Uncategorized – Vinyl Vibrations with Brian Frederick podcast

M1  Cripple Creek (Traditional), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:56)…………………………………………………………..

M2 Stealing (Kottke), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:35)…………………………………………………………………………

M3 Machine #2 (Kottke), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (3:00)…………………………………………………………………….

M4 Bourree (J.S. Bach), Mudlark, Capitol Records 1971 (1:26)………………………………………………………………………

M5 Easter (Kottke), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (3:18)…………………………………………………………..

M6 June Bug (Kottke), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (2:20)………………………………………………………

M7 Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring (J.S.Bach), My Feet Are Smiling, Capitol Records 1973 (2:00)………………………..

M8 Twilight Property (Kottke), Dreams and All That Stuff, Capitol Records 1974 (3:11)……………………………………

M9 Vertical Trees (Kottke), Dreams and All That Stuff, Capitol Records 1974 (2:34)

Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the artistry of American composer, arranger, and acoustic guitarist LEO KOTTKE.  Leo Kottke was born in 1945 in Athens Georgia.  As a youth he  lived in several states, including Oklahoma ,,and Missouri and Minnesota  and eventually settled in the Twin Cities. He released his first record on the Oblivion label in 1969 … and just 2 years later he signed on with Capitol Records … it was 1971 he was just 25 years old.

Kottke produces instrumental songs, mostly…. but on a few songs he adds his vocals. I selected the instrumental songs because I believe these best showcase his unique guitar and arrangement talent. For his guitars, Kottke uses signature Taylor 12-string and Taylor 6 string.. Kottke plays guitar by an innovative style of fingerpicking, and his style is considered “unconventional”. His style enables the mimicking of a rhythm section, His genres of music include jazz, rock, bluegrass, classical, and folk.

Kottke has also been “Different” as far his guitar tuning. He’s used different variations ranging from open tuning to tuning his guitar two steps below the traditional tuning.  This produces a full and warm guitar sound.

When Kottke was younger, he suffered significant hearing loss from two events – –  first from a firecracker incident as a youngster, and later during live-fire exercises while serving in the Naval Reserves.

He was inducted into the Guitar Player Hall of Fame in 1978 and scored two Grammy nominations — 1988 and 1991

Kottke has released 40 records in 40 year period.

Today’s Vinyl Vibrations podcast features the great trumpeter, arranger and producer, Herb Alpert.

M1  The Lonely Bull, (Sol Lake), Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, The Lonely Bull, A&M Records, 1962 (2:29).

M2 South of the Border (Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr), Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, South of the Border, A&M Records, 1964 (2:06)   

M3 I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe), Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, South of the Border, A&M Records, 1964 (2:25)   

M4 A Taste of Honey, (Bobby Scott), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965, (2:43).

M5 More and More Amor (Sol Lake), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Going Places, A&M Records, 1965 (2:44).

M6 Mae (Riz Ortolani), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Going Places, A&M Records, 1965 (2:27).

M7 Shades of Blue (Julias Wechter), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (2:44 ).

M8 Wade in the Water” (Traditional) – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (3:03).

M9 “Treasure of San Miguel” (Roger Nichols), Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sounds Like, A&M Records, 1967 (2:14)

Herb Alpert was born in 1935, and is an American trumpeter who led the band “Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass” in the 1960s. He was born and raised in the Eastside Los Angeles. His parents were Tillie and Louis Alpert —they were Jewish immigrants to the U.S., coming here from the Ukraine and from Romania.

Alpert was born into a family of musicians. His father was a mandolin player and his mother taught violin. Herb’s older brother was a drummer.  Herb began to play trumpet at the age of eight. While attending the University of Southern California in the 1950s, he was a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band for two years.

In the 1960s Alpert co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss, A for Alpert and M for Moss.

There are many, many measures of success in the area of popular music by which to measure the success of Herb Alpert – – ….here are just a few:

One of the recording techniques Herb Alpert used in these early records was the overdubbing of the trumpet part, Starting with his first album, THE LONELY BULL, and the title track 1 on side 1.  According to Herb Alpert, he said that he had been trying to find the right trumpet voice. He tried emulating the trumpet styles of Harry James, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. Oddly enough, he got inspiration NOT from these famous trumpeters, but from a guitarist named …Les Paul. Les Paul had been using multitracking his guitar  recordings. So Alpert tried multitracking his trumpet … and that multitracking became one of the signature sounds we will hear. Here is an example of the overdubbed trumpet from the song A QUIET TEAR…….

(Play an example of Herb’s overdubbed trumpet on the song   A QUIET TEAR  song side 2 track 6)

In this overdub Herb Alpert is recording each part with the same phrasing and time … but playing the second part in harmony.

Additionally Alpert does a fair amount of overdubbing and playing both parts in unison. This double-recording of one part gives Herb’s trumpet an even more rich and full sound, added resonance of the instrument and added reverb or echo of the room. So overdubbing while playing the trumpet part in unison or in harmony was a signature sound of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Here is an example from THE LONELY BULL intro….

(Play an example of Herb’s overdubbed trumpet on the song THE LONELY BULL  song side 1 track 1)

That’s overdubbing and playing the dub in unison with the first part. It creates a richer and deeper sound of the trumpet.

Today’s show features Frank Zappa, an American musician, composer, arranger, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist,  and record producer. He lived from 1940 to 1993. Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion and orchestral works. He is known for his work with the band The Mothers of Invention, producing over 60 albums with the Mothers, and he is also known for his prolific work as a Solo Artist. Zappa was one of the great guitarists of our time, and he was a sophisticated composer and highly accomplished multi-instrumental musician.

Zappa was a self-taught composer and performer. He studied and wrote classical music in high school, played drums in R&B bands. He later took to the Electric Guitar.

He has been described as the godfather of comedy rock, a critic of mainstream education and organized religion, advocating for freedom of speech and political participation. The phases of his life included different musical genres including experimental rock, jazz, classical, comedy rock, doo-wap, prog-rock, avant jazz, and pop.

Frank Zappa was prolific. His discography contains 62 albums produced during his lifetime. Zappa died much too early… at the young age 53, from prostate cancer. Following his death in 1993 , The Zappa Family Trust has overseen the release of another 57 official albums…that’s a total of 129 albums of songs recording the genius of Frank Zappa.

In the book, Frank Zappa: A Biography, by Barry Miles, Zappa describes his works in these words:

“It’s all one album. All the material in the albums is organically related and if I had the master tapes and I could take a razor blade[2] and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to…. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related.”

Which brings us to the subject of today’s show. Each album seems like an eclectic work, combining songs of Rock, Jazz and Classical genres. It is a difficult assignment for anyone to make the right selection from those 129 albums… let alone a proper selection of the individual songs that would best capture the genius of Frank Zappa in a few sound impressions.

One way to accomplish this selection is to attribute each of Zappa’s songs as being either a Song with lyrics, (and this is 401 songs, about 2/3 of his works), and instrumental compositions, (there are 172 instrumentals).  I then compiled an instrumental list from my own vinyl collection, and then shortened that list down to just to 8 instrumental pieces that would fit into this podcast format.  Each instrumental piece is brilliant.

This short list of Frank Zappa Instrumentals is what we will review today.

M1 Chunga’s Revenge, Frank Zappa, Chunga’s Revenge, 1970, Reprise/Warner Brothers, (6:16)…………………………….

M2 Twenty Small Cigars, Frank Zappa, Chunga’s Revenge, 1970, Reprise/Warner Brothers, (2:17)…………………………..

M3 Idiot Bastard Son, Frank Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa, World Pacific Jazz, 1970, (4:00)

M4 The Little House I Used to Live In, Frank Zappa Music, The Mothers – Fillmore East June 1971 (4:58)…………………

M5 Peaches En Regalia, Frank Zappa Music, The Mothers – Fillmore East June 1971 (3:22)…………………………………..

M6 The Grand Wazoo, Frank Zappa Music, The Grand Wazoo, 1972 Warner Records, (13:24)………………………………

M7 Eat That Question, Frank Zappa Music, The Grand Wazoo, 1972 Warner Records, (6:41)………………………………

M8 Blessed Relief, Frank Zappa Music, The Grand Wazoo , 1972 Warner Records, (6:41)………………………………….

Today’s show features John McLaughlin, an English guitarist, composer and band leader, born in 1942 in Doncaster, a city in South Yorkshire, that’s located in northern England. His mother was a concert violinist. He studied violin and piano as a child and then took up the guitar at age 11.

His childhood musical influences included MILES DAVIS and LUDVIG VON BEETHOVEN, and more contemporary artists were JOHN COLTRANE and JIMMY HENDRIX

McLaughlin is a pioneer of Jazz Fusion. In his music, one can clearly pick out elements of ROCK, JAZZ and BLUES…and also additional elements later on such as WORLD MUSIC, and Western Classical Music.

In the 1960s at about age 20, he moved to London where he contributed to several British groups and did session work. One of those British Groups was the Graham Bond Quartet with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream. Another rare opportunity was working with Miles Davis.  And he gave guitar lessons too, and one of his students was Jimmy Page, founder of Led Zeppelin.

M1 Arjen’s Bag (John McLaughlin) EXTRAPOLATION, Marmalade Records, released 1969 in UK, Re-released on Polydor Records, 1972, 4:25.

M2 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, (Charles Mingus 1959) My Goal’s Beyond, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, Douglas 9 Released 1971(solo album) 3:15            .

M3- Dawn (John McLaughlin), Inner Mounting Flame, The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin, Columbia, Released 1971 (5:15)

M4 Birds of Fire(John McLaughlin), Birds of Fire, Mahavishnu Orchestra, CBS Columbia, Released 1973 (5:50)..

M5 Sanctuary (John McLaughlin), Birds of Fire, Mahavishnu Orchestra, CBS Columbia, Released 1973 (5:05).

M6 WINGS of KARMA(John McLaughlin), Apocalypse, Mahavishnu Orchestra, with London Symphony Orchestra, CBS Columbia, Released 1974 (6:12)

M7- La Danse du Bonheur, Shakti with John McLaughlin, Columbia, 1977 (4:48).

rev4 04Jan2023 17:30

DAVE BRUBECK

Today’s show features Dave Brubeck, an American jazz pianist and composer, living between 1920 and 2012. Dave Brubeck’s music is often referred to as COOL WEST COAST JAZZ. It is JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL genre. Brubeck’s work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms and meters. One example of unusual time signature is TAKE FIVE, the biggest selling single in jazz history, a Paul Desmond composition, done in FIVE time.

M1 What Is This Thing Called Love? (Cole Porter 1929) From earlier recordings, DAVE BRUBECK OCTET, Compilation. Fantasy, 1956 [ from original recordings 1946-1948], 2:40.

M2 Laura (Johnny Mercer, David Raskin 1944) DAVE BRUBECK OCTET, Compilation. Fantasy 1956 [ from original recording 1950], 2:09

M3 I Found a New Baby – Live at College of the Pacific (Jack Palmer, Spencer Williams, 1926) Recorded Dec 1953, THE DEFINITIVE DAVE BRUBECK, Fantasy, Concord Jazz and Telarc on CD 2010, 1:40

M4 Blue Rondo a la Turk (Dave Brubeck 1959) Recorded 1959, TIME OUT, Columbia 1959, 6:44

M5 Take Five (Paul Desmond 1959) TIME OUT, Columbia 1959, 6:44

M6 Time In (Dave Brubeck) Recorded Oct 1965, TIME IN, Columbia CL2512, 1966, 3:57

M7 40 Days (Dave Brubeck) Recorded Oct 1965, TIME IN, Columbia CL2512, 1966, 4:38

JEFF BECK EARLY YEARS 1975-1976

Today’s show is JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS — PART 2

During the two years of 1975 – 1976, two Jeff Beck albums BLOW BY BLOW and WIRED, set a standard for instrumental rock.  In today’s podcast episode, JEFF BECK GUITAR PART 2, we review 4 works from the album BLOW BY BLOW, released in 1975, and 3 works from the album WIRED, released in 1976.  In the previous episode JEFF BECK GUITAR PART 1, we reviewed the early years of British, blues-based fusion guitarist Jeff Beck during his recordings with THE YARDBIRDS in 1966, and then his formation of the JEFF BECK GROUP in 1968. By 1975, Beck’s band consisted of Phil Chen on bass, Richard Bailey on drums and Max Middleton on keyboards. Middleton continued on from the earlier Jeff Beck Group. The sound with this new group and this album is instrumental Jazz Fusion It is a sound with influences from Miles Davis, and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

PROGRAM LIST

9-4-20 at 1333

JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS 1966- 1968

Today’s show is JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS — PART 1

In this VINYL VIBRATIONS episode, I tour early vinyl records that showcase ENGLISH ROCK and FUSION GUITARIST GREAT … JEFF BECK. The recordings presented in this podcast are a compilation from my own LP and Singles collection.  Today – we will review six songs from Jeff Beck’s early years, 1966 – 1968:

Jeff Beck achieved notoriety in the mid 1960’s, through the music of The Yardbirds and their hit song “Shapes of Things”.  He had been working actively as a musician since the age of 19, during the time he was attending college at what is now called the Wimbledon College of Art in London. That college specializes in theatre, screen, and performance art. That’s 1963.

Just five years later, Beck had launched three singles and his debut LP album, TRUTH.­­­

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I continue to tour early vinyl records that showcase JAZZ GUITARIST GREAT WES MONTGOMERY. The recording presented in this podcast are a compilation from my own LP collection – – from the golden age of vinyl. I heard these Montgomery Brothers LPs during my childhood. These records were a frequent play on my parent’s Hi-Fi record player – you could stack up to 10 records, and Wes Montgomery was a regular in that record stack.Today, I will pick more of Wes Montgomerys best recordings, made between 1961 and 1968, In those years Wes would have been between the ages of 38 and 45.

First let’s recap what we learned about Wes in Part 1

So today let’s continue with his recording in 1961 and two songs, in particular, M1 LOVE FOR SALE and M2 NO HARD FEELINGS On VINYL VIBRATIONS !

M1 Our first song is Love For Sale by Cole Porter, written in 1930, and this is Wes’s excellent interpretation. The song Love For Sale is from the musical The New Yorkers. The song is written from the perspective of a sex worker. The lyrics say it all: “Old love, new love, every love but true love“. The song was considered in bad taste, and was banned from radio airplay. Two versions went to top 20 in 1931 and other versions of the song were played as instrumentals. What we have NOW is a Wes Montgomery rendition, recorded some 30 years later, Oct of 1961. The tune shifts between a major and minor feeling that’s a signature attribute for Porter. There is an ultra clean upbeat sound to this song. With George Shearing on piano, what a great assembly of artists.

The song features:

From the album WES and FRIENDS,

M2 No Hard Feelings written by Buddy Montgomery, and recorded in October of 1961. What an interesting song line, with the theme as a base and piano playing opposite each other. The up-tempo antics of Shearing and Montgomery is impressive almost 55 years after it was recorded. That’s George Shearing on piano, George Shearing is 42, 4 years older than Wes

Born To Be Blue a Mel Torme composition, Recorded in 1963, with

The Alternative Wes Montgomery Milestone Records 1963. 7:23

I can hear contemporary guitarist Pat Martino through the Wes Montgomery guitar part on Born To Be Blue.

Even today, Wes’s techniques like octaves, block chord melody solo, are the kind of things jazz guitar students strive to accomplish, even partially. Contemporary guitarists trace their guitar influences back to Wes Montgomery, many consider Montgomery the greatest influence among modern jazz guitarists. Names like Pat Metheny, George Benson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Lee Ritenour, Larry Coryell, and Pat Martino have pointed to him numerous times as a great influence.

M4 Fried Pies by Wes Montgomery, recorded in 1963 with

From the double LP The Alternative Wes Montgomery . 6:34

In just one year ,1964, Montgomery will move to VERVE RECORDS where he will release ten albums in 4 years. With Verve, Wes will be taken in a different direction, and crossover into pop/jazz style, where he did well and gained recognition in the mid 1960s. In 1966 he won a Grammy Award for “Best Instrumental Jazz Performance”.

M5 Besame Mucho take 2 (BAY SAW MAY MOO CHO) composed by Consuelo Velazquez 1940 and Wes recorded this rendition in 1963.

From the 2-LP set The Alternative Wes Montgomery, 1963, Milestone Records. On this song, Wes is an exceptional improviser I compare his wizardry to that of Joe Pass-guitar and Oscar Peterson-piano improvisations that go on for minutes. The song is rich with ideas, and each listen draws out another impressive sound. The story goes that Wes Montgomery was often not satisfied with his recordings, and would himself reject takes…well…that’s not unusual for any self-respecting musician, but word is that he was a bit of a perfectionist…. So these tracks, Wes’s rejects, do SOUND VERY GOOD. The song Besame Mucho was used in the 1987 Brazilian film by the same name.

 M6 I’ll Be Back, a Lennon-McCartney song, recorded in May of 1968, on the “Road Song” LP, A&M Records. A shorter pop tune at 2 minutes 30 seconds. The move to A&M Records firmly places Wes Montgomery in the POP/JAZZ world, taking the pop hits of the day and adding Wes as a lead guitar part.

On I’ll Be Back the artists were:

…and a cast of many in the orchestra.

 Like many Lennon McCartney songs, ILL BE BACK goes back and forth from major to minor. But with the orchestra – – did Wes Montgomery really enjoy what he was doing? There is such a difference as compared to his favorite format—a jazz trio.

M7 Road Song was composed by Wes Montgomery and recorded May 8,1968 and released on the album “Road Song”, on A&M Records

The song showcases what Wes is known for in JAZZ circles, now going to a much broader POP base. So in this song there is extensive Octave playing (level 2 of the 3-level, solo technique)

 ROAD SONG features :

This song is very probably the final recording before Montgomery’s death. Montgomery had just returned from a tour with his quintet

On the morning of June 15, 1968, while at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, Montgomery died of a heart attack —he was only 45 years old at the time of his death….and was at the top of his fame. Montgomery earned a high level of popular acceptance and set the bar so much higher for young and aspiring jazz guitarists. A year following his death, in 1969, he won a second Grammy, again for “Best Instrumental Jazz Performance”

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I tour some early vinyl records that showcase JAZZ GUITARIST GREAT WES MONTGOMERY. The recording presented in this podcast are a compilation from my LP collection from the golden age of vinyl. From my father’s LP record collection, I heard these LPs during my childhood. These LPs were a frequent play on the house Hi-Fi — it had a stackable record player. Wes Montgomery was a regular in that record stack..Jazz renditions by Wes Montgomery have had a big influence on my musical development and my music interest since that time – – some 55 years ago !

Wes Montgomery Part 1 (1959-1961)

PART 1

Today in Part 1, I will pick some of Wes Montgomery best recordings, made between 1959 and 1961, – – – he was between the young ages of 36 and 38. Wes Montgomery had just signed with Riverside Records. There would be several LP and LP Sets released with Riverside over the next seven years…a prolific period for Wes!

What do we know about Wes Montgomery ?

John Leslie Montgomery was born March 6, 1923 in Indianapolis. He was called Wes, the baby pronunciation of his name, Leslie.

 Amazing Technique fact 1

Wes Montgomery is a SELF TAUGHT musician, learning by ear, starting at age12 on a tenor guitar, then at age 20, he began playing a 6-string guitar. He had listened and learned from the recordings of his guitar idol,

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN. Wes Montgomery learned these melodies and riffs … by ear. That is an amazing fact.

Wes grew up with two musician brothers – – Monk Montgomery plays bass, and Buddy Montgomery plays piano and vibes. Montgomery did most of his early performance work in the 1950’s in Indanapolis, with his brothers, and together with with Indianapolis organist Melvin Rhyne – – they recorded from 1957-1959 for the PACIFIC JAZZ label.

The story goes that Wes learned how to play Charlie Christian songs by memory, note-for-note, and that Lionel Hampton hired Wes for this reason. His early professional history began by briefly TOURING with Lionell Hampton’s orchestra, from 1948-1950. This would have been when Wes was from the ages of 25 to 27.

Then, in 1959, at the age of 36, Wes got his big break, and signed with RIVERSIDE RECORDS.

First album was “THE WES MONTGOMERY TRIO, A Dynamic New Sound for Guitar/Organ/Drums”, recorded October 1959. There were several wonderful recordings released, featuring small-group jazz bee-bop format of jazz guitar. You will hear FIVE of those Riverside RECORDS LP recordings today – – On VINYL VIBRATIONS !!

M1 Round Midnight.  This first song from the 1959 recording is ‘ROUND MIDNIGHT, a Thelonious Monk composition.This features Wes Montgomery on guitar, Melvin Rhyne on organ, and Paul Parker on drums and now….’ROUND MIDNIGHT. An interpretation of Thelonious Monk’s 1944 song, recorded in 1959, and released on Riverside Records, distributed by ABC Records.

M2 Yesterdays Music by Jerome Kern 1933-from the play “Roberta”. Recorded Oct 5-6, 1959 ….with Wes Montgomery guitar, Melvin Rhyne organ, Paul Parker drums. The sheet music calls for a tempo named ‘brightswing 200’ a much faster pace than the song in Roberts. The Original LP was titled : “THE WES MONTGOMERY TRIO, A Dynamic New Sound for Guitar/Organ/Drums”

Another amazing fact about guitar technique

WES developed an unusual playing technique, using his right THUMB to pluck the strings, instead of a guitar pick. That may not sound significant, but when you consider the speed of some of his guitar lines, as a guitarist, it is mind-boggling to hear his performance – rapid succession of a line of notes, with just the thumb.

Like for example this line from Jingles:.

Today some great guitarists use this thumb style –Jeff Beck, George Benson, John Abercrombie, and the late    Emily Remner…

M3 Love Walked In Our next jazz tune is titled Love Walked In (music by George Gershwin 1930) and was recorded in 1961 in LA the track was included in a release titled George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers

This is a jazz quintet — Wes Montgomery guitar, George Shearing Piano, Buddy Montgomery Vibes, Monk Montgomery Bass, Walter Perkins Drums. What a dynamite jazz rendition of this Gershwin classic, performed by Wes Montgomery and George Shearing. A very short piece at 2 minutes 10 seconds. Found on a Riverside Records 1968 remaster . THE BEST OF WES MONTGOMERY and featuring george shearing, Wes, Buddy and Monk Montgomery and Walter Perkins Drums.

M4 Airegin (a Sonny Rollins composition) from the 1960 album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery a QUARTET with Wes Montgomery on guitar, Tommy Flanagan piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Albert Heath drums. Riverside Records

The title of the song AIREGIN …is NIGERIA spelled backwards. Note the tight synch between drummer, and guitarist Wes is weaved into the rhythm section.

M5 Four on Six Our next song is a Wes Montgomery composition – – with Wes on guitar, Tommy Flanagan piano, Percy Heath bass, Albert Heath drums. Recorded January 1960. Riverside Records. At 6:10 this is a longer piece — plenty of time to fully develop the theme and have the ideas played out . The sheet music shows the song is in 4/4 … so where does that title FOUR ON SIX come from? One interpretation is 4th track sixth album. Another is four fingers six strings…or is it the four theme notes G-D-C-G ,repeated six times…  Maybe you know the truth.

And now, Four on Six

M6 Tune Up-Take 9 (Miles Davis) Recorded Oct 12, 1960 …Wes Montgomery guitar, James Clay, Flute, Victor Feldman, Piano, Sam Jones Bass, Bobby Thomas drums, produced by Orrin Keepnews, released in 1963. This album consists of alternate unissued takes from previously issued albums on the Riverside label   This track has a different sound, instead of the full-bodied guitar sound, this track sound as if the only bridge pickup is used, a hollow sound without the bottom-end we hear on other Montgomery tracks. A Miles Davis compositrion played by Wes Montgomery guitar, James Clay, Flute, Victor Feldman, Piano, Sam Jones Bass, Bobby Thomas drums, recorded in 1960.

A bit about Wes Montgomery’s signature solo technigue. It’s three tiered !!

And that is the tree tiered solo technique of Wes Montgomery.

M7 Bock to Bock-take 1 (Buddy Montgomery) Recorded in1961 for “The Montgomery Brothers-Groove Yard”. It features a quartet including the brothers !

This track was found on an LP released in 1963, containing unissued takes from previously issued albums of the Riverside label. The song title BOCK to BOCK is a reference to PACIFIC JAZZ RECORDS producer and founder Richard Bock, whom the Montgomery Brothers recorded with from 1957 to 1959. When the track starts, it sounds a bit like Peggy Lee and her hit song “FEVER”, which came out in 1958. Recorded in 1961 with the Montgomery Brothers WES BUDDY and MONK and Bobby Thomas on drums.

Fats Waller Piano and Organ Solos Part 2      (1940-1943)

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I tour some early vinyl records that showcase PIANIST AND ORGANIST GREAT FATS WALLER. Many of these will be original compositions by Fats Waller . These recordings of Fats Waller are found on my Vinyl LP Record compilation of his recordings between 1929 and 1943….

PART 2

THOMAS WRIGHT “FATS” WALLER was borne May 21, 1904 in NYC, the youngest of 11 children. He started paying piano at age six. His father was the Reverend Edward Martin Waller and by the time Thomas Waller was 10, he had learned how to play the organ at his father’s church. At age 14, he was playing the organ at Harlem Lincoln’s Theater. Fats Waller is best known for his stride piano style. [insert sample of stride piano] . At age 15 he was a professional pianist and worked the local cabarets and theatres. Some of his original compositions are well known standards today, like Honeysuckle Rose, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Handful of Keys, Squeeze Me, Blue Turnin Grey Over You. Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, first in 1984, the song Honeysuckle Rose, and again in 1998 the song Ain’t Misbehavin’.

TODAY We will hear piano and organ solo performances by Fats Waller from 1929, during the time of the Great Depression, and 1943, when America was deeply involved in World War II in Europe and in the Pacific.