The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt was one of the greats.  Sonny possessed technical skill and fleet mastery as a musician, and he projected a tone full of warmth and human expression.  He excelled whether playing bebop, ballads or the blues, “rhythm” pieces or improvisatory excursions in the American popular songbook standards.Edward Boatner, Jr. was born February 2, 1924 in Boston.  He came from a musical family, as his father was a composer and college music professor, and his mother a piano teacher.  Several siblings had careers in classical music.  The family moved to Saginaw, Michigan when he was a toddler, and it was there that he was raised.  At some point his parents separated and his mother married a man named Robert Stitt.  Edward adopted his stepfather’s surname, and the moniker “Sonny”.Stitt played various instruments from an early age and excelled in school music programs.  As a youngster he was attracted to the alto sax and the sound of Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter.  As he became a teenager Stitt played in the nascent Michigan jazz scene.  After high school, he joined the popular Tiny Bradshaw band.  In his travels, Stitt met Charlie Parker in Kansas City in 1943 and became enthralled with Bird’s sound and conception.As the bebop evolution took hold, Stitt was one of the “Unholy Four” in Billy Eckstine’s legendary bop big band sax section.  In 1946, when Dizzy Gillespie left Bird behind in California, he hired Stitt to fill Parker’s chair in both small groups and his orchestra.  Between his work with Dizzy and other legendary bebop aggregations, Stitt appears on many of the seminal recordings of the late 1940's.  In the early 1950's Stitt teamed with Gene Ammons as a proponent of earthy jazz blowing, and he began playing tenor, and sometimes baritone, sax, while also retaining his original alto.Termed by many as a “Lone Wolf”, Stitt had a lengthy career performing in many settings but never his own regular band.  Also, for decades he recorded prolifically for many labels, producing a quantitatively amazing discography of artistic fertility, but never a signature “oeuvre”.  Among some highlights of later years were organ combos with Don Patterson, experiments with the electric sax during the rock years, a 1960 stay in Miles Davis’s regular group, the Giants of Jazz Tour of the early 1970's, and some mature, critically acclaimed records on the Muse label in the last decade of his life.  Stitt died of cancer in 1982 at the age of 58.Too many ignorant critics often criticized Stitt, unfairly and inaccurately, as merely “a Charlie Parker imitator”.  And with reference to Stitt's prolific performance output, similar haters also unfairly chastised him as someone who “just mailed it in”.  Additionally, he was dogged by substance abuse issues, heroin addiction during the bebop years (which he beat) and then alcohol problems, which detracted from an ability to maintain popular fame.  Notwithstanding these hindrances to larger acclaim, the true jazz aficionados acknowledge his mastery, and you should listen closely to his recordings, to recognize that Stitt leaves a worthwhile legacy of touchingly beautiful music.Given the breadth of Stitt’s output, we will only barely sample his career in our five hour show.  But those samples I trust will be a meaningful listen and illustrative of his skill.  As a final note, this February 2024 show will be an acknowledgment of his centennial.

Ben Webster In The 1950's

For this program I selected a narrow focus -- Ben Webster's activities in the 1950's.
Webster is best known as the tenor saxophone giant from Duke Ellington's famous bands followed up with fame and renown as an ongoing swing legend of the 1940's.  In his much later years as a European expatriate, Webster achieved international stardom and respect as an “elder statesman”.  But often overlooked were his contributions to jazz during the 1950's.  Then in his forties, Webster's maturing artistry reached a level of poetry and grace, which, when matched with his brute force and power, produced some stunning music, if not popular acclaim.Our program will examine this aspect of his career.  First up was a return to Kansas City, with Jay McShann and other R&B offerings; next, teaming up in Norman Granz productions for jazz combos with his old swing friends, Oscar Peterson, and sensitive strings; as another highlight, rejoining Billie Holiday to provide necessary support for what were the best of Lady Day’s later recordings; and finally, moving to California, for a triumphant reception at the 1959 Monterrey Jazz Festival, leading to partnerships with blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and others.
 
originally broadcast in 2011

Lester Young 2

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
Here's a session that I put together for the 2023 broadcast. Two parts on Lester Young.
First a brief random sample of his collaborations with Billie Holiday.  Sumptuous.
The second part is a more in-depth look at Lester Young's activities in 1943 and 1944, a period often overlooked, as overshadowed by other more popular portions of his career.

Charlie Parker 1

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
 
Here's a three hour set of mine from the 2021 edition, which includes an 80 minute long segment featuring recordings of Charlie Parker in unconventional large group settings (other than Bird With Strings"), and then samples of some other more standard Bird sessions, including a live set from his perch at the Royal Roost.

Lester Young 1

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
 
In the 2020 edition of the show, I produced a segment that discussed Lester Young's court martial and confinement in US Army detention barracks towards the end of World War II, and then followed with a lengthy presentation of the recordings, starting with "DB Blues", that he made for the Aladdin label in the post war years. 
 
This broadcast also contains an opening  sample of Lester's Verve recordings for casual pleasure listening, and after the intensive Aladdin material, concludes with Keynote sides and some Helen Humes and Una Mae Carlisle.

Sarah Vaughan Centennial

To honor the centennial year of the jazz diva Sarah Vaughan, WKCR produced a multi-day marathon radio broadcast in March 2024.
 
For this broadcast I presented a historical segment focusing on Sarah's beginnings from the 1940s through the early 1950's.
 
This approximately 2 and 1/2 hour podcast concludes with a sample of recordings from later in the 1950's.

Illinois Jacquet

Illinois Jacquet is one of the tenor saxophone legends of jazz.  Nicknamed “The Beast”, his ferocious, meaty and swinging style set an exemplar for the “tough tenors” to come, while he also had a sensitive side and meaningfully deep and hearty approach on ballads and standards.
 
Most reference works list Illinois Jacquet’s birthday as October 31, 1922, and therefore many have called 2022 his centennial year.  However, some researchers have uncovered local records indicating his actual birth date as October 30, 1919.  From Broussard in southwestern Louisiana, his family was of Creole origin.  All of his siblings were musically inclined.  They moved to Houston, Texas when he was a child, but Jacquet also spent summers and vacations with extended family back in Louisiana.  Accordingly, he was raised steeped in multiple cultural traditions.
 
Leaving high school early, Jacquet played with the locally prominent Milt Larkin band in Houston.  Still a teenager, he and his brother, trumpeter Russell Jacquet, moved to California to escape racism in Texas.  Illinois joined Lionel Hampton’s band and gained lasting fame and influence with his dynamic solo on “Flying Home”.  Jacquet moved on from Hamp to join Cab Calloway’s orchestra which was prominent in the motion picture “Stormy Weather”.  After Calloway, Jacquet was a sensation in the earliest “Jazz At The Philharmonic” concerts and records and appeared along with Lester Young in the film short “Jammin’ The Blues”.  His final outside credit in the mid 1940's was as a star (think “The King” and “Mutton Leg”) in what was Prez’s chair in the Count Basie orchestra.
 
By then he was a major attraction famous enough to lead his own bands, produce hit records such as “Robbins’ Nest”, “Jivin’ With Jack The Bellboy”, “Ghost Of A Chance” and “Black Velvet”, tour internationally, and sign with major label Victor.  The 1950's included continued success with Jazz At The Philharmonic and Norman Granz recordings.  The 1960's and 1970's, while a leaner time for jazz popularity, saw Jacquet frequently tour Europe and Japan and make numerous fine recordings.
 
The 1980's took a different turn as Jacquet was hired to be an “Artist in Residence” and lecturer at Harvard University.  Following up on that experience, Illinois re-formed a big band with younger musicians.  This group swung to achieve great renown, whether at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, or playing for the swing dance revival.
 
Jacquet lived a full life and died in 2004.
 
originally broadcast November 6, 2022
 

Jazz And Samba

A celebration of the birth of Jazz and Samba.
 
This program was originally produced by Sid Gribetz in July 2012.  The emphasis of the show was the 50th Anniversary of the Bossa Nova craze and the proliferation of jazz records throughout 1962 with the samba influence. 
 
On February 13, 1962, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd met in Washington D.C.’s  All Souls Church for a casual record session.  The resulting album, “Jazz Samba”, with its single “Desafinado”, became THE big hit record of the summer of 1962 and ignited a bossa nova craze in jazz and popular music.  Within months, jazz artists from Coleman Hawkins to Gene Ammons to Cannonball Adderley all recorded samba records, and the wave would crest with several more efforts from Byrd and Getz, culminating with the all time hit “The Girl From Ipanema”.
 
To be sure, for several years before, Gilberto and Jobim and their compatriots had already brought jazz and other outside sensitivities to native Brazilian rhythms to forge the new bossa nova style.  The movie Black Orpheus, with its thrilling yet haunting soundtrack was a landmark.  Additional early impact was the efforts by musicians such as Bud Shank and Dizzy Gillespie, who had already spread the samba gospel to a wider audience.  Charlie Byrd, with his group of bassist Keter Betts and drummer Buddy Deppenschmidt, returned from a winter 1961 State Department tour of South America fully imbued with the bossa nova sound.  They imparted their new wisdom on the “Jazz Samba” album, and the fuse was lit.
 
Our radio broadcast celebrated that fabled summer of 1962, when bossa nova was in the air, and we played many of the "jazz and samba" records of that year, for your sultry summer enjoyment.
 

Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams

Sid Gribetz presented this program in 2020 exploring the collaborations of Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams.  Donald Byrd was one of the all-time greats of modern jazz trumpet, possessed of a fresh, crackling sound and a virtuosity that contributed to a long and successful career in various jazz styles.  Pepper Adams, while not as famous as Byrd, was a leading practitioner of the baritone saxophone, playing the otherwise cumbersome instrument with facility, speed, and grace that supported a prolific and varied career in many bands.Since they each had long, individual, histories in our jazz lore, the groups organized in their partnership are often overlooked.  The unorthodox trumpet/baritone combination coalesced into an atypical but charming musical blend.  Also, both artists were sophisticated composers and arrangers who provided their ensembles with a lush musical palette beyond just the standard repertoire.The partnership lasted between 1958 and 1962, and they would get together to tour and perform around the country in a quintet when not otherwise engaged.  Byrd was under contract to Blue Note Records during this period, and under Byrd’s name he and Adams recorded several classic albums, some fleshed out with additional horns.  Then, on Adams’s dates with other labels, he, Byrd and their quintet would lay down some great sides.  Herbie Hancock got his start as their pianist, and Duke Pearson, Wynton Kelly and Walter Davis, Jr. also worked with them.Byrd and Adams both were products of the vibrant Detroit jazz community.  Byrd, born in 1932, attended the legendary Cass Tech High School, and also Wayne State University.  He burst on the national scene immediately after his schooling, playing with Yusef Lateef, George Wallington, Horace Silver, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and Gigi Gryce, just to name a few in his initial years of fame.  By 1958, he began a legendary career with Blue Note and star individual appearances, but had time for the group with Adams.  Byrd died in 2013 at the age of 80.Park Adams III was born in Detroit in 1930, but his family moved to Rochester, New York when he was a toddler.  In grade school, Adams was already a precocious music talent and played professionally.  He obtained the nickname Pepper from an affinity for the baseball star Pepper Martin who managed the minor league Rochester team.  Adams’s family returned to Detroit in 1946, and as a teenager, he, too, was a participant in the vital Detroit post war jazz scene.   By his early 20's, Adams established himself as a leading jazz professional baritone sax player.  He had a long career beyond the work with Byrd, such as later combos with Thad Jones, and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, among other credits.  Adams suffered a debilitating leg injury in a car accident in 1983, but persevered until he died of cancer in 1986.The music they made had a certain spark and magic.  Byrd, while a brash and bravura trumpeter, also had a side that was gentle and melodic.  While the modern jazz baritone sax in the 1950's was thought of as a cool, slippery instrument, Adams instead had a slashing, knife-like attack that brought excitement.  But he too also had lyrical and sensitive aspects to his musicality.  The Byrd/Adams partnership combined all these simpatico elements, and also a successful blend of the African American Byrd and Caucasian Adams co-leading a group on the bandstand.

Oscar Pettiford

Oscar Pettiford was one of the leading innovative jazz bass players who came of age during the bebop era.  He unleashed a sense of dynamic swing that set the standard influencing bass styles to this very day, and his lyrical, free flowing solos on bass, and later in his career on pizzicato cello, have lasting beauty that transcends the conventions of these instruments.
 
            Also, Pettiford was significant as a composer of songs still prevalent in the modern jazz repertory - Bohemia After Dark, Swingin’ Till The Girls Come Home, The Pendulum At Falcon’s Lair, The Gentle Art of Love, Blues In The Closet, and Tricotism, to name a few.  Pettiford was also a band leader and arranger conversant with the most advanced sophisticated styles, and also some third stream touches, in the 1950's.
 
            Oscar Pettiford has a fascinating biography.  He was born September 30, 1922 on a reservation in Oklahoma.  His mother was Native American, and his father Harry “Doc” Pettiford was African-American also with some Cherokee roots in his family.  The family moved to Minneapolis when Oscar was very young.  His father was a veterinarian but also musically inclined.  Doc Pettiford formed a family band with Oscar and several siblings, all skilled on multiple instruments, and successfully barnstormed and toured the midwest and south for many years.
 
By the time Oscar was a teenager, he settled on the bass as his instrument of choice. Still underage, he left the family and formed his own band which performed in Minneapolis nightclubs and after hours joints.  Pettiford developed a reputation that was fortified with notice from major musicians who passed through town, such as Milt Hinton, Charlie Christian and Howard McGhee.
 
Eventually, by 1940 or 41, music business was slow in Minnesota and Pettiford was disheartened.  He retired from music and began working in an armaments factory.  However, McGhee looked him up and introduced him to the popular swing band leader Charlie Barnet, who was in need of another bassist and hired him.  After several months with Barnet, Pettiford made it to New York and immediately established himself at the highest level.  Pettiford joined Thelonious Monk in the house band at the legendary Minton’s Playhouse.  Next Roy Eldridge hired him to work on 52nd Street, where he also drew the attention of Coleman Hawkins, who used him on several famous recording sessions that included extended bass solos of astonishing power.
 
          Our story is still only in 1944.  At the incredibly young age of 21 and 22, Pettiford was leading his own group at the Onyx Club where he and Dizzy Gillespie then teamed up to jointly lead a band which most jazz historians consider to be the first regularly working bebop band.
           
Oscar and Diz split due to a personality conflict, but not before Pettiford appeared on some of the very first legendary bebop recordings.  Among his continuing experience, another milepost was a long stint in the late 1940's with Duke Ellington’s orchestra.
 
            Pettiford’s next break came in 1949, when he fractured his arm in an injury in a softball game.  During his lengthy rehabilitation, Oscar found it difficult to manipulate the heavy double bass, so he picked up the cello and utilized it as a jazz instrument.  While he later returned to the bass, Pettiford regularly used the cello for swinging pizzicato solos during performances.  Pettiford’s musicality shone prominently in the cello’s higher timbre.  His use of the cello was unique at the time and still influential years later.
 
            In the 1950's Pettiford was a major figure in jazz.  He worked prolifically and appeared on what are now major recordings in our canon with the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, and many others.  In the late 1950's he became house bassist at the famous Café Bohemia.  Additionally, he led small groups and his own big band with colleagues such as Lucky Thompson, Gigi Gryce and Dick Katz, playing original compositions and innovative, sophisticated arrangements.
 
            In 1958, Pettiford moved to Europe and eventually settled in Copenhagen where he became a leading figure performing with other expatriate Americans and also leading European musicians.
 
One night in 1960, he fell ill during a show and was taken to a Danish hospital.  He developed paralysis type symptoms in his spine and fell into a coma and died a few days later, on September 8, 1960, at the age of 37.  Doctors at the time labeled the cause of death a “polio-like virus“, but more probably it was the lingering effects from injuries suffered in a major automobile accident several months earlier.
 
Originally broadcast December 4, 2022.