Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five
Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five was a jazz ensemble led by the band leader Artie Shaw in combo format , which he put together in changing line-ups from 1940 to 1954, primarily for studio recordings.
Band history
1940
Like other big band leaders of swing (such as Benny Goodman , Tommy Dorsey with his Clambake Seven and Bob Crosby with the Bobcats ), Artie Shaw put together a six-member ensemble of members of his orchestra after his return from Mexico in 1940; he named it after the New York switchboard. According to Gunther Schuller , this sextet represented the jazz "nucleus" of the Shaw orchestra, whereby it was a trick to use a harpsichord instead of the piano , which was played by Johnny Guarnieri . Stylistically, the music of the [first] Gramery Five was "an amalgam of the sextets by Benny Goodman and John Kirby as well as various boogie-woogie recordings."
For Artie Shaw, the sextet formation represented the opportunity to excel more than was possible in his orchestra as a clarinetist , wrote Gary Giddins ; "Although he never allowed himself more than 16 bars, he was the outstanding player - among the highlights were his wailing voicings for clarinet, guitar, trumpet and his exuberant and unexpected Klezmer turn at the end of" Dr Livingstone, I Presume? " ".
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The creation of the Gramercy Five dates back to September 19, 1939, when Shaw appeared on the Old Gold radio "Melody & Madness" show in New York City; the Shaw Orchestra played an English version of the Russian folk song "The Song of the Volga Boatmen", which was popular in the USA at the time, in which the King Sisters were only accompanied by the rhythm section .
The formation left only a few recordings; the discographer Tom Lord lists a total of twelve recording sessions of the band between September 1940 and June 1954. The original line-up consisted of their first record session for Victor Records on September 3, 1940 from Johnny Guarnieri, Billy Butterfield (trumpet), Artie Shaw (clarinet, arrangement), Al Hendrickson (guitar), Jud DeNaut (bass) and Nick Fatool (Drums). Four tracks were recorded, "Special Delivery Stomp", "Summit Ridge Drive", "Keepin 'Myself for You" and "Cross Your Heart". The 78 release of Shaw's composition "Summit Ridge Drive" (named after the street where Shaw's Hollywood home was) was also very successful commercially; the title reached position 10 on the US charts in January 1941, where it stayed for seven weeks. In mid-April 1944, “Summit Ridge Drive” was again in the American charts (# 29).
For Victor, Shaw and the Gramercy Five also recorded four more numbers on December 5, 1940 in Hollywood, "When the Quail Come Back to St. Quentin" (which was also released as V-Disc (# 468A) in 1940 ), the popular titles " (When Your Heart's on Fire) Smoke Gets in Your Eyes " and " My Blue Heaven " as well as Shaw's composition "Dr Livingstone, I Presume?", Named after the Henry Morton Stanley quote . In 1941, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” hit the American charts (# 24); the single "My Blue Heaven" (Victor 27405) was also released. In the same year Shaw first dissolved the ensemble.
Shortly before his death in 1988, Billy Butterfield had the following to say about working with the Gramercy Five :
- “It was a great little band. We rehearsed a lot, we worked on it, and every number we played was well prepared before we did it. Artie was a perfectionist , like Benny Goodman. Both were perfectionists. He treated us very well. He once said to me 'you know, to be a good player, you need practice and always have to live with the horn'. "
1945
In New York City, Artie Shaw put together a new edition of the Gramercy Five for another Victor session on January 9 and 10, 1945 ; with a "stronger staff who stood on the line between the high points of swing and the promises of bebop ," said Gary Giddins.
The two tracks "The Grabtown Grabble" and "The Sad Sack" were recorded by Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Artie Shaw, Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Morris Rayman (bass) and Lou Fromm (drums). Shaw, Eldridge, Kessel and Marmarosa made the arrangements . However, the new recordings were not very successful commercially; Shaw's audience at the time wanted to hear his radio hits, such as "Frenesi" or the Cole Porter number " My Heart Belongs to Daddy ", with which Shaw's orchestra reached # 22 in the US charts in 1946.
Two months later, two more titles, "I Was Doing All Right" and " You Took Advantage of Me, " were recorded in an NBC recording in Hollywood.
On July 31 and August 2, 1945, further recordings took place with the same cast; first the track “Scuttlebutt” was recorded, two days later “The Gentle Grifter”, “Hop, Skip and Jump” and two takes of “Misterioso”.
1949-1954
In December 1949 Shaw took on radio transcriptions, a total of five tracks including the standard " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes " and the "Pied Piper Theme". Shortly afterwards, in January 1950, with a similar cast, a recording session for Decca Records took place in New York City .
The Decca session was "disastrous" in Gary Giddins' view; the Gramercy Five had been trimmed down to a backing band. The two numbers "There Must Be Something Better Than Love" ( Dorothy Fields / Morton Gould ) and "Nothin 'from Nothin'" with Mary Ann McCall (vocals) were recorded. This edition of the Gramercy Five included Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Gil Barrios (piano), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Dick Nivison (bass) and Irv Kluger (drums). In April, the number "Crumbum" was recorded with a septet , as well as the number "Sheckomeeko Shuffle". Fagerquist was replaced by Lee Castle , Nivison by Teddy Kotick and Irv Kluger by Dave Williams; added tenor saxophonist Don Lanphere .
At the end of January 1951, Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five accompanied the pop vocalists June Hutton (“My Kinda Love” / “Dancing on the Ceiling”) and Don Cherry (“I Apologize” / “Bring Back the Thrill”) on four titles; Stan Freeman (piano), Danny Perri (guitar), Bob Haggart (bass) and Bunny Shawker (drums) now played in his band . Also for Decca, Shaw's Gramercy Five (this time with the line-up Bob Kitsis (piano), George Barnes , Trigger Alpert , Buddy Schutz ) accompanied singer Connee Boswell on August 1, 1952 on the tracks “Where There's Smoke There's Fire” and “My Little” Nest of Heavenly Blue ”. Another session took place a little later in New York with Tal Farlow , Hank Jones , Joe Roland , Tommy Potter and Irv Kluger; the recordings for the EP were released in the United States on Bell Records , in Europe on Guilde de Jazz and Jazztone.
In June 1954, with the recordings for the Clef album Artie Shaw and his Grammercy Five Album # 3 , Shaw put together a Gramercy Five for the last time . With the clarinetist in the studio were Hank Jones , Joe Puma , Tommy Potter and Irv Kluger . The program for the LP mostly consisted of popular jazz standards such as " My Funny Valentine ", " Too Marvelous for Words ", " Yesterdays ", " Tenderly " and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".
Appreciation
When the second edition of the Gramercy Five with Roy Eldridge was published, the author of the music magazine Billboard in 1945 praised Artie Shaw's revival of the band for a type of chamber music represented "genuine jazz pleasure". The author also praised the unison play in the living title The Grabtown Grabble .
Richard Grudens (1999) highlighted the titles Summit Ridge Drive, Special Delivery Stomp, My Blue Heaven and the lively The Grabtown Grabble among the “lightweight, jazz-oriented material” , but also mentions the importance of Shaw's New York session Tal Farlow , Hank Jones and Joe Puma .
Bruce Eder, the critic of Allmusic , especially the 1945-established with Roy Eldridge titles are interesting. Also in Allmusic, Scott Yanow highlighted these recordings in his review of the edition The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions , the tracks from 1940, My Blue Heaven, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and the hit Summit Ridge Drive . On the other hand, Shaw's later Gramercy Fives are not of the same quality as the two famous first editions.
For the critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton, the Gramercy Five Sessions sounded “surprisingly fresh, mainly thanks to the unwavering skill of the band leader and the beat produced by Butterfield (which sounds like Cootie Williams in Goodman's small ensemble) and Eldridge.” Youngsters at the time like Dodo Marmarosa and Barney Kessel would shine with solo entries.
Stuart Nicholson took the LP This Is Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five with the four RCA sessions from September and December 1940 and June / August 1945 in his book Essential Jazz Records ; he believes that with the band's few recordings, Shaw achieved a consistency that Benny Goodman circumvented and Lionel Hampton never achieved. Rather than Goodman with his sextet / septet, Shaw's music is catchy but powerful; And even if there were few drawn out solos, especially in the two early sessions, the constant interplay of these newly created mosaics always sounds purposeful, as in When the Quail Come Back to St. Quentin or the brisk, dynamic Special Delivery Stomp never just restless . The instruments are always juxtaposed in such a variety, range of timbres and different emphases that it is great how the listener's ears are constantly challenged. At this point, Stuart Nicholson also praised the not entirely undisputed use of the harpsichord in the 1940 sessions; Guarnieri plays the difficult instrument with just the right attitude; in Summit Ridge Stomp he is excellent, both in his solo and in dialogue with the winds and DeNaut's double bass.
Publications as a shellac record
| Title, composer (s) A-side | Title, composer (s) B-side | Label, number | Release | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Special Delivery Stomp (Shaw) |
Keepin 'Myself For You ( Sidney Clare , Vincent Youmans ) |
RCA Victor 26762 | 1940 | |
|
Summit Ridge Drive (Shaw) |
/ Cross Your Heart ( Buddy DeSylva , Lewis E. Genster ) |
RCA Victor 26763 | 1940 | |
|
Dr. Livingston, I Presume? (Shaw) |
When the Quail Come Back to San Quentin (Shaw) |
Victor 27289 | 1940 | At Dr. Livingston, I Presume? was the band name Artie Shaw's New Music . |
|
Dancing in the Dark ( Arthur Schwartz , Howard Dietz ) |
When Your Heart's On Fire Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ( Jerome Kern , Otto Harbach ) |
Victor 27335 | 1941 | The title Dancing in the Dark comes from Artie Shaw & His Orchestra |
|
Moonglow ( Eddie DeLange , Irving Mills , Will Hudson ) |
My Blue Heaven ( George Whiting , Walter Donaldson ) |
Victor 27405 | 1941 | The title Moonglow comes from Artie Shaw & His Orchestra |
|
Grabtown Grapple (Artie Shaw, Buster Harding ) |
The Sad Sack (Artie Shaw, Buster Harding) |
Victor 20-1647 | 1945 | NYC, Jan 9, 1945, with Jud Denaut, Lou Fromm, Barney Kessel, Dodo Marmarosa, Roy Eldridge |
|
Hop, Skip and Jump (Shaw, John Carleton) |
Mysterioso (Shaw, John Carleton) |
Victor 20-1800 | 1946 | Taken on August 2, 1945 |
|
The Gentle Grifter (Shaw) |
Scuttlebutt (Shaw) | Victor 20-1929 | 1946 | The Gentle Grifter was recorded on August 2, 1945. |
|
Cross Your Heart (DeSylva, Genster) / When the Quail Come Back to San Quentin (Shaw) |
On the Upbeat ( Al Killian ) |
V Disc 468 | 1845 | The B-side was from the Count Basie Orchestra |
| Nothin 'from Nothin' | There Must Be Something Better Than Love | Decca 24870 | 1950 | |
|
Crumbum (Shaw) |
Sheckomeeko Shuffle (Shaw) |
Decca 76100 | 1951 | both tracks were recorded on April 7, 1950. |
| Bring back the thrill | I apologize | Decca 27484 | 1951 | The two titles appeared on Decca under Don Cherry's name. |
| My Kinda Love | Dancing on the ceiling | Decca 27580 | 1951 | Title with June Hutton (vocals) |
|
Where There's Smoke There's Fire (Symes, Neiberg, Levinson) |
My Little Nest of Heavenly Blue | Decca 28377 | 1952 | With Connee Boswell |
|
Besame Mucho (Velazquez) |
That Old Feeling (Brown, Sammy Fain ) |
Bell Records 1023 | 1952 | With Tommy Potter, Tal Farlow, Hak Jones, Joe Roland, Irv Kluger |
|
Tenderly (Jack Lawrence, Walter Lloyd Gross ) |
Stop and Go Mambo (Shaw) |
Bell Records 1027 | 1954 | dto. |
|
Summit Ridge Drive (Shaw) |
Special Delivery Stomp (Shaw) |
RCA Victor 447-0058 | 1955 | New edition of the successful Summit Ridge Drive |
Discographic notes
- This Is Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five (RCA Victor EPBT 3013, 1952)
- Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five # 2 (Clef Records MG C-160, 1953)
- Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five Album # 3 (Clef Records MG C-630, 1954)
- Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five Album # 4 (Clef Records MG C-645, 1955)
- Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five (RCA Victor LP-M 1241, 1940–45, ed. 1956)
- The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions (Bluebird, ed. 1989)
Web links
- Artie Shaw & his Gramercy Five on Allmusic (English)
- Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions at Allmusic (English)
- ^ Günther Huesmann: Das Jazzbuch: Continued by Günther Huesmann . 2009
- ^ A b c Gerhard Klußmeier : Jazz in the Charts. Another View on Jazz History. Liner notes and accompanying book of the 100 CD edition. Membrane International GmbH, ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4 .
- ^ Gunther Schuller: The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 . 1991
- ^ A b c Gary Giddins: Visions of Jazz: The First Century . 2000, p. 206
- ↑ Based on the traditional Russian ballad Эй, ухнем!
- ↑ The Glenn Miller Orchestra in particular made the song known; but also The Squadronaires , Charlie Barnet , Billy May , Kenny Baker , Ray Brown , Maxwell Davis , Terry Lightfoot's New Orleans Jazzmen and the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra recorded the song in the following years.
- ^ Journal of Jazz Studies , Volumes 1-2 Cover Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies, 1973
- ↑ a b c d e f Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed November 25, 2016)
- ^ Gunter Schuller: The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 . P. 704
- ^ Alyn Shipton: Jazz Makers: Vanguards of Sound . 2002, p. 65
- ↑ Smoke Gets in Your Eyes at jazzstandards.com
- ↑ Artie Shaw And His Gramercy Five (RCA Victor LPM-1241) at Discogs
- ^ John White: Artie Shaw: His Life and Music , 2004, p. 99 f.
- ↑ a b c Decca 27000 - 27500 Numerical Listing at 78discography.com
- ^ Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five: Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five at Discogs
- ^ Billboard, March 31, 1945, p. 23.
- ^ Richard Grudens: Jukebox Saturday Night: More Memories of the Big Band Era and Beyond, page 4 . 1999, p. 29 f.
- ↑ This Is Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five on Allmusic (English)
- ^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette . 2nd Edition. Penguin, London 1994, ISBN 0-14-017949-6 , p. 1165.
- ↑ Stuart Nicholson: Essential Jazz Records: Volume 1: Ragtime to Swing , p. 361.
- ↑ Victor 27200-27500 at 78discography.com
- ↑ RCA Victor 20-prefix series at 78discography.com
- ↑ Decca 24500 - 25000 Numerical Listing at 78discography.com
- ↑ Decca 27500 - 28000 Numerical Listing at 78discography.com
- ↑ Decca 28000 - 28500 Numerical Listing at 78discography.com