Monthly Archives: December 2023

Etta James: Matriarch Of The Blues

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On December 12, 2000, “Private Music” label released “Matriarch of the Blues”, the twenty-fourth Etta James studio album. It was recorded in 2000, and was produced by Donto Metto James and Sametto James.

Personnel:

  • Etta James – lead and backing vocals, liner notes
  • Josh Sklair – acoustic and electric guitar, slide guitar, keyboards, rhythm arrangements
  • Bobby Murray – guitar
  • Leo Nocentelli – guitar
  • Mike Finnigan – Hammond organ
  • Jimmy Zavala – harmonica, tenor and baritone saxophone
  • Sametto James – bass, engineer, mixing
  • Donto Metto James – drums, engineer, mixing, percussion
  • Tom Poole – trumpet
  • Terrance Galloway – engineer assistant
  • Doug Sax – mastering
  • Julie Bruzzone – creative director
  • Sonny Mediana – design, photography
  • Rudy Calvo – make-up
  • Lupe DeLeon – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. Gotta Serve Somebody – Bob Dylan
  2. Don’t Let My Baby Ride – Deadric Malone, O. V. Wright
  3. Rhymes – Al Green, Teenie Hodges
  4. Try a Little Tenderness – Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry M. Woods
  5. Miss You – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
  6. Hawg for Ya – Otis Redding
  7. You’re Gonna Make Me Cry – Deadric Malone
  8. Walking the Back Streets – Sandy Jones, Jr.
  9. Let’s Straighten It Out – Benny Latimore
  10. Born on the Bayou – John Fogerty
  11. Come Back Baby – Ray Charles, Lightnin’ Hopkins
  12. Hound Dog – Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller

Les McCann: Soul Hits

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In December 1963, “Pacific Jazz” label released “Soul Hits”, the 15th Les McCann album. It was recorded in October 1963, at “Pacific Jazz Studios” in Hollywood, and was produced by Richard Bock.,

Personnel:

  • Les McCann – piano
  • Joe Pass – guitar
  • Paul Chambers – bass
  • Paul Humphrey – drums
  • Richard Bock – engineer, sleeve notes
  • Woody Woodward – design, photography

Track listing:

  1. Back at the Chicken Shack – Jimmy Smith
  2. Sack O’ Woe – Cannonball Adderley
  3. Groove Yard – Carl Perkins
  4. Sermonette – Nat Adderley
  5. Sonnymoon for Two – Sonny Rollins
  6. Bags’ Groove – Milt Jackson
  7. Shiny Silk Stockings – Frank Foster
  8. Sister Sadie – Horace Silver
  9. Li’l Darlin’ – Neal Hefti
  10. Work Song – Nat Adderley

Dexter Gordon: Go

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In December 1962, “Blue Note” label released “Go!” the 18th Dexter Gordon album. It was recorded in August 1962, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Alfred Lion. In 2019, “Go!” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the “National Recording Registry” for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Personnel:

  • Dexter Gordon – tenor saxophone
  • Sonny Clark – piano
  • Butch Warren – bass
  • Billy Higgins – drums
  • Reid Miles – design
  • Francis Wolff – photography
  • Ira Gitler – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. Cheese Cake – Dexter Gordon
  2. I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry – Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
  3. Second Balcony Jump – Billy Eckstine, Gerald Valentine
  4. Love for Sale – Cole Porter
  5. Where Are You – Jimmy McHugh, Harold Adamson
  6. Three O’clock in the Morning – Julian Robledo, Dorothy Terriss

Ryan Adams: Wednesdays

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On December 11, 2020, “PAX AM” label released “Wednesdays”, the seventeenth Ryan Adams studio album. It was recorded in 2020, and was produced by Don Was, Ryan Adams and Beatriz Artola.

Personnel:

  • Ryan Adams – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, tom tom
  • Todd Wisenbaker – electric guitar
  • Stephen Patt – pedal steel, dobro
  • Benmont Tench – organ, piano
  • Beatriz Artola – synth, engineer
  • Don Was – bass, double bass
  • Charlie Stavish – bass, engineer
  • Brendan McCusker – drums, engineer
  • Aaron Ficca – drums
  • Fred Bows – violin
  • Zach Dellinger – viola
  • The Section Quartet – strings
  • Emmylou Harris – backing vocals
  • Arnold McCuller – backing vocals
  • Sir Harry Bowens – backing vocals
  • Hilliard ‘Sweet Pea’ Atkinson – backing vocals
  • Gabriel Sganga – engineer
  • Jeff Fitzpatrick – engineer assistant
  • Matthew Scatchell – engineer assistant
  • Joe LaPorta – mastering
  • Siebe Johannes ten Cate – cover painting (La gare du Nord)

Track listing:

All tracks are written by Ryan Adams.

  1. I’m Sorry and I Love You
  2. Who Is Going to Love Me Now, If Not You
  3. When You Cross Over
  4. Walk in the Dark
  5. Poison & Pain
  6. Wednesdays
  7. Birmingham
  8. So, Anyways
  9. Mamma
  10. Lost in Time
  11. Dreaming You Backwards

Leonard Cohen: Various Positions

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On December 11, 1984, “Columbia” label released “Various Positions”, the seventh Leonard Cohen studio album. It was recorded in June 1983, at “Quadrasonic Sound” in New York City, and was produced by John Lissauer.

Personnel:

  • Leonard Cohen – vocals, guitar, photography
  • Jennifer Warnes – vocals
  • Sid McGinnis – guitar
  • John Lissauer – piano, keyboard orchestrations, backing vocals
  • John Crowder – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Richard Crooks – drums
  • Kenneth Kosek – fiddle
  • Erin Dickins – backing vocals
  • Chrissy Faith – backing vocals
  • Ron Getman – backing vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Yvonne Lewis – backing vocals
  • Merle Miller – backing vocals
  • Anjani Thomas – backing vocals
  • John Lissauer – arrangements
  • Leanne Ungar – recording, mixing
  • Jon Smith – additional recording
  • Lee Friedman – engineer assistant

Track listing:

All tracks by Leonard Cohen.

  1. Dance Me to the End of Love
  2. Coming Back to You
  3. The Law
  4. Night Comes On
  5. Hallelujah
  6. The Captain
  7. Hunter’s Lullaby
  8. Heart with No Companion
  9. If It Be Your Will

Woody Herman: Woody Herman – 1963

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In December 1962, “Philips” label released “Woody Herman–1963”, the 30th Woody Herman album. It was recorded in October 1962, and was produced by Jack Tracy.

Personnel:

  • Woody Herman – vocal, clarinet, conductor
  • Sal Nistico, Gordon Brisker, Larry Cavelli – tenor saxophone
  • Gene Allen – baritone saxophone
  • Bill Chase – lead trumpet, arrangements
  • Paul Fontaine, Dave Gale, Ziggy Harrell, Gerald Lamy – trumpet
  • Phil Wilson, Eddie Morgan – trombone
  • Jack Gale – trombone, arrangements
  • Nat Pierce – piano, arrangements
  • Chuck Andrus – double bass
  • Jake Hanna – drums
  • Jeff Willens – mastering
  • Hollis King – art direction
  • Isabelle Wong – design
  • Ralph J. Gleason – liner notes
  • Ken Druker – executive producer

Track listing:

  1. Mo-Lasses – Joe Newman
  2. Blues for J.P. – Horace Parlan
  3. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore – Duke Ellington, Bob Russell
  4. Tunin’ In – Nat Pierce
  5. Sister Sadie – Horace Silver
  6. Sig Ep – Jack Gale
  7. It’s a Lonesome Old Town (When You’re Not Around) – Charles Kisco, Harry Tobias, Egbert Van Alstyne
  8. Camel Walk – Bill Chase

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First

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In December 1962, “Reprise” label released “Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First”, the 30th Frank Sinatra album. It was recorded in 1962, in Hollywood, and was produced by

Personnel:

  • Frank Sinatra – vocals
  • Count Basie – piano
  • Bill Miller – piano
  • Freddie Green – guitar
  • Frank Foster – tenor saxophone
  • Charlie Fowlkes – baritone saxophone
  • Eric Dixon – flute, tenor saxophone
  • Frank Wess – flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
  • Marshall Royal – clarinet, alto saxophone
  • Al Aarons – trumpet
  • Sonny Cohn – trumpet
  • Thad Jones – trumpet
  • Al Porcino – trumpet
  • Fip Ricard – trumpet
  • Henry Coker – trombone
  • Benny Powell – trombone
  • Rufus Wagner – trombone
  • Buddy Catlett – bass
  • Sonny Payne – drums
  • Neal Hefti – arrangements

Track listing:

  1. Pennies from Heaven – Arthur Johnston, Johnny Burke
  2. Please Be Kind – Saul Chaplin, Sammy Cahn
  3. (Love Is) The Tender Trap – Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen
  4. Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Glasses – Jimmy Steiger, Tommy Mailie
  5. My Kind of Girl – Leslie Bricusse
  6. I Only Have Eyes for You – Harry Warren, Al Dubin
  7. Nice Work If You Can Get It – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
  8. Learnin’ the Blues – Dolores Vicki Silvers
  9. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter – Fred Ahlert, Joe Young
  10. I Won’t Dance – Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Otto Harbach

Bob Brookmeyer: Gloomy Sunday And Other Bright Moments

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In December 1961, “Verve” label released “Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments”, the 19th Bob Brookmeyer album. It was recorded in November 1961, in New York City, and was produced by Creed Taylor.

Personnel:

  • Bob Brookmeyer – valve trombone, arrangements
  • Eddie Caine – alto saxophone, flute
  • Phil Woods – alto saxophone, clarinet
  • Gene Quill, Eddie Wasserman – alto saxophone
  • Phil Bodner – tenor saxophone, oboe, English horn
  • Al Cohn – tenor saxophone
  • Gene Allen – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
  • Bernie Glow, Joe Newman, Doc Severinsen, Clark Terry, Nick Travis – trumpet
  • Wayne Andre, Billy Byers, Bill Elton, Alan Raph – trombone
  • Wally Kane – bassoon
  • Eddie Costa – vibraphone, percussion
  • Hank Jones – piano
  • George Duvivier – bass
  • Mel Lewis – drums
  • Ralph Burns, Al Cohn, Gary McFarland, Eddie Sauter – arrangements
  • Olga Albizu – cover painting
  • Nat Hentoff – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. Caravan – Juan Tizol, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills
  2. Why Are You Blue – Gary McFarland
  3. Some of My Best Friends – Al Cohn
  4. Gloomy Sunday – Rezső Seress
  5. Ho Hum – Bob Brookmeyer
  6. Detour Ahead – Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo, Lou Carter
  7. Days Gone By; Oh My! – Gary McFarland
  8. Where, Oh Where – Cole Porter

Dexter Gordon: Dexter Blows Hot And Cool

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In December 1955, “Dooto” label released “Dexter Blows Hot and Cool”, the 13th Dexter Gordon album. It was recorded in November 1955.

Personnel:

  • Dexter Gordon — tenor saxophone
  • Jimmy Robinson — trumpet
  • Carl Perkins — piano
  • Leroy Vinnegar — bass
  • Chuck Thompson — drums
  • Howard Morehead – photography

Track listing:

  1. Silver Plated – Dexter Gordon
  2. Cry Me a River – Arthur Hamilton
  3. Rhythm Mad – Dexter Gordon
  4. Don’t Worry About Me – Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler
  5. I Hear Music – Burton Lane, Frank Losser
  6. Bonna Rue – Dexter Gordon
  7. I Should Care – Sammy Cahn, Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston
  8. Blowin’ For Dootsie – Dexter Gordon
  9. Tenderly – Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence

Art Farmer: The Aztec Suite

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In December 1959, “United Artists” label released “The Aztec Suite”, the twelve Art Farmer album. It was recorded in November 1959, at “Webster Hall” in New York City, and was produced by Jack Lewis.

Personnel:

  • Art Farmer – trumpet 
  • Zoot Sims, Seldon Powell – tenor saxophone
  • Bernie Glow, Nick Travis – trumpet
  • Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak – trombone
  • Jim Buffington – French horn
  • Hank Jones – piano
  • Addison Farmer – bass
  • Charlie Persip – drums
  • José Mangual – percussion
  • Chico O’Farrill – arrangements
  • Harris Lewine – design
  • Ken Braren – design
  • Paul Bacon – design

Track listing:

  1. The Aztec Suite – Chico O’Farrill
  2. Heat Wave – Irving Berlin
  3. Deliro – Felipe Domínguez
  4. Woody ‘N You – Dizzy Gillespie
  5. Drume Negrita – Eliseo Grenet
  6. Alone Together – Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz