Record Review: Willie 'The Lion' Smith & Don Ewell: Grand Piano
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Leon Sash-----------• The Smith-Ewell association began ·. in I REMEMBER NEWPORT-Dclmark 4 16: · a Toronto television ~tudio in the summer Easy T o Rtmtmbt r; I Rtmtmb t r 1'lewport; Aren 't of 1966.. This impromptu encounter, the You Glad Y ou're You: P enniu From Heaven,· Polka Dots a11d l\foo11beams; l\Hsty; Our Lo ve brainchild of promoter David Gillman, ls Here T o Stay; Tbcrt Will N,vtr B, A"other came off so well that the two pianists de- - Y ou; Lullaby of lbt L taves . · Personnel: Sash, accordion; Lee Morgan, bass; · cided to join forces for in-person appear- · Ed . Uhlig, drums. ances ·at clubs in Toronto and New York · · Rar ing: * * and at the Newport Jazz Festival. · It's · not just a case of mounting . a There is. a rich tradition of two-piano Dependable feature of a musician's kit: . Steinway on your stomach. There's more music in the classical field, but in jazz the instrument accessories by Martin. · to an accordion than that. Whatever it is, . possibilities have not been widely explored Performance after performance, they · · it still lacks the proper . credentials to be -at least . not on records. To be sure, never let you down . .. Martin's a jazz instrument. The one eloquent ex craftsmanship guarantees it. · · there was a fine pair of 1930 duets by · Get Martin accessories wherever ception is Art Van Damme-but even he James P. Johnson and Clarence Williams · fine instruments are sold. has something that- makes his presenta (not an even match); .the Lion himself tion more enjoyable: additional melody teamed up with. young Joey Bushkin in 75, instruments in his combo. 1939; Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn · This album is dominated by Sash, and preserved some of their unique keyboard . CLAR/NH SWAB . therein lies its inherent weakness. There conversations; BillEvans and Bob Brook ' i t•-: are no solos by his rhythm section; it's nieyer joined forces; · Hall Overton and · Sash for melody, · improvisations and out Dave McKenna made a splendid LP some chorus. The format may not be prohibi years ago; Elmo and Bertha Hope record tive-,-but the sound of the accordion is, ed together, . and an Ellington-Earl Hines Except for Van Damme, who shows .a duet was recorded at a jazz festival in • wise preference for the higher shifts, ac Pittsburgh · two years ago. cordionists generally become slaves to the But, aside from Ellington and Stray:. natural, "squeezed organ~' sound with horn , . these were spontaneous and short those obtrusive overtones. I. don't know lived associations, and the pianists were ,t how many shifts there are in Sash's Giu frequently bolstered by rhythm players . · lietti, but he doesn't seem to_deviate from Here, -there is the kind of communion that wearisome natural register · that comes only with experience; and _ . '._., Little fault can be found . with his · there are only two pairs of hands and two I.:• -•T!~: .'.':''.:'._=._: . technique. His touch is fairly clean and fine, perfectly tuned (hurrah!) grand pi fortunately he avoid_s the chordal and sin anos. · '''lll· I arbn. gle-note buttons assigned to the left hand. With two left hands · like Smith's and Sash seems to use the bellows shake as Ewell's, a rhythm section would be· super . ·. by WURLTIZER often as he resorts . to tremolo, but it is fluous. The flow is built in, and ·there is P.O. los: I07 . Elkltart, Indiana 41514 done with taste, not . with Contino-type no need for the routinized kind of time excess. keeping where one man handles the bass Arrangements are unimaginative; and while the other· takes his turn at the ·. to make matters worse, a dated concep treble. Instead, there is a near-miraculous tion · hinders the swing.• The whole ap continuity of melody ·and rhythm, spring proach to combo jazz sounds iike some ing from · complete empathy, mutual -re thing out of . the early '40's, the worst spect, conceptions related yet individual, HANDNEWj. offenders being Pe1i11ies From Heaven, and from the joy these · two men derive Polka . Dots, and Lullaby of the Leaves. FROM. · from· each other's musical company. ~j Aggravating the stiffness of those tracks: Smith, the grand old master , hasn't "LABELLA" ~ Miss Morgan's limited bass playing. been in such good form ·on record in many ElectricBass Strings Throughout the entire album, she merely years. Ewell,· his junior by 20 . years-plus, J walks, digressing fr.om an inexorable four will surprise . those who have been content NYLONT!PEWOUND~ to-the~bar only on some sketchily written to write him off as a · "traditional» piano ... intros. (When she does stray from her player, and -even those who know ·better <j:Jie]3aat .ffn. ,S~n.d -~ "walk," her intonation becomes uncertain.) · and _"are· familiar with his excellent work · . At AnAmazing Lo.-Pritt ,, :., The only worthwhile tracks in the col with, among others, "Bunk Johnsori, Sid- · ·.J., , 80 lection are Lo ve ls Here To Stay and ney Bechel, Jack Tea garden, and Darnell $ 8 set . ~ :., N ever Be Another You. Both move with Howard . · TRYINGIS BELIEVING! ~ , 'f;, a degree of lightness and musical humor Though the music on this album: is ;~j missing in the other tracks. A good ex- ~~ steeped in the great tradition of Harlem ample· of the latter is heard on Our Love piano, of ' which Sm_ith is deari and presi- · when Sash stealthily segues into Ca11't dent eme.ritus, there . is no ·hint, no breath . We Be Friends. But it's not enough to of antiquarianism or attempted historical save a dull .recording . -Siders restoration . Th is is !.iving . music, full of the sense of -immedi~.cy,· discovery, and j,oy that characterizes ihe best of jazz. · · m: :...lill-- JX-01 23RD AV E NUE --~~.: - Willie (The Lion) Smith-Don Ewell to LOS<; ISLAND CITY, N'.Y. 111% GRAND . PIANO-Exclusive M/ S 501 : l ',,e it times, it is easy tell who's who- Fo11"d a N ew Ba by; A Porter' s T,,;ve S011g; I'd there are clues in Smith's unique voicings, · 1 Do Auything for Y ou; Some of These Da}'S; more emphatic touch, c1nd broken rhythm · 1;11i11~:1m,1n1:11;n,i~11i1:1m :1 :1 Ju st You, ]us/ M e; fawybody Lo,·es My Ba by ; Ca,,'t )Ve Be l'ri , ,,d,?; Y ou Too k ,td ,,,m111ge of patterns, and Ewell's .;rispness an~ more with a SpecialMembership Plan ... M e; Ke,pi,,' 0111of l\1iscbfr f Not o; S we et Georght sy1hmetric cadences . But at other times, featuringJAZZ Br ow n. Also,Popular, Folk, Classical, etc. Personnel: Smi,b, Ewell, pi.loo duets. the two become as one, and those are great times. · . No purchase obligations-No list Ra dog : * * * * * price purchases.Virtually all labels This is an absolutely delightful record, The repertoire is varied. Some pieces, and artists available. Choosefrom for which all lovers of jazz piano owe like James P. John so;i\ pretty Love Song, catalog of over 25,000 albums. thanks to Toronto newspaperman-jazz crit are rarely heard ; others are staples but Writefor free details••. ic Patr ick Scott, who starte d his .own · take on new vistas, Borh men have a vast record label to get this remarkable team repertoire, and only those who think that on wax. jazz became sophisticated yesterday will ·32 0 DOWN BEAT be surprised at the inclusion of Friends throu .gh i'xi'Round Midnight-in O'Farr ill's i. '.and Just You. words , "tongue-in-cheek"-an unusual . The tempos chosen are generally mod- choice for sub voce . unison . .' : crate; a leisurely, yet 1ilting pace well While this ranks as an outstanding • suited for relaxed invention. -Georgia group effort, one solo in particular should • .. Brown and Found a New Baby are the be singled out: the piano chorus by '· most roisterous and conj ure up the spirit · Zulaica on Suenho. This is not to demean 1 ' ( and letter) of those fabled piano parties anyone else's solo · statements; the whole ~: and contests of Fats' and James P.'s and . _album is a delight. --Siders ,,.. the Lion's Harlem. · ' Deys (with the verse) is taken at the Various Artists original sober tempo; the last chorus fea ESQUIRE'S ALL-AMERICAN HOT JAZZ H tures fascinating interplay. The introduc RCA Victor LPV-544: UJng Long Journey; Gone With the Wind; Snafu; Buck in' tht Bluts ; , .,, tion to Just You is pure Lio!). Anything, Indiana Win ier; India" Summer; Blues Afltr . a great Claude Hopkins-Alex Hill tune, Hours; Bluts for Yesterday; Jumpi11g For /ant; Angtl Fact : Spotlilt; Low Flam, ; From Dixit• 1 ·, inspires Smith -to some appropriate .riffing, land lo B,bop; Just Ont Mor, Chane,; .Boult• 1 , which eggs Ewell on. · va,d Bounce. Personnel: Tracks 1, 3-Louis Armsrronir, Mischief is an example of . total inter trumper, vocal; Charlie Shavers or Neil Hefti, ! :; play, with both men at their most imagi- trumpet; Jimmy Hamihon, clarinet ; Johnny Hodges, alto sax; Don Byas, tenor sax: Duke 1·,1 native. Everybody is split up every which Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, piano; Remo Palmier, way between the two, with some thunder- guirar; Chubby Jackson, bass; Sonny Greer, drums. Track 2-Hodges and Byas; same rhythm i ' ous Smith crashes in the fourth chorus. section . Tracks 4-6--Shavers, Buck Clayron, ,i ·But my favorite track-if one can pick trumpets; J . J. Johnson, trombone; Coleman Hawkins. tenor sax; Harry Carney, bariton·e sax; favorites from a string of perfect pearls Teddy Wilson .