Las Cuevas de Mario

I've never bought the Art Pepper LP "Smack Up", but I did manage to find the 45 somewhere. I've always rather liked the flip side of the record, "Las Cuevas de Mario". The song is a blues in 5/4 time, the title refering to a friend and drug supplier known by Art back in the day. He talks about Mario Cuevas in his book "Straight Life".

Like "Take Five", "Las Cuevas" features an odd meter, a simple repetitious riff in the piano and a catchy melody on alto sax. Because it was released the year after Brubeck's "Time Out" album, I assume that's no coincidence, and that the song was indeed patterned on "Take Five".

"Las Cuevas" was recorded twice by Art, the first time with Jack Sheldon on trumpet. That's the version I'm posting here. It's from my "House Advantage (Fake) Book".

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Take Five

"Take Five", recorded by Paul Desmond with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, must be the most popular jazz record ever made. The album (Time Out) sold over a million copies when it came out, tons of singles were pressed and the song was everywhere back in the 60's.

So I'm sure the sheet music is not particularly rare. I don't remember buying this copy, but I'm happy to own it.

This selection is a prelude to my next posting, a somewhat similar song which didn't have nearly the same popularity.

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Walk Tall

Here's another one from my House Advantage (Fake) Book.

When I set out to buy my first jazz record I was guided by a source I considered to be impeccable - Playboy magazine. Back in the 60's their yearly Jazz poll was essential advice to the would-be hipster. Cannonball Adderley was the perennial winner in the alto sax slot, so I considered him a safe bet for my three and a half dollars.

I probably picked his 74 Miles Away - Walk Tall album because of the cover photo, with its double image of Cannon in a helicopter. "That's out there!", as he might say. The record is heavily in the gospel-blues soul-jazz vein, and really appealed to me right away.

Joe Zawinul's "Walk Tall" is in one of the fake books, of course, but that version is too sketchy to use. I've written it out here the way I hear it - with the bass line, the 2-part alto/trumpet harmonies, the circle of fifth major triad progression, etc. I've included some of the piano fills, as well.

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52nd Street Theme

This copy of Dizzy Gillespie's 52nd Street Theme came from an incredible estate sale where I bought at least 5000, maybe 6000 78's - along with sheet music, record catalogs, etc. Several other people did well at that sale, but I did most of the heavy lifting.

I have more sheet music in this series. I'll post it later.

By the way, the "5" written on the cover is the price that someone paid 25 or 30 years ago. He got this at a thrift store for 5 cents!

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Griff's Groove

I was with two friends at Honest Al's used record store in the U district about 1973. One friend was recommending this album to the other. The second friend declined, so I snatched it up. It's still one of my favorite records, and the Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band is my all-time favorite band.

"Griff's Groove" was my favorite cut on the album. Johnny Griffin's playing is very expubident and the head is a real interesting take on the blues. I like the parallel voicings in the saxes. But I especially like the shout section, where Francy Boland brings back the background riffs in the saxes and trombones and combines them with the trumpets to make 3 part counterpoint. I've used this technique in one or two of my own arrangements. It takes some heavy cyphering to pull it off, but it can be very effective.

A few years ago I decided to do a record copy on the tune. The chart seemed to work quite well. All the parts are here, but I didn't include the score. I'd be real interested in getting more Francy Boland charts if anyone has them available - email me.

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More Mercy

Here is the sheet music to Cannonball Adderley's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy". It looks a bit beat up, so I probably got it at a thrift store.

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Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

It was about 1969 when my high school stage band played our first contest, in Vancouver, WA. We did the Quincy Jones arrangement of "One Mint Julep" that had been recorded by Ray Charles. We had no idea where the chart had come from, of course.

Oddly enough, several bands were playing an arrangement of a stupid song I had been hearing on the radio. I had never heard of the Cannonball Adderley recording or the Phil Wilson arrangement done by Buddy Rich, the Nancy Wilson vocal (lyrics by Gail Fisher - Mannix's secretary), or any of the other many versions of Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" that were being released at the time. I was only aware of the Buckinghams' record. I wasn't exactly impressed with the song. So why was this chart so popular with high school bands that year?

Well, it turned out that the Phil Wilson score had been published in a magazine. Any band director with a pencil and some manuscript paper could copy parts out and have a free chart for their band - and a professional chart at that! Arrangements by the pros weren't nearly as easy to come by at that time.

Eventually I managed to get a copy for myself, and I'm happy to share it with you here.

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Fat Girl

This one is from my House Advantage (Fake) Book.

I probably got the 78 of Fats Navarro's "Fat Girl" at an Oregon City record show, back in the 80's. It's hard to be sure, but I got a lot of great 78's there and I think this was one of them. I have it now on LP and cd, of course, but this was the first time I had heard the song. Naturally I'm going to love anything by Fats and Leo Parker. The flip side, by the way, is Serge Chaloff's "A Bar a Second".

We played "Fat Girl" in a combo at North Seattle Community College with Fred Radke. It was a big hit with the band. Nick Davis was playing bass and he was the one who got to yell, "Fat Girl! Fat Girl!".

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Lemon Drop

I was at my grandparents' house in about 1970 when I first discovered the Woody Herman version of George Wallington's Lemon Drop. A screaming big band arrangement by Shorty Rogers, it immediately became my all-time favorite record - and it still is. I have it on 12" LP, 10" LP, 45, 78 bw/ Early Autumn and 78 bw/ I Ain't Gettin' Any Younger.

I have a few other versions also - Gene Krupa, Phil Woods and a couple of other Woody Herman recordings (one featuring Charlie Parker). Too much, I know...

The Woody Herman version is the best, of course. Shorty Rogers wrote a wild, brassy arrangement for the band that features a novelty bop vocal by Woody, Terry Gibbs and Chubby Jackson. There are also solos by Woody, Terry, Red Rodney, Earl Swope and my favorite of course, Serge Chaloff. And it's all packed into a frantic 3 minutes! This record rivals the best of Dizzy Gillespie.

I knew the sheet music was out there, but the only place I've found it is ebay.

I'd love to get a copy of Shorty Rogers' arrangement, if anyone has it available - email me.

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The Connection

The Connection was "... a groundbreaking 1959 off-Broadway play from New York City's Living Theater group, written by Jack Gelber... it remains a cultural landmark of both early-1960s jazz and theater--a moment when the jazz world found itself in the service of avant-garde drama. "

There were at least 3 scores for The Connection - the "New Original Score" by Cecil Payne and Kenny Drew, the West Coast score by Dexter Gordon and this, the original by Freddie Redd. David Brent Johnson did a radio show on his Night Lights program:

http://www.indiana.edu/~wfiu/nl_091104connection.htm

I first found the Cecil Payne record at a record show (for $1). I loved the record, and was intrigued by the title. I mean if this is the "New Original" there must be an original "Original". Eventually I managed to get the Freddie Redd/Jackie McLean recordings, the 3 Dexter Gordon recordings, the movie on dvd and the radio show. I'm still looking for the other Freddie Redd recordings done with Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks.

By the way, if you're in Seattle and interested in playing music from The Connection, contact me. I have done transcriptions from all 3 scores and we're working on some of the tunes at Shoreline Community College.

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