Swinging with Jazz + Blues

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zaac · #1 Post by **zaac** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 2:18 am

I made some research about Jimmy Witherspoon music. I'm crazy of this album : Jazz Me Blues, and more generally, all his songs that mixed Jazz Orchestration (sometimes with organ) with blues melody .

I know some albums but i would find others with your help

- Black And Blue Sessions of various artists
- Ray charles (Jazz + Blues)

Do you know others albums , others artists ?

LazyP · #2 Post by **LazyP** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 4:40 am

Spoon's Blues

I bought this album years before I got into swing. Awesome jazzy blues album. A few great songs for lindy (Lotus Blossom, Playful baby etc.) and the rest of the album is superb slow blues.

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Edit, corrected album title name

main_stem · #3 Post by **main_stem** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:51 am

zaac wrote:
I know some albums but i would find others with your help

- Black And Blue Sessions of various artists

Actually Black and Blue was set up to record lesser known swing era and some post swing era artists that were no longer recording in the 70's. That's way you have albums lead by Cat Anderson, Slam Stewart, Joe Turner (Not Big Joe Turner) and the like. There some blues artisit represented in the collection, including Jimmy Witherspoon with Panama Francis and the Savoy Sultans, but no empahasis on the style of swingin blues on Jazz Me Blues.

-Kevin

PS If you know how to get these in the States, ping me. They are very elusive.

#4 Post by **JesseMiner** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:07 am

While Kevin is correct about many of the Definitive Black & Blue Sessions having a strong focus on jazz musicians, there is still plenty of great swinging blues material featured. Here are a few from the series that I would recommend:

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Sings Louis Jordan
Helen Humes - Let The Good Times Roll
Jay McShann - Confessin' The Blues
Carrie Smith - When You're Down And Out
Big Joe Turner - Texas Style
Eddie Vinson - Kidney Stew
Eddie Vinson and Jay McShann - Jumpin' The Blues (live)
Jimmy Witherspoon - & Panama Francis' Savoy Sultans

These, among others from the series, are all listed as available from Hepcat Records and have been so for years. I've also found many at Borders and was lucky enough to get a bunch of great deals when a large shipment showed up at Ameoba in LA a year or two ago.

Granted many of these are perhaps not exactly what you are asking for in this thread. For more specific suggestions of songs/albums "that mixed Jazz Orchestration (sometimes with organ) with blues melody", here are a few to get you started:

Barbara Morrison - "Stormy Monday" and "Confessin' The Blues" (off of I'm Gettin' 'Long All Right)
Barbara Morrison - Live at the 9:20 Special
Charles Brown - "Money's Getting Cheaper" (off of So Goes Love)
Yoko Noge - Struttin with Yoko

I'll leave the Jimmy Witherspoon recommendations to Lawrence as I know he has many.

Jesse

wheresmygravy · #5 Post by **wheresmygravy** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 3:07 pm

We have a local band called "Big T and the Bada Bings" which the leader likes to call a 23 piece Blues Big Band. Here is the link to their CD:

There are quite a few good blues and jump blues tunes.

Check out:

Pride and Joy
Dance with Me
Sweet Little Angel
Stormy Monday

Also the last two cuts are live cuts:

Let The Good Times Roll
Ain't Nobody's Business

Lawrence · #6 Post by **Lawrence** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:39 am

JesseMiner wrote:I'll leave the Jimmy Witherspoon recommendations to Lawrence as I know he has many.

'Spoon did just become my very good friend when I re-organized all the CDs of his that I own two weekends ago. But I'm far from having a wide breadth of selection.

Nonetheless, by coincidence, I did just happen to find an amazing Witherspoon CD that I've never heard at a Lindy event and made it the Austin Lindy Album of the week: "Spoon's Blues," a 1995 release on Stony Plain records. It's a later recording, and his vocals faded later in life, but the back-up band and sound quality is so amazing on this one that it is still worth it. It is DEFINITELY solidly in the "groove" camp (, modern sound, omnipresent bass, sharp drum syncopation, soft bass attack with long sustain), for those who care to expand their groove collection (or avoid it entirely). (Note: Internet sound samples don't do the sound quality justice).

"Singin the Blues" (1959 Blue Note) is the seminal Witherspoon album, especially for slow Blues. (The third time I've mentioned this fairly widespread album in the past few weeks.) Not as solidly "groove" oriented, but still leaning in that direction. It does have a lot of overlap with the "Jazz Me Blues" CD mentioned at the top of the thread, though.

And I just got "Spoon Concerts," (1989 Fantasy) which has some of his most famous live performances, including one from Monterrey in 1959 that revived his career. Perhaps as an indicator of how good it is, it's not re-sold much. I checked over 20 used CD websties, and it's completely unavailable in the used online market.

Nate Dogg · #7 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 2:08 am

Lawrence wrote:
And I just got "Spoon Concerts," (1989 Fantasy) which has some of his most famous live performances, including one from Monterrey in 1959 that revived his career. Perhaps as an indicator of how good it is, it's not re-sold much. I checked over 20 used CD websties, and it's completely unavailable in the used online market.

For those of you still on eMusic, the Spoon Concerts has been available on eMusic for some time now.

Swifty · #8 Post by **Swifty** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:35 am

Best Witherspoon album ever, just because of the cover:

Ah, the 80's.

Lawrence · #9 Post by **Lawrence** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 5:55 pm

Earland has some great Lindy tunes on other albums, but no better CD "art" than this one.

SwingDJs

Swinging with Jazz + Blues

Swinging with Jazz + Blues

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