Jonah Jones - St James Infirmary (restored 1957 vinyl LP “Muted Jazz”)

 

Jonah Jones - St James Infirmary  (restored 1957 vinyl LP “Muted Jazz”)

"When you come to a roadblock, take a detour."  -  Barbara Bush

 

From the vinyl LP “Muted Jazz” released in 1957.  "St. James Infirmary Blues" aka "Gambler's Blues" is an American blues song of uncertain origin.  The first time I heard this song was from a cartoon animation showing a down and out clown.  At an early age, I thought that was the darkest and most depressing cartoon I've ever seen.  I can still remember it after all these years.  Later on I understood what it was about.

 

Well folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary

See my little baby there

She's stretched out on a long, white table

Well she looks so good, so cold, so fair

Let her go, let her go, God bless her

Wherever she may be

You may search this whole wide world over

But she'll never find another sweetheart like me, yeah

Take apart your bones and put 'em back together

Tell your mother that you are somebody new

Feel the breeze blow and tell 'em all, "Look out here it comes!"

Now I can say whatever I feel like to you

Then keep me six crap-shooting pallbearers

Let a girl sing me a song

Put a red-hot jazz band, we raise

Hallelujah as we go along, well

Well folks, now that you have heard my story

Now that you heard my song 

Say bartender, give me another shot of that booze

'Cause I've got some of those St. James Infirmary blues

 

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Mills Irving / Primrose Joe (possibly)

 

Got to love this vocal rendition.  

 

Bass – John Browne

Drums – Harold Austin

Piano – George Rhodes

Trumpet, Vocals  – Jonah Jones

 

Jonah Jones (born Robert Elliott Jones; December 31, 1909 – April 29, 2000) was a jazz trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and swing and jazz standards that appealed to a mass audience.  

 

There was a time when jazz fans would consider Jonah Jones as one of the the best trumpeters, hence being called “Louis Armstrong II.”  Jones did get musical inspiration from the great Satchmo. Those were the heydays of the mainstream jazz era when jazz people would hang out in small bar to hear a small jazz combo, a format favored by Jonah Jones.  

 

Also an outstanding singer, his rendition of St James Infirmary is exceptional.  Unfortunately, his vocal rarely was allowed to stretch out on his recordings.

 

Shame on the Capitol catalog.  Muted Jazz is top-of-its-class album that has never been released in CD or even MP3 format.  This channel aims to promote jazz artists that some recording companies have forgotten. One reason why all music posted here are from restored vinyl records.

 

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Image post and video art were appropriated from original album.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

 

As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album. Some remastering was applied to make the performance cut through within the confines of  the loudness wars.

 

Hope you enjoy. 

 

INXDS.  #bebop #jazztrumpet #vinylrecord #quoteoftheday

Nothing is real anymore

 

Sorry for not posting in a while.  I'm a bit of a wreck right now.  A lot of little troubles in Big Texas.  Well, I know, this too shall pass.  Hope your day is going well.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - The Work Song (restored 1966 recording jazz vinyl LP)

 

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - The Work Song (restored 1966 recording jazz vinyl LP)

"Prevention is better than cure."  Desiderius Erasmus

 

Released 1966, SRO was the seventh album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and it performed about as well as most of its predecessors, reaching #2 on the U.S. album charts, helped by three singles: “The Work Song,” “Flamingo,” and “Mame.”

 

By late 1966, it seemed as if every TV commercial and every pop arranger had latched onto the Herb Alpert “Ameriachi” sound — at which point the resourceful originator of that sound began to pare it down and loosen it up a bit. S.R.O. (Standing Room Only), referring to the Tijuana Brass’ string of sold-out concerts, is an accurate title, for this LP is about a seven-piece band loaded with experienced jazzers who groove and swing together to a greater degree than on their previous albums. Sure, the arrangements are very tightly knit and don’t allow much room for spontaneity, but they still sound fresh and uninhibited, and Alpert often allows the flavor of jazz to come through more clearly. (All Music Review )

 

  Arranged By – Herb Alpert

  Bass Guitar – Pat Senatore

  Design – Peter Whorf Graphics

  Drums – Nick Ceroli

  Engineer – Larry Levine

  Guitar – John Pisano

  Leader [Band] – Herb Alpert

  Liner Notes – Chuck Champlin

  Photography By [Cover] – George Jerman

  Piano – Lou Pagani

  Producer – Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss

  Trombone – Bob Edmondson

  Trumpet – Tonni Kalash

  

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Image post and video art were appropriated from the original album.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

 

As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album.

 

Hope your day is going well.

 

INXDS.  #latinjazz #jazz #vinylrecord #quoteoftheday

Jonah Jones - Rose Room (restored 1957 vinyl LP “Muted Jazz”)

 

Jonah Jones - Rose Room (restored 1957 vinyl LP “Muted Jazz”)

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

 

From the vinyl LP “Muted Jazz” released in 1957.

 

Bass – John Browne

Drums – Harold Austin

Piano – George Rhodes

Trumpet, Vocals  – Jonah Jones

 

Jonah Jones (born Robert Elliott Jones; December 31, 1909 – April 29, 2000) was a jazz trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and swing and jazz standards that appealed to a mass audience.  

 

There was a time when jazz fans would consider Jonah Jones as one of the the best trumpeters, hence being called “Louis Armstrong II.”  Jones did get musical inspiration from the great Satchmo. Those were the heydays of the mainstream jazz era when jazz people would hang out in small bar to hear a small jazz combo, a format favored by Jonah Jones.  

 

Also an outstanding singer, his rendition of St James Infirmary is exceptional.  Unfortunately, his vocal rarely was allowed to stretch out on his recordings.

 

Shame on the Capitol catalog.  Muted Jazz is top-of-its-class album that has never been released in CD or even MP3 format.  This channel aims to promote jazz artists that some recording companies have forgotten.  One reason why all music posted here are from restored vinyl records.

 

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Image post and video art were appropriated from original album.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

 

As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album. Some remastering was applied to make the performance cut through within the confines of  the loudness wars.

 

Hope you enjoy. 

 

INXDS.  #bebop #jazztrumpet #vinylrecord #quoteoftheday

Zoot Sims - Rissy (Zoot Sims Plays Johnny Mandel 1984 jazz vinyl LP)

 

Zoot Sims - Rissy (Zoot Sims Plays Johnny Mandel 1984 jazz vinyl LP)

"God gives us life and takes us away as He sees fit." - Johnny Cash

From the vinyl album  Zoot Sims Plays Johnny Mandel "Quietly There" (1984 recording)

Bass – Chuck Berghofer

Drums – Nick Ceroli

Engineer – Allen Sides

Percussion – Victor Feldman

Piano – Mike Wofford

Producer – Norman Granz

Tenor Saxophone – Zoot Sims

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.

Later in his career, Sims continued to evolve as a player. According to saxophonist and composer Bill Holman, Zoot's tone aged and became gruffer, and he expanded his repertoire thanks to the influence of pianist Jimmy Rowles. But he never gave up on what many consider his greatest asset: his incredible sense of swing. "No matter what he played, it was perfectly in time," said saxophonist Harry Allen. "If you were making your own perfect saxophone player up in your head, that's where you'd put the notes. And [Sims] managed to do that without fail."

By the early '80s, a weakened liver forced Sims to quit drinking. His health improved at first, but he soon learned that he had cancer. "If I can't play, then what can I do?" he asked bassist Red Mitchell in an interview only a few months before he died. Zoot Sims continued to perform up until his death in 1985, and he never lost touch with the swing that had always enlivened his playing. (source: https://www.npr.org/2008/03/19/88488393/zoot-sims-brother-of-swing )

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Image post and video art were appropriated from the vinyl album Zoot Sims Quartet.) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album.

Hope you enjoy. 

INXDS.  #bebop #jazz #jazzsax #vinylrecord #quoteoftheday

Testing the Sky Replacement Feature in Photoshop

This image did not have the dramatic sunrise in the original.

In the latest edition of Photoshop 2021, the folks in Adobe added a feature that can easily replace the sky of an image.  I believe this feature has been there for a while but I did not care to test it.  Until now.  It's very easy to use. Just a couple of clicks and the artificial intelligence built in PS does the masking and replacement.  There are a few cloud images to choose from.  From daylight clouds to sunrise to sunset to storm.  One can also download more cloud images available in Adobe iCloud.

Another image with the sky replaced in PS.

The entire process takes about a few seconds on the test images I used.  The images were all in jpeg format with the width at 2400 pixels, 300 ppi resolution.  I expect that the process will be slower on larger sized image files.

Here's Bob aka as former President Jimmy Carter checking the weather in his first generation smart phone.

Overall, I'll give this 9/10.  Well done, Adobe!  

Below are the images prior to sky replacement:

Hope your day is going well.

Buddy Tate Al Grey - Blue Creek (1984 vinyl LP Just Jazz)

Buddy Tate Al Grey - Blue Creek (1984 vinyl LP Just Jazz)

"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Just Jazz, is an album by saxophonist Buddy Tate and trombonist Al Grey which was recorded in 1984 and released by the Uptown label. The album was reissued on CD with two alternate takes by Reservoir in 1989.  On AllMusic Scott Yanow states, "Tenor-saxophonist Buddy Tate (who also contributes a bit of clarinet) blends in perfectly with trombonist Al Grey on this swinging quintet session ... Both Tate and Grey were in their late prime at the time".

 • Buddy Tate – tenor saxophone, clarinet

 • Al Grey – trombone

 • Richard Wyands – piano

 • Major Holley – double bass

 • Al Harewood – drums

 • Don Sickler - arranger

Saxophonist Buddy Tate is a much finer soloist at age 72 than he was back then--capable of swinging you into bad health as he speaks through his horn with a rare, truthtelling soulfulness.  Trombonist Al Grey makes a fine partner for him. A brash, struttingly confident virtuoso who has a welcome sense of humor, Grey is best known for his plunger work.

I do not own the copyright to the music, the recording and the photos.  (Image and video post appropriated from the original album and by MART PRODUCTION https://www.pexels.com/@mart-production. ) This video is posted for educational use under Section 17 U.S. Code § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

As much as possible, I attempted to remove most of the pops and crackles from the original vinyl album.

Hope you enjoy. 

INXDS.  #bebop #jazz #vinylrecord #jazzsax #jazzclarinet #jazztrombone #quoteoftheday