CD Review: The Dave Miller Trio, "The Mask-erade is Over"

If you like to listen to a great traditional straight ahead Jazz piano trio playing, Dave Miller's new CD "The Mask-erade is Over" will be perfect for you.  Dave Miller who has his own playing personality can at times remind you of some your favorite Jazz pianists like George Shearing, Bill Evans and Ahmad Jamal.  Bill covers a lot of ground in this CD and brings his Jazz personality center stage on a great selection of standards. 

Dave's daughter is the super-talented singer Rebecca DuMaine and Dave and his trio have often recorded with Rebecca on her CDs.  

I have selected two YouTubes videos for your listening pleasure.  The first song is "Be Careful It's My Heart".  Dave was inspired by Peggy Lee's version with one of his Piano heroes, George Shearing.  The second song is a Dave Brubeck gem, "In Your Own Sweet Way".  The playlist of songs on this CD are from a diverse outstanding group of composers:  Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Noel Coward, Irving Berlin and Ray Henderson.   Take a moment to review the fun playlist below.

                                                              "Be Careful It's My Heart"

                                                               "In Your Own Sweet Way"

PLAYLIST:

1. Anthropology

2. Be Careful It's My Heart

3. The Masquerade Is Over

4. The Opener

5. Someday I'll Fine You

6. You Don't Know What Love Is

7. Yardbird Suite

8. Estate

9. In Your Own Sweet Way

10. The Blue Room

11. Dusty

12. Why Did I Choose You

13. Hallucinations

14 Just Imagine

PLAYERS:

Dave Miller- Piano

Andrew Higgins- Bass

Bill Belasco- Drums

 

Book Review: "Hound Dog" The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography By Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller With David Ritz

If you love R & B and the "Rock & Roll" music of the 50's and 60's, HOUND D0G is the next book you should read!  If you write or dream about writing music and lyrics, The Leiber and Stoller example proves you have a chance to succeed but only if you are willing to dedicate your life and put your heart and soul into writing music. However even as successful Leiber and Stoller were as composers, they were always living on the financial edge even after writing some of the most successful songs in the history of the music writing business! Writing good music and lyrics is one thing, making a successful living out of it is a more difficult undertaking.

Leiber and Stoller's first love and perhaps their greatest love was the music that Black musicians were singing and playing in the 40's and 50's.  Mostly "Black Blues" music coming out of New Orleans, Chicago, LA and NY.  In addition to the "Blues" they both loved the new jazz style that was being played called "Bebop" along with the music of Fats Waller, Count Basie and the jazz pioneers like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Erroll Garner, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. This was fine except for the fact that the big record labels like RCA, Columbia and Decca almost totally ignored the great Black artists of the times because they didn't think the music was worthwhile, artistically or commercially.  So as great as the writing of Leiber and Stoller was, there was very little market for their songs because there was only a small market for Black performers could sell their records. This fact of American musical history while known by Leiber and Stoller, had little effect on their writing.  They wanted first and foremost to write music and lyrics that would be recorded by Black artists of the times.  Even one of their greatest songs, "Hound Dog" was first recorded by Big Moma Thornton before it became a smash hit for Elvis.  In fact, they both thought that even though the success and dollars they made from the Elvis' recording of "Hound Dog" were welcomed, they both still liked the Big Moma Thornton recording much better.

The book is written in first person, alternating between Leiber and Stoller recalling their individual thoughts during each period of their lives and careers.  I was especially delighted in their later work and personal stories about one of my favorite singers "Peggy Lee".  Peggy had two of her biggest hits with Leiber and Stoller songs, " I'm A Woman" in 1962 and "Is That All There Is" in 1969.

I enjoyed the trip back to a memorable musical period this book provided. However, I thought that the constant back and forth between Leiber's view to Stoller's view made the understanding of narrative somewhat more difficult.

                 BOOK REVIEW
The Music Man Awards This Book "3 Quarter Notes"

4 Quarter Notes= Excellent, Must Read
3 Quarter Notes= Good Read
2 Quarter Notes= Somewhat Interesting
1 Quarter Note = Save Your Time and Money

CD Review: "Diane Hubka Goes To The Movies"

Last month I published information about a new CD, "From California With Love" that was recorded by a talented group of West Coast Musicians with the sole purpose to raise money for Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Relief.  I learned about the effort from one of the talented musicians who recorded on the CD, Diane Hubka.  Diane  found my blog and enjoyed the live music reviews I did last winter from the Palm Springs, California area. I really loved the way Diane sang on the "From California With Love" CD and I wanted to find out more about her.  Turns out she was performing to rave reviews in the New York City area for many years before moving to Hollywood California in 2004 where she collaborated with pianist Christian Jacob (who married the daughter of one of my all-time trumpet  faves', Maynard Ferguson).  Christian Jacob has also recorded with the uniquely talented Tierney Sutton.  Together Diane and Christian recorded "Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies" in 2007, and I decided to review the CD.

Diane Hubka is not just another singer!  In addition to singing, Diane plays a 7-string guitar with great skill and improvisation. She selects her material like a fine chef selecting just the right products at a food market. After her move from NYC to Hollywood Diane picked 13 songs that were written for movies, some standards and others relatively unknown but still great songs. According to Diane "It seemed the logical choice. Since coming here, I've enjoyed working with some fantastic West-Coast musicians, many who've made their living at least in part from playing in the studios."  The arrangements are wonderful and were all written by Christian Jacob. Diane chose all the musicians for the band from those she had heard and worked with after moving to California. The group includes Christian Jacob on Piano and did the arrangements, Carl Saunders on Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Larry Koonse on Guitar, Chris Colangelo on Bass and Joe LaBarbera on Drums.

There are 13 songs on this CD all taken from movies from 1937-79 and none of them are easy to play or sing.  Diane really gets to show her professional singing skills to the fullest on this CD and also solos, singing and playing her 7 string classical guitar on Track #12, "Manha de Carnaval" more popularly known as "A Day In The Life Of A Fool".  My other favorites were Track #1 "All God's Children Got Rhythm" from 1937 movie "A Day at the Races".  It's a perfect opening number for the group with everyone in the group making their presence known. Track #4, "Lovers in New York" from the 1961 movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was written by Henry Mancini, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans swings with great Trumpet work from Carl Saunders. Track #5, "He's a Tramp" from the 1955 movie "Lady and the Tramp" written by the great Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke played in an up-tempo Samba rhythm that fits the song perfectly.  Track #7 "I'm Old Fashioned" written by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer for the 1942 movie "You Were Never Lovelier" features some great piano and Guitar work by Christian Jacobs and Larry Koonse. Track #9 "Close Enough for Love" from the 1979 movie "Agatha" showcases some outstanding Piano and Bass work from Jacob and Colangelo. Track # 11 "Wild is the Wind" the old Johnny Mathis hit from the 1957 movie of the same name features a great up-tempo rhythm used very effectively to showcase an outstanding piano solo from Christian Jacob. There is one member of the group that needs some praise for his skillful performance on this CD, Drummer Joe LaBarbera.  Joe has done some outstanding playing with the great Bill Evans and shows us on this CD why Bill Evans loved him.  Joe fits his percussion work into every song and rhythm perfectly, never overplaying or underplaying Diane or any member of the group.  Great Job, Joe.

If you like great jazz singing combined with some smooth jazz instrumental sounds, this CD is for you.  Diane Hubka is the real thing.  Her singing skills are finely tuned and she is not afraid to push aside the safety net of the classic songs of the "Great American Songbook" and experiment with new approaches to new and old songs in her own personal way.

You can preview this CD on iTunes and I urge you to do so.  Diane's first CD "Haven't We Met" was released in 1999 featured alto sax legend Lee Konitz and received Jazz Nomination for "Best Recording Debut".  Her Latest CD "You Inspire Me" was released in Japan in 2007.

Note to all my California readers: Diane will be performing live on Oct. 20 at Vitello's Jazz & Super Club, 4349 Tujunga Blvd., Studio City Ca. 91604.  Reservations: 818-769-0905  If you are in the area, make the effort to catch her show, you will not regret it!

The Hagen/Steele Trio: Jazz Under The Desert Sun At Beautiful Le Paon Restaurant

This past Saturday afternoon March 5, my wife and I had the delightful experience of enjoying lunch at the French Restaurant, Le Paon.  This gem of a restaurant is located above the most beautiful street in the Desert, El Paseo in Palm Desert, California. The purpose of our visit, in addition to lunch was to hear the new trio put together by Marty Steele that features the wonderful vocal sounds of Laura Hagen and the always great bass sounds from Bill Siata. I heard Laura sing a song or two at a couple of jazz events I had attended here in the desert, and I was looking forward to hearing more.  The setting at Le Paon is as close to perfect as it can get.  Sunny, temperatures in the low 80's, dining outside under a crystal clear blue sky while listening to some really great jazz songs directly out of the "Great American Songbook".

Laura's performance of a lot of my favorite songs, including several made famous by the great Peggy Lee, were just outstanding.  She had the ability to sing not only up-tempo tunes but also soft love songs. we all love. My own regret was that it took me too long to get to hear Laura perform her full show.  In addition to Laura's great voice, the arrangements played were some of the best I have heard in a long, long time. I later found out that Marty had written all the arrangements for the group.

But there were others surprises that afternoon.  First, I heard Marty Steele play with many of the Jazz groups I follow out here, but I never really got the chance to hear Marty play some great solos with some slow standards.  In particular, Marty did a solo on the old chestnut, Laura, that was just wonderful. I also got to hear Marty do what Mel Torme was renowned for, scatting.  Marty referred to this as "mindless scatting" but it was far from mindless, it was right on target. I had been told by all of the musicians I respect out here that Marty is a really outstanding talent. I agreed after hearing him play several times but I really got to hear and study him close up on Saturday and he really is one of the best I have heard anywhere. The third member of the trio was the always great bassist, Bill Saitta.  I try to get to wherever Bill is playing because it is rare today that you can get to see any one of his talent playing the Stand Up Bass.  I love the way Bill can play standards and especially like listening to his intelligent jazz improvising lines.  He is just one of the great bass players I have heard.
The last surprise was hearing my favorite flutist here in the desert, direct from Vancouver Canada, Tom Keenlyside.  Tom has surprised us at many of the jazz concerts we have attended and it appears he has become part of the desert jazz family. He played a few numbers with the band, and did a remarkable solo on the evergreen gem, "Stella by Starlight".

The Steel/Hagen Trio performs at Le Paon Restaurant every Saturday afternoon from Noon to 3:00 PM. If and when you find yourself on El Paseo on Saturday, this is the place to be.  The restaurant is beautiful, the food is great, the weather is always good and the sounds from Laura, Marty and Bill make it the most perfect afternoon lunch you will ever have.

Marilyn Maye is Magical!

On Saturday, December 4 my wife and I attended the Marilyn Maye show at NJPAC titled: "Mercer...The Maye Way".  As we were leaving the theatre, I knew writing a review would be very difficult.  It is hard to find words to express and capture the talents of such a polished and talented performer. It's not just her voice that captures everyone in the audience. It's her stage presence and understanding of the meaning of the music and lyrics she sang. Sinatra once say that there were three qualities a singer must possess in order to become a major star.  One of the three was that a singer needed to project a personality to the audience that would make them wish they could hang out with the singer. Let me just get it out... I wish I could hang out with Marilyn Maye and gain insight about her life and how she has chooses her music.  She needs to write a  book, and I would offer a possible title: "The Maye Way".

Marilyn's program on Saturday evening was all Johnny Mercer with the exception of the first two songs.  Marilyn hit the ground running with an up tempo version of the great Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II song "The Song is You".  She followed with "Love Being Here With You". Lyrics written by Peggy Lee and music by Bill Schluger. From this point on it was all Johnny Mercer and Marilyn Maye.  Marilyn sang an unbelievable 30 Johnny Mercer songs in an  hour and 15 minutes without coming up for air. I think most of us have an appreciation for the songs and lyrics of Johnny Mercer but once you hear someone as talented as Marilyn Maye sing his songs one after another, you can't help but be in awe of this man's ability to write lyrics that tell stories we can all relate to.  Marilyn spoke of her admiration and love of Mercer's Music and the effort it had on her.  She then added that she never got the chance to meet him but if she did, she most likely would have married him. My take is a little different, if Johnny Mercer ever heard Marilyn Maye sing his songs, he would have wanted to married her!
I would like to list just a few of my personal favorite Johnny Mercer songs that Marilyn sang:
1.   Satin Doll
2.   Summer Wind
3.   Moon River
4.   Come Rain or Come Shine
5.   The Days of Wine & Roses
6.   That Old Black Magic
7.   Goody Goody
8.   I'm Old Fashioned
9.   Day In, Day Out
10. Too Marvelous For Words
11. Emily
12  Drinking Again
13. Laura
No one who loves songs and lyrics from the greatest American composers should miss the chance to hear Marilyn Maye sing live.  Don't take my word for it, listen to Ella Fitzgerald who called Marilyn "The greatest white female singer in the world".
If it was within my power, I would make it a requirement for all young singers to see and listen to Marilyn Maye before they ever perform.  She sets the mark for all American singers both young and old.