sounds (Jones) 3:27
06 TV Time (Foster) 3:16
07 Who, Me? (Foster) 5:13
08 The Deacon (Jones) 4:50
09 Half Moon Street (Wess) 3:25
10 Mutt & Jeff (Jones) 3:39
11 Easin' It (Foster) 6:10
12 Brotherly Shove (Foster) 3:17
13 Blues For Daddy-O (Foster) 8:54
14 Four, Five, Six (Foster) 4:37
15 Misunderstood Blues (Foster) 6:03

Tracks 1-10
Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York, on April 22-29, 1959

Count Basie (piano)
Thad Jones, Snooky Young, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman (trumpet)
Henry Coker, Al Grey, Benny Powell (trombone)
Marshall Royal (alto saxophone)
Frank Wess (flute, alto saxophone)
Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster (tenor saxophone)
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone)
Eddie Jones (bass)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Sonny Payne (drums)


Tracks 11-13
Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York, on December 14-15, 1960

Count Basie (piano)
Clark Tterry, Thad Jones, Snooky Young, Sonny Cohen, Joe Newman (trumpet)
Henry Coker, Al Grey, Benny Powell (trombone)
Marshall Royal (clarinet, alto saxophone)
Frank Wess (flute, alto & tenor saxophone)
Frank Foster, Billy Mitchell (tenor saxophone)
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Eddie Jones (bass)
Sonny Payne (drums)


Track 14
Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York, on July 3, 1962

Count Basie (piano)
Thad Jones, Flip Ricard, Sonny Cohen, Al Aarons (trumpet)
Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell (trombone)
Marshall Royal (clarinet, alto saxophone)
Eric Dixon (flute, tenor saxophone)
Frank Wess (flute, alto & tenor saxophone)
Frank Foster (tenor saxophone)
Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Art Davis (bass)
Gus Johnson (drums)


Track 15
Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York, on July 26, 1962
Ike Isaacs (bass) replaces Davis
Louis Bellson (drums) replaces Johnson

Count Basie - 1959 Dance Along With Basie

01. It Had To Be You (Jones, Kahn) 2:55
02. Makin' Whoopee (Donaldson, Kahn) 4:02
03. Can't We Be Friends? (Swift, Jones) 5:22
04. Misty (Garner) 3:35
05. It's A Pity To Say Goodnight (Reid) 3:38
06. How Am I To Know? (King, Parker) 2:28
07. Easy Living (Robin, Rainger) 3:35
08. Fools Rush In (Bloom, Mercer) 3:10
09. Secret Love (Fain, Webster) 3:17
10. Give Me The Simple Life (Bloom, Ruby) 3:35

Recorded at New York, on December 15 (1,5,10), 16 (2,7-9) and 28 (3,4,6), 1959


Count Basie (p)
Snooky Young, Thad Jones, John Anderson, Joe Newman (tp)
Al Grey, Henry Coker, Benny Powell (tb)
Marshal Royal (as,cl)
Frank Wess (as,ts,fl)
Frank Foster, Billy Mitchel (ts)
Charlie Fawlkes (bs)
Freddie Green (gt)
Eddie Jones (b)
Sonny Payne (dr)

Count Basie - 1959 Basie/Eckstine Incorporated

01. Stormy Monday Blues (Crowder, Hines, Eckstine) 3:14
02. Lonesome Lover Blues (Eckstine) 3:10
03. Blues The Mother Of Sin (Kuller, Eckstine) 3:42
04. Jelly Jelly (Eckstine, Hines ) 3:04
05. Don't Cry Baby (Johnson, Unger, Bernie) 3:33
06. Trav'lin' All Alone (Johnson) 2:55
07. Little Mama (Kuller, Eckstine) 3:31
08. I Want A Little Girl ( Mencher, Moll) 3:27
09. Drifting Blues (Brown, Moore, Williams) 4:01
10. Song Of The Wanderer (Moret) 3:24
11. Piano Man (Kuller, Eckstine)

Recorded in New York on May 22-23, 1959


Count Basie (piano)
Billy Eckstine (vocals)
Thad Jones, Snooky Young, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman (trumpet)
Henry Coker, Al Grey, Benny Powell (trombone)
Marshall Royal, Frank Wess (flute, alto saxophone)
Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster (tenor saxophone)
Charles Fowlkes (baritone saxophone)
Freddie Green (guitar)
Sonny Payne (drums)

Count Basie - 1954 Class of '54

01 In Case You Didn't Know 5:41
02 These Foolish Things 3:26
03 Peter Pan 4:02
04 Ain't It the Truth? 3:51
05 Ingin' the Ooh 5:26
06 Confessin' 3:30
07 These Foolish Things (Alternate Take) 3:19
08 In Case You Didn't Know (Alternate Take) 3:38
09 One O'Clock Jump (Intro) 0:41
10 You for Me 3:32
11 Bubbles 4:10
12 You're Not the Kind 3:20
13 Jonesy 3:08
14 Two for the Blues 2:56
15 Blee Blop Blues 2:43
16 Yesterdays 3:07
17 Perdido 3:28

Recorded in Boston, on September 2-7, 1954


Count Basie Organ, Piano
Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Reunald Jones, Wendell Cully (Trumpet)
Henry Coker, Bill Hughes, Benny Powell (Trombone)
Marshall Royal (Clarinet, )
Ernie Wilkins (Alto Sax, Tenor Sax)
Frank Wess (Tenor Sax, Flute)
Frank Foster (Tenor Sax)
Charlie Fowlkes (Baritone Sax)
Freddie Green (Guitar)
Eddie Jones (Bass)
Gus Johnson (Drums)

Count Basie - 1940-41 Kansas City Classic

01 Blow Top (Smith) 2:55
02 Tickle Toe (Young) 2:38
03 Super Chief (Basie, Mundy) 3:25
04 Let Me See (Basie, Edison) 2.45
05 Louisiana (Schaefer, Johnson, Razaf) 2:25
06 Easy Does It (Oliver, Young) 3:27
07 I Never Knew (Fiorito, Kahn) 2.40
08 I Want A Little Girl (Moll, Mencher) 2.38
09 Moten Swing (Moten) 2.18
10 Broadway (Woode, Bird, McRae) 2.56
11 What’s Your Number? (Clayton) 2.50
12 Rockin’ The Blues (Warren) 3:07
13 Tuesday At Ten (Martin) 2.58
14 Feedin’ The “Bean” (Basie) 3.10
15 Undecided Blues (Rushing) 2.54
16 Stampede In G Minor (Brewer) 2:45
17 I Do mean You (Canter, Fidler) 2:47
18 9:20 Special (Warren, Engvick) 3.09

Recorded in New York in 1940 & 1941


Tracks 2, 4-7, 9-11
Count Basie - piano
Buck Clayton, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Ed Lewis & Al Killian - trumpet
Dickie Wells, Vic Dickenson & Dan Minor - trombone
Lester Young* & Buddy Tate - tenor sax
Earl Warren - alto sax
Jack Washington - baritone & alto sax
Freddie Green - guitar
Walter Page - bass
Jo Jones - drums

Tracks 1, 3
Tab Smith - alto & soprano sax

Tracks 8, 15
Jimmy Rushing - vocals

Track 14
Coleman Hawkins - tenor sax

Tracks 12, 13, 15-18
Paul Bascomb instead Lester Young

Count Basie

Count Basie es, junto con Duke Ellington, una de las figuras más importantes de la era del swing en el jazz y un destacado representante del estilo de big band.
William James Basie nació el 21 de Agosto de 1904 en Red Bank, New Jersey, en el seno de una familia con fuertes raices musicales. Su padre, Harvie Basie, tocaba el melófono y su madre, Lillian (Childs) Basie, era pianista y sería su primera profesora. En 1923 se marcha a New York y escucha a los grandes pianistas del estilo "stride" imperante en la época: Fats Waller (con quien estudiaría de manera informal), James P. Johnson y Willie "The Lión" Smith. Su primer trabajo profesional importante llega en 1925 cuando le contratan en el grupo que acompaña a la cantante y bailarina Katie Krippen. Poco después participa en el "vaudeville", un género de música con letras picantes, que realiza el famoso circuito TOBA (Theatre Owners Booking Association), sindicato de empresarios especializados en espectáculos para negros en los EE.UU., y empieza a realizar giras como pianista solista, acompañante y director musical de cantantes de blues, bailarines y cómicos. Ello le proporciona una formación inicial que iba a resultar significativa en su carrera posterior.
En 1927, estando de gira con un grupo en Kansas City, se queda en la ciudad tocando en los teatros de cine mudo. En julio de 1928, se unió a los Walter Page's Blue Devils, que, además de a Page, incluía a Jimmy Rushing, quien más tarde ocuparía un lugar destacado en la banda de Basie. Basie dejaría a los Blue Devils a principios de 1929 para tocar con otras dos bandas menos conocidas en la zona. Ese mismo año, al igual que los otros miembros clave de los Blue Devils, se uniría a la banda de Bennie Moten, una de las orquestas más famosas de la época, de la que al poco tiempo se convertiría en pianista titular y con la que grabaría sus primeros solos en disco. Tras la muerte de Bennie Moten en 1935, Basie trabajaría durante un tiempo como solista antes de formar su propia orquesta, inicialmente llamada Barons of Rhythm, a la que se incorporaron varios miembros de la banda de Moten como Walter Page (bajo), Freddie Green (guitarra), Jo Jones (batería) y Lester Young (saxofón tenor), siendo Jimmy Rushing el cantante. El conjunto consiguió establecerse en el Reno Club de Kansas City. Este club tenía un acuerdo con una radio local que, varios días a la semana, conectaba en directo con el club. Como la emisora estaba conectada a una cadena de programas que se oían por todo el país, el promotor neoyorquino John Hammond escucha una noche de 1935 en la radio de su coche aquella orquesta y queda impresionado por el swing que genera la banda de Count Basie. La historia cuenta que en esta época un presentador o locutor de radio lo llamó "Count", integrándolo en la nobleza del swing y pensando que ya había un rey (Benny Goodman), un Duke (Ellington) y un Earl (Hines).
Hammond les recomendó a varios agentes y compañías discográficas. En 1936, la orquesta se marcha de Kansas y firma un contrato para actuar en el Grand Terrace de Chicago, a lo cual siguieron conciertos en Buffalo y Roseland en Nueva York. En enero de 1937 realizan su primera grabación con el sello Decca Records. Regresan a Chicago y luego actúan en el Ritz Carlton Hotel en Boston. Su grabación de "One O'Clock Jump" se convirtiría en su primer tema en las listas de éxitos en septiembre de 1937; más tarde, tras convertirse en su tema más popular, fue incorporado al Grammy Hall of Fame. En 1938, Basie regresa a Nueva York, actuando en el club The Famous Door y consiguiendo un gran éxito para la orquesta. En el invierno de ese año, "Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush", cantado por Rushing, entra en el Top Ten. En 1939 cambia de sello discográfico (de Decca a Columbia Records), vuelve a actuar en Chicago y luego se marcha a la Costa Oeste. A comienzos de los cuarenta realizan extensas giras por el país, que duraron hasta la entrada de Estados Unidos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial en diciembre de 1941. En 1943 participa con su orquesta en cinco películas: Hit Parade of 1943, Reveille with Beverly, Stage Door Canteen, Top Man y Crazy House. Además, obtuvo numerosos éxitos musicales. En 1947 vuelve a cambiar de discográfica, a RCA Victor Records, obteniendo varios éxitos con temas como "Free Eats", "I Ain't Mad at You (You Ain't Mad at Me)", "One O'Clock Boogie", "Open the Door, Richard!", etc. A finales de la década, el declive de las big bands es evidente, por lo que deshace su orquesta, actuando durante un tiempo con un formato de octeto y septeto con gente como los tenores Georgie Auld, Gene Ammons y Wardell Gray, los trompetistas Harry Edison y Clark Terry, y el clarinetista Buddy DeFranco.
En 1952, sin embargo, volvió a formar una banda con 16 miembros ya que existen grandes oportunidades para la realización de giras fuera del país. En esa época, el famoso productor Norman Granz lo contrata para su sello Verve. Basie resurge como el Ave Fénix de sus cenizas con un concepto de música ya muy maduro y en la que introduce cambios importantes en su orquesta. Amplía la banda con cuatro trompetas, tres trombones, cinco saxos y cuatro de rítmica. El volumen sonoro aumenta y el sonido está más trabajado. Incorpora grandes solistas, entre ellos Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Thad Jones, Sonny Payne, Joe Wilder, Freddie Green y el cantante Joe Williams (con el que grabaría el gran éxito "Every Day I Have the Blues"). En 1954 hizo su primera gira por Europa, tocando, por ejemplo, en Escandinavia. Los arreglos corren a cargo de Ernie Wilkins y Neal Hefti. La banda de Basie se había convertido en el acompañamiento destacado para algunos de los cantantes de jazz más importantes de la época. También estuvo de gira con las "Birdland Stars 1955", cuyo cartel incluía a Sarah Vaughan, Erroll Garner, Lester Young, George Shearing, y Stan Getz. En junio de 1957 la orquesta de Basie fue la primera orquesta de color que actuó en el Hotel Waldorf-Astoria de Nueva York, obteniendo un contrato de cuatro meses para actuar en el Hotel. Ese mismo año actuarían en el Festival de Newport. Basie se convierte en un invitado habitual de los programas de televisión junto a los famosos Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis Jr. y Tony Bennett. En enero de 1960 Basie actuaría en uno de los cinco bailes inaugurales de la presidencia de John F. Kennedy. Ese verano, Basie y Duke Ellington se unirían para grabar "First Time! The Count Meets the Duke". A lo largo de los años 60, la banda realiza gran número de giras, grabaciones, actuaciones en televisión, festivales, shows en Las Vegas, viajes al extranjero en incluso cruceros (hacia 1964, Basie adopta su famosa gorra de marinero como imagen de marca). Los años 60 marcan también su unión con Sinatra, firmando con el sello Reprise, y su acercamiento al mundo pop (siendo el disco con la música de los Beatles, uno de los ejemplos más claros).
A finales de los 60, Basie regresaría a un formato más jazzístico. Su álbum "Standing Ovation" obtuvo una nominación al Grammy 1969 como Mejor Interpretación Instrumental de Jazz por un grupo o solista con gran grupo (ocho o más), y en 1970, con Oliver Nelson como arreglista y director de orquesta, grabó "Afrique", un album experimental, de vanguardia que le valió en 1971 una nominación al Grammy por Mejor Performance de Jazz por una Big Band. En la década de 1970, Basie firmó con Pablo Records, con la que grabó hasta el final de su vida. Basie grabó prolíficamente con Pablo, una serie de discos bien recibidos por crítica y público: "Basie Jam" de 1975 obtuvo una nominación al Grammy por Mejor Performance de Jazz por un grupo; "Basie & Zoot" fue nominado en la misma categoría en 1976 y ganó el Grammy por la mejor interpretación de Jazz por un solista, "Prime Time" 1977 ganó el Grammy por Mejor Interpretación de Jazz por un Big Band, y "The Gifted Ones" por Basie y Dizzy Gillespie fue nominado al Grammy 1979 por Mejor Interpretación Instrumental de Jazz por un grupo. A partir de entonces, Basie compitió en la categoría de Mejor Interpretación Instrumental de Jazz por un Big Band, ganando el Grammy en 1980 por "On the Road", y en 1982 para "Warm Breeze", ganando la nominación con "Farmer's Market Barbecue" en 1983, y ganando por novena vez en su carrera un Grammy, en 1984, por "88 Basie Street".
La salud de Basie se fue deteriorando gradualmente durante los últimos ocho años de su vida. Sufrió un ataque al corazón en 1976 que lo mantuvo alejado de los escenarios durante varios meses. Ingresaría de nuevo en el hospital en 1981 y, cuando regresó, conducía una silla de ruedas eléctrica en el escenario. Murió mientras dormía de cáncer de páncreas a los 79 años, en Hollywood, Florida el 26 de Abril de 1984.







Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died. Basie's orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing. Basie was not a composer like Duke Ellington or an important soloist like Benny Goodman. His instrument was his band, which was considered the epitome of swing and became broadly influential on jazz.
Both of Basie's parents were musicians; his father, Harvie Basie, played the mellophone, and his mother, Lillian (Childs) Basie, was a pianist who gave her son his earliest lessons. Basie also learned from Harlem stride pianists, particularly Fats Waller. His first professional work came accompanying vaudeville performers, and he was part of a troupe that broke up in Kansas City in 1927, leaving him stranded there. He stayed in the Midwestern city, at first working in a silent movie house and then joining Walter Page's Blue Devils in July 1928. The band's vocalist was Jimmy Rushing. Basie left in early 1929 to play with other bands, eventually settling into one led by Bennie Moten. Upon Moten's untimely death on April 2, 1935, Basie worked as a soloist before leading a band initially called the Barons of Rhythm. Many former members of the Moten band joined this nine-piece outfit, among them Walter Page (bass), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), and Lester Young (tenor saxophone). Jimmy Rushing became the singer. The band gained a residency at the Reno Club in Kansas City and began broadcasting on the radio, an announcer dubbing the pianist "Count" Basie.
Basie got his big break when one of his broadcasts was heard by journalist and record producer John Hammond, who touted him to agents and record companies. As a result, the band was able to leave Kansas City in the fall of 1936 and take up an engagement at the Grand Terrace in Chicago, followed by a date in Buffalo, NY, before coming into Roseland in New York City in December. It made its recording debut on Decca Records in January 1937. Undergoing expansion and personnel changes, it returned to Chicago, then to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Boston. Meanwhile, its recording of "One O'Clock Jump" became its first chart entry in September 1937. The tune became the band's theme song and it was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Basie returned to New York for an extended engagement at the small club the Famous Door in 1938 that really established the band as a success. "Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush," with Rushing on vocals, became a Top Ten hit in the fall of 1938. Basie spent the first half of 1939 in Chicago, meanwhile switching from Decca to Columbia Records, then went to the West Coast in the fall. He spent the early '40s touring extensively, but after the U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941 and the onset of the recording ban in August 1942, his travel was restricted. While on the West Coast, he and the band appeared in five films, all released within a matter of months in 1943: Hit Parade of 1943, Reveille with Beverly, Stage Door Canteen, Top Man, and Crazy House. He also scored a series of Top Ten hits on the pop and R&B charts, including "I Didn't Know About You" (pop, winter 1945); "Red Bank Blues" (R&B, winter 1945); "Rusty Dusty Blues" (R&B, spring 1945); "Jimmy's Blues" (pop and R&B, summer/fall 1945); and "Blue Skies" (pop, summer 1946). Switching to RCA Victor Records, he topped the charts in February 1947 with "Open the Door, Richard!," followed by three more Top Ten pop hits in 1947: "Free Eats," "One O'Clock Boogie," and "I Ain't Mad at You (You Ain't Mad at Me)."
The big bands' decline in popularity in the late '40s hit Basie as it did his peers, and he broke up his orchestra at the end of the decade, opting to lead smaller units for the next couple of years. But he was able to reform the big band in 1952, responding to increased opportunities for touring. For example, he went overseas for the first time to play in Scandinavia in 1954, and thereafter international touring played a large part in his schedule. An important addition to the band in late 1954 was vocalist Joe Williams. The orchestra was re-established commercially by the 1955 album Count Basie Swings - Joe Williams Sings (released on Clef Records), particularly by the single "Every Day (I Have the Blues)," which reached the Top Five of the R&B charts and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Another key recording of this period was an instrumental reading of "April in Paris" that made the pop Top 40 and the R&B Top Ten in early 1956; it also was enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame. These hits made what Albert Murray (co-author of Basie's autobiography, Good Morning Blues) called the "new testament" edition of the Basie band a major success. Williams remained with Basie until 1960, and even after his departure, the band continued to prosper.
At the first Grammy Awards ceremony, Basie won the 1958 awards for Best Performance by a Dance Band and Best Jazz Performance, Group, for his Roulette Records LP Basie. Breakfast Dance and Barbecue was nominated in the dance band category for 1959, and Basie won in the category in 1960 for Dance with Basie, earning nominations the same year for Best Performance by an Orchestra and Best Jazz Performance, Large Group, for The Count Basie Story. There were further nominations for best jazz performance for Basie at Birdland in 1961 and The Legend in 1962. None of these albums attracted much commercial attention, however, and in 1962, Basie switched to Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records in a bid to sell more records. Sinatra-Basie satisfied that desire, reaching the Top Five in early 1963. It was followed by This Time by Basie! Hits of the 50's and 60's, which reached the Top 20 and won the 1963 Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra for Dancing.
This initiated a period largely deplored by jazz fans that ran through the rest of the 1960s, when Basie teamed with various vocalists for a series of chart albums including Ella Fitzgerald (Ella and Basie!, 1963); Sinatra again (the Top 20 album It Might as Well Be Swing, 1964); Sammy Davis, Jr. (Our Shining Hour, 1965); the Mills Brothers (The Board of Directors, 1968); and Jackie Wilson (Manufacturers of Soul, 1968). He also reached the charts with an album of show tunes, Broadway Basie's ... Way (1966).
By the end of the 1960s, Basie had returned to more of a jazz format. His album Standing Ovation earned a 1969 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group or Soloist with Large Group (Eight or More), and in 1970, with Oliver Nelson as arranger/conductor, he recorded Afrique, an experimental, avant-garde album that earned a 1971 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. By this time, the band performed largely on the jazz festival circuit and on cruise ships. In the early 1970s, after a series of short-term affiliations, Basie signed to Pablo Records, with which he recorded for the rest of his life. Pablo recorded Basie prolifically in a variety of settings, resulting in a series of well-received albums: Basie Jam earned a 1975 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Group; Basie and Zoot was nominated in the same category in 1976 and won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist; Prime Time won the 1977 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band; and The Gifted Ones by Basie and Dizzy Gillespie was nominated for a 1979 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Group. Thereafter, Basie competed in the category of Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band, winning the Grammy in 1980 for On the Road and in 1982 for Warm Breeze, earning a nomination for Farmer's Market Barbecue in 1983, and winning a final time, for his ninth career Grammy, in 1984 for 88 Basie Street.
Basie's health gradually deteriorated during the last eight years of his life. He suffered a heart attack in 1976 that put him out of commission for several months. He was back in the hospital in 1981, and when he returned to action, he was driving an electric wheel chair onto the stage. He died of cancer at 79.
Count Basie was admired as much by musicians as by listeners, and he displayed a remarkable consistency in a bandleading career that lasted long after swing became an archival style of music. After his death, his was one of the livelier ghost bands, led in turn by Thad Jones, Frank Foster, and Grover Mitchell. His lengthy career resulted in a large discography spread across all of the major labels and quite a few minor ones as well.
William Ruhlmann

Billie Holiday - 1959 Last Recording

01 All of You [From Silk Stocking] (Porter) 2:33
02 Sometimes I'm Happy [From Hit the Deck] (Youmans, Caesar, Grey) 2:50
03 You Took Advantage of Me [From Present Arms] (Rodgers, Hart) 3:11
04 When It's Sleepy Time Down South (René, Muse, Rene) 4:09
05 There'll Be Some Changes Made (Overstreet, Higgins) 2:54
06 'Deed I Do (Rose, Hirsch) 2:17
07 Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Bloom, Koehler) 3:12
08 All the Way [From the Joker Is Wild] (Cahn, Van Heusen) 3:27
09 Just One More Chance (Johnston, Coslow) 3:47
10 It's Not for Me to Say (Allen, Stillman) 2:30
11 I'll Never Smile Again (Lowe) 3:26
12 Baby Won't You Please Come Home (Williams, Warfield) 3:05

Recorded in New York, on March 3, 4 & 11, 1959.


Billie Holiday - vocals
Jimmy Cleveland - trombone
Romeo Penque - alto & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
Barry Galbraith - guitar
Joe Benjamin - bass
Danny Bank - baritone saxophone
Billy Byers - trombone
Joe Wilder - trumpet
Gene Quill - alto saxophone
Janet Putnam - harp
Milt Hinton - bass
Hank Jones - piano
Kenny Burrel - guitar
Harry "Sweets" Edison - trumpet
Osie Johnson - drums
Al Cohn - tenor saxophone
Ray Ellis conductor

Billie Holiday - 1957 Songs for Distingué Lovers

01 Day In, Day Out (Herndon, Mercer, Bloom) 6:47
02 A Foggy Day (G. & I. Gershwin) 4:40
03 Stars Fell On Alabama (Perkins, Parish) 4:28
04 One For My Baby (And One For The Road) (Arlen , Mercer) 5:39
05 Just One Of Those Things (Porter) 5:31
06 I Didn't Know What Time It Was (Rodgers, Hart) 5:59
07 Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (G. & I. Gershwin) 3:23
08 I Wished On The Moon (Parker , Rainger) 3:25
09 They Can't Take That Away From Me (G. & I. Gershwin) 4:10
10 Body And Soul (Heyman , Eyton , Green* , Sour) 6:22
11 Moonlight In Vermont (Blackburn, Suessdorf) 3:49
12 Love Is Here To Stay (G. & I. Gershwin) 3:41

Recorded 1957 at Capitol Studios, Hollywood: tracks 2, 8, and 11 on January 3; tracks 5 and 6 on January 4; tracks 1 and 10 on January 7; tracks 3, 4, and 12 on January 8; and tracks 7 and 9 on January 9

Tracks 1-6 original LP issue: Songs For Distingué Lovers Verve MGV 8257
Tracks 7, 9, 10, 11 original LP issue: Body And Soul Verve MGV 8197
Tracks 8 and 12 original LP issue: All or Nothing at All Verve MGV 8329



Billie Holiday (vocals)
Barney Kessel (guitar)
Ben Webster (tenor saxophone)
Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet)
Jimmy Rowles (piano)
Red Mitchell (bass)
Joe Mondragon (bass)
Larry Bunker (drums)
Alvin Stoller (drums)

Billie Holiday - 1956 At The Carnegie Hall. The Essential Billie Holiday

01. Reading from "Lady Sings The Blues" 2:52
02. Lady Sings The Blues (Nichols, Holiday) 2:38
03. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do (Grainger, Robbins) 2:30
04. Reading from "Lady Sings The Blues" with Trav'lin' Light (Young, Mercer) 0:44
05. Reading from "Lady Sings The Blues" 2:06
06. Billie's Blues (Holiday) 3:20
07. Body And Soul (Green, Heyman, Sour, Eyton) 2:39
08. Reading from "Lady Sings The Blues" 0:55
09. Don't Explain (Herzog, Holiday) 2.26
10. Yesterdays (Kern, Harbach) 1:16
11. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone (Clare, Stept, Harbach) 1:43
12. I'll Be Seeing You (Fain, Kahal) 2:28
13. Reading from "Lady Sings The Blues" 2:50
14. My Man (Yvain, Pollock) 3:13
15. I Cried For You (Freed, Arnheim, Lyman) 3:09
16. Fine And Mellow (Holiday) 3:15
17. I Cover The Waterfront (Green, Heyman) 3:46
18. What A Little Moonlight Can Do (Woods) 2:49

Recorded at The Carnegie Hall., New York, on November 10, 1956


tracks 2-4, 6, 7, 9
Roy Eldridge (tp) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Carl Drinkard (p) Kenny Burrell (g) Carson Smith (b) Chico Hamilton (d) Billie Holiday (vo) Gilbert Millstein (nar)


tracks 10-12, 14-18
Buck Clayton (tp) Tony Scott (cl) Al Cohn (ts) replaces Eldridge, Hawkins, Millstein

Billie Holiday - 1955-56 Lady Sings the Blues

01. Say It Isn't So (Berlin) 3:01
02. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Berlin) 3:55
03. I Wished On The Moon (Parker, Rainger) 6:47
04. Always (Berlin) 3:56
05. Everything Happens To Me (Dennis, Adair) 6:20
06. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me (Ellington, Russell) 4:59
07. Ain't Misbehavin' (Waller, Razaf, Brooks) 4:38
08. Trav'lin Light (Mundy, Young, Mercer) 3:07
09. I Must Have That Man! (McHugh, Fields) 3:04
10. Some Other Spring (Herzog, Kitchings) 3:36
11. Lady Sings The Blues (Nichols, Holiday) 3:43
12. Strange Fruit (Allan) 3:01
13. God Bless The Child (Holiday, Herzog) 3:57
14. Good Morning Heartache (Drake, Fisher, Higginbotham) 3:29
15. No Good Man (Fisher, Gallop, Higginbotham) 3:18
16. Rehearsal for God Bless The Child (Herzog, Holiday) 15:39


Recorded at Fine Sound and William And Maely Dufty's Home, New York, between February 1955 and June 1956


Billie Holiday vocals
Charlie Shavers Trumpet | (1-7)
Budd Johnson Tenor Saxophone | (1-7)
Billy Taylor Percussion | (1-7)
Leonard Gaskin Bass | (1-7)
Cozy Cole Drums | (1-7, 9-16)
Tony Scott Clarinet | (8-15)
Paul Quinichette Tenor Saxophone | (8-15)
Wynton Kelly | (8-15)
Aaron Bell Guitar | (8-15)
Lenny McBrowne Drums | (8-15)

Billie Holiday - The Complete 1951 Storyville Club Sessions

01. You're Driving Me Crazy (Donaldson) 1:32
02. Lover Come Back To Me (Romberg-Hammerstein) 2:20
03. Ain't Nobody's Bizz-Ness If I Do (Taylor) 2:20
04. He's Funny That Way (Moret-Whiting) 2:55
05. Billie's Blues (I Love My Man) (Holiday) 3:05
06. Miss Brown To You (Robin-Whiting-Rainger) 1:45
07. Detour Ahead (Carter-Ellis-Fringe) 2:18
08. Strange Fruit (Allen) 3:20
09. Ain't Nobody's Bizz-Ness If I Do (Taylor) 2:54
10. All Of Me (Marks) 1:38
11. I Love You, Porgy (Gershwin) 3:03
12. Miss Brown To You (Robin-Whiting-Rainger) 1:53
13. Billie's Blues (I Love My Man) (Holiday) 2:50
14. Lover Man (Ramirez-Davis-Sherman) 2:24
15. Then There Eyes (Pinkard-Tracey) 1:36
16. My Man (Yvin-Pollock) 3:23
17. I Cover The Waterfront (Heyman-Green) 3:37
18. Crazy He Calls Me (Russell-Sigman) 2:13
19. Lover Come Back To Me (Romberg-Hammerstein) 2:36

Recorded live at Storiville club, Boston, on October 29-31, 1951


Billie Holliday (vocals)
Stan Getz (tenor sax)
Buster Harding (piano)
John Fields (bass)
Marquis Foster (drums)

Billie Holiday - 1944-50 The Complete Decca Recordings

Disc 1:
01 Lover Man (Davis, Ramirez, Sherman) 3:18
02 No More (Camarata, Russell) 2:48
03 No More [alternate take] (Camarata, Russell) 3:06
04 That Ole Devil Called Love (Fisher, Roberts) 2:55
05 Don't Explain [First Version] (Herzog, Holiday) 2:57
06 Big Stuff (Bernstein) 2:29
07 Don't Explain [Second Version] (Herzog, Holiday) 3:24
08 Big Stuff (Bernstein) 3:00
09 You Better Go Now (Graham, Reichmer) 2:37
10 What Is This Thing Called Love? (Porter) 3:07
11 Good Morning Heartache (Drake, Fisher, Higginbotham) 3:08
12 No Good Man [#] (Fisher, Gallop, Higginbotham) 3:24
13 No Good Man (Fisher, Gallop, Higginbotham) 3:08
14 Big Stuff [#] (Bernstein) :22
15 Big Stuff [#] (Bernstein) 2:47
16 Big Stuff (Bernstein) 2:32
17 Baby, I Don't Cry Over You [#] (Krouse) 3:13
18 Baby, I Don't Cry Over You (Krouse) 3:12
19 I'll Look Around [#] (Cory, Cross) 3:16
20 I'll Look Around (Cory, Cross) 3:15
21 The Blues Are Brewin' (Alter, DeLange) 3:03
22 Guilty [#] (Akst, Kahn, Whiting) 2:53
23 Guilty [excerpt] (Akst, Kahn, Whiting) 1:07
24 Guilty (Akst, Kahn, Whiting) 3:14
25 Deep Song (Cory, Cross) 3:13
26 There Is No Greater Love (Jones, Symes) 2:57

Disc 2:
01 Easy Living (Rainger, Robin) 3:12
02 Solitude [#] (DeLange, Ellington, Mills) 3:14
03 Solitude (DeLange, Ellington, Mills) 3:10
04 Weep No More (Adair, Jenkins) 3:21
05 Girls Were Made to Take Care of Boys (Blane) 3:13
06 I Loves You, Porgy (Gershwin, Gershwin, Heyward) 2:57
07 My Man [#] (Charles, Pollack, Willemetz ...) 3:10
08 My Man (Charles, Pollack, Willemetz ...) 2:57
09 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do [#] (Grainger, Prince, Williams) 3:17
10 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do (Grainger, Prince, Williams) 3:21
11 Baby Get Lost (Feather, Moore) 3:15
12 Keeps on A-Rainin' (Kortlander, Williams) 3:15
13 Them There Eyes (Pinkard, Tauber, Tracey) 2:50
14 Do Your Duty (Wilson) 3:16
15 Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer) (Wilson) 2:45
16 You Can't Lose a Broken Heart (Johnson, Miller) 3:15
17 My Sweet Hunk O' Trash (Johnson, Miller) 3:20
18 Now or Never (Holiday, Lewis) 3:17
19 You're My Thrill (Clare, Gorney) 3:25
20 They Can't Take That Away from Me (Gershwin, Gershwin) 3:05
21 Please Tell Me Now (Clawson, Pope) 3:14
22 Somebody's on My Mind (Herzog, Holiday) 2:57
23 God Bless the Child (Herzog, Holiday) 3:10
24 This Is Heaven to Me (Reardon, Schweikert 2:51




Buck Clayton (Trumpet), Richard Davis (Vocals (Background)), Tiny Grimes (Guitar), Bobby Hackett (Trumpet), Budd Johnson (Sax (Tenor)), Mundell Lowe (Guitar), Specs Powell (Drums), Lester Young (Sax (Tenor)), Eddie Barefield (Clarinet), Eddie Barefield (Sax (Baritone)), Billy Butterfield (Trumpet), Cozy Cole (Drums), Bob Haggart (Bass), Horace Henderson (Piano), Al Klink (Sax (Alto)), Carl Kress (Guitar), Bernie Leighton (Piano), Johnny Mince (Sax (Alto)), Johnny Parker (Vocals), Johnny Parker (Choir, Chorus), Joe Thomas (Sax (Tenor)), George Wettling (Drums), Bob Bain (Guitar), George Duvivier (Bass), Louis Armstrong (Vocals), Everett Barksdale (Guitar), Tom Barney (Bass), Joe Benjamin (Bass), Emmett Berry (Trumpet), Denzil Best (Drums), Billie Holiday (Vocals), Larry Binyon (Guitar), Larry Binyon (Sax (Tenor)), Wallace Bishop (Drums), Johnny Blowers (Drums), Dave Bowman (Piano), Mort Bullman (Trombone), Russ Case (Trumpet), Big Sid Catlett (Drums), Henderson Chambers (Trombone), Pete Clark (Sax (Alto)), Kenny Clarke (Drums), Shad Collins (Trumpet), Sid Cooper (Sax (Alto)), Jimmy Crawford (Drums), Lem Davis (Sax (Alto)), Bob Dorsey (Sax (Tenor)), George Dorsey (Sax (Alto)), Art Drelinger (Sax (Tenor)), Nick Fatool (Drums), David Frisina (Violin), Gordon Griffin (Trumpet), Joe Guy (Trumpet), Armand Karpoff (Viola), Leo Kruczek (Violin), Billy Kyle (Piano), Jack Lesberg (Bass), John Levy (Bass), Kelly Martin (Drums), George Matthews (Trombone), Dave McRae (Sax (Baritone)), Toots Mondello (Sax (Alto)), Sol Moore (Sax (Baritone)), Tony Mottola (Guitar), Loulie Jean Norman (Vocals (Background)), Jimmy Nottingham (Trumpet), Rudy Powell (Sax (Alto)), Bernie Privin (Trumpet), Hank Ross (Strings), Hank Ross (Sax (Tenor)), Hymie Schertzer (Sax (Alto)), Bunny Shawker (Drums), Jimmy Shirley (Guitar), John Simmons (Bass), Bill Stegmeyer (Clarinet), Bill Stegmeyer (Sax (Alto)), Bobby Tucker (Piano), Bobby Tucker (Sax (Tenor)), Dick Vance (Trumpet), Dicky Wells (Trombone), Shadow Wilson (Drums), Milt Yaner (Clarinet), Milt Yaner (Sax (Alto)), Beverly Jenkins (Vocals (Background)), Paul Ricci (Guitar), Paul Ricci (Sax (Tenor)), Kurt Reher (Cello), Norris Shawker (Drums), Stanley Webb (Sax (Baritone)), Sammy Benskin (Piano), Tony Faso (Trumpet), John Fulton (Clarinet), John Fulton (Flute), John Fulton (Strings), John Fulton (Sax (Tenor)), Bernard Kaufman (Sax (Tenor)), Charlie LaVere (Piano), Maurice Perlmutter (Viola), Joe Quadri (Violin), Joe Springer (Piano), George Stevenson (Trombone), The Stardusters (Choir, Chorus), Dave Harris (Guitar), Billy Taylor, Sr. (Bass), Dave Knight (Vocals (Background)), Morris Lefkowitz (Violin), Daniel Perry (Guitar), Rostelle Reese (Trumpet), Armand Camgros (Strings), Armand Camgros (Sax (Tenor)), Bobby Williams (Trumpet), Haig Stephens (Bass), Jack Cressey (Sax (Alto)), Dick "Dent" Eckles (Flute), Dick "Dent" Eckles (Sax (Tenor)), Pat Nizza (Sax (Tenor)), George Serloff (Violin), Freddy Williams (Sax (Tenor)), Art Drellinger (Sax (Tenor)), Charles Schroeder (Vocals (Background)), Freddie Williams (Sax (Tenor)), David Friscina (Violin), Dave Harris (Sax (Tenor)), Charles Jaffe (Violin), Frank Siefiels (Violin)

Billie Holiday - 1939-48 Lady Day Vol. 3 & 4

This 4 CDs compilation covers two periods:1934-1939, in Volumes 1&2; and 1939-1948 in Volumes 3&4. Many songs included in the first two discs appear in "The Complete Billie Holiday With The Ellingtonians". This is the reason I only post vol. 3 & 4.

Vol. 3
01 I Gotta a Right to Sing the Blues (Arlen/Koehler) 2:52
02 Yesterdays (Kern/Harbach) 3:23
03 Strange Fruit (Allen) 3:10
04 Fine & Mellow (Holiday) 3:15
05 Night and Day (Porter) 3:03
06 What Is This Going to Get Us 2:41
07 I'm All for You (Bresler/Wynn) 3:07
08 I Hear Music (Lane/Loesser) 2:39
09 It's the Same Old Story (Field/Oliphant) 3:10
10 Practise Makes Perfect (Roberts/Gold) 2:42
11 St. Louis Blues (Handy) 2:56
12 Loveless Love (Handy) 3:16
13 Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) (Porter) 2:56
14 Georgia (Carmichael/Gorrell) 3:00
15 Romance in the Dark (Green/Broonzy) 2:27
16 All of Me (Marks/Simons) 3:47
17 God Bless the Child (Holiday/Herzog) 2:53
18 Jim (Petrello/Shawn/Samu) 2:57


Vol. 4
01 Wherever You Are (Friend/Tobias) 2:57
02 Until the Real Thing Comes Along (Cahn/Chaplin/Freeman) 3:06
03 Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me (Ellington/Russell) 3:32
04 I'll Get By (Ahlert/Turk) 2:57
05 My Old Flame (Johnstone/Coslow) 3:00
06 I Cover the Waterfront (Green/Heyman) 3:28
07 How Am I to Know (King/Parker) 2:44
08 Embraceable You (Gershwin/Gershwin) 3:16
09 I'm Yours (Green/Warburg) 3:16
10 I'll Be Seeing You (Fain/Kahal) 3:31
11 As Time Goes By (Hupfield) 3:09
12 Billie's Blues (Holiday/Marks) 3:07
13 He's Funny That Way (Whiting/Moret) 3:13
14 Lover Come Back to Me (Romberg/Hammerstein) 3:19
15 Don't Explain (Holiday/Herzog) 3:23
16 You Better Go Now (Reichner/Graham) 2:41
17 Baby, I Don't Cry Over You (Krause) 3:11
18 My Man (Yvain/Charles/Wille) 2:55

Recorded in New York between April 20, 1939 and December 10, 1948

Sessions information included in the scans.

Billie Holiday & Lester Young - 1937-58 A Musical Romance

01 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - The Man I Love (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 3:07
02 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - This Year's Kisses (Berlin) 3:10
03 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - Mean To Me (Ahlert, Turk) 3:08
04 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Back In Your Own Backyard (Jolson, Dreyer, Rose) 2:42
05 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - I'll Never Be The Same (Kahn, Signorelli, Malneck) 3:04
06 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Me, Myself And I (Gordon, Roberts, Kaufman) 2:37
07 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Time On My Hands (You In My Arms) (Youmans, Gordon, Adamson) 3:07
08 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Who Wants Love? (Waxman, Kahn) 2:34
09 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - I Must Have That Man (McHugh, Fields) 2:57
10 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - Foolin' Myself (Lawrence, Tinturin) 3:02
11 Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra* - When You're Smiling (Fisher, Goodwin, Sha) 2:52
12 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - A Sailboat In The Moonlight (Lombardo, Loeb) 2:51
13 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - He's Funny That Way (Whiting, Moret) 2:41
14 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Laughing At Life (C. Kenny, B. Todd, C. Todd, N. Kenny) 2:57
15 Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra* - Without Your Love (Lange, Stryker) 2:53
16 Billie Holiday With The Mal Waldron All-Stars* - Fine And Mellow (Holiday) 6:19

Originally released in 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, and 1958.


Buster Bailey (Clarinet)
Danny Barker (Guitar)
Buck Clayton (Trumpet)
Harry "Sweets" Edison (Trumpet)
Roy Eldridge (Trumpet)
Benny Goodman (Clarinet)
Freddie Green (Guitar)
Johnny Hodges (Alto Sax)
Jo Jones (Drums)
Claude Thornhill (Piano)
Mal Waldron (Piano)
Ben Webster (Tenor Sax)
Teddy Wilson (Piano)
Lester Young (Tenor Sax)
Cozy Cole (Drums)
Edmond Hall (Clarinet)
Benny Morton (Trombone)
Joe Sullivan (Piano)
Coleman Hawkins (Tenor Sax)
Walter Page (String Bass)
Jim Atlas (Bass)
Artie Bernstein (String Bass)
Billie Holiday (Vocals)
Bill Bowen (Alto Sax)
Doc Cheatham (Trumpet)
Vic Dickenson (Trombone)
J.C. Heard (Drums)
Allan Reuss (Guitar)
Kermit Scott (Tenor Sax)
Earle Warren (Alto Sax)
Jack Washington (Alto Sax)
Joe Eldridge (Alto Sax)
Jimmy Sherman (Piano)

Billie Holiday - 1935-37 The Complete Billie Holiday with the Ellingtonians

01 Big City Blues (D. Ellington) 2:26
02 These 'n' That 'n' Those (Fairchild, Pascal) 3:14
03 You Let Me Down (Dubin, Warren) 2:54
04 Spreadin' Rythm Around (Koehler, McHugh) 2:56
05 It's Like Reaching For The Moon (Lewis, Marqusee, Sherman) 3:22
06 These Foolish Things (Marvell, Strachey, Walker) 3:19
07 I Cried For You (Arnheim, Freed, Lyman) 3:13
08 Guess Who? (Freed, Lane) 3:11
09 Easy To Love (Porter) 3:13
10 With Thee I Swing (Adlam, Hyde, Stillman) 3:18
11 The Way You Look Tonight (Fields, Kern) 3:02
12 Who Loves You? Coots, Davis) 3:16
13 Pennies From Heaven (Burke, Johnson) 3:17
14 That's Life I Guess (DeRose, Lewis) 3:10
15 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Fields, McHugh) 3:28
16 Carelessly (Ellis, Kenny, Kenny) 3:08
17 How Could You? (Dubin, Warren) 2:31
18 Moanin' Low (Deitz, Rainger) 3:02
19 Sun Showers (Brown, Freed) 3:08
20 Sun Showers (Brown, Freed) 2:40
21 Yours And Mine (Brown, Freed) 3:17
22 Yours And Mine (Brown, Freed) 2:40
23 I'll Get By (Ahlert, Turk) 3:09
24 Mean To Me (Ahlert, Turk) 3:08



track 1 (Recorded in Long Island, on March 12, 1935)
A.Whetsol, F.Jenkins, C.Williams (tp); J.Nanton, L.Brown, J.Tizol (tb); M.Royal (cl)(as); B.Bigard (cl)(ts); J.Hodges (as); H.Carney (bs); D.Ellington (p); F.Guy (bj); W.Braud (b); S.Greer (d); Billie Holiday (v).

tracks 2-4 (Recorded in New York, on December 3, 1935)
Richard `Dick` Clarke (tp); Tom Macey (cl); Teddy McRea (ts); Teddy Wilson (p); John Truehart (g); Grachan Moncur (b); Cozy Cole (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks 5-8 (Recorded in New York, on June 30, 1936)
Jonah Jones (tp); Johnny Hodges (as); Harry Carney (bs); Teddy Wilson (p); Lawrence Lucie (g); John Kirby (b); Cozy Cole (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks 9-11 (Recorded in New York, on October 21, 1936)
Irving `Mouse` Randolph (tp); Vido Musso (cl); Ben Webster (ts); Teddy Wilson (p); Allan Reuss (g); Milt Hinton (b); Gene Krupa (d); Billie Holiday (v)

track 12 (Recorded in New York, on October 28, 1936)
Irving `Mouse` Randolph (tp); Vido Musso (cl); Ben Webster (ts); Teddy Wilson (p); Allan Reuss (g); Milt Hinton (b); Gene Krupa (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks13-15 (Recorded in New York, on November 19, 1936)
Jonah Jones (tp); Benny Goodman (cl); Ben Webster (ts); Teddy Wilson (p); Allan Reuss (g); John Kirby (b); Cozy Cole (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks16-18 (Recorded in New York, on March 31, 1937)
Cootie Williams (tp); Johnny Hodges (as); Harry Carney (cl)(bs); Teddy Wilson (p); Alan Reuss (g); John Kirby (b); Cozy Cole (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks 19, 21, 23, 24 (Recorded in New York, on May 11, 1937)
Buck Clayton (tp); Buster Bailey (cl); Johnny Hodges (as); Lester Young (ts); Teddy Wilson (p); Alan Reuss (g); Artie Bernstein (b); Cozy Cole (d); Billie Holiday (v)

tracks 20, 22 (Recorded in New York, on July 2, 1937)
Louis Armstrong (tp, v); Shelton Hemphil, Louis Bacon, Henry Allen (tp); George Matthews, George Washington, J.C. Higginbotham (tb); Pete Clark, Charlie Holmes (as); Albert Nicholas, Bingle Madison, (cl, ts); Luis Russell (p); Pops Foster (b); Paul Barbarin (d)

Billie Holiday

Al hablar de Carmen McRae, alguien preguntó por una lista de cantantes. En el primer lugar de mi lista aparecía Billie Holiday. Muchos la consideran la voz más importante en la historia del jazz, con un estilo muy personal y a un nivel equiparable a monstruos del jazz como Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker o Louis Armstrong. Miles Davis decía de ella que no necesita instrumentos de viento acompañándola. Su voz ya suena como un instrumento de viento. Capaz de improvisar de tal forma que la canción más conocida la cambiaba hasta hacerla totalmente suya, ponía en sus interpretaciones un sentimiento inigualable. Estaba dotada de una voz muy personal y poseía una excelente técnica. Todo ello es suficiente para colocarla en la cima del ranking.


Eleanora Fagan Gough (Billie Holiday) nació en Baltimore, el 7 de abril de 1915. Su padre, un guitarrista de jazz llamado Clarence Holiday (o Halliday) que nunca se casaría con su madre, las abandonó cuando Billie todavía era un bebé. Con 10 años sería internada en un reformatorio católico, al parecer después de haber admitido que había sido violada. Aunque la sentencia era hasta que se convirtiera en adulta, un amigo de la familia conseguiría su puesta en libertad al cabo de sólo dos años. En 1927 se traslada con su madre, primero a Nueva Jersey, y poco después a Brooklyn, donde su madre hace trabajo doméstico y Eleanora le ayuda. En 1929, ella y su madre son arrestadas por prostitución. Al comienzo de los años 30, empieza a actuar en pequeños clubs.

En 1933, tras una prueba como bailarina (bastante penosa) en el club Pod & Jerry's en West 133rd Street , Billie pregunta si puede cantar; convence a los parroquianos y es contratada. Una noche, el productor John Hammond Jr. se acerca al club con la intención de oir a la cantante de blues Monette Moore. Moore lleva 10 años grabando discos y en ese momento está actuando en un show en Broadway, siendo sustituida por una joven cantante llamada Billie Halliday (había tomado el nombre de Billie Dove, una de sus actrices favoritas, y se había puesto el apellido de su padre). Hammond queda tan impresionado por Billie que publica una reseña suya en el Melody Maker en abril de 1933. Además, convence a Benny Goodman para que vaya a verla a actuar. Goodman accede a grabar con ella y en el curso de 3 sesiones en noviembre y diciembre de 1933, graban sus dos primeras canciones: ‘Your Mother’s Son-in-Law’ y ‘Riffin’ The Scotch’. A primeros de 1935 debuta en el Apolo Theater y aparece en una película (Simphony in Black) junto a Duke Ellington. Su porte digno durante sus actuaciones en los pequeños clubs le vale el apodo de The Lady (más tarde, Lester Young lo convertiría en Lady Day). Hacia la segunda mitad de 1935, vuelve a entrar en los estudios y graba 4 canciones con una banda supervisada por el pianista Teddy Wilson. Acompañada por el trompetista Roy Eldridge, el saxo alto Johnny Hodges o los tenores Ben Webster y Chu Berry, hace grandes versiones de temas como 'What a Little Moonlight Can Do,' 'Twenty-Four Hours a Day' y 'If You Were Mine', convirtiéndose en una de las artistas más populares de las subsidiarias de Columbia, Brunswick y Vocalion. Durante 1936, actúa de gira con grupos liderados por Jimmie Lunceford y Fletcher Henderson, volviendo a Nueva York para grabar diversas sesiones. A finales de enero de 1937, graba varios números con la orquesta de Count Basie, uno de los nuevos descubrimientos de Hammond. Durante casi un año se convierte en el complemento femenino al cantante de la orquesta, Jimmy Rushing. Menos de un mes después de salir de la orquesta de Basie, fue contratada por la popular banda de Artie Shaw, convirtiéndose en uno de los primeros casos de una mujer negra que aparecía con un grupo de blancos. Sin embargo, y a pesar del apoyo de los miembros de la banda, la presión de los promotores de espectáculos y los patrocinadores de radio hizo que tuviera que abandonar la banda. Hacia finales de los años 30, colabora frecuentemente con Lester Young, con quien alcanzaría una simbiosis creativa del que se encuentran pocos ejemplos en la historia del jazz, y el trompetista Buck Clayton.
El siguiente punto culminante en su carrera es su contratación para actuar en el club Café Society, el primer club nocturno con un público inter-racial, donde interpretaría la canción que catapultaría su carrera a un nuevo nivel, 'Strange Fruit'. La canción la había compuesto Lewis Allen, un habitual del club, en respuesta al intenso racismo todavía persistente en el Sur. 'Strange Fruit' pronto se convirtió en el punto culminante de sus actuaciones. John Hammond se negó a grabarla, por lo que Billie la registraría con el sello Commodore, propiedad de Milt Gabler. Poco después fue prohibida por muchas emisoras de radio, pero la creciente industria de las máquinas de discos (jukebox), así como la inclusión de otra gran canción en el disco ('Fine & Mellow') la convirtió en un gran éxito.
Hasta 1942 continuaría grabando para el sello Columbia, obteniendo un nuevo éxito en 1941 con el tema 'God Bless the Child'. En 1943, ganaría por primera vez la encuesta de críticos organizada por la revista "Esquire" por delante de Mildred Bailey y de Ella Fitzgerald. Gabler, que también trabajaba para Decca, la contrató para el sello en 1944, grabando el tema 'Lover Man', una canción escrita especialmente para ella y que supondría su tercer gran éxito. Pronto se convertiría en una de las prioridades de su sello discográfico, permitiéndole escoger material de superior calidad y disponer de una sección de cuerda en sus grabaciones. Con Decca grabaría algunos de sus temas preferidos, 'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do' de Bessie Smith, 'Them There Eyes' y 'Crazy He Calls Me'.
Paralelamente a sus éxitos profesionales, su vida privada inicia un periodo de gran turbulencia a mediados de los 40. Adicta al alcohol y la marihuana desde antes, con su primer marido (Johnnie Monroe) comienza a consumir opio. El matrimonio no duró mucho, pero poco después se volvería a casar con el trompetista Joe Guy y pasaría a consumir heroína. En 1947 realiza un triunfal concierto en el Town Hall de Nueva York y tiene un pequeño papel como sirvienta junto a Louis Armstrong en la película Nueva Orleans, Sin embargo, perdería una buena cantidad de dinero al formar su propia orquesta con Joe Guy. La muerte de su madre poco después le afectó profundamente y ese mismo año fue arrestada por posesión de heroína y condenada a ocho meses de cárcel. Por desgracia, sus problemas no desaparecerían tras su liberación. Con el cargo por drogas le fue imposible obtener una tarjeta de cabaret, por lo que no podía realizar actuaciones en clubes nocturnos.
En 1950 actuó en Chicago con Miles Davis y se reencontró con Lester Young en Philadelphia. En 1952 Norman Granz la contrató para su sello discográfico y también la incluyó en las giras del JATP y en 1953, viajó por primera vez a Europa. Las grabaciones con pequeños grupos en los que figuraron Ben Webster, Oscar Peterson, Harry 'Sweets' Edison o Charlie Shavers, le permitieron volver a la intimidad de sus trabajos para Columbia. En 1954 realizaría, con gran éxito, una nueva gira por Europa. A su regreso, ingresó voluntariamente en una clínica para intentar rehacer su vida. En 1956 publicaría su autobiografía "Lady Sings The Blues". Tuvo una efímera recuperación que aprovechó para reaparecer en un capitulo televiso dedicada a las "Siete Artes" de la CBS titulada "The Sound of Jazz" con Webster, Lester Young y Coleman Hawkins. El memorable y estremecedor "Fine and Mellow" que cantó acompañada de Lester Young puede considerarse un hito en la historia del jazz. El álbum de 1958, "Lady in Satin", mostraba a la artista, de 43 años de edad, haciendo grandes esfuerzos para cantar como en los mejores tiempos, Su voz ronca tratando de competir con los arreglos de cuerdas de Ray Ellis. Un disco muy controvertido y que tiene grandes defensores y grandes detractores, pero en el que sobre todo prevalece la sinceridad con la que Billie transmite sus vivencias. Durante su último año, hizo dos apariciones en Europa antes de desplomarse en mayo de 1959 víctima de sus dolencias de corazón y de hígado. Tras ser hospitalizada, una enfermera encontró heroina en su habitación, por lo que fue detenida y la policía la esposaría a su cama, donde moriría el 17 de Julio de 1959. Cuatro meses antes, lo había hecho su admirado Lester Young.










The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. Almost fifty years after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing. Billie Holiday's highly stylized reading of this blues tradition revolutionized traditional pop, ripping the decades-long tradition of song plugging in two by refusing to compromise her artistry for either the song or the band. She made clear her debts to Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong (in her autobiography she admitted, "I always wanted Bessie's big sound and Pops' feeling"), but in truth her style was virtually her own, quite a shock in an age of interchangeable crooners and band singers.
With her spirit shining through on every recording, Holiday's technical expertise also excelled in comparison to the great majority of her contemporaries. Often bored by the tired old Tin Pan Alley songs she was forced to record early in her career, Holiday fooled around with the beat and the melody, phrasing behind the beat and often rejuvenating the standard melody with harmonies borrowed from her favorite horn players, Armstrong and Lester Young. (She often said she tried to sing like a horn.) Her notorious private life -- a series of abusive relationships, substance addictions, and periods of depression -- undoubtedly assisted her legendary status, but Holiday's best performances ("Lover Man," "Don't Explain," "Strange Fruit," her own composition "God Bless the Child") remain among the most sensitive and accomplished vocal performances ever recorded. More than technical ability, more than purity of voice, what made Billie Holiday one of the best vocalists of the century -- easily the equal of Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra -- was her relentlessly individualist temperament, a quality that colored every one of her endlessly nuanced performances.
Billie Holiday's chaotic life reportedly began in Baltimore on April 7, 1915 (a few reports say 1912) when she was born Eleanora Fagan Gough. Her father, Clarence Holiday, was a teenaged jazz guitarist and banjo player later to play in Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra. He never married her mother, Sadie Fagan, and left while his daughter was still a baby. (She would later run into him in New York, and though she contracted many guitarists for her sessions before his death in 1937, she always avoided using him.) Holiday's mother was also a young teenager at the time, and whether because of inexperience or neglect, often left her daughter with uncaring relatives. Holiday was sentenced to Catholic reform school at the age of ten, reportedly after she admitted being raped. Though sentenced to stay until she became an adult, a family friend helped get her released after just two years. With her mother, she moved in 1927, first to New Jersey and soon after to Brooklyn.
In New York, Holiday helped her mother with domestic work, but soon began moonlighting as a prostitute for the additional income. According to the weighty Billie Holiday legend (which gained additional credence after her notoriously apocryphal autobiography -Lady Sings the Blues), her big singing break came in 1933 when a laughable dancing audition at a speakeasy prompted her accompanist to ask her if she could sing. In fact, Holiday was most likely singing at clubs all over New York City as early as 1930-31. Whatever the true story, she first gained some publicity in early 1933, when record producer John Hammond -- only three years older than Holiday herself, and just at the beginning of a legendary career -- wrote her up in a column for Melody Maker and brought Benny Goodman to one of her performances. After recording a demo at Columbia Studios, Holiday joined a small group led by Goodman to make her commercial debut on November 27, 1933 with "Your Mother's Son-In-Law."
Though she didn't return to the studio for over a year, Billie Holiday spent 1934 moving up the rungs of the competitive New York bar scene. By early 1935, she made her debut at the Apollo Theater and appeared in a one-reeler film with Duke Ellington. During the last half of 1935, Holiday finally entered the studio again and recorded a total of four sessions. With a pick-up band supervised by pianist Teddy Wilson, she recorded a series of obscure, forgettable songs straight from the gutters of Tin Pan Alley -- in other words, the only songs available to an obscure black band during the mid-'30s. (During the swing era, music publishers kept the best songs strictly in the hands of society orchestras and popular white singers.) Despite the poor song quality, Holiday and various groups (including trumpeter Roy Eldridge, alto Johnny Hodges, and tenors Ben Webster and Chu Berry) energized flat songs like "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" and "If You Were Mine" (to say nothing of "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo" and "Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town"). The great combo playing and Holiday's increasingly assured vocals made them quite popular on Columbia, Brunswick and Vocalion.
During 1936, Holiday toured with groups led by Jimmie Lunceford and Fletcher Henderson, then returned to New York for several more sessions. In late January 1937, she recorded several numbers with a small group culled from one of Hammond's new discoveries, Count Basie's Orchestra. Tenor Lester Young, who'd briefly known Billie several years earlier, and trumpeter Buck Clayton were to become especially attached to Holiday. The three did much of their best recorded work together during the late '30s, and Holiday herself bestowed the nickname Pres on Young, while he dubbed her Lady Day for her elegance. By the spring of 1937, she began touring with Basie as the female complement to his male singer, Jimmy Rushing. The association lasted less than a year, however. Though officially she was fired from the band for being temperamental and unreliable, shadowy influences higher up in the publishing world reportedly commanded the action after she refused to begin singing '20s female blues standards.
At least temporarily, the move actually benefited Holiday -- less than a month after leaving Basie, she was hired by Artie Shaw's popular band. She began singing with the group in 1938, one of the first instances of a black female appearing with a white group. Despite the continuing support of the entire band, however, show promoters and radio sponsors soon began objecting to Holiday -- based on her unorthodox singing style almost as much as her race. After a series of escalating indignities, Holiday quit the band in disgust. Yet again, her judgment proved valuable; the added freedom allowed her to take a gig at a hip new club named Caf? Society, the first popular nightspot with an inter-racial audience. There, Billie Holiday learned the song that would catapult her career to a new level: "Strange Fruit."
The standard, written by Caf? Society regular Lewis Allen and forever tied to Holiday, is an anguished reprisal of the intense racism still persistent in the South. Though Holiday initially expressed doubts about adding such a bald, uncompromising song to her repertoire, she pulled it off thanks largely to her powers of nuance and subtlety. "Strange Fruit" soon became the highlight of her performances. Though John Hammond refused to record it (not for its politics but for its overly pungent imagery), he allowed Holiday a bit of leverage to record for Commodore, the label owned by jazz record-store owner Milt Gabler. Once released, "Strange Fruit" was banned by many radio outlets, though the growing jukebox industry (and the inclusion of the excellent "Fine and Mellow" on the flip) made it a rather large, though controversial, hit. She continued recording for Columbia labels until 1942, and hit big again with her most famous composition, 1941's "God Bless the Child." Gabler, who also worked A&R for Decca, signed her to the label in 1944 to record "Lover Man," a song written especially for her and her third big hit. Neatly side-stepping the musician's union ban that afflicted her former label, Holiday soon became a priority at Decca, earning the right to top-quality material and lavish string sections for her sessions. She continued recording scattered sessions for Decca during the rest of the '40s, and recorded several of her best-loved songs including Bessie Smith's "'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do," "Them There Eyes," and "Crazy He Calls Me."
Though her artistry was at its peak, Billie Holiday's emotional life began a turbulent period during the mid-'40s. Already heavily into alcohol and marijuana, she began smoking opium early in the decade with her first husband, Johnnie Monroe. The marriage didn't last, but hot on its heels came a second marriage to trumpeter Joe Guy and a move to heroin. Despite her triumphant concert at New York's Town Hall and a small film role -- as a maid (!) -- with Louis Armstrong in 1947's New Orleans, she lost a good deal of money running her own orchestra with Joe Guy. Her mother's death soon after affected her deeply, and in 1947 she was arrested for possession of heroin and sentenced to eight months in prison.
Unfortunately, Holiday's troubles only continued after her release. The drug charge made it impossible for her to get a cabaret card, so nightclub performances were out of the question. Plagued by various celebrity hawks from all portions of the underworld (jazz, drugs, song publishing, etc.), she soldiered on for Decca until 1950. Two years later, she began recording for jazz entrepreneur Norman Granz, owner of the excellent labels Clef, Norgran, and by 1956, Verve. The recordings returned her to the small-group intimacy of her Columbia work, and reunited her with Ben Webster as well as other top-flight musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Charlie Shavers. Though the ravages of a hard life were beginning to take their toll on her voice, many of Holiday's mid-'50s recordings are just as intense and beautiful as her classic work.
During 1954, Holiday toured Europe to great acclaim, and her 1956 autobiography brought her even more fame (or notoriety). She made her last great appearance in 1957, on the CBS television special The Sound of Jazz with Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins providing a close backing. One year later, the Lady in Satin LP clothed her naked, increasingly hoarse voice with the overwrought strings of Ray Ellis. During her final year, she made two more appearances in Europe before collapsing in May 1959 of heart and liver disease. Still procuring heroin while on her death bed, Holiday was arrested for possession in her private room and died on July 17, her system completely unable to fight both withdrawal and heart disease at the same time. Her cult of influence spread quickly after her death and gave her more fame than she'd enjoyed in life. The 1972 biopic Lady Sings the Blues featured Diana Ross struggling to overcome the conflicting myths of Holiday's life, but the film also illuminated her tragic life and introduced many future fans. By the digital age, virtually all of Holiday's recorded material had been reissued: by Columbia (nine volumes of The Quintessential Billie Holiday), Decca (The Complete Decca Recordings), and Verve (The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959).
John Bush, All Music Guide

Ramsey Lewis - 1981 Live At The Savoy

01 Close Your Eyes and Remember (Stepney) 07:04
02 Sassy Stew (G. Washington) 06:51
03 Callin' Fallin' (Bates, R. Irving III) 04:51
04 Baby What You Want Me to Do (Reed) 04:18
05 You Never Know (Bates, R. Irving III) 04:55
06 Lynn (Johnson) 05:44
07 It's Just Called Love (Johnson) 06:29
08 Hits Medley: Wade in the Water/Hang on Sloopy/The in Crowd (Farrell, Page, Russell) 07:09


Recorded live at the Savoy Theater, New York, on 1981



Ramsey Lewis Keyboards
Rahmlee Michael Davis Trumpet
Yob Michael Harris Trumpet
Don Myrick Sax (Tenor)
Grover Washington, Jr. Sax (Soprano)
Louis Satterfield Trombone
Robert Irving III Piano (Electric)
Dean Gant Synthesizer
Henry Johnson Guitar
Phil Upchurch Guitar
Greg Williams Bass
Terry Morrisette Drums
Steve Thornton Percussion
Tom Washington Percussion
Clora Williams Vocals
Alisa Gyse Vocals
John Yohon Harbin Vocals

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1969 Another Voyage

01 If You've Got It, Flaunt It, Pt. 1 (Eaton, Lewis, White) 2:49
02 Wandering Rose (Creque) 4:55
03 How Beautiful Is Spring (Harris) 4:33
04 Do What You Wanna (Lewis) 2:45
05 My Cherie Amour (Cosby, Moy, Wonder) 3:49
06 Bold and Black (Harris) 4:07
07 Opus Number 5 (Stepney) 5:38
08 Uhuru (White) 2:20
09 Cecile (Eaton) 3:04
10 If You've Got It, Flaunt It, Pt. 2 (Eaton, Lewis, White) 2:18

Recorded on May 12-14, 1969


Cleveland Eaton Bass, Bass (Electric)
Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards, Piano (Electric)
Phil Upchurch Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Maurice White Percussion, Drums, Kalimba

Ramsey Lewis - 1968 Mother Nature's Son

01. Mother Nature's Son 4:55
02. Rocky Raccoon 2:38
03. Julia 4:19
04. Back In The USSR 3:15
05. Dear Prudence 4:55
06. Cry Baby Cry 4:07
07. Good Night 5:28
08. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey 3:25
09. Sexy Sadie 2:44
10. Black Bird 4:31

All songs written and composed by Lennon & McCartney

Recorded at Ter-Mar Studios Chicago, on December 1968

Ramsey Lewis Keyboards
Charles Stepney Arranger, Conductor

Ramsey Lewis - 1960-1967 In Person

"In Person" es un doble CD que recoge 5 discos del periodo 1960-1967. El primer CD incluye temas de "In Chicago", "At the Bohemian Caverns" y "The 'In' Crowd". Como los tres han sido incluidos en este blog, sólo publico el segundo disco. Incluye 7 de los 9 temas de "Hang On Ramsey! ", así como 6 de los 8 temas de "Dancing In The Street".

Disc 2
01 A Hard Day's Night
02 He's A Real Gone Guy
03 And I Love Her
04 Movin' Easy
05 The More I See You
06 Satin Doll
07 Hang On Sloopy
08 Dancing In The Street
09 You Don't Know Me
10 Django
11 Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars
12 What Now My Love
13 Black Orpheus Medley

Tracks 1-7, from Cadet 761 "Hang On Ramsey!". Recorded live at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, on October 14-17, 1965
Tracks 8-13 from Cadet 794 "Dancing In The Street". Recorded live at the Basin Street West, San Francisco, on July, 1967

Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards
Cleveland Eaton Bass
Maurice White Drums

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1965 The In Crowd

01 The "In" Crowd (Page) 5:51
02 Since I Fell for You (Johnson) 4:06
03 Tennessee Waltz (King, Stewart) 5:02
04 You Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby (Garnett, Hirch, Rivers) 2:59
05 Love Theme From Spartacus (North) 7:09
06 Felicidade (Happiness) [From the Movie Black Orpheus] (DeMoraes, Jobim) 3:29
07 Motherless Child (arranged by Lewis)* 3:34
08 Come Sunday (Ellington) 4:33
09 The Party's Over (Styne)* 2:29

* Bonus tracks

Recorded live at The Bohemian Caverns, Washington, on May 13-15, 1965


Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards
Eldee Young Bass, Cello
Redd Holt Drums

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1964 At the Bohemian Caverns

01 West Side Story Medley: Somewhere/Maria/Jet Song/Somewhere -- Leonard Bernstein (11:38)
02 People -- Jule Styne (5:36)
03 Something You Got -- Chris Kenner (3:38)
04 Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) -- Bart Howard (6:33)
05 My Babe -- Willie Dixon (4:01)
06 The Caves -- Ramsey Lewis (3:20)
07 The Shelter of Your Arms -- Shirley Collie (3:57)

Recorded live at The Bohemian Caverns, Washington, on June 4-6, 1964


Ramsey Lewis (Piano)
Eldee Young (Bass, Cello)
Redd Holt (Drums)

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1961 Sound of Christmas

01 Merry Christmas, Baby (Baxter, Moore) 4:04
02 Winter Wonderland (Bernard, Smith) 2:11
03 Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Coots, Gillespie) 2:25
04 Christmas Blues (Henderson, Lewis) 2:50
05 Here Comes Santa Claus (Autry, Haldeman) 2:41
06 The Sound of Christmas (Hampton, Lewis) 2:22
07 The Christmas Song (Torme, Wells) 3:18
08 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Traditional) 3:19
09 Sleigh Ride (Anderson, Parish) 2:58
10 What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (Loesser) 3:27


Recorded at Ter-Mar Studios, Chicago, Illinois, on October 1961




Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards
Eldee Young Bass
Redd Holt Drums

Tracks 6-10
Sol Bobrov Strings
David Chausow Strings
Leonard Chausow Strings
Oscar Chausow Strings
Karl B. Fruh Strings
Harold E. Kupper Strings
Abe Meltzer Strings
Emil Podsada Strings
Theodore Silavin Strings

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1960 In Chicago

01 Old Devil Moon (Harburg, Lane) 4:06
02 What's New? (Burke, Haggart) 4:47
03 Carmen (Bizet) 3:09
04 Bei Mir Bist du Schön (Cahn, Chaplin, Secunda) 3:58
05 I'll Remember April (DePaul, Johnston, Raye) 3:27
06 Delilah (Nicholls) 4:38
07 Folk Ballad (arranged by Young, Lewis, Holt) 6:34
08 But Not for Me (Gershwin, Gershwin) 5:15
09 See See Rider (arranged by Young, Lewis, Holt) 3:12


Recorded live at The Blue Note Club, Chicago, on April 30, 1960



Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards
Eldee Young Bass
Redd Holt Drums

Ramsey Lewis Trio - 1960 Stretching Out

01 Li'l Liza Jane (Traditional) 3:13
02 This Is My Night to Dream (Burke, Monaco) 2:34
03 Scarlet Ribbons (Danzig, Segal) 3:32
04 Here 'Tis (Holt, Lewis, Young) 2:51
05 My Ship (Gershwin, Weill) 4:14
06 Put Your Little Foot Right Out (Spier) 2:55
07 Solo Para Ti (Holt, Lewis, Young) 2:56
08 These Foolish Things (Link, Marvell, Strachey) 3:37
09 When the Spirit Moves You (Holt, Lewis, Young) 3:43
10 A Portrait of Jeanny (Robinson, Burdge) 2:30


Recorded in Chicago, on February 23-24, 1960


Ramsey Lewis Piano, Keyboards
Eldee Young Bass
Redd Holt Drums

Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. nació en Chicago el 27 de mayo de 1935, en el seno de una familia de trabajadores agrícolas del Sur que se había conocido en la iglesia. Con tan solo cuatro años de edad empezó a recibir sus primeras lecciones de piano. Entre 1947 y 1954 asistió a la Chicago Music College Preparatory School, donde su profesora de música, Dorothy Mendelsohn, le enseñaría a escuchar con su "oído interno" y a hacer que el piano cante. En su juventud, estaba más interesado en la música clásica, siendo su única exposición a la música de jazz los discos de Duke Ellington, Art Tatum y Mead Lux Lewis de su padre.
En 1950, se unió a la Cleffs, un septeto de baile local. El líder de la banda, Wallace Burton (a quien conocía del coro de la iglesia), ofreció a Lewis una educación alternativa, poniéndolo en contacto con la música de algunos de los pesos pesados del jazz (Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Charlie Parker). La sección rítmica de los Cleff corría a cargo de Eldee Young y Red Holt. El grupo se disuelve al ser llamados a filas varios de sus miembros cuando estalla la guerra de Corea. El trio que queda (Lewis, Young y Holt), decide formar su propio grupo. Por medio del disc-jockey de jazz de Chicago Daddy-O Daylie, consiguen una audición en el sello Chess, grabando en 1956 su primer LP para Argo (“Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing”). Poco después actúan en los principales clubs de jazz de Nueva York y realizan giras, trabajando como músicos profesionales a tiempo completo. En su repertorio mezclan gospel, blues, folk y elementos clásicos con una aproximación jazzística, perfectamente reconocible. Su versión funky del clásico de Chris Kenner "Something You Got" los llevaría por primera vez a lo alto de de las listas pop en 1964. Sin embargo, el éxito significaría el principio del fin del grupo. En las Navidades de 1965, Young y Holt se separarían para formar Young–Holt Unlimited, siendo sustituidos por el bajista Cleveland Eaton y el batería Maurice White (quien más tarde fundaría el grupo Earth, Wind & Fire). Desde 1956 hasta 1971, el Ramsey Lewis Trio permanecería en el sello Chess (Argo/Cadet), alcanzando unas altísimas cotas de popularidad con temas como "The In Crowd", "Wade in the Water" y "Hang On Sloopy". En esa época, Ramsey Lewis había publicado ya más de 30 discos.
En 1971 firma con Columbia Records y empieza a producirse una deriva en su música, cada vez con menos elementos de jazz y más de R&B, funk y rock, lo que le acarrea las críticas de la prensa de jazz. El público, sin embargo, le sigue prestando su apoyo, consiguiendo 7 discos de oro en esa época, incluido "Sun Goddess" en 1975. En este periodo abandona el formato de trio y se pasa a un sexteto. Cansado de ser más un director de banda que un pianista, volvería al formato de trio a principio de los 80. A finales de los 80 y durante los 90 alternaría diversos formatos: cuarteto, quinteto, duos de piano y en solitario. Tras veinte años de relación con Columbia, en 1991 firmaría con GRP, un sello con el que Lewis se sentía más a gusto, ya que pensaba que potenciarían su faceta jazzìstica. Su disco de 1993 "Sky Island" siguió siendo mal acogido por la crítica, pero tuvo muy buena acogida por el público.
Desde 1957, Lewis ha realizado conciertos en todos los grandes clubes, festivales de jazz y eventos de verano de los Estados Unidos, además de haber trabajado con más de veinte y cinco orquestas sinfónicas. Tiene un programa diario de radio en Chicago, el Ramsey Lewis Morning Show, y un programa semanal sindicado de jazz. De 1990 a 1999, fue anfitrión del BET's Jazz Central. Además, fue nombrado director artístico del Jazz Festival de Ravinia en 1992. Forma parte de la junta del Merit Music Program (que proporciona lecciones de música gratis a la juventud), de Cycle (un programa de autoayuda en la escuela secundaria) y del Ravinia Mentor Program. Ha sido presidente honorario de la Fundación Cares for Kids y en 2000 fue nombrado Personalidad Radiofónica del Año.
Aunque realiza giras nacionales e internacionales en diversos formatos, suele actuar en trio con Larry Gray al bajo y Leon Joyce a la batería. Su último disco fue "With One Voice” (2005) publicado por el sello Narada Jazz.





Composer and pianist Ramsey Lewis has been referred to as “the great performer”, a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. A native Chicagoan (born May 27, 1935), Mr. Lewis represents the great diversity of music for which Chicago is noted.
Ramsey Lewis first captivated fans with his first album “Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing” by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. By 1965, he was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with The In Crowd, Hang On Sloopy and Wade In The Water. He has three Grammy Awards and seven gold records to his credit. Often called legendary, Ramsey concedes “It’s a high honor when someone says so, but I don’t see myself that way. What keeps me enthusiastic and energizes me, is the realization that the more I learn, the more I find there is to know.”
To his credit, he has been honored with three (3) honorary doctorate degrees, the Recording Academy Governor’s Award in 2000 and he was “Person of the Week” on ABC Nightly News in February 1995. Mr. Lewis performed at the White House State dinner President Bill Clinton held for President Fernando Henrique & Mrs. Cardoso of Brazil in April of 1995. He was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Academy of Illinois “Laureate” Award in Springfield, Illinois in April of 1997, and was one of the Olympic Torch runners who carried the Winter 2002 Olympic Torch during its journey to Salt Lake City in January of 2002.
In addition to recording albums and performing live, Mr. Lewis hosts WNUA-FM Chicago’s weekday morning drive-time radio show for which he has been awarded R&R’s 1999 and 2000 Personality of the Year Award. He also hosts the syndicated “Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis”, a two-hour radio program which airs in over 65 cities throughout the U.S. Active in community affairs, especially on behalf of youth, he helped organize the Ravinia Festival’s Jazz Mentor Program and also serves as the Artistic Director for that festival’s jazz series. He is constantly his own trio composed of Larry Gray on bass and Leon Joyce on drums. Check the tour page for current dates.
Mr. Lewis has performed concerts and has played many of the jazz festivals and summer venues in the U.S. He has performed with over 25 symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Canada and has performed in concert and at festivals throughout Europe, Japan, Mexico and the Caribbean.
All About Jazz

2 AÑOS YA

Hoy se cumplen 2 años desde que empecé este blog. Mi objetivo era subir la música que me gusta y ofrecérsela a la gente, en devolución por la ingente cantidad que había encontrado en la red. La regularidad que pretendía (cada semana) ha resultado ser un objetivo demasiado ambicioso. Al final una vez cada 15 días, más o menos, es el ritmo con el que puedo subir los discos. Procuro poner cosas que no aparecen frecuentemente, aunque no siempre lo consigo. En cualquier caso, yo me lo paso bien y parece que he conseguido llegar a un cierto número de personas. Los resultados a la vista están:


2 years since I started this blog. My goal was to raise the music I like and present it to people in return for the wealth he had found on the web. The regularity that claimed (every week) has proved too ambitious. Finally once every 15 days, more or less, is the pace that I can upload the albums. I try to put things that do not appear frequently, although not always succeed. In any case, I have enjoyed a good time and think I managed to reach a certain number of people. The results are in sight:

La única pega, tal vez, es la poca respuesta obtenida. Pero eso es lo esperable en este tipo de blogs: la gente se baja la música y no suele decir nada. Afortunadamente, no siempre es así y hay algunos habituales que dejan sus comentarios (bienaventurados seáis). En cualquier caso, GRACIAS A TODOS.

The only downside, perhaps, is the lack of response. But that is what is expected in these type of blogs: people download the music and usually does not say anything. Fortunately, not always this is the case and there are some people that usually leave comments (you be blessed). In any case, THANK YOU ALL.

J.J. Johnson - 1998 Heroes

01 Carolyn (In the Morning) (Johnson) 9:41
02 Ten-85 (Johnson) 6:46
03 Thelonious the Onliest (Johnson) 3:02
04 Vista (Johnson) 3:10
05 In Walked Wayne (Johnson) 7:15
06 Better Days (Johnson) 3:16
07 Blue and Green (Davis, Evans) 3:48
08 Blue Train (Coltrane) 6:25
09 Carolyn (In the Evening) (Johnson) 9:05

Recorded on October 1-4, 1996


J.J. Johnson Trombone
Wayne Shorter Sax (Tenor)
Dan Faulk Sax (Soprano, Tenor)
Don Sickler Flugelhorn
Renee Rosnes Piano
Rufus Reid Bass
Victor Lewis Drums

J.J. Johnson - 1994 Tangence

01 People Time (Benny Carter) 2.51
02 The Meaning Of The Blues (Robert William Troup Jr., Leah Worth) 5.56
03 For Dancers Only (Sy Oliver) 2.26
04 Dinner For One Please James (Michael Carr) 5.51
05 Two's Company (Robert Farnon) 6.30
06 Lament (J.J. Johnson) 5.26
07 Opus De Focus (J.J. Johnson) 4.21
08 The Very Thought Of You (Ray Noble) 4.29
09 Amazing Grace (Traditional) 4.48
10 Malagueña (Ernesto Casadi Lecuona) 4.42
11 End Of A Love Affair (Edward C. Redding) 5.21
12 Malaga Moon (Renee Rosnes) 4.05

Recorded in Wembley (England), on July 13-15, 1994



J.J. Johnson Trombone
Robert Farnon Arranger, Conductor
Wynton Marsalis Trumpet on 3, 5, 10
John Pignegny French Horn
Anthony Pleeth Cello
Colin Sheen Trombone, Violin
Ray Swinfield Woodwind
Allen Walley Bass
Dennis Walton Woodwind
Hugh Webb Harp
Tommy Whittle Woodwind
Roy Willox Woodwind
Nick Busch French Horn
David Randall Violin
Richard Watkins French Horn
George Turnland Viola
Michael Ponder Viola
Joan Edwards Violin
Kenny Baker Trumpet
Gordon Campbell Trombone
Rachel Cohen Violin
Derek Collier Violin
Maurice Brett Violin
Don Lusher Trombone
Laurie Holloway Piano, Keyboards
Eric Allen Percussion
Levine Andrade Violin
Nigel Carter Trumpet
Gillian Cohen Violin
Caroline Dale Cello
Simon Gardner Trumpet
Bill Geldard Trombone
Johnny Graham Viola
Geoffrey Grey Violin
Derek Healey Trumpet
Peter Hughes Woodwind
Terry Jenkins Drums
Norman Jones Cello
Homi Kanga Violin
Chris Laurence Bass
Louis Stewart Guitar

J.J. Johnson - 1988 Quintergy. Live at The Village Vanguard

01. When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional) 4:47
02. Blue Bossa (Dorham) 6:28
03. Doc Was Here (Johnson) 4:31
04. Bud's Blues (Stitt) 6:00
05. Quintergy (Johnson) 3:27
06. Lament (Johnson) 5:53
07. Why Indianapolis, Why Not Indianapolis? (Johnson) 8:00
08. It's All Right With Me (Porter) 2:46
09. Coppin' the Bop (Roach) 9:21
10. Nefertiti (Shorter) 5:02
11. You've Changed (Carey, Fischer) 5:49
12. Commutation (Johnson) 6:02

Recorded live at The Village Vanguard, on July 5 & 10, 1988


J.J. Johnson - Trombone
Ralph Moore - Saxophone
Stanley Cowell - Piano
Rufus Reid - Bass
Victor Lewis - Drums

J.J. Johnson & Nat Adderley - 1977 Yokohama Concert

01 Horace (Johnson) 7:00
02 Cyclops (Adderley) 6:20
03 Why Not (Johnson) 8:25
04 Splashes (Johnson) 7:20
05 It Happens (Dumas) 10:05
06 Work Song (Adderley, Brown) 6:04
07 Walkin' (Carpenter) 9:46
08 Jevin (Johnson) 5:15
09 Lament (Johnson) 3:30
10 Hummin' (Adderley) 8:27
11 Melodee (Johnson) 8:51

Recorded at "Kanagawa Kenritsu Ongakudo", Yokahama (Japan), on April 20, 1977


J.J. Johnson (Trombone)
Nat Adderley (Trumpet, Cornet)
Billy Childs (Keyboards)
Tony Dumas (Bass)
Kevin Johnson (Drums)

J.J. Johnson - 1960 A Touch of Satin

01 Satin Doll (Ellington) 4:28
02 Flat Rock (Johnson) 4:17
03 Gigi (Lerner, Loewe) 3:19
04 Bloozineff (Johnson) 3:38
05 Jackie-ing (Monk) 4:20
06 Goodbye (Jenkins) 2:08
07 Full Moon And Empty Arms (Kaye, Mossman, Rachmaninoff) 4:31
08 Sophisticated Lady (Ellington, Parish) 2:32
09 When The Saints Go Marching In (traditional) 6:09

Recorded on December 15 (1-4) and 21 (5-9), 1960


J.J. Johnson (trombone)
Victor Feldman (piano, celeste in track 3)
Sam Jones (bass)
Louis Hayes (drums)

J.J. Johnson - 1959 Really Livin'

01 Me Too (Really Livin') (Johnson)
02 Decision (Rollins)
03 I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good (Ellington, Webster)
04 Red Cross (Parker)
05 Almost Like Being In Love (Lerner, Loewe)
06 Stardust (Carmichael, Parish)
07 Sidewinder (Johnson)
08 God Bless The Child (Holiday, Herzog)
09 Speak Low (Weill, Nash)

Recorded on March 18 (1, 9), 19 (2, 4, 8) and 24 (3, 5-7), 1959

JJ Johnson Trombone
Nat Adderley Trumpet
Bobby Jasper Flute & Tenor Sax
Cedar Walton Piano
James "Spanky" De Brest Bass
Albert Heath Drums

J. J. Johnson - 1958 In Person

01 Tune Up (M. Davis) 5:23
02 Laura (D. Raksin, J. Mercer) 3:55
03 Walkin' (R. Carpenter) 6:37
04 What Is This Thing Called Love? (C. Porter) 5:59
05 Misterioso (T. Monk) 6:38
06 My Old Flame (A. Johnson, S. Coslow) 4:39
07 Now's the Time (Ch. Parker) 7:42

Recorded in NYC, on February 19, 1958

J. J. Johnson trombone
Nat Adderley cornet
Tommy Flanagan piano
Wilbur Little bass
Albert Heath drums

J.J. Johnson - 1957 First Place

01. It's Only A Paper Moon (Rose-Harburg-Allen) 5:03
02. Paul's Pal (Sonny Rollins) 4:06
03. For Heaven's Sake (Meyer-Bretton-Edwards) 3:05
04. Commutation (J.J. Johnson) 5:16
05. Harvey's House (J.J. Johnson) 3:00
06. That Tired Routine Called Love (Matt Dennis) 5:13
07. Be My Love (Cohn-Brodszky) 3:00
08. Cry Me A River (Arthur Hamilton) 5:53
09. Nickels And Dimes (J.J. Johnson) 4:55

Recorded in NYC on April 11 (2,3,5,6,9), 12 (1,4,7) and 26 (8), 1957


J.J. Johnson Trombone
Tommy Flanagan Piano
Paul Chambers Bass
Max Roach Drums

J.J. Johnson - 1956 J Is For Jazz

01 Naptown U.S.A (Johnson) 4:59
02 It Might As Well Be Spring (Rodgers, Hammerstein) 4:46
03 Tumbling Tumbleweeds (Nolan) 4:14
04 Angel Eyes (Dennis, Brent) 3:35
05 Solar (Davis) 5:14
06 Overdrive (Johnson) 3:22
07 Undecided (Shavers, Robin) 4:04
08 Never Let Me Go (Scott) 3:40
09 Chasin' The Bird (Parker) 4:40
10 Cube Steak (Johnson) 3:41

Recorded in NYC, on July 24 (4, 6, 7), 25 (3, 5, 8, 10) and 27 (1, 2, 9), 1956


J.J. Johnson (tb)
Bobby Jaspar (ts, fl)
Hank Jones (p)
Tommy Flanagan (p) on tracks 1, 2 & 9
Wilbur Little (b)
Percy Heath (b) on tracks 4, 6 & 7
Elvin Jones (d)

J. J. Johnson

James Louis (J.J.) Johnson nació el 22 de enero de 1924 en Indianapolis, en el seno de una familia profundamente religiosa. Su padre, James Horace Johnson, era una reverendo baptista muy estricto, partidario del castigo corporal. Su madre, por su parte, era metodista y los domingos J.J. y sus hermanos debían asistir a los oficios de ambas iglesias. A los 9 años empezó a estudiar piano con un organista de la iglesia, interesándose en la música durante su segundo año en la Crispus Attucks High School. Como el único instrumento disponible en la escuela era el saxo barítono, J.J. tocó este instrumento durante algún tiempo. A los 14 años pasó al trombón, tocando tanto en la banda de la escuela como en la de la YMCA.
En 1941 se une a la banda itinerante de Clarence Love y, en marzo de 1942, entra a formar parte de la banda de Snookum Russell, donde tiene la oportunidad de tocar con Fats Navarro, quien tuvo una gran influencia sobre él. Más tarde, ese mismo año, se uniría a la banda de Benny Carter, con la que iría de gira por todo el país. Además de tocar el trombón, J.J. actuaba como arreglista. Durante el tiempo que está con Carter, participa en la película "Thousands Cheer" con Gene Kelly y Lena Horne, realiza sus primeras grabaciones y, en 1944, forma parte del concierto en Los Angeles de Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) del productor Norman Grantz.
Tras dejar la banda de Carter, en mayo de 1945 empieza a trabajar con Count Basie, con quien permanece durante algunos meses. Su habilidad tocando el trombón es cada vez mayor y empieza a ser conocida su rapidez tocando, lo que provoca el interés del trompetista y abanderado del bebop Dizzy Gillespie quien, tras oírlo tocar, le anima a unirse al movimiento bebop. Johnson pasaría el resto de los años 40 trabajando con pequeños grupos, lo que le permite grabar con gente como Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Lewis, Illinois Jacquet, Babs Gonzalez, además de formar parte de los Metronome All-Stars. En 1946 grabaría su primer disco ("Jay Jay Quintets"), una joya musical que todos los trombonistas de la ciudad adquieren sin creer que aquel sonido y aquellas notas salgan de un trombón de varas. En 1949, Miles Davis y Gil Evans lo invitan a participar en el noneto que grabaría las sesiones del álbum “Birth of The Cool”. En 1951, realizaría una gira con Dizzy Gillespie, en un grupo liderado por el contrabajista Oscar Pettiford, por Japón y Corea organizado por la United Service Organizations (USO).
En 1953 abandona su carrera musical y trabaja como inspector en Sperry Gyroscope. En mayo de 1954 vuelve a la música, formando dúo con el también trombonista Kai Winding, con quien trabajaría durante los siguientes 2 años. Una formación bastante inusual con dos trombones y una sección rítmica que tendría buena acogida por parte del público, tanto en disco como en directo. Se separarían en 1956, pero volverían a juntarse ocasionalmente en 1958, 1961 y 1968. Tras la ruptura del grupo, realizó una serie de discos para Columbia con su propio grupo y se implicó en los experimentos de John Lewis (Modern Jazz Quartet) y Gunther Schuller con el llamado Third Stream. La New York Classical Jazz and Classical Music Society encarga a J.J. que componga una pieza sólo para instrumentos de metal. El resultado fue la obra "Poem for Brass", grabada en Octubre de 1956. Entre septiembre de 1960 y marzo de 1961 trabaja en la composición "Perceptions", una pieza para orquesta encargada por Dizzy Gillespie, que grabaría con una gran orquesta dirigida por Gunther Schuller.
En 1970 se traslada de Nueva York a Los Angeles para escribir música para películas y TV (Mayberry R.F.D., The Danny Thomas Show, That Girl, The Mod Squad). Compone, entre otras las bandas sonoras de Man and Boy, Top of the Heap, Across 110th Street, Cleopatra Jones y Shaft. Curiosamente, aunque no tocaba activamente el trombón, seguía ganado las encuestas anuales como mejor trombonista de jazz. En los 80 vuelve a trabajar de forma regular, haciendo giras por Japón y trabajando con Norman Grantz. En 1984 revive su experiencia de trabajar con otro trombonista, esta vez Al Grey. Hacia 1987, se traslada con su mujer Vivian a Indianápolis. En 1988 trabaja en el Village Vanguard, en Nueva York, quedando reflejadas estas actuaciones en dos discos "Quintergy" y "Standards". En 1992, su esposa moriría. J.J. le dedicaría un álbum titulado simplemente Vivian. En 1997 dejaría de actuar en directo, aunque siguió grabando discos. Aquejado de un cáncer de próstata, se quitaría la vida el 4 de febrero de 2001.
Es una de las figuras más importantes en la historia del jazz, en especial en lo que se refiere a la evolución del trombón. Sus innovaciones en este instrumento le colocan al nivel de Charlie Parker respecto al saxo. Además de ser un gran intérprete, fue un gran arreglista y un magnífico compositor.




J.J. Johnson was born James Louis in Indianapolis on January 22, 1924. At the age of 9, he studied piano with a church organist and became very interested in music during his second year at Crispus Attucks High School. The only school instrument available to him at the time was a baritone saxophone. J.J. played this instrument for a very short time and, at the age of fourteen, picked up the trombone, playing in the high school band as well as the brass marching band of the YMCA.
By the time he was eighteen, J.J. left home to play with Snookum Russel's band, of which Fats Navarro was also a member. He went on to play with other legendary jazzers Benny Carter (from '42-5), Count Basie (from '45-6), and Illinois Jacquet (from '47-9). The earliest recordings of J.J. are with the Benny Carter Orchestra, although he functioned only as a section player. Johnson's first recorded solo, only twelve measures long, was with this group on the Capitol label on the track Love for Sale.
In 1944, he played at the very first concert of Jazz at the Philharmonic. J.J.'s fluid style and rapid fire technique on the trombone soon gained him notoriety. His technique on slide trombone was so clean, in fact, that most people at the time swore he was playing valve trombone. J.J. has stated that his ". . . original influences were Pres and Roy, then Diz and Bird".
In October of 1951, J.J. joined an all-star sextet led by bassist Oscar Pettiford for a USO tour of Korea, Japan, and Southern Pacific islands. However, this group encountered internal problems that resulted in Pettiford leaving the tour early to return to the United States. In 1953, J.J. left the music business to work as a blueprint inspector for Sperry Gyroscope, performing only occasionally. On April 20th, he recorded for Blue Note with the Miles Davis sextet on the titles Tempus Fugit, Ray's Idea, C.T.A., and Johnson's own compositions Kelo and Enigma. It wasn't until the next year, 1954, that he quit his job at Sperry Gyroscope and started playing with fellow trombonist, Kai Winding. This led to the formation of the Jay & Kai group, which stayed together for the next couple years and enjoyed critical acclaim.
The New York Classical Jazz and Classical Music Society comissioned J.J. to compose a piece for solo brass instruments and brass ensemble. This resulted in his piece Poem for Brass, which was recorded in October of 1956. According to Schuller, this music was "third stream", his term for music that combined the jazz and classical idioms.
Late 1959 saw J.J. reorganizing his sextet, keeping prior members Cedar Walton on piano, Albert Heath on drums, and Clifford Jordan on saxophone. To this, he added Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Arthur Harper on bass. After working steadily for nine months, the group recorded one of J.J.'s best albums, J.J. Inc. This album included seven original tunes- Shutterbug, Fatback, Aquarius, In Walked Horace, Minor Mist, Mohawk, and Turnpike (this was not issued on the original vinyl album, but was included when the album was re-released on CD in 1998).
J.J. disbanded the sextet in September of 1960 so he could work on his compositional skills. From this month on to March 1961, he worked on a composition entitled Perceptions, written for orchestra and comissioned by Dizzy Gillespie. The six-part work was recorded on May 22, 1961 with a large orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller. Schuller had this to say about J.J.:
"His compositional abilities and his range of expressions . . . have expanded with each new work through the years. Beyond all externals of form and technique, this music combines an eloquent musical imagination with a strongly disciplined mind, producing an enjoyable music of depth, pulsating warmth and infectious spirit"
Johnson spent a year on the road with the Miles Davis sextet. In July of 1964, he joined the Radio Corporation of America's roster of musicians and toured Japan with a sextet including Clark Terry and Sonny Stitt. In 1968, J.J. was comissioned by Robert A. Boudreau, Music Director of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The resulting piece was Diversions for Six Trombones, Celeste, Harp, and Percussion.
J.J. moved from New York to L.A. in 1970 to write music for movies and television. Some of his first work was a little orchestration work for The Adventurers and composing music for Barefoot in the Park. He was later assigned to write music for four popular television shows, Mayberry R.F.D., The Danny Thomas Show, That Girl, and The Mod Squad. His movie credits (either orchestrating or writing the music) include Man and Boy, Top of the Heap, Across 110th Street, Cleopatra Jones, and Shaft. Oddly enough, J.J. was winning polls as the best jazz trombonist at this time, even though he wasn't actively playing.
Around the time he was recording for Antilles, he and his wife, Vivian, moved to his hometown Indianapolis. Sadly, several years later, Vivian passed away. J.J. dedicated an album to her, simply entitled Vivian. Eventually, J.J. started performing more frequently for the public. In 1988, he played the Village Vanguard in New York, where Slide Hampton made his way onstage and presented him with a scroll signed by many grateful trombonists in show of their gratitude for his contribution to jazz.
In the June 1997 issue of Downbeat magazine, J.J. announced his retirement from live performances. The next few years were spent in his hometown of Indianapolis, IN, composing works on his Macintosh Quadra and occassionally offering input to the J.J. Johnson Mailing List. A book also came out written by Joshua Berret and Louis Bourgois III entitled The Muscical World of J.J. Johnson.
Tragedy struck the jazz and trombone community when on February 4, 2001, J.J. Johnson passed away. Only now are we able to see the number of lives that he has touched in a positive manner. In addition, J.J.'s legacy will continue to inspire new trombonists.
Vervemusicgroup.com

Dizzy Gillespie & Arturo Sandoval - 1982 To A Findland Station

01. Wheatleigh Hall 8:13
02. First Chance 6:13
03. And Then She Stopped 9:18
04. Rimsky 8:44
05. Dizzy The Duck 12:05

Recorded in September 1982


Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
Arturo Sandoval Trumpet
Pekka Sarmanto Bass
Esko Rosnell Drums
Esko Linnavalli Piano

Dizzy Gillespie - 1976 Dizzy's Party

01. Dizzy's Party (Rodney Jones) 9:44
02. Shim Sham Shimmy On The St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy) 7:06
03. Harlem Samba (Dizzy Gillespie) 3:26
04. Land Of Milk And Honey (Dizzy Gillespie) 12:33

Recorded at RCA Studios, Los Angeles, California on September 15 & 16, 1976


Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet)
Ray Pizzi (soprano & tenor saxophones, flute)
Rodney Jones (guitar)
Benjamin Franklin Brown (electric bass)
Mickey Roker (drums)
Paulinho da Costa (percussion)

Dizzy Gillespie - 1969 Soul & Salvation

01. Stomped And Wasted 4:52
02. Pot Licka 2:49
03. Blue Cuchifrito 4:17
04. Turnip Tops 3:27
05. The Fly Fox 4:10
06. Chicken Giblets 2:57
07. Casbah Melon 4:25
08. Clabber Biscuits 3:35
09. Rutabaga Pie 3:10
10. Turkey Fan 4:50

September 1, 1969 | Pony Canyon Japan

Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
James Moody Sax
Joe Newman Trumpet

Dizzy Gillespie - 1967 Live at the Village Vanguard

01 Birk's Works (Gillespie) 17:57
02 Lullaby of the Leaves (Petkere, Young) 13:30
03 Lover, Come Back to Me (Hammerstein, Romberg) 19:15
04 Blues for Max (Gillespie) 9:10
05 Tour de Force (Gillespie) 11:51
06 On the Trail (Adamson, Grofe) 16:43
07 Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie, Casey, Pinkard) 16:19

Recorded live at the Village Vanguard on October 1, 1967

Pepper Adams Sax (Baritone)
Garnett Brown Trombone
Chick Corea Piano
Richard Davis Bass
Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
Elvin Jones Drums
Mel Lewis Drums
Ray Nance Violin


Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Pepper Adams (bars) Ray Nance (vln) Chick Corea (p) Richard Davis (b) Elvin Jones (d)
"Village Vanguard", NYC, October 1, 1967
Birks' Works (Dizzy's Blues)

Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Pepper Adams (bars) Ray Nance (vln) Chick Corea (p) Richard Davis (b) Mel Lewis (d -3,4) Elvin Jones (d -2)
"Village Vanguard", NYC, October 1, 1967
Blues For Max
Lullaby Of The Leaves
Lover Come Back To Me

Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Garnett Brown (tb) Pepper Adams (bars) Chick Corea (p) Richard Davis (b) Mel Lewis (d)
"Village Vanguard", NYC, October 1, 1967
Sweet Georgia Brown
On The Trail
Tour De Force

Dizzy Gillespie - 1963 Something Old, Something New

01. Bebop (Gillespie) 6:17
02. Good Bait (Basie, Dameron) 3:03
03. Medley: I Can't Get Started/'Round Midnight (Williams, Duke, Gershwin, Monk) 6:23
04. Dizzy Atmosphere (Gillespie) 6:12
05. November Afternoon (McIntosh) 4:19
06. This Lovely Feeling (Guryan, Mardin) 4:19
07. The Day After (McIntosh) 4:33
08. Cup Bearers (McIntosh) 6:11
09. Early Mornin' Blues (Gillespie) 2:55

Recorded on April 23 - 25, 1963

Dizzy Gillespie (Trumpet)
James Moody (Flute, Alto & Tenor Saxophone)
Kenny Barron (Piano)
Rudy Collins (Drums)
Chris White (Bass)

Dizzy Gillespie - 1961 An Electrifying Evening With The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet

01. Kush (Dizzy Gillespie) 10:58
02. Salt Peanuts (Gillespie-Clarke) 07:06
03. Night in Tunisia (Gillespie-Paparelli) 06:43
04. The mooche (Duke Ellington) 11:33
05. Interview of Dizzy Gillespie (Charles Schwartz) 18:03 (bonus track)

Recorded at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City on February 9, 1961


Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
Leo Wright Alto Saxophone, Flute
Lalo Schifrin Piano
Bob Cunningham Bass
Chuck Lampkin Drums

Dizzy Gillespie - 1959 Have Trumpet, Will Excite!

01 My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Porter) 6:02
02 My Man (Charles, Pollack, Willemetz, Yvain) 4:19
03 Moonglow (DeLange, Hudson, Mills) 6:24
04 St. Louis Blues (Handy) 5:56
05 Woody 'N' You (Gillespie) 6:23
06 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away) (Barris, Koehler, Moll) 7:17
07 There Is No Greater Love (Jones, Symes) 3:26
08 I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store) (Dixon, Rose, Warren) 6:59
09 There Is No Greater Love [alt. take 1] (Jones, Symes) 3:29
10 There Is No Greater Love [alt. take 2] (Jones, Symes) 3:35
11 There Is No Greater Love [alt. take 3] (Jones, Symes) 4:02
12 I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store) [alt. take] (Dixon, Rose, Warren) 6:37

Recorded at Columbia Studios, New York on February 17 (2–4, 7, 9–11), February 18 (1, 8, 12) and February 20 (5, 6), 1959


Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
Lex Humphries Drums
Sam Jones Bass
Junior Mance Piano
Les Spann Guitar
Carlos "Patato" Valdes Conga
Francisco "Chino" Pozo Conga (5, 6)

Dizzy Gillespie - 1948 The Legendary Big Band Concerts

01. Emanon (Gillespie) 4:43
02. Ool-ya-koo (Gillespie) 6:15
03. 'round Midnight (Monk) 3:37
04. Stay On It (Fuller) 5:32
05. Good Bait (Dameron) 3:33
06. One Bass Hit (Gillespie, Lewis) 4:54
07. I Can't Get Started (Gershwin, Duke) 3:39
08. Manteca (Gillespie, Gonzales) 7:45
09. 'round Midnight (Monk) 8:47
10. Algo Bueno (Gillespie) 3:23
11. I Can't Get Started (Gershwin, Duke) 3:58
12. Afro-cuban Suite (Gillespie, Gonzales) 6:02
13. Things To Come (Fuller) 3:17


Dave Burns, Willie Cook, Elmon Wright (tp) Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vo) Cindy Duryea, Bill Shepherd, Jesse Tarrant (tb) Ernie Henry (as) John Brown (as, vo) Joe Gayles, James Moody (ts) Cecil Payne (bars) James Forman (p) Nelson Boyd (b) Teddy Stewart (d) Chano Pozo (cga, vo)
"Civic Auditorium", Pasadena, CA, July 19, 1948
Emanon
Ool-Ya-Koo
Stay On It
Good Bait
One Bass Hit
Manteca
'Round About Midnight
I Can't Get Started

Benny Bailey, Dave Burns, Elmon Wright, Lammar Wright (tp) Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vo) Ted Kelly, Bill Shepherd (tb) John Brown, Howard Johnson (as) Joe Gales, Big Nick Nicholas (ts) Cecil Payne (bars) John Lewis (p) Al McKibbon (b) Kenny Clarke (d) Chano Pozo (cga) Kenny Pancho Hagood (vo)
"Salle Pleyel", Paris, France, February 28, 1948
Woody'n You (Algo Bueno)
I Can't Get Started
Afro-Cuban Suite
Things To Come

Dizzy Gillespie - 1945-46 Groovin' High

01 Blue 'N' Boogie (Gillespie, Paparelli) 3:00
02 Groovin' High (Gillespie, Paparelli) 2:40
03 Dizzy Atmosphere (Gillespie) 2:45
04 All the Things You Are (Hammerstein, Kern) 2:52
05 Salt Peanuts (Clarke, Gillespie) 2:20
06 Hot House (Dameron) 2:27
07 Oop Bop Sh'Bam (Brown, Fuller, Gillespie) 3:06
08 That's Earl, Brother (Brown, Fuller, Gillespie) 2:55
09 Our Delight (Dameron) 2:40
10 One Bass Hit, Part 2 (Brown, Fuller, Gillespie) 2:46
11 Things to Come (Fuller, Gillespie) 2:47
12 Ray's Idea (Brown, Fuller, Gillespie) 3:09
13 Emanon (Gillespie, Shaw) 3:11

Recorded in New York between February 9, 1945 and November 12, 1946


Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Dexter Gordon (ts) Frank Paparelli (p) Chuck Wayne (g) Murray Shipinski (b) Shelly Manne (d):
NYC, February 9, 1945
G555 Blue 'N' Boogie

Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Charlie Parker (as) Clyde Hart (p) Remo Palmieri (g) Slam Stewart (b) Cozy Cole (d)
NYC, February 28, 1945
G554A-1 Groovin' High
G556 All The Things You Are
G557 Dizzy Atmosphere

Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vo) Charlie Parker (as) Al Haig (p) Curly Russell (b) Sidney Catlett (d)
NYC, May 11, 1945
G565A-1 Salt Peanuts
G568A-1 Hot House

Dizzy Gillespie (tp, vo) Sonny Stitt (as) Milt Jackson (vib) Al Haig (p) Ray Brown (b) Kenny Clarke (d) Gil Fuller, Alice Roberts (vo)
NYC, May 15, 1946
5498 Oop Bop Sha Bam
5500 That's Earl, Brother

Dave Burns, Talib Daawud, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lynch, Ray Orr (tp) Leon Comegys, Charles Greenlea, Al Moore (tb) John Brown, Howard Johnson (as) Ray Abrams, Warren Lucky (ts) Pee Wee Moore (bars) Milt Jackson (p) Ray Brown (b) Kenny Clarke (d) Alice Roberts (vo)
NYC, June 10, 1946
5550 Our Delight

Dave Burns, Talib Daawud, Kenny Dorham, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lynch, Elmon Wright (tp) Leon Comegys, Alton "Slim" Moore, Gordon Thomas (tb) Howard Johnson, Sonny Stitt (as) Ray Abrams, Warren Lucky (ts) Leo Parker (bars) Milt Jackson (vib) John Lewis (p) Ray Brown (b) Kenny Clarke (d) Alice Roberts (vo)
NYC, July 9, 1946
5609 One Bass Hit, Pt. 2
5610 Ray's Idea
5611 Things To Come

Dave Burns, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lynch, Matthew McKay, Elmon Wright (tp) Taswell Baird, Al Moore, Gordon Thomas (tb) John Brown, Scoops Carey (as) Bill Frazier, James Moody (ts) Pee Wee Moore (bars) Milt Jackson (vib) John Lewis (p) Ray Brown (b) Joe Harris (d) Kenny Hagood (vo)
NYC, November 12, 1946
5789 Emanon

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie nació el 21 de Octubre de 1917 en Cheraw, Carolina del Sur. Sus padres, James y Lottie Gillespie, tuvieron nueve hijos, siendo Dizzy el más pequeño. Su padre, albañil de profesión, tocaba el piano en una orquesta de aficionados. Cuando Gillespie tenía diez años, su padre murió y dejó a la familia con enormes problemas financieros. En esa época, su profesor de Inglés le introdujo en la música y poco después, Gillespie se uniría a la banda de la escuela. Al principio tocaba el trombón, pero tuvo que desistir debido a la corta longitud de sus brazos, cambiando a la trompeta después de que un vecino le dajara la suya, dando comienzo a su afición por el que sería el instrumento con el que pasaría a la historia. Pronto conseguiría una beca para estudiar armonía y teoría musical en el Laurinburg Institute de Carolina del Norte. Durante los años siguientes, Gillespie tocaría con grupos locales para un público tanto blanco como negro, hasta que su familia se mudó en 1935 a Filadelfia, Pensilvania. Allí obtuvo un puesto en la orquesta de Frank Fairfax, donde por aquel tiempo tocaba el trompetista Charlie Shavers, quien compartía trío con Roy Eldridge, uno de los ídolos de Gillespie. En esta época se ganaría su apodo (Dizzy) por el carácter alocado de sus actuaciones, su sentido del humor y sus chistes.
En 1937 se traslada a New York, entrando a formar parte de la orquesta de Teddy Hill en sustitución de Roy Eldridge para la gira por Europa con el "The Cotton Club Show". A su regreso a New York, la banda firmo un contrato en la sala "Savoy Ballrom", incorporándose a la banda el batería Kenny Clarke. En 1937, Gillespie conociería a su futura esposa, Lorraine, una bailarina de coro en el famoso Apollo Theater con la que se casaría en 1940, permaneciendo juntos hasta su muerte. Durante un tiempo trabaja como músico free-lance, lo que le permite contactar con diversos pesos pesados del jazz, como el vibrafonista, Lionel Hamptom, el saxo alto, Benny Carter, y tres formidables saxos tenores: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster y Chu Berry, llamando la atención de estos músicos que le pronosticaron un futuro prometedor. En 1939, recomendado por el trompetista cubano Mario Bauzá, formaría parte de la orquesta de Cab Calloway, donde permanecería hasta 1941. Gillespie nunca se encontró a gusto con el estilo de música que hacia el excéntrico showman y su relación fue bastante tensa, hasta que en 1941 Gillespie sería despedido.
Entre 1941 y 1943 Gillespie trabaja con diversas bandas (Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Charlie Barnet, Fess Williams, Les Hite, Claude Hopkins, Lucky Millinder e, incluso 4 semanas con Duke Ellington). Sería en 1943, en Kansas City, donde se produciría el hecho que cambió la vida y la música de Gillespie, su primer encuentro con el saxo alto Charlie Parker, su "alter ego". Ambos formaban parte de la banda de Earl Hines, empezando una colaboración musical de gran calidad y con una estética muy próxima a lo que muy pronto se llamaría bebop. En 1944, la Calle 52 de New York se había convertido en la Meca del jazz y, en menos de dos manzanas, había nueve club que ofrecían música de alto nivel. Además, el Minton's seguía celebrando históricas jam sessions animadas por el grupo del batería Kenny Clarke, el saxofonista Don Byas, el pianista Thelonius Monk y, como no, Dizzy Gillespie y Charlie Parker, que venían desarrollando el nuevo idioma musical.
En 1944, el que fuera vocalista en la orquesta de Earl Hines, Billy Eckstine, constituye su propia orquesta, con Dizzy como director musical y algunos de los jóvenes valores del momento: Charlie Parker al saxo alto, la cantante Sarah Vaughan, el saxo tenor Gene Ammons, el batería Art Blakey, convirtiéndose en la primera bigband del bebop. A pesar de que la orquesta de Eckstine era el laboratorio ideal para los boppers en busca de trabajo, Dizzy la abandonaría pronto, en busca de aventuras musicales con un formato más reducido.
En 1945, Gillespie grabaría con Charlie Parker temas como "Salt Peanuts", "Shaw Nuff", "Groovin 'High" y "Hot House", provocando el desconcierto entre los fans del swing que nunca había este tipo de música avanzada. Se necesitarían dos años para que el nuevo estilo se convirtiera en la corriente principal del jazz. En 1947, la revista "Metronome" le nombraría mejor trompetista del año, por delante de su ídolo, Eldridge y la RCA le ofreció un sustancioso contrato. En esta época es patente la afición de Dizzy por los ritmos caribeños, grabando entre otros grandes éxitos, el celebérrimo "Manteca". Al regresar en 1948 de una gira por Europa, su percusionista, Chano Pozo, es asesinado en Harlem. En 1950 disuelve la banda y sus pasos se dirigen hacía las grabaciones en estudio con Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Monk y otros músicos afines grabando una serie de discos magníficos. En 1953 participa en Toronto en el conocido concierto del siglo en el Massey Hall junto a las grandes estrellas del bebop, Charlie Mingus incluido, que grabaría aquélla histórica sesión para su recién inaugurado sello "Debut". Actúa en el primer festival de Newport, imparte enseñanzas en la "Lenox Shool of Music". Las giras con la JATP de Norman Granz, se suceden y en 1956, el Departamento de Estado, le confía la labor de actuar como embajador musical de los EE.UU. por Oriente Medio, Grecia, Yugoslavia y finalmente Sudamérica en una banda formada expresamente para la ocasión y en que Quincy Jones y Norman Granz, le ayudan a organizarla hasta el punto de que alguna vez declaró que aquélla banda fue la mejor que tuvo.
En las elecciones presidenciales de 1964 se postuló como candidato a la presidencia de Estados Unidos, prometiendo que si era elegido, la Casa Blanca sería reabutizada como la Casa del Blues, que Ray Charles dirigiría la Librería del Congreso, que Miles Davis sería el jefe de la CIA y que Malcolm X sería el Fiscal General. En los setenta formaría parte de los "Giants of Jazz" formación estelar reunida por el productor, George Wein, para una serie de giras. Fue convocado a la Fiesta de Jazz del presidente americano Jimmy Carter, en la Casa Blanca para brindar su voz a la canción “Salt Peanut”. Continuando su labor como embajador musical, realizó un crucero musical a Cuba en 1977, siendo el primero en viajar a la isla en 17 años. En 1979 publicaría su autobiografía, titulada 'To Be Or Not To Bop'.
A finales de los 80, realizó una gira mundial con su United Nations Orchestra, en la que figuraban Paquito D'Rivera y Arturo Sandoval. Aunque su actividad fue decayendo con los años, todavía tuvo tiempo de grabar en 1989 un interesante disco a dúo con el batería, Max Roach, en un concierto en Paris. Con motivo de su 75 cumpleaños, Gillespie tocó durante cuatro semanas en el Blue Note de Manhattan lo que, de acuerdo con un periodista del New York Times, "fue la mejor selección de música jazz hecha alguna vez para un tributo”.
Dizzy Gillespie moriría mientras dormía el 6 de Octubre de 1993 en Englewood, New Jersey, a consecuencia de un cáncer de páncreas. Con su muerte desaparecería un inigualable instrumentista que, con una gran destreza, consiguió personalizar un fraseo cargado de arabescos y apoyado en la que fue una nueva forma de enfocar la armonía. De su pluma han salido temas tan famosos como "Salt Peanuts", "Woody n' You", "Groovin' High", "Be-Bop", "A Night in Tunisia", "Manteca" y muchísimas otras extraordinarias composiciones que han dado larga gloria al jazz. Su interés por la música cubana y de África ayudó a introducir esta música a la audiencia estadounidense. Cuando murió, era famoso y amado en todas partes y ha influido en generaciones enteras de trompetistas de todo el mundo que amaban y emulaban su forma de tocar y su actitud siempre positiva y optimista.

Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis' emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated. Somehow, Gillespie could make any "wrong" note fit, and harmonically he was ahead of everyone in the 1940s, including Charlie Parker. Unlike Bird, Dizzy was an enthusiastic teacher who wrote down his musical innovations and was eager to explain them to the next generation, thereby insuring that bebop would eventually become the foundation of jazz.
Dizzy Gillespie was also one of the key founders of Afro-Cuban (or Latin) jazz, adding Chano Pozo's conga to his orchestra in 1947, and utilizing complex poly-rhythms early on. The leader of two of the finest big bands in jazz history, Gillespie differed from many in the bop generation by being a masterful showman who could make his music seem both accessible and fun to the audience. With his puffed-out cheeks, bent trumpet (which occurred by accident in the early '50s when a dancer tripped over his horn), and quick wit, Dizzy was a colorful figure to watch. A natural comedian, Gillespie was also a superb scat singer and occasionally played Latin percussion for the fun of it, but it was his trumpet playing and leadership abilities that made him into a jazz giant.
The youngest of nine children, John Birks Gillespie taught himself trombone and then switched to trumpet when he was 12. He grew up in poverty, won a scholarship to an agricultural school (Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina), and then in 1935 dropped out of school to look for work as a musician. Inspired and initially greatly influenced by Roy Eldridge, Gillespie (who soon gained the nickname of "Dizzy") joined Frankie Fairfax's band in Philadelphia. In 1937, he became a member of Teddy Hill's orchestra in a spot formerly filled by Eldridge. Dizzy made his recording debut on Hill's rendition of "King Porter Stomp" and during his short period with the band toured Europe. After freelancing for a year, Gillespie joined Cab Calloway's orchestra (1939-1941), recording frequently with the popular bandleader and taking many short solos that trace his development; "Pickin' the Cabbage" finds Dizzy starting to emerge from Eldridge's shadow. However, Calloway did not care for Gillespie's constant chance-taking, calling his solos "Chinese music." After an incident in 1941 when a spitball was mischievously thrown at Calloway (he accused Gillespie but the culprit was actually Jonah Jones), Dizzy was fired.
By then, Gillespie had already met Charlie Parker, who confirmed the validity of his musical search. During 1941-1943, Dizzy passed through many bands including those led by Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Charlie Barnet, Fess Williams, Les Hite, Claude Hopkins, Lucky Millinder (with whom he recorded in 1942), and even Duke Ellington (for four weeks). Gillespie also contributed several advanced arrangements to such bands as Benny Carter, Jimmy Dorsey, and Woody Herman; the latter advised him to give up his trumpet playing and stick to full-time arranging.
Dizzy ignored the advice, jammed at Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House where he tried out his new ideas, and in late 1942 joined Earl Hines' big band. Charlie Parker was hired on tenor and the sadly unrecorded orchestra was the first orchestra to explore early bebop. By then, Gillespie had his style together and he wrote his most famous composition "A Night in Tunisia." When Hines' singer Billy Eckstine went on his own and formed a new bop big band, Diz and Bird (along with Sarah Vaughan) were among the members. Gillespie stayed long enough to record a few numbers with Eckstine in 1944 (most noticeably "Opus X" and "Blowing the Blues Away"). That year he also participated in a pair of Coleman Hawkins-led sessions that are often thought of as the first full-fledged bebop dates, highlighted by Dizzy's composition "Woody'n You."
1945 was the breakthrough year. Dizzy Gillespie, who had led earlier bands on 52nd Street, finally teamed up with Charlie Parker on records. Their recordings of such numbers as "Salt Peanuts," "'Shaw Nuff," "Groovin' High," and "Hot House" confused swing fans who had never heard the advanced music as it was evolving; and Dizzy's rendition of "I Can't Get Started" completely reworked the former Bunny Berigan hit. It would take two years for the often frantic but ultimately logical new style to start catching on as the mainstream of jazz. Gillespie led an unsuccessful big band in 1945 (a Southern tour finished it), and late in the year he traveled with Parker to the West Coast to play a lengthy gig at Billy Berg's club in L.A. Unfortunately, the audiences were not enthusiastic (other than local musicians) and Dizzy (without Parker) soon returned to New York.
The following year, Dizzy Gillespie put together a successful and influential orchestra which survived for nearly four memorable years. "Manteca" became a standard, the exciting "Things to Come" was futuristic, and "Cubana Be/Cubana Bop" featured Chano Pozo. With such sidemen as the future original members of the Modern Jazz Quartet (Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Ray Brown, and Kenny Clarke), James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Yusef Lateef, and even a young John Coltrane, Gillespie's big band was a breeding ground for the new music. Dizzy's beret, goatee, and "bop glasses" helped make him a symbol of the music and its most popular figure. During 1948-1949, nearly every former swing band was trying to play bop, and for a brief period the major record companies tried very hard to turn the music into a fad.
By 1950, the fad had ended and Gillespie was forced, due to economic pressures, to break up his groundbreaking orchestra. He had occasional (and always exciting) reunions with Charlie Parker (including a fabled Massey Hall concert in 1953) up until Bird's death in 1955, toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic (where he had opportunities to "battle" the combative Roy Eldridge), headed all-star recording sessions (using Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and Sonny Stitt on some dates), and led combos that for a time in 1951 also featured Coltrane and Milt Jackson. In 1956, Gillespie was authorized to form a big band and play a tour overseas sponsored by the State Department. It was so successful that more traveling followed, including extensive tours to the Near East, Europe, and South America, and the band survived up to 1958. Among the young sidemen were Lee Morgan, Joe Gordon, Melba Liston, Al Grey, Billy Mitchell, Benny Golson, Ernie Henry, and Wynton Kelly; Quincy Jones (along with Golson and Liston) contributed some of the arrangements. After the orchestra broke up, Gillespie went back to leading small groups, featuring such sidemen in the 1960s as Junior Mance, Leo Wright, Lalo Schifrin, James Moody, and Kenny Barron. He retained his popularity, occasionally headed specially assembled big bands, and was a fixture at jazz festivals. In the early '70s, Gillespie toured with the Giants of Jazz and around that time his trumpet playing began to fade, a gradual decline that would make most of his '80s work quite erratic. However, Dizzy remained a world traveler, an inspiration and teacher to younger players, and during his last couple of years he was the leader of the United Nation Orchestra (featuring Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval). He was active up until early 1992.
Dizzy Gillespie's career was very well documented from 1945 on, particularly on Musicraft, Dial, and RCA in the 1940s; Verve in the 1950s; Philips and Limelight in the 1960s; and Pablo in later years.
Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Gil Evans - 1986 Bud and Bird

01. Bud and Bird
02. Half Man, Half Cookie
03. Gates-Illumination
04. Nicaragua Blues
05. Groove From the Louvre

Recorded live at Sweet Basil, New York on December 1 & 22, 1986



Gil Evans (piano)
Chris Hunter (soprano & alto saxophones, flute)
Bill Evans (soprano & tenor saxophones, flute)
Hamiet Bluiett (baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet)
Lew Soloff, Shunzo O'no, Miles Evans (trumpet)
John Clark (French horn, hornette)
Dave Bargeron (trombone)
Dave Tucker (bass trombone)
Peter Levin, Gil Goldstein (synthesizer)
Hiram Bullock (guitar)
Mark Egan (bass)
Danny Gottlieb (drums)

Gil Evans - 1984 Live at Sweet Basil

01. Parabola (Shorter)
02. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Hendrix)
03. Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk (Mingus)
04. Prince of Darkness (Hancock)
05. Blues in "C" [John's Memory/Cheryl/Bird Feathers/Relaxin' at Camarillo] (Parker)
06. Up From the Skies (Hendrix)

Recorded live at Sweet Basil, New York on August 20 & 27, 1984



Gil Evans Piano, Piano (Electric)
Pete Levin Synthesizer
Mark Egan Bass
Hiram Bullock Guitar
George Adams Sax (Tenor)
Chris Hunter Sax (Alto)
Howard Johnson Tuba, Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone)
Miles Evans Trumpet
Shunzo Ohno Trumpet
Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson Trumpet
Lew Soloff Trumpet
Tom "Bones" Malone Trombone
Adam Nussbaum Drums
Mino Cinelu Percussion

Gil Evans - 1977 Priestess

01 Priestess (Harper) 19:42
02 Short Visit (Simon) 12:07
03 Lunar Eclipse (Kikuchi) 4:19
04 Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk (Mingus) 4:40

Recorded live at St. George Church, New York on May 13, 1977


Gil Evans Piano
Lew Soloff Trumpet, Piccolo, Piccolo Trumpet
Ernie Royal Trumpet
Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson Trumpet
Jimmy Knepper Trombone
John Clark French Horn
Howard Johnson Tuba
Bob Stewart Tuba
David Sanborn Sax (Alto)
Arthur Blythe Sax (Alto)
George Adams Sax (Tenor)
Pete Levin Synthesizer, Clavinet
Keith Loving Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Steve Neil Bass, Guitar (Bass)
Susan Evans Drums

Gil Evans - 1976 Live 76

01 Priestess (B.Harper) 22'54
02 Gone (G.Gershwin) 11'06
03 Summertime (G.Gershwin-I.Gershwin/D.Heyward) 7'54
04 Rhythm-A-Ning (T.Monk) 1'18

Recorded live At Jazz Jamboree, Warsaw (Poland) on October 23, 1976


Gil Evans Piano
Ernie Royal Trumpet
Lou Soloff Trumpet
Arthur Blythe Alto Sax
George Adams Tenor Sax
John Clark Guitar
Mike Richmond bass
Sue Evans Drums and others .....

Gil Evans - 1975 There Comes a Time

01 King Porter Stomp (F."Jelly Roll" Morton) 3'52
02 Makes Her Move (G.Evans) 1'42
03 The Meaning Of The Blues (B.Troup-L.Worth) 20'01
04 Joy Spring (C.Brown) 2'19
05 So Long (G.Evans) 16'37
06 Buzzard Variation (G.Evans) 2'35
07 There Comes a Time (T.Williams) 14'23
08 Anita's Dance (G.Evans) 2'55

Recorded on March 6 and April 14, 1975



George Adams Flute, Sax (Alto, Tenor)
Herb Bushler Bass (Electric)
John Clark French Horn
Joe Daley Trombone, Tuba
Bruce Ditmas Percussion, Drums, Tabla, Cuica
Gil Evans Arranger, Celeste, Conductor, Piano (Electric), Producer, Ensemble, Direction
Sue Evans Celeste, Conga, Tympani [Timpani], Cowbell
Joe Gallivan Guitar (Steel), Bells, Synthesizer Drums, Electric Drums
Peter Gordon French Horn
Billy Harper Flute, Sax (Tenor)
David Horowitz Organ, Synthesizer
Howard Johnson Tuba, Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone)
Ryo Kawasaki Guitar (Electric)
Pete Levin Organ, Synthesizer, French Horn
Tom "Bones" Malone Synthesizer, Trombone, Tuba, Piccolo
Paul Metzke Synthesizer, Bass (Electric)
Ernie Royal Trumpet, Flugelhorn
David Sanborn Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
Dick Smith Art Direction
Warren Smith Chimes, Drums, Gong, Marimba, Vibraphone
Bob Stewart Tuba
Tony Williams Drums

Gil Evans - 1971 Where Flamingos Fly

01 Zee Zee (Gil Evans) 10:58
02 Naña (Mario Telles, Moacir Santos, Yanna Coti) 4:42
03 Love Your Love (Billy Harper) 2:13
04 Jelly Rolls (Gil Evans) 5:32
05 Where Flamingos Fly (Elthea Peale, Harold Courlander, John Benson Brooks) 5:12
06 El Matador (Kenny Dorham) 17:30

Recorded in New York City 1971


Tracks 1,6:
Billy Harper: tenor saxophone
Howard Johnson: baritone saxophone, tuba (on 1)
Johnny Coles: trumpet
Harry Lookofsky: tenor violin
Joe Beck: guitar, mandolin (on 6)
Herb Bushler: electric bass
Don Preston: synthesizer
Lenny White: drums
Sue Evans: percussion, marimba (on 1)
Airto Moreira: vocal, percussion overdub on 6
Flora Purim: vocal, percussion overdub on 6
Gil Evans: piano, tack piano (overdub on 6)

Tracks 2,3,4,5:
Billy Harper: tenor saxophone, chimes (overdub on 3)
Howard Johnson: baritone saxophone, flugelhorn (on 5)
Trevor Koehler: soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone
Stan Shafran, Johnny Coles: trumpet
Hannibal Peterson, Jimmy Knepper: trombone
Bruce Johnson: guitar
Richard Davis: acoustic bass
Bill Quinze: electric bass
Phil Davis, Don Preston: synthesizer
Bruce Ditmas: drums
Sue Evans: percussion on 2
Airto Moreira: percussion overdub on 2
Flora Puri : percussion overdub on 2
Gil Evans: piano, electric piano (on 4)

Gil Evans - 1959 Great Jazz Standards

01 Davenport Blues (Beiderbecke) 4:25
02 Straight, No Chaser (Monk) 6:19
03 Ballad of the Sad Young Men (Landesman, Wolf) 4:00
04 Joy Spring (Brown) 2:49
05 Django (Lewis) 8:05
06 Chant of the Weed (Redman) 4:25
07 La Nevada (Theme) (Evans) 6:15

Recorded in New York on February 5, 1959 (tracks 3,4,6,7) and early 1959 (tracks 1,2,5)



[1], [2], [5]
trumpet : Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Allen Smith
trombone : Bill Elton, Curtis Fuller, Dick Lieb
french horn : Bob Northern
tuba : Bill Barber
soprano saxophone : Steve Lacy
reeds : Al Block
piano : Gil Evans
guitar : Chuck Wayne
bass : Dick Carter
drums : Dennis Charles


[3], [4], [6], [7]
trumpet : Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Danny Stiles
trombone : Jimmy Cleveland, Curtis Fuller, Rod Levitt
french horn : Earl Chapin
tuba : Bill Barber
soprano saxophone : Steve Lacy
clarinet, tenor saxophone : Budd Johnson
reeds : Ed Caine
piano : Gil Evans
guitar : Ray Crawford
bass : Tommy Potter
drums : Elvin Jones

Gil Evans - 1958 New Bottle Old Wine

01. St.Louis Blues (W.C.Handy) 5:26
02. King Porter Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton) 3:19
03. Willow Tree (Fats Waller, Andy Razaf) 4:40
04. Struttin' With Some Barbeque (Louis Armstrong) 4:34
05. Lester Leaps In (Lester Young) 4:17
06. 'Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk) 4:08
07. Manteca! (Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Fuller, Babs Gonzales) 5:18
08. Bird Feathers (Charlie Parker) 6:57

Recorded in New York on April 9 (tracks 1,2,5,6) , May 2 (track 3), 21 (track 4) and 26 (tracks 7,8) 1958


Gil Evans Piano
Cannonball Adderley Alto Sax
Johnny Coles Trumpet
Louis Mucci Trumpet
Ernie Royal Trumpet (1,2,3,5,6)
Clyde Reasincer Trumpet (4,7,8)
Joe Bennet Trombone
Frank Rehak Trombone
Tom Mitchell Trombone
Julius Watkins French Horn
Harvey Phillips Tuba (1,2,5,6)
Billy Barber Tuba (3,4,7,8)
Jerry Sanfino Reeds (1,2,5,6)
Phil Bodner Reeds (3,4,7,8)
Chuck Wayne Guitar
Paul Chambers Bass
Philly Joe Jones drums (3)
Art Blakey drums

Gil Evans - 1957 Gil Evans & Ten

01 Remember (Berlin) 4:30
02 Ella Speed (Leadbelly, Lomax) 5:45
03 Big Stuff (Bernstein) 4:57
04 Nobody's Heart (Hart, Rodgers) 4:31
05 Just One of Those Things (Porter) 4:29
06 If You Could See Me Now (Dameron, Sigman) 4:20
07 Jambangle (Evans) 5:00

Recorded at Hackensack (New Jersey) on September 9 (track 1) and 27 (tracks 4, 6), and October 10 (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7) 1957


Gil Evans Piano
Jimmy Cleveland Trombone
Bart Varsalona Trombone (Bass)
Louis Mucci Trumpet
Johnny Carisi Trumpet
Jake Koven Trumpet
Willie Ruff French Horn
Lee Konitz Sax (Alto)
Steve Lacy Sax (Soprano)
Dave Kurtzer Bassoon
Paul Chambers Bass
Nick Stabulas Drums
Jo Jones Drums (track 1)

Gil Evans

El arreglista, compositor, y líder de orquesta, Gil Evans, ha sido descrito a menudo como una especie de Svengali orquestal. Alguien que conjura sonidos casi místicos tomado de las grandes formaciones del jazz para proporcionar el fondo musical perfecto a solistas como Miles Davis o a la cantante, Helen Merrill. Evans, fue sin duda un complemento perfecto para esos artistas, pero también se embarcó en una incesante exploración de las posibilidades inherentes al campo de la composición y el arreglo orquestal en el ultimo tramo de su carrera y disfrutó incluso de una variedad de instrumentos electrónicos en su original paleta de sonidos.

Nacido en Toronto de padres australianos, se dedicó en los primeros años de su juventud a viajar por numerosos países hasta que finalmente se estableció en Stockton (California) donde dirigió su propia banda como músico completamente autodidacta entre 1933 y 1938. Posteriormente, Skinnay Ellis, se hizo cargo del grupo y Evans se quedó como arreglista hasta 1941, año en que paso a formar parte de la orquesta de Claude Thornhill donde estuvo hasta 1948, dotando a la banda de un sonido evanescente y "flotante". A partir de su éxito titulado "Snowfall" Gil Evans, adquirió una sólida fama en los arreglos de estándares para orquestas convirtiéndose en una especie de "guru" para las nuevas generaciones de compositores y arreglistas de finales de los cuarenta.
Junto a Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, John Carisi, Lee Konitz, Miles Davis y otros músicos, lanzaron entre 1948 y 1950 el álbum que revolucionó todos los conceptos musícales de aquella época creando el llamado "estilo cool" y cuyo grupo fue y es conocido para la posteridad como el "Noneto Capitol". De allí salió el álbum "Birth of the Cool", uno de los títulos imprescindibles de la historia del jazz. Tras ese fértil periodo, Gil Evans, desapareció de la escena del jazz hasta mediados de los años cincuenta, cuando la cantante Helen Merrill, insistió en que fuese él quien se encargara de los arreglos de su álbum para Emarcy "Dream of You" en 1956. Los bellísimos, extraordinarios y exuberantes arreglos que Evans hizo para las canciones clásicas de ese álbum, le llevaron a retomar la colaboración con Miles Davis en el álbum "Miles Ahead" grabado en 1957 para la Columbia y donde Miles bajo la batuta de Evans, se sube a un escenario con cerca de una veintena de músicos, toda una autentica bigband extraordinaria. A ese álbum, le siguieron un extraordinario "Porgy and Bess", en 1958 y el álbum que inició el camino para la fusión entre el flamenco y el jazz "Sketches of Spain". Evans a la conclusión de este triple salto mortal era toda una personalidad influyente en el mundo del jazz.
Tras la colaboración con Miles, Gil Evans produjo en la década de los sesenta sus mejores esfuerzos en solitario con tres discos grabados a su nombre: el primero y mejor de todos, grabado en 1959 para Pacific Jazz y titulado: "Great Jazz Standars" es una obra maestra absoluta, el segundo "Out of the Cool" grabado para Impulse! en 1961, fue el primero, el segundo dos años mas tarde en 1963 bajo el titulo de "The Individualims of Gil Evans" para el sello Verve. En ellos refleja claramente su fascinación por el compositor alemán, Kutrt Weill. También por aquélla época hace algún trabajo arreglando los discos de la cantante, Astrud Gilberto. En 1970, Evans, inicia una nueva etapa de su carrera cuando aparece con su propia bigband en el Village Vanguard de New York aunque la irregularidad predomina en esta ultima fase de su carrera. Vuelve a encontrarse con Helen Merrill, en un trabajo postrero de ambos y su vida terminó el 20 de marzo de 1988.
apoloybaco.com





Ian Ernest Gilmore Green (or Gilmore Ian Rodrigo Green) was born May 13, 1912, in Toronto, Canada, the son of Margaret Julia MacChonechy and a father he never knew. He took the name of his stepfather, and thus became Gil Evans. His stepfather was a miner, whereas his mother took care of the children of rich families, and prepared meals for campsites. Moving wherever work would take them, they went from one North-American mining site to the next, including Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and such Northwestern U.S. states as Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Their child was put in boarding houses, moving from one family to the next, until they finally settled permanently in California, around 1922. Gil went to school in Berkeley, and there, his real musical training began. The father of one of his friends was a jazz fanatic and initiated him to this music. In 1927, he took the two teenagers to see Duke Ellington at the Orpheum theater in San Francisco.
It was a revelation for Gil Evans, who decided to devote his life to this music. That same year, he bought his first record, "No One Else But You," by Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines. At the same time, he started transcribing, from the recordings, the music of such great jazz arrangers as Red Nichols, Duke Ellington, and Don Redman. In 1933, he put together his first group in Stockton, which had six musicians at first, but grew to nine in 1934. The group played arrangements by Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and Duke Ellington, all transcribed from the recordings. In 1935, the orchestra was on the same bill at the Palomar Ballroom as the triumphant Benny Goodman, then was hired to play at the Rendez-Vous Ballroom in Balboa Beach, in southern California, where it remained until 1938. Gil Evans was in charge of writing and conducting, and, from time to time, Stan Kenton held the piano chair.
In 1938, Alex Holden, who worked for MCA at that time, offered Gil Evans' orchestra a chance to accompany singer Skinnay Ennis. Gil accepted, keeping his position as arranger. Ennis found work for the group in comedian Bob Hope's well-known radio show for NBC in Hollywood. The manager then called up another arranger to work with the group, Claude Thornhill, who scored a big hit in 1937 with his arrangement of "Loch Lomond" for singer Maxine Sullivan. He and Gil Evans became colleagues and friends, but the two arrangers decided to quit this particular job in 1941. Thornhill had already put together his own orchestra in New York in 1939. This group had begun touring, and found itself, in the summer of 1940, at the Rendez-Vous ballroom in Balboa Beach. In 1941, Thornhill decided to move back to New York, and on March 20, the orchestra began a three-month residency at the Glen Island Casino. Gil Evans joined him as arranger alongside Bill Borden, and on November 17, for the first time in his career, one of his arrangements was recorded. Unfortunately, the U.S. had also gone to war during this time, and the barrage of draft orders compelled Thornhill to disband his orchestra.
Gil Evans also went into the army; he remained stateside, and became a U.S. citizen. He was assigned to various army bands in which he often played the bass drum, notably in Augusta, Georgia, where he met Lester Young. It was during his army duty that Gil Evans discovered the nascent bebop music, to which he was immediately attracted. He was discharged, and moved to New York in 1946, settling in a small furnished room on 55th street that was destined to later become a mythical landmark. He then renewed his collaboration with Claude Thornhill when the latter reformed his orchestra. Evans remained as one of the arrangers for the Thornhill orchestra until 1948, and in this context experimented with many aspects of his budding creativity.
By now, his room on 55th street had become a near-permanent meeting place, where many musicians were busy creating a new musical universe, musicians such as Gerry Mulligan, Dave Lambert, John Carisi, George Russell, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. A project was conceived at that time by Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan, that of a medium-sized orchestra that would combine the sound texture of the Thornhill orchestra with the new discoveries of bebop. At first, Charlie Parker was proposed as leader of this ensemble, but in the end, Miles Davis was chosen. In 1948, a nonet was formed, and was booked at the Royal Roost on 47th street. The band was dissolved right after this engagement, however, but still managed to record twelve sides in 1949 and 1950 (including two arranged by Gil Evans) that would later be compiled in 1953 under the title The Birth Of The Cool, an album that is now considered a turning point in the history of jazz writing.
Around 1949, Gil married Lilian Grace (they were later divorced), and until 1956, he went through a period of limited musical output. He spent the time studying music extensively, and occasionally wrote for singers, radio, and television, but worked only sporadically in the field of jazz, with such artists as Pearl Bailey and Billy Butterfield in 1950, and Charlie Parker in 1953. Then, in 1956, his career really started to take off. First, Gil collaborated with Helen Merrill (on the album Dream Of You), then with Miles Davis, who had just signed with Columbia and chose Gil Evans for his first recording with a large ensemble. The album in question, Miles Ahead, was released in 1957, and several other collaborations followed, including Porgy And Bess in 1958, Sketches Of Spain in 1960, and Quiet Nights in 1962, all of which went on to become orchestral jazz classics. During this same period, Gil Evans also recorded several albums under his own name, with somewhat smaller ensembles for the most part. These include Gil Evans And Ten (1957), New Bottle, Old Wine (1958) which features Cannonball Adderley, Great Jazz Standards (1959), and Out Of The Cool (1960). In 1960, the orchestra was given a six-week residency at the Jazz Gallery, a New York club. Gil recorded again from 1962 to 1965, notably the albums The Individualism Of Gil Evans, Guitar Forms with Kenny Burrell, and Look To The Rainbow with Astrud Gilberto.
In 1962, he met Anita Cooper. They were married in 1963 and had two sons, Noah (born in 1964), and Miles (born in 1965). For four years, Gil hardly produced any music at all, and concentrated instead on raising his family. He began to record again in 1969, using medium-sized ensembles (usually twelve to fifteen musicians) in which electric instruments now began to play a very important role. The instrumentation also changed, with the number of wind instruments reduced in favor of the rhythm section, which was now augmented by guitars, percussion, and miscellaneous other instruments. A projected collaboration with Jimi Hendrix was cut short by the guitarist's premature death, but an album of jazz arrangements of Hendrix compositions performed by the Gil Evans Orchestra was nonetheless released in 1974. The orchestra began to tour outside the U.S., especially in Europe. In 1975, Gil Evans recorded There Comes A Time, which would turn out to be his last studio album for quite some time. All subsequent recordings by the orchestra were live albums, most notably those made in New York, albums such as Priestess (1977) and Live At The Public Theater (1980), as well as those recorded in London, including Live At The Royal Festival Hall (1978).

In 1980, Gil Evans recorded a series of duets with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz (Heroes and Anti-Heroes), and, beginning in 1984, the orchestra was hired to play every Monday night at Sweet Basil, a New York club. The Monday Night Orchestra, as it became known, played there up until Gil's death, and recorded several albums, including Live At Sweet Basil (1984), and Bud And Bird (1986). In 1985 and 1986, Gil Evans wrote music for several movie soundtracks, most notably Julian Temple's Absolute Beginners and Martin Scorsese's The Color Of Money. The year 1987 was particularly prolific, marked by numerous recordings as well as several European tours, including a concert with pop star Sting. In December of that year, he recorded another duet album, Paris Blues, this time in collaboration with his old accomplice, soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy.

Gil Evans died of pneumonia on March 20, 1988 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where Charles Mingus before him had also come to die in 1979.
http://gilevans.free.fr/biographie_us/biographie.htm