In A Mellow Tone, January 8: 2024 releases of previously unreleased music from the past
2024 saw some unearthing of music from the past including Charlie Parker, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Roy Hargrove and others
On last week’s In A Mellow Tone, Heavy Ben featured new releases from 2024 that flew under the radar (or, at least, CKCU’s radar). In this companion show, I will look at albums of recently unearthed music from the past, released in 2024. The music will span six decades - from 1951 to 2014, all previously unreleased.
The 1950s
The show will start with a couple of tracks from Charlie Parker, recorded in a friend’s basement in Kansas City in 1951. Paul Wells has captured the essence of these newly discovered recordings:
But the presence you get from these recordings doesn’t have a lot of equals in the Parker discography. You hear one of the great minds in this music in three dimensions, the air above and beside and behind him as well as the space he occupies, as he goes through what amounted to proficiency exercises to keep his game up.
We will also hear a recording of Art Tatum from a 1953 recording at the Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club and a 1959 live performance by the Terry Gibbs Dream Band. Terry Gibbs is an American vibraphonist who recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
The 1960s
On this segment of the show we will hear Shelley Manne and his Men, recorded at the Penthouse in Seattle, featuring Conte Candoli on trumpet. Here he is playing in 1973, with Frank Rosolini, and Tony Scott.
2024 also saw a few live releases from Cannonball Adderley in 1969 and in the 70s. We will hear two tracks from the “Burnin’ in Bordeaux” concert recording from 1969.
We will hear two tracks from this release, including a star turn from pianist Joe Zawinul. Here’s a video of a live performance in Oslo with the same band as in Bordeaux.
The 1970s
Yet another Bill Evans live recording was released in 2024. This time a concert in Norway in 1970 - recorded at The Kongsberg Jazz Festival in June 1970. On this performance, Bill Evans is joined by Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums. Here’s a video they are playing in what looks like a living room, in 1970.
We will also hear a performance by Charles Tolliver (trumpet), playing at the Captain’s Cabin in Edmonton in 1973. He is joined by John Hicks on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Clifford Barbaro on drums.
The 1980s
Also released in 2024 is the trio of Michel Petrucciani (piano), Gary Peacock (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums) recorded at the Jazz Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, in 1988. Here are the three of them playing in the same year at the Mount Fuji jazz festival.
The 1990s
We will start our 90s segment with the Johnny Griffin Quartet recorded in Valencia in 1992. Johnny Griffin is on tenor sax, Herve Sellin on piano, Reggie Johnson on double bass, and Doug Sides on drums.
Also from 1992 is the release of 8 tracks from the Keith Jarrett performance at the Deer Head Inn - with Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums.
Oscar Peterson had a stroke in 1993, but was back on the road the following year on European tour with guitarist Lorne Lofsky, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP) and the under-rated British drummer Martin Drew. We will hear a selection of the performance in Munich. Len Weinrich in his review of the album “City Lights” provides this reminiscence of the 1994 tour:
…we were fortunate to hear the group live at the 1994 Marciac Jazz Festival in South-West France and were astonished that Peterson, even with only one hand fully operational, was still able to perform at his astonishing level, elevating an eager French audience to ecstasy (even if they persisted in clapping annoyingly on the beat). But, it seemed to us, the occasionally mechanical Oscartronic dimension sometimes evident in his performances had faded and been replaced by a new sensitivity.
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who died in 2018, recorded in the studio in 1998 and that recording - “Crisol: Grande Terre” - was only released in the Fall.
We will hear two tracks from this release - one dedicated to his daughter, Kamala.
2000s
Moving to the 2000s, we will hear trumpeter Ron Miles, in a live performance from 2011 with Bill Frisell and Brian Blades. Ron Miles died in 2022.
To end the show, we will hear Danish guitarist Jakob Bro from a recording done in 2014, “Taking Turns”, with an all-star ensemble of Bill Frisell (guitar), Lee Konitz (saxophone), Jason Moran (pianist), Thomas Morgan (bass), and Andrew Cyrille (drums). Lee Konitz was 86 at the time of the recording. He died in 2020. Here he is playing with Bill Evans in 1965.
You can listen to the show on Wednesday at 9 p.m. at CKCUFM.com or 93.1 on the FM dial. The show will also be available for on demand streaming.