Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Soul Jazz Jazz in the Black Community 1945-1975 by Bob Porter Soul Jazz: Jazz in the Black Community, 1945-1975. Bob Porter is a record producer, writer and broadcaster in the fields of Jazz and Blues. He has worked for such prominent record labels a Prestige, Savoy and Atlantic, producing more than 175 albums and several hundred reissues. He has contributed to DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazz Journal (London) and currently writes a book review column for the Journal of the International As ‘The drone allows the right thumb to hold a note while the rest of the right hand improvises. The left hand walks the bass.’ Bob Porter is a record producer, writer and broadcaster in the fields of Jazz and Blues. He has worked for such prominent record labels a Prestige, Savoy and Atlantic, producing more than 175 albums and several hundred reissues. He has contributed to DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazz Journal (London) and currently writes a book review column for the Journal of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors. He is a two-time Grammy winner, was awarded the Marion McPartland Award for Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting and is a member of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. He currently is the host of three separate radio programs on WBGO Newark. In his opening remarks Bob states, ‘This book is about musical change: the different methods of playing the music, the differing attitudes toward the music coming from the black community, the comings and goings in the music business and media, and, finally, the adjustments of the musicians themselves. Each change in the music business, each new direction, each hot new sound, each new personnel lineup, brought fresh opportunity. These changes also meant that the old way of doing things would not be the same. The new innovations in music frequently mirrored the changes in the fight for equality. In 1948, President Truman ordered the desegregation of the American military. In 1954, the US Supreme Court reversed its separate but equal decision. In the mid-’60s would come the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. The attitudes of the American people, as a whole, changed drastically, if slowly, over the time span of this book. There was a great deal of nonmilitary, racially inspired bloodshed in America during the years between the end of WWII and the end of the Vietnam War. Some musicians manned the barricades while others sat on the sidelines in the pursuit of equality. But by 1975, the United States was a very different place.’ Bob very clearly marches through the development of jazz as perceived by the Black community and divides his areas of examination into ‘RACE MUSIC - As America emerges from twenty-five years of prohibition, depression, and war, new opportunities present themselves in the fields of radio; concert promotion; and production, distribution, and sales of phonograph records. These may prove to be a benefit to black musicians who continue to face the same social roadblocks as segregation is the rule of the day. Music is changing: danceable swing is still the most popular; yet bebop, the New Orleans revival, and a decided preference for vocal records are on the horizon. The decline of the big band and the rise of small combos seem to be inevitable: ILLINOIS JACQUET - Jacquet was the first star instrumentalist to emerge since the end of World War II. A singular stylist on the tenor saxophone, his work influenced hundreds of other musicians. His famous solo on Lionel Hampton’s “Flyin’ Home” is probably the most duplicated solo of all time. His first seven-piece band serves as a model for dozens of others: RHYTHM AND BLUES - The rise of disc jockeys, independent record companies, and a new bluesy sound serves to propel R&B to the front of the sales pack. Thus begins the separation from jazz in the mind of the music industry. There are new speeds for phonograph records, as well as new stars, new trends, and new dances. The saxophone dominates, and the jukebox gets new life. Black radio formats begin to emerge. Musical performances begin to develop regional characteristics. Count Basie folds his old band and forms a new one. Duke Ellington loses an old drummer and finds a new one. Moondog gets hot in Ohio: GENE AMMONS - The second-generation, Chicago-based jazzman was a tenor sax star who sparked black bands (Billy Eckstine) and white bands (Woody Herman) and made hit recordings in every decade covered by this book. And he did it with ballads, blues, Latin material, organ groups, and funk. Ammons was a stylist of the first rank and one whose work combined the best influences of his predecessors: THE BIG BEAT - R&B gets renamed rock ’n’ roll. Alan Freed gets to be a superstar. Count Basie gets a new singer. Duke Ellington gets a magazine cover. Norman Granz folds up the tent. Jazz festivals become a big deal. The 12” LP wins the battle of sizes, and the payola scandals are on the horizon. Jonah Jones and Cozy Cole, a couple of swing stars, still know how to do it. The Hammond organ is a part of the entertainment mix in most black neighborhoods: HANK CRAWFORD - An alto saxophonist with a unique, singing, sound, and singular approach, Crawford is also the architect of the Ray Charles sound during his (1958–1963) tenure with Charles. His arrangements with their distinctive voicings prove to be horn section sound favored by most contemporary bluesmen. Late in his career, he embraces the organ sound and finds a new audience: SOUL JAZZ - The surging popularity of the organ combo provides new life for jazz. Jimmy Smith becomes a superstar. Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and Groove Holmes have big hits. The rise of FM radio and stereophonic sound means fresh listening experiences and improved audio. Saxophonists such as Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine, and Sonny Stitt prefer organ in the rhythm section. Consolidation among the independent record labels begins. The rise and fall of MGM/Verve records presages problems for the future. Rudy Van Gelder builds his new studio: GRANT GREEN - The St. Louis guitarist is brought to Blue Note Records by Lou Donaldson and quickly becomes a ubiquitous sideman. He records his own albums but appears on hit albums by Lou Donaldson, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, and others. His professional advancement is held up by a personal drug problem. After a hiatus, he returns to Blue Note with new ideas that take hold in the marketplace: FUNK AND FUSION - Jazz becomes more commercial with big hits selling like pop records. Creed Taylor, at Verve, A&M, and finally his own CTI/Kudu operation, is the man who knows his audience. Jazz stars become celebrities in the black community. Electric pianos and electric saxophones are now part of the band. Pianists manage to survive in different ways. There will be no more mono albums released, and straight-ahead jazz sales take a big dive. Label consolidation continues, and there are fewer players in the game: GROVER WASHINGTON JR. - his versatile multi-instrumentalist goes from sideman to superstar in a very short time. He makes the most of every break that comes his way. His popularity soon becomes the equal of any musician of the 1970s, while his playing is a veritable definition of the new radio format “smooth jazz,” and he is savvy enough on the business side to ensure his long-term success: The Producers - Employment details and major successes of the independent producers whose work makes up much of the subject matter of this book.’ A very readable and timely book exploring 30 years of jazz. We can only hope that Bob will continue his historical survey of one of America’s prizes. . more. Bob Porter on Soul-Jazz. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when I was in my early teens and just starting to listen to jazz, the soul-jazz albums I dug most were on Prestige and produced by Bob Porter (above). These included Leon Spencer Jr.'s Louisiana Slim, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons' You Talk That Talk and Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson's Tune Up! Over the years, Bob produced nearly 200 albums in all, including reissue sets for Savoy and Atlantic. He also has spent more than 30 years on WBGO-FM in Newark, N.J., hosting Portraits in Blue . Now Bob has a new book out— Soul Jazz: Jazz in the Black Community, 1945-1975 (Xlibris) (go here). I recently asked Bob to talk about his five favorite albums he produced that have great stories attached, including his very first record for Prestige: Charles Kynard— Professor Soul (Prestige, 1968). “This was the first session I produced for Prestige. It was recorded in Los Angeles, before I moved East. I signed organist Charles Kynard, the nephew of Ben Kynard—the composer of Red Top— and did four albums with him. Professor Soul was recorded with his working trio: Cal Green on guitar and Johnny Kirkwood on drums. Charles was an Oscar Peterson-influenced organist I had known since record-company owner/producer Dick Bock brought him to L.A. from Kansas City. On Professor Soul, we recorded a very churchy version of Cristo Redentor— before all the organists began playing the tune. In retrospect, Charles was too good for his time. The organ sound that sold well then was the Jimmy Smith style, and Kynard's was quite different. He used the bass pedals and both hands. Kynard died at age 46 while on a gig playing for Jon Hendricks’ Evolution of the Blues Song ." Here's Song of Delilah . Harold Mabern— Rakin' and Scrapin' (Prestige, 1968). “This album was recorded just before Christmas in 1968. I thought for sure it would be a hit—we had a terrific tune in the title track that had a great groove. Trumpeter Blue Mitchell and tenor saxophonist George Coleman played solid solos. I remember that pianist Mabern wanted another tenor part added, so we overdubbed one. Then we didn’t use it. We put out a single on Rakin’ and Scrapin’ and promoted it hard to radio stations. The single was played, but it didn’t sell. It probably didn’t help that Mabern was without a working band, so touring was out. Mabern was a family guy who didn't like to travel. He preferred staying in New York. In many respects, the album was more a Blue Note-kind of record. But if it had come out five years earlier, I think it would have found an audience. In 1968, most record companies stopped making mono albums, switching to the pricier stereo. By this time, most of Prestige's albums were marketed to African-American audiences, which favored the less-expensive mono releases. Straight-ahead jazz sales really plummeted about this time." Here's Rakin' and Scrapin' . Houston Person— Goodness! (Prestige, 1969). “Prestige owner Bob Weinstock stayed with Houston Person for six albums before he had a hit with Goodness! Houston was signed by Cal Lampley, and Don Schlitten had produced his first three LPs. I was on my second with Houston when Goodness! was made. The band we assembled was an interesting mix of players: guitarist Billy Butler and bassist Bob Bushnell were studio pros who had worked together many times while organist Sonny Phillips, drummer Frankie Jones and Buddy Caldwell on congas were Houston’s guys. Sonny brought in a tune entitled Jamilah , which got all the airplay, and the album broke out in Detroit and Philadelphia. Those two markets sold enough to turn the album into a hit LP in 1969. My contribution to Jamilah was to have Caldwell lay out, which turned out to be a good move. Bob Bushnell was a real hero here. Because there was no conga, you get the full impact of his bass line. The album really launched Houston's career. Solly Hartstein, who ran Detroit's Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, flew in to meet Houston on one of my sessions. Soon Houston was a regular in Detroit, Chicago and all the key stops on the jazz trail. This was just before he joined forces with Etta Jones." Here's Jamilah. .. Gene Ammons— Brother Jug (Prestige, 1970). “One day in late 1969, Dan Morgenstern, then editor of Down Beat in Chicago, called Prestige to tell us that Gene Ammons had been released from prison. I had written to Gene while he was away serving out a narcotics charge to keep him up to speed on what Prestige was doing with his album catalog. After Dan called, I flew to Chicago and signed Gene to a new deal and made plans to cut two albums with him. The first album [ The Boss Is Back! ] would be with old friends, including pianist Junior Mance, bassist Buster Williams and Candido Camero on congas. The second [ Brother Jug ] would be with my guys—Sonny Phillips, Bob Bushnell and drummer Bernard Purdie. Weinstock wanted a spare rhythm section sound on the second date, so initially there was no guitar. We overdubbed Billy Butler playing some rhythm parts on a couple of tunes, and Gene really dug it. The album had two singles: one was Jungle Strut, where Bushnell stands out, and the second was a great ballad, Didn’t We . At the end of the Didn’t We take, Purdie was so elated that he jumped off his drums and ran across the floor and lifted Gene right off the ground." Here's Jungle Strut . Hank Crawford/Jimmy McGriff— Steppin' Up (Milestone, 1987). “The Crawford-McGriff band was put together at a lunch in 1985 with Jimmy’s manager, Maxine Harvard, Fantasy Records president Ralph Kaffel and Hank, Jimmy and me. The concept was always small group, with alto saxophonist Hank Crawford the only horn. Hank’s leadership albums tended to feature his arrangements as well as his playing while organist Jimmy McGriff’s albums were looser, more of a blowing session. The small group allowed for special guests. Guitarist George Benson played on two tracks on the first album, Soul Survivors . For the second album, Steppin’ Up, I wanted keyboardist Billy Preston. Almost everyone thought I was nuts. I first had heard Preston when he was a teenage pianist behind blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon and I had known about his gospel playing for many years. Hank and I had talked about doing River’s Invitation . Hank was tight with blues singer Percy Mayfield, the song's composer, and knew exactly the tempo he wanted on the tune. Oddly, on the finished take, we didn’t get the tempo we had talked about but Billy added just the right touch and McGriff has a great solo. It’s my favorite performance of all the ones I did with those guys." Here's River's Invitation. .. JazzWax tracks. Bob Porter's new book, Soul Jazz: Jazz in the Black Community, 1945-1975 (Xlibris), can be found here. This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers . Copyright © 2021 . All rights reserved. Getting House: Bob Porter on the Alternative History and Living Legacy of 'Soul Jazz' "Jazz has been described any number of times as the great American art form," writes Bob Porter in the introduction to Soul Jazz: Jazz in the Black Community 1945-1975. "It is certainly that," he goes on, "but it is also a way to make a living." That no-nonsense setup swings open the gate to a book grounded in authority and filled with firsthand insight. As a record producer, Bob Porter has had a hand in more than 200 albums, including classics for Prestige and core reissues on Atlantic and Savoy. As a broadcaster, Bob goes back to Day One at Newark Public Radio, otherwise known as WBGO. After starting out with The Weekend Warrior, he conceived Portraits in Blue, which celebrates its 40th anniversary on the air this year. Here at Jazz United we often talk about how our music thrives in the spaces that fall outside a discography or critical orthodoxy. So as we embark on Jazz Appreciation Month, we thought it only fitting to show our appreciation for a colleague and elder who has helped shape that legacy, and then continued to illuminate it. The core of this episode is an interview Bob did with Nate Chinen in the studio at WBGO on Sept. 27, 2017. Soul Jazz was the topic at hand, and it yielded a far-ranging discussion, touching on the influence of evolving recording technologies; the social framework behind critical bias; and the ways in which some artists, like guitarist Grant Green, found their greatest success in the afterlife. This episode of Jazz United was produced by Simon Rentner with help from Katie Simon. Soul Jazz : Jazz in the Black Community, 1945-1975 by Bob Porter (2016, Trade Paperback) С самой низкой ценой, совершенно новый, неиспользованный, неоткрытый, неповрежденный товар в оригинальной упаковке (если товар поставляется в упаковке). Упаковка должна быть такой же, как упаковка этого товара в розничных магазинах, за исключением тех случаев, когда товар является изделием ручной работы или был упакован производителем в упаковку не для розничной продажи, например в коробку без маркировки или в пластиковый пакет. См. подробные сведения с дополнительным описанием товара.