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By Larry, June 24, 2010 3:40 pm

Lionel Hampton

Listen/Download – Lionel Hampton – Chameleon (45 Edit)

Greetings all.

I hope everyone – at least those of you so effected – is weathering the heat wave in good health.
It has been brutally hot, and occasionally humid as well here in the Northeast…the kind of hot where it takes miles of high speed driving before the air conditioning is able to cool down the inside of the car, which is OK too, since driving with the windows opening is like watching a cake bake from inside the oven.
It’s been a busy week hereabouts, with my beloved – Mrs Corners – heading into the hospital to meet her own health challenge this weekend. It’s getting to the point where we may have to look into bionic replacement parents to care for our children while we spend all of our time with our friends in the medical profession.
It is surely a drag, but since you gotta do, what you gotta do (as they say), we gotta do this, so keep your fingers crossed.
I hope everyone has been digging the latest edition of Funky16Corners Radio, and I thought it would be fitting to close out the week with something else that is both jazzy and funky.
The tune in question is something written by a younger jazz master, interpreted by one of his forefathers in a late career (successful) attempt at relevance, that being a very tasty rendering of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’ as performed by the mighty Lionel Hampton.
Mr. Hampton’s funky sides have appeared in this space before and I have previously rhapsodized about how groovy it was that a man who came to prominence caressing the vibes alongside Benny Goodman in the 1930s lit things up again in the 60s and 70s with all things soulful and funky.
On both his own Glad-Hamp imprint, as well as Brunswick Records, Hampton got down with some decidedly contemporary sounds with both small groups and his own big band.
I had previously heard – and dug – a live, big band version of ‘Chameleon’ by Hampton, when I was going through a friend’s sale box and discovered a studio version of the tune on Glad-Hamp. Fortunately for me another friend happened to have his portable turntable there and I was able to give the record a spin, discovering that the studio version was just as tasty – if not tastier – that the one I already had. The dude in question was letting the record go for a very reasonable price, so I grabbed it for my record box and brought it home.
So, I hope you dig it, and remember to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio, this Friday night at 9PM EST, with the episode available here for download on Saturday.
Have a great weekend and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, June 20, 2010 4:21 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.86 – Elektrik

Playlist

I hope the new week finds you well.
I was just sitting here in the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, when I realized that in all the new equipment/live mix/pledge drive hysteria, it had been something like three months since the last ‘regular’ Funky16Corners Radio mix, i.e. one with the drops and the accompanying zip file and the whole – as they used to say in the olden days – ‘shooting match’, and as a result, I felt that I should get my – as they still say today – shit together, dip into the digimatized stock and get something going.
So, I did.
Things being what they are, that being busy, both with the real world moves and the blog stuff, the old Funky16Corners mix schedule (as it was) has been stretched out somewhat. This has not however resulted in a lack of content, in fact the net result has been more music, with the Soul Club mixes (expect more of those from myself and guest selectors in the coming months) and the recent addition of archived/MP3 versions of the show I do weekly for Viva internet radio. As a result there’s probably more to listen to here than any sane person could digest, so dig in, slap some of the good stuff on your portable MP3 delivery device and stuff it in your ears (as time allows).
That said, I have whipped up a new mix, and I think you’ll dig it.
Funky16Corners Radio v.86 – Elektrik is both jazzy and funky, with lots of the good stuff you’ve come to expect as part of the Funky16Corners Radio experience, with a perfect vibe for a warm summer night.
Things get started with something that surprised even me, that being Stan Kenton’s funky, fusion-y take on Deodato’s reworking of Strauss’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, cleverly titled ‘2002 Zarathustrevisited’ (Oh, Stan….), wherein the often overwrought master of heavily brassed West Coastery lets his sideburns grow in and hands the baton over to the younger cats in the band. Unlike similar sounds emitting from the Woody Herman organization, I have little faith that the man with his name on the bandstand had much to do with this one, and as a result, it is very groovy indeed.
Frank Wess works a very cool, vaguely trippy (heavily echoed) and somewhat funky sound with ‘Wessward Ho’. Alongside his most excellent flute work, there’s plenty of vibes, wah wah guitar and clavinet to being up the soulful quotient. If you can get your hands on a copy of the 1970 ‘Wess to Memphis’ album, do so, because unlike so many of his hard bop contemporaries, Wess was able to work very well in a more modern bag.
I’ve featured tracks by pianist Larry Willis in a couple of previous mixes, and for good reason too, since he was a master of a certain extra-hot, era-specific, electric piano sound. The tune ‘Out On the Coast’ take the soul jazz vibe and funks it up without drifting into the land of fusion. It’s serious enough to be jazz, but with enough get down in it to work as funk.
If you’re familiar with some of the more ethereal work of vibist Gary Burton you may find ‘Vibrafinger’ to be a somewhat jarring experience. Here, instead of the soothing chimes of the vibraphone, Burton offers up a heavily treated, electrified and distorted sound, accompanied by some heavy guitar and drums.
‘On This Site Shall Be Erected’ is an edited (by me) version of the first track on Gary McFarland’s concept album ‘America the Beautiful’. Thanks no doubt to the fact that he was co-owner of the label, his work for Skye Records is at times very far out, ranging from his soft and mellow vocalizing alongside his vibes, to heavier orchestral work, which, like this track, sometimes got funky. With guitar by Eric Gale and drums by Bernard Purdie, ‘On This Site Shall Be Erected’ moves from a brief avant garde section, directly into a few short minutes of big band funk.
Though you’re probably familiar with the Booker T and the MGs version of the movie theme ‘Hang’Em High’ (a Top 10 hit in 1968), you’ll probably dig Jimmy Smith’s long-form take on the tune from the ‘Black Smith’ album. You get to hear Jimmy work the Hammond alongside a piano (almost the whole time) and he does a predictably great job.
Next up is something a little spacey from the king of Chicago studio axemen, Mr. Phil Upchurch. ‘Elektrik Head’ from his 1969 LP ‘The Way I Feel’ sees Upchurch getting all up inside the echoplex, managing to be jazzy, soulful and passably psychedelic all at the same time.
Things mellow out a little bit – yet remain funky – with ‘Prairie Road’ by pianist Pete Jolly. A track from the largely improvised and wholly excellent ‘Seasons’ album, it features Jolly on the electric piano, and none other than Paul Humphrey on the drums. If you can score this on vinyl, good for you (it took me a while). If you can’t, grab it in reissue because it really has to be heard in its entirely. GREAT record.
Hampton Hawes was featured in the electric piano mix earlier this year. ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ is another fantastic cut from his 1972 ‘Universe’ album.
Neal Creque is another great, underrated musician and composer who is better known for his work as a sideman (with Mongo Santamaria among others) than for his solo work (probably because there’s not a lot of it…). ‘Jasmine’ is from his 1972 ‘Contrast’ album, and features some West Indian flavor mixed in with the funky jazz, sounding like a younger, hipper cousin to Sonny Rollins’ ‘St Thomas’.
Roy Meriwether recorded a fair amount of major label jazz sides, but it’s his private press stuff that is sweated the hardest by the collectors and beat diggers. His version of Eddie Harris’s ‘Mean Greens’ appeared on his Capitol LP ‘Soul Knight’. He takes the tune at a faster, more aggressive pace than Harris did on his OG.
This edition of the Funky16Corners Radio thang closes out with a very groovy track by the father of vocalese, Mr. Eddie Jefferson. I wish I could say I had a copy of the rare 45 of Jefferson’s version of Horace Silver’s ‘Psychedelic Sally’, but I’ll settle for the LP. Not very psychedelic, but quite funky, this sees Jefferson in a very modern bag.
I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back later in the week with something cool.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, May 27, 2010 4:09 pm

The Mad Hatters

Listen/Download – The Mad Hatters – The Monkey Children

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and as usual, I am just about tapped out.
Things have been busy hereabouts, with all the bloggish stuff, and all of the real world stuff that keeps the old datebook stuffed full of commitments.
Next week will see the arrival of the 2010 Funky16Corners Pledge Drive, and as I’ve mentioned a few times in the last week I have something very cool lined up for he occasion (the main thing that’s been keeping me busy).

Also, this Friday sees the long awaited return of the Asbury Park 45 Sessions at the World Famous Asbury Lanes. The whole crew will be there, and will without a doubt be packing some serious heat of the funk and soul variety, so, if that sounds like a bag that you’d like to be in, and you’re withing driving distance it would be a very groovy thing if you were to fall by and check out the doings.
The tune I bring you today is something I picked up off of a sale list a while back, mainly because it looked very cool. I’d never heard of the group – The Mad Hatters – but one look at the combo in the picture above, and a glance at the song titles on the album convinced me that it was more than worth my while to unfold a couple of dollars and grab the disc.
I’ve gone on at length in this space (and elsewhere) about my love for, and definition of soul jazz. I am without question a huge fan of the genre, as well as a connoisseur thereof, in that I’ve spent way too much time putting what might be described as ‘too fine a point’ on what I consider true ‘soul jazz’.
There are those that will lump pretty much everything with an organ on it into the genre, or similarly anything with the slightest leaning toward rhythm and blues. Much of the music so defined is – at least nominally – soul jazz, but this says more about the omnipresence of the sound between the late 50s and the late 60s, than it does about the people making those sounds.
If there’s a point I’m trying to make, it is that while many people were including soul jazz as part of their own musical bouillabaisse, there were others who devoted themselves to, and specializing in this particular sound. The music of the Mad Hatters would suggest that the group fell into that latter category.
I haven’t been able to discover anything about the group. My instincts (and the jacket photo on the record) suggest to me that the Mad Hatters were a working outfit, as opposed to some anonymous grouping of studio heads.
The music on the album, represented here by the track ‘The Monkey Children’ is pure soul jazz, bluesy and swinging, never overplayed or taken too close to the edge, ultimately the kind of music with which to nod your head (and tap your feet) between sips of a cold beer or the cocktail of your choice.
Groovy stuff, and the kind of thing I can still listen to for hours on end.
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday with the Pledge Drive extravaganza.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, April 15, 2010 4:26 pm

Le ‘Q’ on the cover of Smackwater Jack

Listen/Download -Quincy Jones – Ironside

Greetings all.

What is being up with you?
The ongoing Funky16Corners Record Vault project took a great leap forward yesterday with the new DJ set-up (improvements to which were financed by my slot machine winnings over vacation*) going on line. The rig was cobbled together using some donated speakers (thanks Cenzo), an old amp/tuner, my existing “good” turntable, and augmented with the new turntable and mixer. I expect that I’ll be spending some time hobbling around the old learning curve, but before long I should be cranking out some more ‘live’ mixes, as well as putting a somewhat sharper edge on my turntable skills.
In other, also important news, I’m getting upgraded to a nicer time-slot over at Viva Internet Radio, so as of next week (April 23) the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be airing at 9PM on Friday nights. This is a very groovy development, and I cab assure that with the addition of the home DJ thingy I’ll be laying down some live mixes, so fall by.
That said, the tune I bring you today is something I definitely plan on dropping in an upcoming set, Quincy Jones’s 1971 reading of the ‘Ironside’ theme.
For those of you too young to remember, ‘Ironside’ was a hit TV show (premiering in 1967) that featured Raymond Burr as a paraplegic, San Francisco police detective who went around solving crimes from the back of a specially engineered van (certainly no more ludicrous than much of what you’ll see spilling from the idiot box these days). The very groovy theme was penned by none other than the mighty Quincy Jones
The version you’re hearing this fine day appeared on Jones’s 1971 LP ‘Smackwater Jack’. I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty, but I suspect that like the version of ‘Hikky Burr’ on the same album, this take on the ‘Ironside’ theme was also re-recorded/embellished for that LP.
The whole affair manages to encapsulate a jazzy soundtrack feel, with some funky bass (Chuck Rainey), electric piano (Bob James), flute (Hubert Laws) and soprano sax (Jerome Richardson), taking the original theme and stretching it out for some solos. Jones manages to bring on the heavy brass without drowning out the rhythm section. This version starts out (like the TV theme) with something (synthesizer, I assume) imitating a police siren, with the Fender Rhodes bubbling underneath until the flute comes in to state the theme. There’s some groovy wah-wah guitar running in the background, and until the trumpet solo comes in, the feel is as much jazz rock as it is jazz. Aside from the impressive names listed above, the session was a who’s who of jazz and studio heavies, with Jones sharing producing duties with Phil Ramone and bass legend Ray Brown.
Very solid indeed.
I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

*Only significant in that as a general rule I don’t gamble (no moral objection, I just like to spend my money on records). If you see me at the track, it’s because I like horsies. I hit the jackpot (as it was) playing the penny slots. That’s right – pennies. 30,000 of them…

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By Larry, April 8, 2010 5:24 pm

Funky16Corners After Dark Pt2 – Mixed for Delirious Sunrise

Playlist

Intro

Listen/Download 134MB/256KB Mixed MP3

No Zip File

As promised I have returned with the second hour of the show I put together for the Delirious Sunrise program.
Once again, it is firmly packed with heavy, yet oddly laid back sounds, including a large number of personal favorites.
It’s the end of the week, and I’m just about exhausted (mentally and physically) so I can’t recall – even after a couple of surveys – what in this mix has or has not appeared in this space already (a lot of it clearly has).
That said, I hope you dig it (and that you pulled down the ones and zeros for the first half as well, if you haven’t, make sure you, on account of it’s very groovy, very moody and the perfect complement to the second half, which is this…).
In other – mercifully brief – news, the long planned renovation of the Funky16Corners Record Vault is about to commence, including installation (fina-f*cking-ly) of a home DJ set up. I mentioned last week that I came home from vacation with some ill gotten gains, squeezed out of the slot machines in Connecticut, which I promptly rolled over and invested in a second turntable and a mixer. As soon as I get a bunch of stuff boxed up, hundreds of LPs off of the floor and into a wall unit of some kind (I hope I don’t have to go back to Ikea), and build a surface on which to set up the equipment (as well as some speakers) you can expect a new era of live mixes here, and I can spend some time working on my (admittedly rudimentary) turntable skills.
I will also be returning to Master Groove @ Forbidden City (Ave A between 13th and 14th in NYC) on Wednesday April 21st for some more of the good stuff spread over the turntables at the speed of 45 revolutions per minute. If you are in the area and are so inclined, pencil the date in your planner and fall by. It’d be great to see you, and since things are getting warmer every day it might make for a nice night in the city.
So, until I return on Monday with some funk, have yourself a great weekend and dig the sounds.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, April 6, 2010 5:29 pm

Funky16Corners After Dark Pt1 – Mixed for Delirious Sunrise

Playlist

Listen/Download 138MB/256KB Mixed MP3

No Zip File

The mix you see before you today (the second part of which will be posted on Friday) is the first hour of the show I put together for the Delirious Sunrise show on WLUW.
Considering that the show airs from 4AM to 6AM, I wanted to whip up a downtempo blend, at times funky, but in that twilight, laid back, noir-ish way that characterizes those few, quiet hours before the dawn.
Though many of the tracks included in these two hours have appeared in this space before (whether as part of a Funky16Corners Radio mix or individually) the assemblage thereof is new, and if I say so myself, pretty tasty, at least as laid out for the time in question.
I’ve gone into my deep and abiding love for my iPod in this space (and over at Iron Leg) several times in the past. Though I could be considered a ‘late adapter’, to say that the last few years have seen the iPod become an integral part of my daily (and nightly) routine would be a drastic understatement.
My daily life – thanks to a variety of factors – can be fairly hectic, sometime rising to the level of brain-scrambling, and those few, precious hours after the kids have taken to their beds (those not devoted to working on the blogs) are often spent wandering around in one or both (I have one devoted to video) of the old MP3 delivery devices.
Aside from the occasional stint in the automobile, most of my intensive listening – the time when I dig particularly deeply into a record – is done right before passing out for the night.
With the lights out and the earbuds in place, I can elevate the volume, and jump wildly from song to song, genre to genre until I latch onto something that grabs my ears in a special way, drills down into my psyche, and eventually finds its way into this space, alongside my ruminations. It’s really the only time of day where things get quiet enough (within and without) to approach music the way that it deserves.
It kind of takes me back to the days when I’d go to sleep every night with the radio next to my pillow, listening to everything from music stations to weird (at least the early 70s version of ‘weird’) talk radio, to the local ABC TV affiliate with a signal that could be heard at the very bottom of the FM dial.
After I get to the point where I’m too tired to go on any more, I pick something meditative, running the gamut from Nick Drake, to Mississippi John Hurt, Thelonious Monk, Ravi Shankar, or Kraftwerk or whatever, turn over and surrender myself to sleep.
Thanks to the fact that I’ve always had a hard time getting to sleep (less so these days, for obvious reasons), and staying there, I always go to sleep listening to something – music or spoken word – and often put things on when I wake up during the night so that I can get back to sleep.
Though I have no idea about the science of the matter, I have always found that having music playing while I sleep helps me dream (or at least have more interesting dreams), and has enough of a soothing effect so that when sleep is interrupted (hitting the pleasure centers of the brain and masking background noise) it can be reestablished.
I’m not completely sure that everyone will take this as an endorsement, but for the last few weeks, these two mixes (I have them linked together in a playlist) have been the soundtrack to my nights. There are a lot of deep records over the course of these two hours, and I find no matter where I hit the mix timewise, I always get a little bit of that ‘Oh, cool…’ feeling, and my overactive brain downshifts a little and all is once again well.
Whether or not you (the listener) decides to employ it in the same way, or as a calming (yet oddly stimulating) companion to your waking hours, I hope you find that I have selected them well, and that you dig them too.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, April 5, 2010 9:48 am

Greetings all.

If you’re up in the early morning hours, or – even better- if you reside on the other side of the Atlantic and see the sun long before we do, you might want to tune in to WLUW (Loyola University/Chicago) (locally on the wireless, elsewhere over the interwebs) for the Delirious Sunrise program at 4AM CST (5AM Eastern Daylight Time, make adjustments for your own time zone).
I’ve put together a two-hour mix of crepuscular wonderfulness for my man Arvo who broadcasts all night long on WLUW this Tuesday. It will be archived at Posterity Playlists and then posted in this very space later this week. All you night owls, insomniacs and speed freaks make sure to twist the dials (or the browser of your choice) and check it out.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, March 28, 2010 4:12 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.84 – Moving Between Dimensions

Playlist

Listen/Download 123MB/256KB Mixed MP3

Listen/Download 90MB Zip File

The new week is here, and as previously planned, I’m posting this new edition of the Funky16Corners Radio thang from the road, since the fam and I are on vacation.
I figured I could do a couple of regular-sized posts from wherever we are, but it occurred to me that since I had a few mixes worth of tracks stockpiled for just such an occasion, that I ought to put a mix together for the week and be done with it.
That said, Funky16Corners Radio v.84 – Moving Between Dimensions is another one of those funky, jazzy things that I like to assemble every once in a while, on account of that’s how I roll. Things are generally upbeat, but there are a couple of detours into the spiritual realm, ever so slightly far out but still melodic and groovy.
Things get up to speed quickly with a track by the mighty Blackbyrds. The ‘Blackbyrds Theme’ is one of the funkier tracks from their 1974 ‘Flying Start’ LP. Dig that tasty break.
Roy Meriwether made an appearance in this space not too long ago. He was one of the preeminent (if not the best known) soul jazz pianists of the 60s and 70s, recording first for major labels and then waxing a couple of private press dates (including the ultra-rare ‘Nubian Lady’). ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free’ is from his ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Goes Jazz’ LP and starts out mellow, eventually picking up a nice funky pace.
Vibist Mike Mainieri got his start playing fairly straight-ahead jazz (he even played with Paul Whiteman?!?) but by the late 60s was getting further out, working an early fusion vibe. His 1968 session ‘Journey Through an Electric Tube’ (no doubt a reference to the vibes themselves) features mellow grooves (like ‘The Bush’) and sidemen like Jeremy Steig and Chuck Rainey.
I’m a huge fan of jazz flute (as you’ll see in an upcoming mix) and Frank Wess was one of the greats. Alongside players like Sam Most, Buddy Collette and the mighty Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Wess (who like those instrumentalists played a number of wind instruments) started out playing modern jazz, ending up signed to the Stax subsidiary Enterprise where he recorded 1970’s ‘Wess To Memphis’. An excellent, forward thinking session, ‘Wess to Memphis’ has plenty of soulful moments while managing to maintain a jazz edge. ‘Underhog’ features some very nice, echoey flute work.
Eddie Jefferson was one of the early masters of vocalese, laying down vocals over some of the most famous jazz melodies of the day. His reworking of Miles Davis’s ‘So What’, from his 1969 Prestige session ‘Body and Soul’ may not be terribly funky (like a few of the album’s other cuts) but it is one of his finest performances.
Pianist Gene Harris is best known for his decade (plus) long work with the Three Sounds. ‘Feeling Me Feeling You’ is from his 1974 solo album ‘Astral Signals’.
Another recent Funky16Corners post featured the great Hammond player Dr Lonnie Smith. ‘Hola Muneca’ is another track from the 1971 ‘Mama Wailer’ album, which featured a who’s who of the CTI/Kudu stable, including Grover Washington Jr., Airto, Billy Cobham and Ron Carter.
Bobby Hutcherson is one of the great vibraphonists to record for the Blue Note label in the 60s and 70s. In addition to several amazing sessions as a leader, Hutcherson was also a very busy sideman on many of the label’s sessions. ‘Print Tie’ is a track from his 1970 ‘San Franscisco’ LP, which he recorded with sax legend Harold Land.
I mentioned both flute jazz in general, and Jeremy Steig specifically, above. Steig – famous among the crate diggers of the world for ‘Howling For Judy’ (sampled by the Beastie Boys) – recorded a number of albums for Blue Note and Solid State in the late 60s and early 70s, all along the same lines, i.e. vaguely funky, infused with far out hippiosity and tip-toeing just along the edge of “out”. ‘Rational Nonsense’ was on the 1969 LP ‘This is Jeremy Steig’.
Pianist Larry Willis appeared on Funky16Corners Radio v.81 with ‘153rd St Theme’. The funky – yet mellow – electric piano feature ‘Journey’s End’ is from the same album.
Eddie Harris made some of the finest soul jazz of the 60s and 70s during his tenure at Atlantic Records. Both alone, and with Les McCann he went a long way to defining the sound, and with his electrified saxophone, paving the way for the onrush of fusion. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the ‘Silver Cycles’ album, do so with haste, since it includes ‘Smoke Signals’. Funky, spacey and soulful, it’s a landmark recording.
It is with a tip of the hat to the jazzy rock cats, that I bring you Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll with ‘Road to Cairo’. Though they have often been placed amongst the UK freak set, Auger, with his jazz organ chops, and Driscoll, the soulful diva in a caftan made some amazing music in the late 60s, from pure soul jazz, to funky soul to borderline psychedelia.
This edition of the Funky16Corners Radio podcast closes out with a very cool cover, saxophonist Lou Donaldson (backed by no less than Charles Earland on the Hammond, Idris Muhammad on the skins and Melvin Sparks on the guitar) doing his thing with Lee Dorsey’s ‘Everything I Do (Gohn Be Funky From Now On).
I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back next week with some more of the good stuff.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, March 4, 2010 4:38 pm

Gene and his porkpie hat contemplating the Hammond

Listen/Download -Gene Ludwig – The Vamp

Listen/Download -Gene Ludwig – Well You Needn’t

Greetings all.

I hope the end of the week finds you well. I, on the other hand fell backwards through the front door of my house yesterday, landing flat on my back in a pile of toys. While my sons thought this was hilarious (I’m sure I would too if I’d observed it happening to someone else), I sit here feeling much like someone who fell backwards into a pile of toys, i.e. sore. I’m trying not to dwell on how much my own stupidity contributed to this accident. To do so would only make my back hurt more than it does.
I’ve decided to close out Hammond Week 2010 with an old favorite by one of the true masters of the instrument, Mr. Gene Ludwig.
I was lucky enough to interview Mr. Ludwig a few years back, and when you get a second you should pop on over to the old Funky16Corners web zine to read up on the read ups.
The tune I bring you today is the very first Gene Ludwig record I ever heard, courtesy of my man Haim. Back in the day, when he still lived on this side of the country, Haim – aware of my Hammond addiction –  had a record that he simply had to play for me, and that record was ‘The Vamp’.
You all know what a nut I am for organ records, and as soon as the needle hit the wax on the Travis 45 of ‘The Vamp’ my hair pretty much stood on end. A fantastic showcase for Ludwig’s keyboard skills, ‘The Vamp’ is also something much more.
There, in its two minutes and thirty six seconds resides a perfect encapsulation of the meaning of soul jazz. Featuring Ludwig on the organ, Jerry Byrd on guitar and Randy Gillespie leaving his drums for a turn on the tambourine, ‘The Vamp’ (so named since it was basically built on a riff in the studio) moves at a fairly brisk pace, yet, thanks to the absence of the full drum set, manages to generate an air of relaxed cool.
The tune opens with Ludwig’s fingers flying all over the keys, with short, rhythmic chops by Byrd as Gillespie pulls his tambourine out of the amen corner and goes to town. It’s at the minute mark that the organ and guitar switch places, with Gene comping on the organ as the guitarist solos at length until Ludwig comes back in to restate the main theme just before the fade out.
There, in well under three minutes resides pure, 1965, smokey night club, jukebox perfection. Back in 2007 I included ‘The Vamp’ (recorded from the 45, this somewhat cleaner version coming from the LP ‘The Educated Sound of Gene Ludwig’) in Funky16Corners Radio v.24.5 ‘Old School Hammond’, but since not everyone that follows the blog was around back then, and more importantly, it’s such an amazing record, I figured that I ought to bring it back for this year’s week long celebration of the instrument.
I’m also including – from the same album – Gene’s take on my idol Thelonious Monk’s (in his time, a survivor over the long haul, much like Mr. Ludwig) ‘Well You Needn’t’. It gives you a chance to hear the master’s jazz chops as he and the group dig in for six and a half minutes of pure, listening pleasure.
I’m happy to say that Gene Ludwig – 73 years young – is still working it out on the Hammond in 2010, with a full slate of dates. Make sure you check out his website for samples of his (excellent) recent recordings, as well as videos* some recent performances.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s selections, and I’ll be back next week with some funk.
Have a great weekend.

Peace

Larry

*There’s a great version of Gene and his group playing one of my favorite soul jazz standards, Percy Mayfield’s ‘River’s Invitation’

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By Larry, March 2, 2010 5:01 pm

Lonnie Smith makes with the smokestack lightning…

Listen/Download -Lonnie Smith – Stand

Listen/Download -Lonnie Smith – Mama Wailer

Greetings all.

I hope the middle of the week finds you better than me, at least in regard to your general health and well being. I am currently afflicted with some kind of upper respiratory infection that has rendered my throat sore, my body weak and slightly feverish and my general outlook on life at least temporarily grim. I know that this too shall pass, but it’s interfering with my ability to pack in a good night’s sleep, which is something I live for. If I don’t get my six hours in, I am a seriously crabby bastard, unfit to walk among the general population. I guess it’s fair to say that in the grand scheme of things I’m doing well. At least I don’t have the flu, and the wife and kids are healthy, so the Funky16Corners compound hasn’t gone into epidemic lockdown (yet) so I shall cease my grousing and do what I have been told I do best, which is lay some groovy sounds at your doorstep, stand back and feel the love.

But, before I do that, I should mention that I will be returning to Master Groove @ Forbidden City, Wednesday the next, that being March the 10th for another evening of funk and soul spun at 45 revolutions per minute, along with DJ Bluewater and M-Fasis. I haven’t decided what kind of set I’ll be dropping this time, but I assure you that no matter what, it’ll be worth hearing.
It is in that spirit that I bring you something extra nice this fine day. If you thought that Monday’s nine-minute burner from Rhoda Scott was long-form, wait until you stuff your ears full of seventeen minutes worth of the mighty Lonnie Smith.
The good Doctor (as he has been known for many a year), be-turbaned and masterful upon the Hammond, has laid down a mountain of grooves since he made his first album in 1967. Combining serious jazz chops with an ability to work soul and funk grooves, Smith is one of my favorites.
The track I bring you today is from his 1971 Kudu set ‘Mama Wailer’. I heard this record for the first time last year and when I did I set out to secure myself a copy post haste. While the whole album is worth hearing, the tracks I bring you today stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Sly and the Family Stone hit the charts with the original version of ‘Stand’ in 1969. One of their finest records, it was a perfect blend of funky soul and an era-specific, uplifting message. When Dr. Smith got his hands on the cut, he and his band (Ron Carter, Billy Cobham and Grover Washington Jr. among others) took the feeling of the original for the basic framework and then stepped off the edge of the world into a whole new, extremely far out place, located somewhere on the corner of Out and Psychedelic. The really interesting thing about Smith’s version of ‘Stand’ is that he steps outside of a standard presentation, flies off into the ether and never really comes back to earth. Things just get freakier and freakier, and the theme is never actually restated. By the time you get to the run of groove (the track occupies and entire LP side) it’s possible that you’ve forgotten what song you were listening to in the first place.
Though I often sing the praises of the power of a three-minute 45, there’s something to be said for musicians taking the time to stretch. Years back I was having a discussion with someone that should have known better, who was expressing his befuddlement about a jazz record (something fairly conventional, if memory serves) wherein most of the tracks sailed well past the eight-to-ten minute mark. He didn’t get how, or why someone would play for that long, i.e. what could they say in ten minutes that couldn’t be said just as well in three. At the time, I whipped out the eye-roll to beat all eye-rolls and tried to explain, but words failed me, and in the spirit of comity I decided to back off and fight again another day.
That day is here.
When you settle in and warm your ears up for a track as long as Lonnie Smith’s reading of ‘Stand’, it’s a whole different thing from getting the short, sharp blast of a 45. Though the form had been abused many a time by pretentious rockers (and jazzers of the same ilk), the longer track, when done well is a thing of beauty. Sometimes you get the standard modern jazz reading, with statement/restatement of the theme followed by each member of the band (piano, horns, bass, drums etc.) soloing in turn. Other times, like in today’s selection, you get a little of that, mixed in with a little of a freer feel. Smith’s cover of ‘Stand’ manages to do this, and – in the spirit of the original – edging over into a rockish vibe as well. No matter how jazzy, there’s no denying that things get a little psychedelic in the second half of the record.
If that’s too far out for even you adventurous types, I’m also including – as a bonus track of sorts – the title track of the LP. ‘Mama Wailer’ has a nice Latin groove, moving along at a very groovy pace. The Hammond takes a back seat, with Smith working mostly on clavinet and at just over six minutes, it’s a much easier to digest portion.
I hope you dig both tracks, and I’ll be back on Friday with some more of the good stuff.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, February 28, 2010 6:39 pm

Miss Rhoda Scott

Listen/Download -Rhoda Scott Trio – Sha Bazz

Greetings all.

As I sit here, just having come in from dragging an overloaded garbage can through the slush to its appointed spot (in another pile of slush), in the hopes that the garbage man will grace us with his presence so we don’t have to resort to an unfortunate system of indoor composting and burning garbage in the fireplace, I am temporarily chilled to the bone. Though we were spared the threatened snow disaster, it’s cold like the devil’s underpants out there. This winter has gone from bad to worse, and we now have several strata of dirty snow covering another layer of frozen mud in our front yard. The winter wonderland has morphed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland in a few short months, and we, the helpless observers are reduced to huddling by the fire, praying for spring.
It is in that spirit, and the knowledge that many of you are so afflicted, that I attempt to warm the surrounding environment with an entire week of Hammond organ burners.
Before I get started, I’d like to send out good wishes and congratulations to DJ Birdman and his lovely wife, who are the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy! If I know one thing for sure, in addition to parents that love him, that kid will grow up in a house full of good music (much like my own children).
The last time I did this, a little over a year ago, I figured it would become an ongoing series. I didn’t know it’d take me an entire year to get back to it.
The good thing it, that in the ensuing time I have amassed quite a stack of heaters to choose from, so much so that picking only three of them proved to be a daunting task.
The tune I bring you today is a fairly recent acquisition, the result of a chance sighting on a set sale list.
One of my favorite Hammond 45s is ‘Hey Hey Hey’ by the Rhoda Scott Trio. Picked up years ago while digging, its deep in the club, party time spirit never fails to give me a lift. In the years since I found that 45, I’ve always kept my eyes peeled for other stuff by Miss Scott, and was thwarted until I found the album featuring today’s selection.
Rhoda Scott, a native of my home state of New Jersey is one of the leading lights of that very exclusive sorority of female Hammond organists, along with Shirley Scott (no relation) and Bu Pleasant. She got her start playing in and around New York and New Jersey, before relocating to France in the mid-1960s (where she continues to play today).
The tune I bring you today ‘Sha Bazz’ is from her 1963 LP ‘The Rhoda Scott Trio Live!!! at the Key Club’. I bought this album pretty much blind, mainly on the strength of the fact that it was on the same label as ‘Hey Hey Hey’. I had no idea – until I started to do some research – that Tru-Sound was in fact a subsidiary of the Prestige label.
When the record fell through the mail slot, and I had the opportunity to drop the needle on the wax, I was in a word (or two), blown away.
Scott’s trio at the time consisted of multi-instrumentalist Joe Thomas (who has appeared in the space before on his main axe, the flute) and drummer Bill Elliot. ‘Live at the Key Club’ is evidence that they were wholly capable of kicking ass.
‘Sha Bazz’, which starts out with a mix of drums and chanting quickly evolves into a showcase for Scott’s mastery of the Hammond, building into a nine-minute plus crash course on the power of the instrument. ‘Sha Bazz’ is pure heat, with Scott’s organ in overdrive and extended solos by Thomas and Elliot.
I know I’ve made this allusion before (and I probably will again) but it sounds like Scott is straining the ability of the board (or the tape) to contain the sound coming out of the Hammond. You listen to this record and imagine some unsuspecting person strolling into the club, seeing the petite woman at the organ, ordering some old school cocktail (Rusty Nail anyone?) and then, before you know what happened it’s all KA-BLAMMM! And your hair is all mussed, and your glasses are on crooked and your drink is all over your pants and you look like one of those astronauts in a rocket sled with your face all peeled back and your eyes all bugged out.

Know what I’m saying???
It’s records like this that make me wish I could step into the Wa-Bac machine (props to Mr Peabody and Sherman) and go back to any number of inner city bars in the 60s where players like Rhoda Scott were burning the joint up with small groups like this, perfectly bridging the gap between jazz, rhythm and blues and the oncoming freight train known as soul. The really groovy thing – especially for organ nuts like myself – is that Shirley Scott was (and is) adept at running bass lines on the Hammond’s foot pedals, making the trio sound like a much larger group.
I remember reading an interview with Jimmy Smith more than 20 years ago (maybe in Musician?) where he basically said, if you weren’t able to work those bass pedals, you weren’t really playing the Hammond. If you want to hear a great example of this – albeit in a much rawer context – check out Toussaint McCall’s ‘Shimmy’. There, in a 45 that is all but exploding with sound, you have only an organist and a drummer, where once again the organist is doing the work of two, operating the top and bottom ends of the Hammond. That’s musicianship.
Heavy stuff indeed, baby.
Dig it and I’ll be back on Wednesday with more of the same.

Peace

Larry

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By Larry, February 14, 2010 3:55 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.81 – The Piano Electrified

Playlist

To hear this mix, head over to the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive

I hope reentry into the seven day cycle finds you all well.
I have just about recovered from all the snow-related exertion, and if we get another storm anytime soon I’m going to hunt down Mother Nature and kick her in the ass.
It is in the spirit of relaxation (though not too relaxed) that I bring you another in the recently mounted series of instrumental focus mixes, this time out a very tasty hour-long (plus) excursion into the world of the electric piano.
The electric piano – specifically the Fender Rhodes, though there are a couple of different brands/models represented here – is, like the vibes in F16Rv.79, one of my all time favorite sounds. Say what you want about the structure/genre of any kind of music, but when you boil it down, there’s something about the way a specific instrument sounds, whether it’s the vibes, electric piano, string bass, oud, flute, what have you, that gets deep inside my head and drills down into my pleasure centers on a primal, vibrational level, to the point where an immersive exercise like the one you see before you is the only prescription.
This has a lot to do with growing up around the piano. My Pop plays, and it was his second job for all of my childhood. If my love of music has a specific source, it’s because I grew up with a pianist/singer in the house. Whether it was on the out of tune upright at my Grandma’s house, the baby grand he entertained on at my wedding, or the electric keyboard he has now, my Dad has always instilled the value of a good (great) song in all of his children (which is why most of them play instruments).
I’ve been wanting to get down to working on this particular mix for a long time, but it was only in the last couple of weeks that I set foot in the record room – which is starting to outgrow its current location – and set to digging out the prime electric piano specimens in my crates.
While there is a funky edge to the majority of the selections herein, there are a couple of mellower things where you really get to hear the dreamy, chiming side of the instrument.
Things get underway with a song that is both a certifiable soul jazz standard, but also an oddity of sorts. Eddie Harris, who appears twice in this mix, but just once on the piano, is best known as a sax man, primarily as the number one proponent of another favorite sound of mine, that being the Varitone electric saxophone. The 1966 album ‘Mean Greens’, from which ‘Listen Here’ originates, is unusual because it includes an entire side on which Harris puts down the sax and works it out on electric piano and organ. Though Harris wasn’t giving any of the past masters of the keyboard anything to worry about, he acquits himself nicely on ‘Listen Here’, building a nice groove against a percussion base.
Herbie Hancock lays down a serious groove on the title track from 1969’s ‘Fat Albert Rotunda’. Featuring Hancock and a band of serious jazz heads (like Joe Henderson and Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath) ‘Fat Albert Rotunda’ (the song and the album) is a landmark of sorts, with the pianist settling into the funk for the first time.
Art Jerry Miller is one of those cats where I wish I could get more than a few, tantalizing clues about his story. He was Memphis-based, wrote for an played with Willie Mitchell, and recorded one very groovy album for the Stax subsidiary Enterprise Records in 1969. ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ is a classic of the three o’clock in the morning mood, and sounds like a distant cousin of King Curtis’ ‘Soul Serenade’.
Pete Jolly was a serious West Coast jazz pianist and studio musician who recorded steadily from the 50s to the 90s. ‘Prairie Road’ is a cut from his 1970 album ‘Seasons’, which was improvised and recorded in a single four-hour session. The album is sought out for the sample on ‘Plummer Park’, but I’m here to tell you that in addition to ‘Prairie Road’ – which is included here – you really need to get your hands on the entire album (in OG or reissue) because it is one sweet listen.
Mose Allison has long been a favorite of mine, but it wasn’t until last summer, when I was down in DC digging, that DJ Birdman hepped me to the album ‘Western Man’, the only one on which the mighty Mose ever played the electric piano. I finally found myself a copy last month, and it’s both amazing, and a little bit sad that Allison didn’t spend more time working in a similar groove. The mellow tune ‘Meadows’ is included here.
I remember a time when I didn’t know that Lonnie Smith (the Hammond cat) and Lonnie Liston Smith were two different people. It wasn’t until I picked up a couple of his early 70s Flying Dutchman albums that I got hip. Lonnie Liston Smith was a busy sideman (with Miles Davis among others) who broke off in the early 70s to make his own brand of spiritual fusion. ‘Voodoo Woman’ is from his 1974 ‘Expansion’ album, and while it gets off to a funky start, it quickly settles into a late night, quiet storm groove.
Hampton Hawes first made his mark as a hard bop pianist in 1950s Los Angeles. By the early 70s he had moved on to electric piano, and a funkier sound. ‘J.B.’s Mind’ is from his 1972 album ‘Universe’, and manages to whip a little bit of funk into the mix, alongside some serious jazz sounds from Oscar Brashear and Harold Land.
Bob James is known to most people as the man behind the theme to ‘Taxi’, but ask any crate digger, and they’ll let you in on the breakbeats that make his early 70s albums on CTI/Tappan Zee favorites. The most prominent of these comes toward the end of the tune included in this mix, ‘Nautilus’ from 1974’s ‘One’ album (break courtesy of Idris Muhammad).
Larry Willis is a journeyman jazz keyboardist who has played in a wide variety of settings since the 60s (including an early 70s stint in Blood Sweat and Tears!). ‘153rd St Theme’ is a cut from his 1973 Groove Merchant album ‘Inner Crisis’.
Neal Creque has appeared in this space before, in his capacity as sideman for both Grant Green (he wrote Green’s epic ‘Cease the Bombing’) and Mongo Santamaria. He was a versatile keyboardist, working on both piano and organ. His 1972 ‘Contrast’ LP for Cobblestone is a lost classic, with funk, jazz and just a touch of his roots in the Virgin Islands. ‘D Train’ is one of the funkier numbers on the album.
Eumir Deodato, one of Brazil’s most successful musical exports is responsible for the biggest hit CTI records ever had, his reworking of ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ aka ‘2001’ which was a Top 10 hit around the world in 1973. The heavily sampled ‘September 13’ is another cut from the ‘Prelude’ album.
Les McCann and Eddie Harris were both jazz veterans when they hit the charts with their live, 1969 recording of Gene McDaniel’s ‘Compared To What’ which appeared on the ‘Swiss Movement’ LP. They reunited in 1971 for the album ‘Second Movement’, which featured the tune included in this mix, the funky, oft sampled ‘Shorty Rides Again’.
No mix focusing on the electric piano would be complete without a contribution from the mighty Ramsey Lewis. Lewis verily wrote the book on soul jazz piano in the 60s, and carrid on making huge contributions to jazz funk in the 70s. His 1974 ‘Sun Goddess’ album was one of his biggest hits, and in addition to his regular trio members (including Cadet house drummer Morris Jennings), the album also featured contributions from several members of Earth Wind and Fire. We close out this edition of the Funky16Corners Radio thang with his extremely cool cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For the City’.
I hope you dig the mix, and I’ll be back later in the week.
Also, if you’re in or around NYC this Wednesday, I’ll be back spinning with DJ Bluewater and M-Fasis at Master Groove @ Forbidden City, Ave A between 13th and 14th Sts. If I can get my shit (and records) together it’ll be an all Northern Soul set, so fall by if you’re in the area (things get underway at 10PM).

Peace

Larry

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