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Backgrounder: Barney Kessel - Kessel's Kit, 1969
In the spring and early summer of 1969, guitarist Barney Kessel was on an extensive solo European tour. In each country, he picked up local players for his performances. In two of those countries—France and Italy, he recorded albums. In Rome, two albums were cut for Italian RCA—Reflections in Rome and Kessel's Kit, later known as ...
Backgrounder: Hank Mobley - Poppin', 1966
In tribute to Michael Cuscuna, the great jazz-reissue record producer and Mosaic co-founder who died April 19, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite Hank Mobley albums today as a Backgrounder. Michael found Poppin' in the Blue Note vaults when he was there and released the album for the first time in 1980. If not ...
Backgrounder: Johnny Alf: Rapaz de Bem, 1961
For those in the know, Johnny Alf has long been thought of as the father of the bossa nova. Whether that statement is completely accurate or whether he was merely a significant influence has been hotly debated over the years. Even if the Brazilian singer-songwriter wasn't the bossa's earliest pure exponent, his softly romantic, Johnny Mathis-like ...
Backgrounder: Quincy Jones - Twilight Time
Early in March, I posted a Backgrounder on a 1957 album arranged by Quincy Jones in Paris. In the U.S., the LP was released by United Artists and was called Americans in Paris. In France, it came out on Barclay and was known as Et Voila! The album was recorded with Eddie Barclay, the owner of ...
Backgrounder: Sonny Stitt - Tune-Up!
Perhaps the high points of Joe Fields's Cobblestone label were a pair of albums by Sonny Stitt released in 1972—Tune-Up! and Constellation. Both were produced by Don Schlitten. On Tunre-Up!, Stitt played alto and tenor saxophone and was accompanied by Barry Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Alan Dawson on drums. What made this ...
Backgrounder: Quincy Jones - Americans in Paris
In 1957, Quincy Jones moved to Paris to study composition and theory with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. In his spare time, the producer, composer, arranger, bandleader and conductor became music director at Barclay, a French record company owned by Eddie Barclay, a composer-arranger and contractor. Barclay also was the licensee for Mercury in France. Jones's ...
Backgrounder: Ray Bryant - Alone With the Blues
Recorded in December 1958, Alone With the Blues was Ray Bryant's first solo piano album. Growing up, Bryant was deeply influenced by the church, and gospel always played a big part in his approach to jazz. His mother was an ordained minister in Philadelphia and made sure Bryant was with her in the pews. He began ...
Backgrounder: Gerry Mulligan - Jeru
"Jeru" is a nickname Miles Davis came up with for baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan in the late 1940s when they were rehearsing the Miles Davis Nonet. The recordings they made between 1949 and 1950 would eventually wind up on a Capitol compilation album entitled Birth of the Cool. Jeru is also the title of an album ...
Backgrounder: Bobby Timmons - Soul Time
Pianist Bobby Timmons's Soul Time is an early soul-jazz classic. Recorded for Riverside over two days in August 1960 while Timmons was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the album's line-up of musicians assembled by Timmons was ingenious. Since it was Timmons's record date, he knew he'd get a good chunk of the ...
Backgrounder: João Gilberto, 1998
In the early spring of 2008, I planned to see João Gilberto in Boston. That is until he cancelled at the last minute. Gilberto had a reputation for such things throughout his career. Some I've interviewed have said he had agoraphobia—a psychological fear of being outside. Others have claimed he was hyper-finicky about things he wanted, ...
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