Hal Singer Featuring David Murray • Challenge

 

 

Artist Biography by Bill Dahl

Equally at home blowing scorching R&B or tasty jazz, Hal "Cornbread" Singer has played and recorded both over a career spanning more than half a century. Singer picked up his early experience as a hornman with various Southwestern territory bands, including the outfits of Ernie Fields, Lloyd Hunter, and Nat Towles. He made it to Kansas City in 1939, working with pianist Jay McShann (whose sax section also included Charlie Parker), before venturing to New York, in 1941, and playing with Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Don Byas, and Roy Eldridge (with whom he first recorded in 1944). After the close of the war, Singer signed on with Lucky Millinder's orchestra.

Singer had just fulfilled his life's ambition -- a chair in Duke Ellington's prestigious reed section -- in 1948, when a honking R&B instrumental called "Cornbread" that he'd recently waxed for Savoy as a leader began to take off. That presented a wrenching dilemma for the young saxist, but in the end, his decision to go out on his own paid off; "Cornbread" paced the R&B charts for four weeks and gave him his enduring nickname. Another of his Savoy instrumentals, "Beef Stew," also cracked the R&B lists.

Singer recorded rocking R&B workouts for Savoy into 1956 (the cuisine motif resulting in helpings of "Neck Bones," "Rice and Red Beans," and "Hot Bread"), working with sidemen including pianists Wynton Kelly and George Rhodes, guitarist Mickey Baker, bassist Walter Page, and drummer Panama Francis. One of his last dates for the firm produced the torrid "Rock 'n' Roll," which may have featured Singer as vocalist as well as saxist.

By the late '50s, Singer had abandoned rock & roll for a life as a jazz saxist. He recorded for Prestige in a more restrained manner in 1959, and stayed in that general groove. Singer relocated to Paris in 1965, winning over European audiences with his hearty blowing and engaging in quite a bit of session work with visiting blues and jazz luminaries. The old R&B fire flared up temporarily in 1990, when he cut Royal Blue for Black Top with boogie piano specialist Al Copley.

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Biografía del artista por Bill Dahl

Igualmente en casa, con un excelente R&B o un sabroso jazz, Hal "Cornbread" Singer ha jugado y grabado ambos durante una carrera que abarca más de medio siglo. Singer aprendió su primera experiencia como hornman con varias bandas del territorio del Suroeste, incluidos los equipos de Ernie Fields, Lloyd Hunter y Nat Towles. Llegó a Kansas City en 1939, trabajando con el pianista Jay McShann (cuya sección de saxofón también incluía a Charlie Parker), antes de aventurarse a Nueva York, en 1941, y tocar con Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Don Byas y Roy Eldridge ( con quien grabó por primera vez en 1944). Después del final de la guerra, Singer firmó con la orquesta de Lucky Millinder.

Singer acababa de cumplir con la ambición de su vida, una silla en la prestigiosa sección de caña de Duke Ellington, en 1948, cuando comenzó a despegar un instrumental de R&B llamado "Cornbread" que recientemente había elegido para Savoy como líder. Eso presentaba un dilema desgarrador para el joven saxista, pero al final, su decisión de salir por su cuenta dio sus frutos; "Cornbread" estuvo en el ritmo de las listas de R&B durante cuatro semanas y le dio su apodo perdurable. Otro de sus instrumentos de Savoy, "Beef Stew", también rompió las listas de R&B.

Singer grabó los entrenamientos de R&B para Savoy en 1956 (el motivo de la cocina resultó en "Neck Bones", "Rice and Red Beans" y "Hot Bread"), trabajando con sidemen, incluidos los pianistas Wynton Kelly y George Rhodes, el guitarrista Mickey Baker , el bajista Walter Page, y el baterista Panama Francis. Una de sus últimas fechas para la firma produjo el tórrido "Rock 'n' Roll", que puede haber presentado a Singer como vocalista y saxista.

A finales de los años 50, Singer había abandonado el rock & roll por una vida como saxista de jazz. Grabó para Prestige de una manera más moderada en 1959, y se mantuvo en ese ritmo general. Singer se mudó a París en 1965, conquistando a las audiencias europeas con su buen corazón y participando en un poco de trabajo de sesión con visitantes de luminarias de blues y jazz. El antiguo incendio de R&B estalló temporalmente en 1990, cuando cortó Royal Blue para Black Top con el especialista en pianos Al Copley.

Alexandre Huber Trio • Organic Sound

It was a good day when Alexandre Huber discovered the connection between jazz and the organ. Huber was studying classical music at the Conservatory of Lausanne when jazz came in and he became aware of the extended use that he could make of the organ. So deep was the lure that he taught himself to play the instrument. And darn if he did not do a good job of it, too!

Huber is an accomplished musician. He takes every advantage of the tonality of the organ without stepping over the edge. He has a fine sense of melody that is evoked on his compositions, and he gives the standards a welcome dynamic. Abetting the whole are guitarist Bernard Dossin and drummer Alain Petitmermet, who slip comfortably into a warm nook with Huber to voice the music articulately.

Huber has a facility for bop and swing. They are clasped in his sense of development, as he moves melody in and then augments it with a rich array of ideas. Bop gets its shot in the meter and rhythm on "Be and Bop Are in a Boat" that pumps the beat and sways on the organ when Dossin comes in and swings admirably, his loping notes giving way to a cutting edge without effacing the swing. Huber jumps in and the delight drives ahead, with Petitmermet keeping the pulse on a positive charge. The trio brings in a quieter mood on "Exploring the Dance." The vein of feeling runs strong and deep as they play with an unblemished intensity, adding chunky riffs and imaginative chords to lend the sinew. The depth they can impart is further strengthened on their interpretation of "My Foolish Heart," where the song is soft-shaded, the colors they lend pastel in hue but daubed, together with their sense of structure and harmony, with a vivid understanding of the imperatives that give soul to music.

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Fue un buen día cuando Alexandre Huber descubrió la conexión entre el jazz y el órgano. Huber estudiaba música clásica en el Conservatorio de Lausana cuando el jazz entró y se dio cuenta del uso extendido que podía hacer del órgano. Tan profundo era el atractivo que aprendió a tocar el instrumento. ¡Y maldita sea si no hizo un buen trabajo con él también!

Huber es un músico consumado. Aprovecha todas las ventajas de la tonalidad del órgano sin salirse de la norma. Tiene un fino sentido de la melodía que se evoca en sus composiciones, y le da a los estándares una dinámica bienvenida. El guitarrista Bernard Dossin y el baterista Alain Petitmermet, que se deslizan cómodamente en un cálido rincón con Huber para expresar la música articuladamente.

Huber tiene una facilidad para el bop y el swing. Están unidos en su sentido de desarrollo, mientras mueve la melodía y luego la aumenta con una rica gama de ideas. El bop tiene su oportunidad en el compás y el ritmo en "Be and Bop Are in a Boat" que bombea el ritmo y se balancea en el órgano cuando Dossin entra y se balancea admirablemente, sus notas de loping dan paso a un filo cortante sin borrar el swing. Huber salta y la delicia sigue adelante, con Petitmermet manteniendo el pulso en una carga positiva. El trío trae un ambiente más tranquilo en "Explorando el Baile". La vena del sentimiento corre fuerte y profunda mientras tocan con una intensidad intachable, añadiendo riffs gruesos y acordes imaginativos para prestar el tendón. La profundidad que pueden impartir se refuerza aún más en su interpretación de "My Foolish Heart", donde la canción está suavemente sombreada, los colores que prestan en tono pastel pero embadurnados, junto con su sentido de la estructura y la armonía, con una vívida comprensión de los imperativos que dan alma a la música.

Life 2020, James Bond, All 25 Movies

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A History of Opera by Roger Parker Carolyn Abbate

 

 

Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their scrupulous and provocative retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the means by which it communicates, and its societal role. Abbate and Parker’s A History of Opera is the first full new history of opera in sixty years – now in paperback in an updated second edition ‘The best single volume ever written on the subject’ The Times Literary Supplement Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their scrupulous and provocative retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the means by which it communicates, and its societal role. In a new revision with an expanded examination of opera as an institution in the twenty-first century this book explores the tensions that have sustained opera over 400 years- between words and music, character and singer, inattention and absorption. Abbate and Parker argue that, though the genre’s most popular and enduring works were almost all written in a distant European past, opera continues to transform the viewer with its enduring power. %%%Abbate and Parker’s A History of Opera is the first full new history of opera in sixty years – now in paperback in an updated second edition ‘The best single volume ever written on the subject’ The Times Literary Supplement Why has opera transfixed and fascinated audiences for centuries? Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker answer this question in their scrupulous and provocative retelling of the history of opera, examining its development, the means by which it communicates, and its societal role. In a new revision with an expanded examination of opera as an institution in the twenty-first century this book explores the tensions that have sustained opera over 400 years- between words and music, character and singer, inattention and absorption. Abbate and Parker argue that, though the genre’s most popular and enduring works were almost all written in a distant European past, opera continues to transform the viewer with its enduring power.



About the Author

Carolyn Abbate is Professor of Music at Harvard University and the author of Unsung Voices and In Search of Opera. Her work has been translated into many languages. She herself is a translator, and has been involved in theatre as a dramaturge and director. Roger Parker is Professor of Music at King’s College, London, and the author of Leonora’s Last Act and Remaking the Song. He is founding co-editor of the Donizetti critical edition, and editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera.

 

Carolyn Abbate (Autor) 

Roger Parker (Autor)  

 

West End Trio • When You're Smiling