Tag Archives: Mary Lou Williams

Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Swings Lightly

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In December 1958, “Verve” label released “Ella Swings Lightly”, album by Ella Fitzgerald. It was recorded in November 1958, at “Radio Recorders” in Hollywood, and was produced by Norman Granz. This album won Ella Fitzgerald the 1960 Grammy award for the Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

Personnel:

  • Ella Fitzgerald – vocal
  • Marty Paich’s Dek-Tette: Bud Shank – alto saxophone 
  • Bill Holman – tenor saxophone
  • Med Flory – baritone saxophone 
  • Don Fagerquist, Al Porcino – trumpet
  • Bob Enevoldsen – valve trombone, tenor saxophone 
  • Vincent DeRosa – French horn
  • Lou Levy  – piano
  • Joe Mondragon – bass 
  • Mel Lewis – drums 

Track listing:

  1. Little White Lies – Walter Donaldson
  2. You Hit the Spot – Mack Gordon, Harry Revel
  3. What’s Your Story, Morning Glory? – Jack Lawrence, Paul Francis Webster, Mary Lou Williams
  4. Just You, Just Me – Jesse Greer, Raymond Klages
  5. As Long as I Live – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
  6. Teardrops from My Eyes – Rudy Toombs
  7. Gotta Be This or That – Sunny Skylar
  8. Moonlight on the Ganges – Sherman Myers, Chester Wallace
  9. My Kinda Love – Louis Alter, Jo Trent
  10. Blues in the Night – Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
  11. If I Were a Bell – Frank Loesser
  12. You’re an Old Smoothie – Nacio Herb Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Richard A. Whiting
  13. Little Jazz – Roy Eldridge, Buster Harding
  14. You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me – Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, Peter Norman
  15. Knock Me a Kiss – Mike Jackson
  16. 720 in the Books – Harold Adamson, Jan Savitt, Leo Watson

Junior Mance: The Soulful Piano Of Junior Mance

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In November 1960, “Jazzland” label released “The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance”, the second Junior Mance album. It was recorded in October 1960, in New York City, and was produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Personnel:

  • Junior Mance – piano
  • Ben Tucker – bass
  • Bobby Thomas – drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Junior Mance except where noted.

  1. The Uptown
  2. Ralph’s New Blues – Milt Jackson
  3. Main Stem – Duke Ellington
  4. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup – Anna Sosenko
  5. Playhouse
  6. Sweet and Lovely – Gus Arnheim, Jules LeMare, Harry Tobias
  7. In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee – Milt Orent, Mary Lou Williams
  8. I Don’t Care – Ray Bryant
  9. Swingmatism – Jay McShann, William Scott

Roy Haynes

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On November 12, 2024 Roy Owen Haynes died aged 99. He was musician (drums), regarded as one of best and most influential drummers in the history of jazz music. In his career lasting over 80 years he recorded and performed with the best known and most important jazz musicians, including Miles Davis, Lester Young, Kai Winding, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Wardell Gray, Sarah Vaughan, Cal Tjader, Eddie Shu, Nat Adderley, Milt Jackson, Red Rodney, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Art Blakey, Dorothy Ashby, John Handy,  George Shearing, Randy Weston, Kenny Burrell,  Phineas Newborn, Jr,  Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Eric Dolphy, Etta Jones, Booker Little, Betty Roché, Tommy Flanagan,  Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Oliver Nelson, Sonny Stitt,  Kai Winding, J. J. Johnson, Lem Winchester, Steve Lacy, Ray Charles, Jaki Byard, Ted Curson,  Bob Brookmeyer, Jackie Paris, Roland Kirk, Willis Jackson, McCoy Tyner, Ted Curson, John Coltrane, Frank Wess, Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, Jimmy Witherspoon, Gary Burton, Archie Shepp, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Leon Thomas, Clifford Jordan, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Dave Brubeck, Duke Jordan, Warne Marsh, Mary Lou Williams, Nick Brignola, Dizzy Reece, Johnny Griffin, Alice Coltrane,  Art Pepper,  Sal Nistico, Red Garland, Hank Jones, Stanley Cowell, Joe Albany, Freddie Hubbard, Toshiyuki Honda, Michel Petrucciani,  Mark Isaacs, Dave Holland, Pat Metheny and Kenny Barron.  Roy Haynes received big number of awards including “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” by the “National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences”, and the award at the “Special Merit Awards Ceremony & Nominees Reception” of the “54th Annual Grammy Awards”. In 2019, Haynes was given the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the “Jazz Foundation of America”. As leader and co-leader, Roy Haynes released 32 albums.

Roy Eldridge And Dizzy Gillespie: Roy And Diz

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In October 1954, “Clef” label released “Roy and Diz”, album by Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie. It was recorded in October 1954, and was produced by Norman Granz.

Personnel:

  • Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie – vocals, trumpet
  • Oscar Peterson – piano
  • Herb Ellis – guitar
  • Ray Brown – bass
  • Louis Bellson – drums

Track listing:

  1. Sometimes I’m Happy – Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans
  2. Algo Bueno – Woody ‘n’ You) – Dizzy Gillespie
  3. Trumpet Blues – Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie
  4. Ballad Medley – I’m Through with Love/Can’t We Be Friends/Don’t You Know?/I Don’t Know Why I Love You Like I Do/If I Had You – Fud Livingston, Paul James, Kay Swift, Bobby Worth, Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk, Irving King, Ted Shapiro
  5. Blue Moon – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
  6. I’ve Found a New Baby – Jack Palmer, Spencer Williams
  7. Pretty Eyed Baby – Mary Lou Williams, Snub Mosley, William Luther Johnson
  8. I Can’t Get Started – Vernon Duke, Ira Gershwin
  9. Limehouse Blues – Philip Braham, Douglas Furber

Shirley Scott: Roll ‘Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands

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In August 1966, “Impulse!” label released “Roll ‘Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands”, the 30th Shirley Scott album. It was recorded in April 1966, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Bob Thiele.

Personnel:

  • Shirley Scott – organ
  • Oliver Nelson – arrangements, conductor 
  • Jerry Dodgion, Phil Woods – alto saxophone 
  • Bob Ashton, Jerome Richardson – tenor saxophone
  • Danny Bank – baritone saxophone 
  • Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Jimmy Nottingham, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry – trumpet 
  • Quentin Jackson, Melba Liston, Tom McIntosh – trombone 
  • Paul Faulise – bass trombone
  • Attila Zoller – guitar 
  • Richard Davis, George Duvivier – double bass
  • Ed Shaughnessy, Grady Tate – drums
  • Rudy Van Gelder – engineer

Track listing:

  1. Roll ‘Em – Mary Lou Williams
  2. For Dancers Only – Don Raye, Sy Oliver, Vic Schoen
  3. Sophisticated Swing – William Hudson, Mitchell Parish
  4. Sometimes I’m Happy – Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans
  5. Little Brown Jug – Joseph Winner
  6. Stompin’ at the Savoy – Edgar Sampson
  7. Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Thomas “Fats” Waller, Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf
  8. A-Tisket, A-Tasket – Van Alexander, Ella Fitzgerald
  9. Things Ain’t What They Used to Be – Mercer Ellington
  10. Tippin’ In – Robert Smith, Marty Symes

Dizzy Gillespie

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On January 6, 1993, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie died aged 75. He was musician (trumpet), singer, composer and bandleader, trumpet virtuoso and improviser,  regarded as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time. Together with Charlie Parker, Gillespie was major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He has recorded and performed with some of the most important musicians in the jazz history, including Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Stan Getz, Sonny Stit,Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins,Benny Golson, Bobby Hackett, Mary Lou Williams, Willie Ruff, Dwike Mitchell, Art Blakey, Al McKibbon, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding, Joe Turner, Roy Eldridge, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson, John Lewis, Hank Jones, Percy Heath, Roy Eldridge,  Machito, Benny Carter, Lalo Schifrin, Count Basie, Freddie Hubbard,  Arturo Sandoval, Phil Woods, Moe Koffman, United Nation Orchestra, Jackie McLean, Percy Heath, Ron Holloway, Ed Cherry, John Lee, Ignacio Berroa, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Mike Longo, Manhattan Transfer,  Carmen McRae, Katie Bell Nubin,  Mongo Santamaria, Woody Shaw, Lillian Terry and Randy Weston.