The Sound of Jazz

The Sound of Jazz

"The Sound of Jazz" was a landmark television program that was part of CBS's "Seven Lively Arts" series. The one-hour program aired Sunday, December 81957 at 5 pm Eastern time live from CBS Studio 58, the Town Theater at 851 Ninth Avenue in New York. The show was hosted by N.Y. Herald Tribune media critic John Crosby, directed by Jack Smight, and produced by Robert Herridge. Jazz writer Whitney Balliett was among the consultants.

"The Sound of Jazz" is perhaps the most famous jazz television show in history because it was the first show of its kind. It brought together giants from the swing era of the 1930s like Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, and Coleman Hawkins; the classic (or dixieland) players of the same era, like Henry "Red" Allen, Vic Dickenson, and Pee Wee Russell; and newer, younger musicians like Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, and Jimmy Giuffre. These players played separately with their compatriots (see the song list below), but also joined to combine various styles in one group, most notably in the group backing Billie Holiday on "Fine and Mellow".

The show is justly famous for the performance of "Fine and Mellow", which brought together Billie Holiday and her long–time friend, Lester Young, for the last time. In the 1930s they were very close but they hadn't spoken for years. Jazz critic and producer Nat Hentoff, who was involved in putting the show together, recalled that during rehearsals, they kept to opposite sides of the room. Young was very weak, and Hentoff told him to skip the big band section of the show and that he could sit while performing in the group with Holiday.

During the performance of "Fine and Mellow", Webster played the first solo. "Then", Hentoff remembered,

Lester got up, and he played the purest blues I have ever heard, and [he and Holiday] were looking at each other, their eyes were sort of interlocked, and she was sort of nodding and half–smiling. It was as if they were both remembering what had been—whatever that was. And in the control room we were all crying. When the show was over, they went their separate ways. [Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, "Jazz: A History of America's Music," Alfred A, Knopf, 2000, p. 405.]

Within a year, both Young and Holiday had died.

Noting that the cameras were employed as "straight reportorial tools," Jack Gould observed in a N. Y. Times review: "It was the art of video improvisation wedded to the art of musical improvisation; the effect was an hour of enormously creative and fresh TV." [New York Times, Dec. 9, 1957, pp 55]

"The Sound of Jazz" was also released as a recording by CBS's then-subsidiary, Columbia Records, although the gramophone version is actually a rehearsal which preceded the telecast, and is not its soundtrack. The LP was released in 1958 as Columbia CL 1098, with liner notes by Eric Larrabee, and the cover photo by Tom Yee. It is the only LP of a "Seven Lively Arts" presentation. The recording does not include all of the performers on the TV show (Mulligan refused to participate because no additional pay was involved) and includes several who were not on the show.

References

A bootleg soundtrack recording has also been available.

The TV show is currently available on "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever", idem home video, IDVD 1059.

Personnel

Trumpet

*Henry "Red" Allen
*Emmett Berry
*Doc Cheatham
*Roy Eldridge
*Rex Stewart
*Joe Wilder

Trombone

*Vic Dickenson
*Benny Morton
*Frank Rehak (LP only)
*Dickie Wells

Clarinet

*Jimmy Giuffre
*Pee Wee Russell

Alto Saxophone

*Earle Warren

Tenor Saxophones

*Jimmy Giuffre
*Coleman Hawkins
*Ben Webster
*Lester Young

Baritone Saxophone

*Harry Carney (LP only)
*Jimmy Giuffre
*Gerry Mulligan (not on LP)

Guitar

*Danny Barker
*Freddie Green
*Jim Hall

Piano

*Count Basie
*Thelonious Monk
*Nat Pierce
*Mal Waldron

Bass

*Jim Atlas
*Milt Hinton
*Eddie Jones
*Ahmed Abdul-Malik
*Walter Page (LP only)

Drums

*Osie Johnson
*Jo Jones

Vocals

*Billie Holiday
*Jimmy Rushing

ongs

On VHS/DVD

*Open All Night (aka Fast and Happy Blues) - Count Basie All Stars: Emmett Berry, Doc Cheatham, Joe Newman, Joe Wilder ("tp"); Roy Eldridge ("tp, flhn"); Vic Dickinson, Benny Morton, Dicky Wells ("tb"); Earl Warren ("as"); Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster ("ts"); Gerry Mulligan ("bs"); Count Basie ("p"); Freddie Green ("g"); Eddie Jones ("b"); Jo Jones ("d")

*The Count Blues - Basie, Green and E. Jones playing as John Crosby introduces the show.

*Wild Man Blues - Composed By Louis Armstrong, Performed by: Henry "Red" Allen, Rex Stewart ("tp"); Pee Wee Russell ("cl"); Coleman Hawkins ("ts"); Vic Dickenson ("tb"); Milt Hinton ("b"); Danny Barker ("g"); Nat Pierce ("p")

*Rosetta - Composed by Earl "Fatha" Hines and William Henri Woode. Personnel same as Wild Man Blues.

*Dickie's Dream - Same personnel as Open All Night

*Eyes of a Stranger (does not appear on 2003 "idem" DVD release)

*Blue Monk - Thelonious Monk ("p"); Ahmed Abdul Malik ("b"); Osie Johnson ("d")

*I Left My Baby - Jimmy Rushing (v), with Count Basie All Stars (personnel same as Open All Night)

*Fine and Mellow - Billie Holiday (v), with Mal Waldron All Stars: Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham ("tp"); Vic Dickinson ("tb"); Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young ("ts"); Gerry Mulligan ("bs"); Mal Waldron ("p"); Milt Hinton ("b"); Osie Johnson ("d")

*The Train and the River - Jimmy Giuffre Trio: Jimmy Giuffre ("cl, ts, bs"); Jim Hall ("g"); Jim Atlas ("b")

*Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gave to Me (appears on "idem" DVD release, 2003), performed by Jimmy Giuffre, Pee Wee Russell ("cl"); Jo Jones ("d"); Danny Barker ("g"); Milt Hinton ("b").

(personnel and tracks listed on [ "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever", idem home video, IDVD 1059.] )

DVD Extras (Not on "idem" DVD release, 2003)
*Jumpin' With Symphony Sid; The Count Basie Orchestra
*South; Coleman Hawkins & Red Allen
*Dali; Coleman Hawkins

On the 1958 LP

Side 1

*Wild Man Blues
*Rosetta
*Fine and Mellow
*Blues - Jimmy Giufffre ("cl"), Pee Wee Russell ("cl"), Jo Jones ("d"), Danny Barker ("g")

Side 2

*I Left my Baby
*The Train and the River
*Nervous - Mal Waldron ("p") solo
*Dickie's dream


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