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Gurlitzer, consider yourself jak sie masz-ed! Let's call this one a Christmas carol for the minister's daughter. I suppose it's at least as much a Christmas song as "The Anacreontic Song" is a national anthem.I don't know much about music theory, but I'd bet that Jimmy Smith and other monsters of the Hammond organ probably play 10-part harmony from time to time, at least for punctuation or other purposes intended to excite the startle reaction in the listener. What do you think, Gurlitzer---have you ever read a part that calls for all ten digits to hit a different tone in the chromatic scale at the same time?
During the 1950s and 1960s, there was this practice in the jazz recording industry of putting a really "white," lame song on an otherwise straight-ahead album. A classic example is John Coltrane's 1961 rendition of "My Favorite Things" from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway production "The Sound of Music." Although there's nothing necessarily wrong with any such given performance (although Sinatra's rendition of "Forget Domani" is certainly wretched), the choice of material always seems dicey to me. I'm guessing it was a way for the label to get the Little Lady of the house listening to bop (or whatever), just like they put "Stairway" on Led Zeppelin IV or "Layla" on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs so the hippie chicks would listen to their "old man's" vinyl.
Any-hoo, "Greensleeves" seems to me like a weird choice for Jimmy Smith, maybe even weirder than a show tune would have. But he plays all the shit out of this traditional melody, along with trio-mate Kenny Burrell's guitar. I especially like the little two-chord vamp that begins the cut and recurs throughout. More generally, I'm a big fan of this Hammond/guitar/drum power trio format, and there's a lot of it on tape. (Buy it on CD or vinyl so "The Cloud" can't take it away from your computer without a warrant or habeas corpus, which seems to be on the horizon.)
So put that in your pipe and smoke it, lady!
Greensleeves, Jimmy Smith (1965, from "Organ Grinder Swing," Verve CD reissue 314 543 831-2 [2000]) via YouTube, embedded for noncommercial critical commentary and educational purposes.
how about ego? Wouldn't a good jazzman want to show he could make a good jazz arrangement out of any song, not just one written as jazz? Some guys, like Ramsey Lewis, did this with a lot of non-jazz music. Very successfully.
ReplyDeleteyeah, yeah, I know this wasn't for me.
It could be that Smith simply enjoyed traditional music and felt like throwing an arrangement together. But to answer the more general question, I doubt these enormous egos (many of them, at least) felt the need to add lame songs to their books for showing-off purposes: either their labels or their management probably pushed them to do it in order to *gasp* spur sales beyond the core jazz audience. I think Lewis could be considered a crossover artist---nothing wrong with that---so jazz interpretations of contemporary pop hits would be at the center of how he earns his living.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Buttinski, I thought I told you to mind your own business. I may have to resort to a traditional Selig-style jak sie masz if you don't watch it!
"The Cloud"? Haven't heard of them before. An up and coming alt-country? Their promotional technique looks pretty strange. Taking away your download on a whim.
ReplyDeleteMind you some of these new bands are strange: just look at "Pink Floyd".
Phew, that was breathtaking - literally. I'm exhausted. He really took off at 2:20. I must say I kind of expected a little Hammond action for my jak sie masz, but also thought maybe some horns. I had fun wondering what it would be. You provided a nice Christmasy sense of expectation. Very cool. Thanks. (I hope I get the headphones I asked for so I can hear this with nice Bose sound.)
ReplyDeletePS I wouldn't call Greensleeves "lame." It's an interesting melody. And, I couldn't say with certainty, but I don't think I ever played a chord with 10 distinct tones. Well, not on purpose anyway. Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!
Marginalia: yes, I think I once heard something by the Pink Floyds; I think they were called the Floyds of London for the American market.
ReplyDeleteGurlitzer: you were gonna get some horn merriment, but I happened to drop Organ Grinder Swing into the tray Saturday night and found a better offering. Ask the old man for a nice pair of Sennheiser HD-595s, but you need to run them off something mightier than an iPod. "Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia"? Nevva hoid of it!
I don't know how many hours I spent listening to this album in that house by I-80, sometimes in your company. I really like everything on the LP, but this is a little sassy and raucous, with some nice late 60s guitar work, so it is my offering to you, our genial host. The album sleeve is long gone, so I don't have much info. It was, however, recorded in "Concept 12" stereo, a "new totally solid state recording technique." Jag sie masz! Rotary Connection Silent Night Chant from Peace
ReplyDeleteWell thank you for that, and the thought. Never heard that selection. Haven't heard that group for decades I always remembered them as being more ethereal and sedate. But then my brain wasn't fully formed back then.
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