The Daily Chat
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I mentioned a few weeks ago that I planned to put together some jazz compilations that focused on specific instruments, so here is the first: Assorted Best Of Jazz Volume 11 - A Handful Of Jazz Piano Greats. It's not intended to be a 'best of the best' jazz piano compilation but rather a collection of interesting tracks showcasing some of the finest jazz pianists. Among the artists featured here are Earl Hines, Ray Charles, Hank Jones, Bill Evans, Junior Mance, Barry Harris, along with a few non American musicians like Friedrich Gulda, Paul Kuhn, Tete Montoliu, and Andre Previn. I'm planning a similar compilation featuring jazz guitarists, so that will be coming soon.
Today's 'The Best Of Blues, R&B, Soul & Gospel Volume 96' serves up another 21 tracks dating from 1951 to 1988. Some of the artists featured here are: Sarah Vaughan, Ike & Tina Turner, Rockin' Sidney, Chuck Jackson, Dinah Washington, Etta James, plus the excellent English blues guitarist/singer Mick Clarke.
And today's photo is blues harmonica great Carey Bell taken in 2003. I saw Carey Bell perform live when he came to Australia with Willie Dixon's Allstars in the mid-1970s. At that time Carey was not very well known internationally so we didn't quite know what to expect. As it turned out Carey pretty well stole the show at every Australian concert, blowing fierce harp and leaping into the air during his wild solos. I got to interview Carey Bell while he was in Perth, he was friendly enough but not a very articulate man, so the interview was difficult. He gave me the shortest possible answers and nothing in his replies led on to another question. I eventually got all the details I needed to write my article but I had to work hard to get them. If Carey was the most difficult bluesman I got to interview, then the easiest by far was Bo Diddley. Bo loved talking about Bo. All you had to do was ask him a question about himself and he'd take off. I could have left the room, walked across the road to a bar, had a couple of beers, then returned to Bo's room in time to ask the 2nd question.
Dig in and enjoy the music my friends, don't forget to leave a comment now and then, your feedback is important, it lets me know who is liking what, and I take your suggestions onboard for future compilations.
Thanks for the jazz piano showcase. (By the way, I really like the anecdotes and reminiscences you include in these write-ups. The bit about Bo Diddley is pretty funny and definitely rings true. I'm now reminded that there was a time -- back during punk rock days -- when I used to write articles and conduct interviews for little local fanzines. In the interviews, I would try as much as possible to edit myself out (including most of my actual questions), hoping to create the impression that the interviewee was simply opening his or her mouth and talking. I guess I was fortunate: that kind of approach probably wouldn't have worked so great for a Carey Bell!)
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments Crab Devil, all the interviews I did with visiting bluesmen were for specialist blues/R&B research publications, so I was probing around trying to fill gaps in existing knowledge.
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