Big Band Report
December 2001

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By Jack Bowers

Several years ago I penned the liner notes for one of the most electrifying contemporary big–band albums you’ve never heard, more than an hour of remarkably invigorating music by the Buddy Charles All–Star Concert Jazz Orchestra with heavyweights in every section and a peerless rhythm component guided by the great pianist Pete Jolly. How can I be sure you’ve never heard it? Well, for one thing, it has never been released — a fate that befalls more big–band recordings than one might imagine, no matter how well–planned and engaging they may be. I was thinking about that a week or so ago while listening to another marvelous but unissued big–band album, this one led by trumpeter Carl Saunders with such celebrated collaborators as Lanny Morgan, Andy Martin, Bobby Shew, Ron Stout, Jerry Pinter, Christian Jacob, Santo Savino and others. No name, no label — simply amazing straight–ahead Jazz from start to finish, powerfully enhanced by Saunders’ consistently impressive trumpet and flugelhorn. Will the album ever see the light of day? Your guess is as good as ours.

Stan Bann, who leads a pretty respectable band in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area, does have a name for that ensemble’s second album — Stratford Blue — but as yet, has no label. The band’s debut disc, Good Intentions, was released by Sea Breeze Records; this one won’t be. How does Stan feel about the search for a backer?>P> “I’m saddened that I haven’t been able to bring [the album] to market on the members’ behalf,” he says. “Second, I’m somewhat angry that the hard work contributed by the musicians is being summarily dismissed. [They’] have worked far too hard and given too much of themselves to be written off so quickly. The businessman side of me acknowledges that, yes, this is a product and it has to be in someone’s financial interest to make this a viable venture; the musician and artist in me hears other musicians and fans saying that it’s a good and meaningful work and wonders why the labels can’t hear those same comments.

“There’s also a part of me that is glad the record companies aren’t jumping right away. We didn’t set out to top the charts or become the flavor du jour. None of us expects to retire solely on big–band income (which I’m sure is an oxymoron). In a world that seems to be based on sound bytes and immediate gratification I’m happy to say that we’re in this for the long haul. I’ve had musicians in the band tell me that if we were playing only stock charts they wouldn’t be there, but because of what we’re doing they wouldn’t miss it. Being somewhat hard to define is a definite plus for many of us.

“Making music is a tough thing to share with others. Unless you’ve experienced the release and the joy of making and sharing music with others it’s almost impossible to [understand]. People who do crafts or make physical things can point to what they’ve created and share that with others, [whereas a] live [musical] performance vanishes instantaneously. A recording is often the only way to preserve some special moments to be shared again and again. One of my goals as a leader is to make sure the recordings we make give us the best chance to share our excitement and joy with others so there’s no way they can’t ‘not get it.’

“I’m grateful for those musicians who come to rehearsals and arrange [their] schedules around performances. It’s important to me that they feel their time was well–spent and that they get something in return for their time and talent. It’s just as important to me that each of them feels the same way about the [albums]. I want them to be able to put those recordings on and feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that they were part of those special moments.”

I’ve heard both Good Intentions and Stratford Blue; I prefer Stratford Blue, for which Stan has yet to find a label. Any takers?

Two more giants pass from the scene

The world of music in general, and Jazz in particular, was dealt a double blow in late November with the passing of composer / arranger Ralph Burns and impresario Norman Granz.

If Ralph Burns had written nothing beyond “Early Autumn” — the fourth and last movement in his Summer Sequence suite for the Woody Herman Orchestra — his place in Jazz history would be assured. The song’s captivating melody, coupled with Stan Getz’s memorable solo, made it an instant favorite with big–band enthusiasts, and its popularity was further enhanced when Johnny Mercer added lyrics. But Burns wrote much more than that. After fifteen years with Herman, during which time he was responsible for some of the band’s biggest hits including “Bijou” and “Apple Honey,” Burns left to become a freelance orchestrator, playing a key role in some of Broadway’s most successful shows including “Chicago,” “Funny Girl” and “No, No Nanette.” He worked with choreographer Bob Fosse on “Sweet Charity,” “Dancin’” and the film version of “Cabaret,” winning Academy Awards for his adaptations of the scores for “Cabaret” and “All That Jazz,” a Tony Award for “Fosse” and an Emmy Award for “Barishnykov on Broadway.” He collaborated with Richard Rodgers on the musical “No Strings” and with Jule Styne on “Funny Girl.” In the studios, he wrote arrangements for such stars as Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole. In the 1990s Burns returned to his roots, arranging Jazz albums for Mel Tormé and John Pizzarelli. “‘Simple is better’ was Woody’s motto,” Burns said in an interview in The New York Times. “And good taste too. I think he taught an awful lot of arrangers how to develop that way.” And among his students, none was more able than Ralph Burns.

Norman Granz will be remembered for at least two monumental achievements: the creation in 1944 of Jazz at the Philharmonic, a touring package that took Jazz from bars and dance halls into concert venues, and the founding eleven years later of Verve Records, which captured some of the finest Jazz performances ever recorded. After selling Verve to MGM in 1960, Granz formed another label, Pablo, in 1974. Although he insisted he was no more than a businessman, Granz campaigned for civil rights by integrating his JATP packages and insisting that the concerts be opened to blacks, no matter how segregated the city in which they were held. “I insisted that my musicians be treated with the same respect as Leonard Bernstein or Heifetz because they were just as good,” he said, “both as men and as musicians.” Black musicians, said bassist Ray Brown, ”couldn’t stay in decent hotels until Norman came along. People forget about what he did.” Pianist Oscar Peterson never forgot, naming one of his sons, Norman, after Granz who always played down his role as a foe of segregation. “I’ve never tried to prove anything,” he said in an interview in Down Beat magazine, “except that good Jazz, properly presented, could be commercially profitable.” JATP began in Los Angeles with a few musicians including Nat King Cole, and grew to include such stars as Brown, Peterson, J.J. Johnson, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Illinois Jacquet, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Buddy Rich, Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz, Flip Phillips and Zoot Sims, touring the U.S. and abroad until 1957 when Granz discontinued the concerts, two years before he moved to Switzerland. After founding Verve, Granz began recording his stars in concert, something that had seldom been done before but that proved to be enormously successful. In 1994, when Verve Records presented a gala concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Jazz at the Philharmonic, Granz did not attend, saying, “They’re twenty years too late. I’m not interested in that sort of thing now.” What he was interested in was quality, whether presenting or recording Jazz, and we could use a few more like him today.

Helping players get back in the game

Nat Hentoff wrote an interesting piece in the October issue of Jazz Times magazine about the Jazz Foundation of America’s emergency fund, which was created to help musicians in need (some may not realize that playing Jazz for a living doesn’t include a pension plan). Dizzy Gillespie was one of those musicians who cared about others, and he continues to lend a helping hand, figuratively at least, through the Dizzy Gillespie Institute at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey, where he died in January 1993. Through its auspices the Jazz Foundation — and its network of pro bono doctors — has given Jazz musicians more than $200,000 a year in donated funds for heart surgery, cancer treatments, diagnostic tests and other medical care. Dr. Frank Forte, an internist, hematologist and oncologist who cared for Dizzy in his last days, has proposed an interesting idea to help the Foundation move forward in its work. “In church,” he said to Hentoff, “there’s a collection box for people in need. Why not have collection boxes for the Jazz Foundation in nightclubs, where Jazz is played?” And why limit them to nightclubs, Hentoff adds. Why not at record stores and concerts as well? Why not indeed. But one needn’t wait for collection boxes to appear. The Jazz Foundation of America, which can use all the help it can get, is located at 322 W. 48th St., New York, NY 10036. The phone number is 212–245–3999, or (toll–free) 800–532–5267. Contributions are tax–deductible.

Seasonal swingers

With the holiday celebrations fast approaching, the wife suggested that we list as a public service some big–band CDs that are designed to help make the season brighter. Good idea, sweetheart. Here’s an overview of what we have on our shelves:

• Airmen of Note, Christmas Time Is Here (AON)
• Ralph Carmichael, Big Band Christmas (FamilyNet)
• Tom Kubis, It’s Not Just for Christmas Anymore (Cexton)
• Tom Kubis, You Just Can’t Have Enough Christmas (Cexton)
• Rob McConnell / Boss Brass, Big Band Christmas (Concord Jazz)
• Chris McDonald Orchestra, Big Band Christmas (Green Hill)
• National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Big Band Christmas (NYJO)
• National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (NYJO)
• NDR Big Band, A Message from Santa Klaus (Minor Music)
• Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, Volume VI: Christmas Jazz (NJO)
• NC Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Holiday Jazz Blizzard (NCJRO)
• Shorty Rogers and His Giants, Swingin’ Nutcracker (RCA Victor)
• Trilogy Big Band, Does Christmas (Sea Breeze)
• Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra, Well Seasoned (GWO)