Bob Freedman on GW Jr.: Aria

Last week I caught up with saxophonist and pianist Bob Freedman, who arranged for Maynard Ferguson (And We Listened from Ferguson's Message From Newport) and plenty of other bands, including Toshiko Akiyoshi's sextet on United Notions (1958), which I posted about last Wednesday. Bob told me a wonderful story about arranging for Grover Washington Jr.'s Aria album. Aria was recorded in May 1999 and was Washington's last album before his death of a heart attack at age 56 in December 1999:

"Aria was comprised of operatic arias featuring Grover soloing on soprano sax. Grover was quite enthused about the project, and we both thought it was just the beginning of a different direction for him. The album was done with with a 30-piece orchestra and came out great. [Photo above of Bob Freedman]

"Unfortunately, the orchestral arrangement I wrote for Amor ti Vieta (Love Forbids You), from Umberto Giordano's opera Fedora, with a libretto by Arturo Colautti, didn't come out as I had hoped. Everybody hated it, including me.

"But the record company [Sony Classical] still wanted the aria on the album so they decided to redo it the cheapest possible way—as a trio. The marvelous Billy Childs, the pianist on the original sessions, was in California by then and they didn't want to spend the money to bring him to New York. So I played piano and got into a musical mind-lock with [bassist] Ron Carter, who also had played on the orchestral sessions. I made a sketch of the piece, and after the first run-through with Grover, this was the only take. I love the recording every time I listen to it..." [Photo above of Billy Childs by Rob Davidson]

Amor Ti Vieta

Bob continues: ""I wrote the arrangements and conducted the sessions. While the album is far from perfect, in our defense, we thought it was a first step toward something big. Grover was a master of the soprano. If we had had the chance to move onward, I believe the instrument would have been used more often and other saxophones would have been used more judiciously. I thought you'd enjoy the letter Grover sent me after the album was done. I treasure it!" (Click the image below to enlarge, then shrink to size by holding down your control button and tapping the minus sign on your keyboard.)

JazzWax tracks: Grover Washington Jr.'s Aria (Sony Classical) is available here.

       

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OSHA finds Connecticut gauge manufacturer exposing workers to amputation, crushing and electrical hazards

U.S. Department of Labor | July 29, 2016 OSHA finds Connecticut gauge manufacturer exposing workersto amputation, crushing and electrical hazards Faria Beede Instruments Inc. faces $44K in fines for

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Documentary: Marvin Gaye

It's summer, it's Friday, it's time for Marvin. Here's a BBC documentary on the great Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye...

       

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OSHA, US Forest Service sign alliance to promote workplace safety and health in Pacific Northwest

U.S. Department of Labor | July 28, 2016 OSHA, US Forest Service sign alliance to promote workplacesafety and health in Pacific Northwest Participants: U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety

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Houston contractor found violating serious trench hazards for sixth time in 10 years; faces $124K in OSHA penalties

July 28, 2016 Houston contractor found violating serious trench hazardsfor sixth time in 10 years; faces $124K in OSHA penalties Oscar Renda Contracting ignores fatal risks in unprotected excavations

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OSHA finds Chicago-area electroplating company continues to expose workers to dangerous machine hazards, allow other safety hazards

July 28, 2016 OSHA finds Chicago-area electroplating company continues to expose workers to dangerous machine hazards, allow other safety hazards Arlington Plating Co. faces $115K in penalties for 5

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Two Queens contractors expose employees to fall, fire and electrical hazards at Chinatown construction site, OSHA finds

U.S. Department of Labor | July 28, 2016 Two Queens contractors expose employees to fall, fire and electricalhazards at Chinatown construction site, OSHA finds W&L Group Construction Inc., Top Master

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Powering Continuous Improvement: Driving Safety Excellence in the Electric Power Sector

H. Ricardo Moreno, Richard Eagles and Martin Kris

A year-over-year improvement in the frequency and severity of injuries and fatalities is an achievement worth celebrating, but the electric power sector needs to step up safety efforts to achieve continuous improvement.

The power industry is, by nature, fraught with high-hazard potential and recognized occupational risks. Thanks to the collective efforts of industry players and associations alike, the sector has gone through a steady year-over-year improvement in the frequency and severity of employee and contractor injuries and fatalities. This is certainly an achievement worth celebrating.

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OSHA cites Great Southern Peanut for combustible dust, improper machine guarding and other safety, health hazards; proposes more than $110K in fines

U.S. Department of Labor | July 28, 2016 OSHA cites Great Southern Peanut for combustible dust, improper machine guarding and other safety, health hazards; proposes more than $110K in finesCompany ci

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Documentary: Fats Waller

Jazz's sense of humor began with Louis Armstrong but was raised to a new level of sophistication by Fats Waller in the 1930s. Here's a documentary that will fill you in on the pianist and composer...

Here's Part 1....

 

Here's Part 2...

 

Here's Part 3...

 

And here's Part 4...

 

       

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Water Hemlock: Wildflower Wednesday

A couple of weeks ago, my thirty-something daughter was busy gathering wildflowers for her brother’s wedding. “Mom, do you know what that plant is?” There it was, growing in our backyard along the creek. I am pretty sure it has been there ever since we moved in almost five years ago. But no, I didn’t […]

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Inspection finds Ohio stone fabricator again exposes workers to harmful noise, respiratory dangers at stone-cutting yard

July 27, 2016 Inspection finds Ohio stone fabricator again exposes workersto harmful noise, respiratory dangers at stone-cutting yard Cleveland Granite & Marble faces $63K in OSHA penalties CLEVELAND

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OSHA finds Windsor adhesive tape manufacturer exposed workers to widespread electrical, fire, chemical hazards

U.S. Department of Labor | July 27, 2016 BOS 2016-117 OSHA finds Windsor adhesive tape manufacturer exposed workersto widespread electrical, fire, chemical hazards OSHA cites Scapa North America LLC

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KEEN Utility Takes a Fearless Approach to Workplace Safety

I recently traveled to Portland, Oregon to tour the KEEN manufacturing facility with other media types and I was impressed with KEEN and its operations in Portland.

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OSHA cites Pilgrim's Pride for medical mismanagement, fall, machine guarding and other safety, health hazards; proposes $78K in fines

U.S. Department of Labor | July 27, 2016 OSHA cites Pilgrim's Pride for medical mismanagement, fall, machine guarding and other safety, health hazards; proposes $78K in fines Chicken producer faces 1

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What Do You Know About EHS Management Systems

Sponsored by EtQ Inc.

Take the EHS Management Systems pop quiz and enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Sponsored by Schmersal Inc. 

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Toshiko Akiyoshi: United Notions

Globalization once was a guiding principal for the United States. With the proliferation of Communism in the 1950s, America moved quickly to make friends with as many countries around the world as it could. The United Nations was a big deal, Sixth Ave. in New York was known as Avenue of the Americas and the U.S. favored nations in Asia and Africa winning their independence after years of colonial rule. [Photo above of Toshiko Akiyoshi in Boston in 1958, with conductor Arthur Fiedler]

On the cutting edge of American international diplomacy was jazz. The State Department paid for trips by musicians to every continent to build cultural bridges. American jazz musicians such as Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann, Louis Armstrong and Randy Weston were featured on albums visiting other countries. At the same time, foreign jazz musicians were relocating to the U.S. to study and play. One of those was pianists was Toshiko Akiyoshi (above with Alan Dawson).

In 1958, two years after moving from Japan to Boston to study on a scholarship at the Berklee School of Music, Toshiko recorded United Notions, a little-known sextet album that featured a band with a range of nationalities. The band featured Doc Severinsen (tp) Rolf Kuhn (cl,as/German) Bobby Jaspar (ts,bar,fl/Belgian) Toshiko Akiyoshi (p/Japanese) Rene Thomas (g/Canadian) John Drew (b/English) and Bert Dahlander (d/Swedish). Nat Adderley replaced Severinsen on Jane, Strike Up the Band and United Notions.

Everyone in Toshiko's sextet hailed from another country except for the trumpet chair, which represented the U.S. Toshiko was influenced by Bud Powell and her smart piano approach is featured on each of the tracks. The album appeared originally on the MetroJazz label and the arrangements are terrific. Unfortunately, the album doesn't mention who wrote them. Two of the album's songs—Jane and Civilized Folk—were composed and arranged by Bob Freedman. I spoke to Bob last night and he believes Toshiko wrote the other charts.

The arrangements are universally lovely and the band is sophisticated and magnificent. Tracks include Broadway, Bobby Jaspar's Sukiyaki, Oscar Pettiford's Swingin' Til the Girls Come Home, Toshiko's United Notions, Bob Freedman's Civilized Folk, Gershwin's Strike Up the Band and Bob's Jane.

What make this album particularly special is the mastery and patience of the foreign players. Toshiko has a delicate touch and is routinely surprising while Jaspar, Thomas (above) and Kuhn swing together perfectly. The trumpets of Adderley and Severinsen punctuate without overwhelming. A shame that today we can't learn from the past and let exceptional jazz musicians handle our diplomacy. In 1958, this album's coalition of players made it look easy.

JazzWax tracks: Toshiko Akiyoshi's United Notions is available as a bonus on The Rene Thomas Quintet: Guitar Groove (Fresh Sound) from 1960 here and here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Bobby Jaspar's Sukiyaki on United Notions...

 

And here's Bob Freedman's Jane...

      

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• Harry Arnold: Guest Book, 1960

 

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Better Late Than Never: OSHA, U.S. Steel Reach Settlement in Injury Reporting Case

The federal government sued U.S. Steel for retaliating against workers who reported workplace injuries several days after they occurred, in violation of the company’s immediate reporting policy.

In what sounds like a case of good intentions gone bad, U.S. Steel in 2014 disciplined two employees for violating the company’s immediate reporting policy for injuries. The purpose of the policy is to ensure injuries are reported in a timely manner. OSHA, however, claimed the policy punished the workers for reporting injuries, a violation of whistleblower statutes.

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OSHA cites grain handling, processor for exposing workers to grain, noise, fall hazards at Nebraska site

July 26, 2016 OSHA cites grain handling, processor for exposing workersto grain, noise, fall hazards at Nebraska site Employer name: New Alliance9620 S. Railroad Ave.Bridgeport, Nebraska Citations re

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Pyongsan America, Staffing Agency Drive Up $106,000 in OSHA Fines

Workers at the auto parts manufacturer’s Auburn, Ala. plant were exposed to multiple safety hazards. OSHA considers placing the company in its Severe Violators Enforcement Program.

Pyongsan America, Inc. and its staffing agency are facing a combined $106,020 in fines after workers were found to be at risk of amputation.

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Woody Shaw: The Tour, Vol. 1

Let's stick with 1976. Yesterday I posted about Dolo Coker's California Hard, a superb album recorded by the pianist for Xanadu in December of that year. Today, let's dig a newly released album by a working band formed by drummer Louis Hayes in '76 to tour Europe. The live album, Woody Shaw and Louis Hayes: The Tour, Volume One (High Note), was recorded in Stuttgart, Germany, on March 22, 1976.

Recorded at the height of the jazz-rock fusion movement—when mysticism, psychedelia and electronic instruments overwhelmed the beauty of jazz's original intent—Hayes pushed back. Along with Shaw, he was determined to prove that acoustic jazz was alive and significant in Brooklyn, where many top jazz musicians lived and networked. As this album makes clear, acoustic jazz remained vibrant and meaningful into the late 1970s.

The idea for the band came when pianist Cedar Walton returned from a tour of Europe that year and told Hayes that a producer there wanted him to bring a band over. According to Hayes in the liner notes written by Woody Shaw III, the album's producer, he brought together tenor saxophonist Junior Cook (above), pianist Ronnie Mathews and bassist Stafford Jones. Woody Shaw was only too happy to join. As Woody Shaw III writes, "Both men shared common paths through the music and were devoted to ensuring the preservation of its highest standards by way of the collective mettle of their accumulated efforts, their sense of persistence and total devotion to craft."

The album is dazzling and absorbing. It opens with Shaw's The Moontrane, which somehow sounds and feels more urgent than on any other recording of the song that I've heard. Larry Young's hypnotic Obsequious is next, with fiery solos by Cook and Shaw (above) that never run out of ideas or off the rails. Walter Booker and Cedar Walton's Book's Bossa is a Horace Silver-like Latin cooker that pulsates with energy.

Ronnie Mathews (above) tears up the keyboard on his modal composition Ichi-Ban, reaffirming how great a physical pianist he was. Peggy Stern's funky Sun Bath is as close to a ballad as any tune on this album is going to get. It was first recorded by Shaw a year earlier on his album Love Dance. The last song on the album is the standard Invitation. Shaw and Cook quickly dispense of the song's melody and proceed to turn up the heat and take the tune apart.

Interestingly, this album is the first to shed light on the quintet that Hayes assembled and took to Europe in early 1976. To my knowledge, there are no other known live recordings of the band abroad. I'm not sure how this tape surfaced. My guess is the concert was recorded by the band but foolishly wasn't picked up by leading labels when the musicians returned to the States. I'm just glad Woody Shaw III released it with the help of Joe Fields of High Note Records. The music is enormously exciting and important.

Through this album, we now know what the Europeans heard when the band arrived. The music is breathtaking and among Shaw's finest outings, not to mention the efforts of a perfectly chosen group. As this quintet proved in 1976, acoustic jazz as a creative force wasn't dead. The record labels at the time were another matter.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Woody Shaw and Louis Hayes: The Tour, Volume One (High Note) here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Obsequious...

Obsequious

       

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