#mezzrow’s

[theloniousbach]

LIVESTREAM: BILLY DRUMMOND with David Virelles and Dezron Douglas, MEZZROW’S, 22 NOVEMBER 2024, 9 pm set

I chose this set over Orrin Evans at Small’s (also a two night run, so I can get that tonight) and a Smoke show with Renee Rosnes (which I can watch during the day as an Almost Livestream). This way I can have my pie a la mode and eat it all too.

After Emmet Cohen at Jazz St Louis the night before, I stuck with the trio format. Evans has a flute player (interesting) and Rosnes has Steve Nelson on vibraphone, so those fresher quartet formats have a continuity. That Drummond and Rosnes were married once is a further coincidence, but an insignificant one.

As trios go, this is the one you want to put in Mezzrow’s as Cohen et al is just way too big. Joe Farnsworth has played Mezzrow’s but that tones him way down. BILLY DRUMMOND does amazing things, particularly on the cymbals, but with a subtle grace. Like Cohen, he both talks at length with fondness for his colleagues and a reverence for the calling of being a jazz musician. Equally, he picked a quirky, diverse set (Mulgrew Miller, Frank Kimbrough, Grachan Moncur III, Thelonious Monk!!!, and a standard (Laura, I think they said in the huddle). Dezron Douglas was, like Reuben Rogers, extremely strong and was, for my money, the night’s key player. His playing was sparer than I remember (more tours with Trey Anastasio playing electric bass on simpler rock tunes?), but still quite essential. He danced with Drummond and, frankly, grounded David Virelles who continues to strike me as fidgety to the point of getting in his own way instead of letting go. The standard was a little better he synced up nicely with Douglas on the riff in the Moncur, but he never flat out swung. Comparing just about anyone to Emmet Cohen would be unfair, but more often than not Virelles’ rhythm is not as strong as you would expect a Cuban to be.

But Drummond and Douglas delivered and it was a worthwhile set.

[peninsularian]

Small-band Swing, 1936

[incorrectpepperann]

Gwen: Milo, we’re being shipped! How cute!

Milo: We’re being shipped where? Can it be somewhere hot?

[evilhorse]

Nexus (Volume 2) #80

[tejedac]

Les harmonies vintage · Playlist

Cab Calloway & his Orchestra · Ted Lewis · Scott Joplin ·The Ink Spots · Muggsy Spanier · Sister Rosetta Tharpe · Jelly Roll Morton · Rose Murphy · Leo Monosson · Kid Ory · Vera Lynn · Comedian Harmonist · Al Bowlly · Mezz Mezzrow · Carroll Gibbons · Elizabeth Cotten · Barnabas von Geczy · The Mills Brothers · The Firehouse Five Plus Two · Mississippi Sheiks · Sippie Wallace · Walter Barnes & his Royal Creolians · Cannon's Jug Stompers · Savannah Churchill · Frank Stokes · The Andrews Sisters · Bunny Berigan · Blind Boy Fuller · Gus Viseur · Barbecue Bob · Harry Roy and his Bat Club Boys · Robert Wilkins · Marek Weber · Tino Rossi · Django Reinhardt · Coleman Hawkins · Red Nichols · Tiny Parham · Mamie Smith her Jazz Hounds · Paul Specht · Ma Rainey · Robert Pete Williams · Sam Morgan's Jazz Band · Bernie Moten · King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band · Sam Lanin and his Orchestra · Tony Murena · Original Dixieland Jazz Band · Helen Kane · Ray Ventura · etc,

[pepperannincorrect]

Gwen Mezzrow: Milo! I’m so happy, I could kiss you! Milo: Uh… thanks! *later* Milo, lying face down on Nicky's bed: I can't believe I thanked her, Nicky. Thanked her. She wanted to kiss me and I said "thanks". Why? Because I'm a huge moron. Nicky, patting him on the back: Don’t beat yourself up over it. Things like that happen. Remember when Stewart said he loved me? Milo: Didn’t you say “neat”? Nicky, staring into the distance: I said “neat”.

[moaninmoonen]

Mezzrow - King Of The Infinite Void

MezzrowVEVO

[davidisen]

NYC Music Safari, Part 3

[Updated to include December 27, 28, 29, 30]

On Wednesday, December 27, I caught the early show at Birdland, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band.

That's Ostwald on the tuba, Will Anderson on clarinet, Joe Boga on trumpet, Jim Fryer on trombone. Not visible in the back row, Vince Giordano (banjo) and Alex Raderman (percussion).

Will takes a solo, revealing Vince and Alex. I've seen the show several times. Same cheesy jokes, same over-learned moves and dialog, but great, spectacularly great, expertly executed music.

At Birdland I sat next to Anna, an impressive young lady. She didn't know anything about jazz, but clearly took huge delight in the music!

Got down to the Zinc Bar just in time to meet Neal and Peter for the Miss Maybell show.

Miss Maybell had an expert supporting cast of Brian Nalepka (bass), Dan Levinson (reeds) and Andy Stein (violin). And, it goes without saying (or showing), Andy Judkins was ragging the keys next to Miss Maybell's right elbow.

On December 29, Peter and I got to Mezzrow early, so we heard the last half of the early set from the back of the room, and then had a band-side table for the second set.

It was the Chuck Redd trio, with Chuck on vibraphone, Neal Miner on bass, and (not shown) John DiMartino (piano).

There's John DiMartino.

Chuck has total command of the vibes. When I first saw him in a combo at Dizzys, he was completely new to me and so impressive that I had to hear more.

One Sunday night at The Ear, Chuck sat at our band-side table and played a rhythm on the table with drum brushes. I held an empty glass for him, and occasionally he'd hit it.

The surprise of the evening was Janis Siegel, of the original Manhattan Transfer, who sang a couple. Ooh!

On Saturday, December 30, Neal and I went to see Les Chauds Lapins at Pangea.

Anybody who plays the banjolele like it's a serious instrument is crazy enough to be a friend of mine. Kurt Hoffman and Meg Reichardt play French swing from the 1900s with style and humor. The French I learned in school wasn't quite enough to keep up with them, but occasionally I'd catch one of their double entendres.

The band's name, for example. Les Chauds Lapins literally means hot rabbits, but the better French syntax would be "les lapins chauds." I looked it up. Chaud lapin is an idiom for horny guy, or ladies' man.

Kurt and Meg were charming performers and good musicians. They were backed up by a violist, a cellist and a bass player who stayed decidedly in a supporting role.

On Saturday, December 30, Garrett Manley (guitar), Shane Del Robles (percussion) and Ian Hutchinson (bass) played a delightful brunch gig at The Canary Club in Chinatown.

Typical NYC gig - take three world-class musicians, hire them for your 15-seat cafe, and stuff them in a corner by the closet. By the way, the food was excellent.

That's Shane's washboard "kit."

That evening I went to see Quince Marcum at Barbes. He's one of the bartenders there, but he has a quirky folksongy genius.

He plays Bouzouki, not guitar. And he sings in at least three languages.

So ... tonight is New Years Eve. The prospect is a little bit frightening.

[bobbybroomguitar]

In October 17th, join me as I take the bandstand with legendary guitarist Russell Malone at New York’s Mezzrow Jazz Club.

The show will be recorded by the SmallsLIVE Foundation for Jazz Art and Education, which archives every show performed at Mezzrow. Since the Archive’s inception in 2007, it has collected more than 17,000 recordings.

Russell Malone is a largely self-taught guitarist who has toured internationally with numerous jazz greats and is a member of Ron Carter’s famed Golden Striker Trio.

This will be a night of jazz guitar celebration in a “candle-lit jazz listening room featuring an elegant wine list and cocktail menu.”

I will also be performing with the Bobby Broom/Peter Bernstein Quartet at Zinc on the October 16th.

For tickets and more event information, see my Link In Bio. 🔝

📷: ? (Please let me know if you recognize the photographer for these shots.)

[jpbjazz]

Mezz Mezzrow et Louis Armstrong

[aurelianasrandomramblings]

Mezz Mezzrow - Jazz Musician

I just did learn about Mezz Mezzrow, a jazz musican and cannabis dealer.

He was so in love with jazz and afro-american culture that he declared himself a "voluntary Negro" and was accepted. He was listed as "Negro" on his draft card and his wikipedia entry mentioned that he was transferred into the black section of a segregated prison after being arrested for possessing sixty joints.

Inside the jazz scene he was so well known for his dealing that "Mezz" became slang for marijuana. Louis Armstrong was one of his biggest customers.

[theloniousbach]

FROM THE SMALLS LIVE ARCHIVE: CHAMPIAN FULTON with Hide Tanaka and Fukushi Tainaka, MEZZROW’S, 9 NOVEMBER 2024, 7:30 pm set

Well, if I can listen to a piano/guitar/bass trio (as I did last time with Michael Kanan), then I can listen to a pianist who sings with bass and drums as I strive to be less cranky and stuck in my ways as I age. CHAMPIAN FULTON was quite worth it as she is a full bodied pianist with both power and taste. One blurb put her in the Oscar Peterson tradition. While I don’t have enough perspective to confirm that opinion, it’s suggestive and probably in the right direction.

Her voice is fine, if far more wavering than her piano. I also appreciate that she doesn’t have too many of the jazz singer affectations that try my limited patience. I don’t mind scatting in moderation, but she didn’t do that. But she also merely syncopates and doesn’t distort the rhythm which does irritate me. Above all, she swings.

Of course, she would with that band, starting with the pianist who has drive and invention. Hide Tanaka has a rich woody sound and plays forcefully, though his bowed solo on Louis Armstrong’s Someday You’ll Be Sorry was the stunner. Fulton explained that it was written in response to his wife’s affair with his drummer, causing her to wonder if the lyrics are directed at him too. In any case, Tanaka played the same figure in different octaves as if in an argument. Extremely inventive.

This was billed as a 70th birthday celebration for Fukushi Tainaka and he is youthful (hey, 70 isn’t that old, right? Talk to me in a year.) and spry. His showcase—lots of rims and cymbals but even hitting the bass drum with his stick—was on the sole instrumental, Happy Camper. But throughout he was, like Tanaka, technically brilliant and, better, responsive. This band has been together for 20 years (and she’s not quite 40–the daughter of trumpeter and Clark Terry Foundation administrator, Stephen Fulton). That experience and lineage tell.

But, even more, I think, it is that she sings (and well) and therefore inhabits songs in a very noticeable way. Dexter Gordon would quote whole verses of ballads by way of introducing them and Bill Charlap also knows and wants us to know the lyrics. Fulton not only knows them but contributes them to the proceedings and we watch her play the context that’s in her head. It was Diane Reeves’ Social Call, Cole Porter’s It’s All Right with Me, What a Difference a Day Makes, Baubles Bangles and Beads, the instrumental, My Ideal, the Armstrong, and I Only Have Eyes for You. Nice stuff and nicely aligned with my mood, even if/because there were songs.

[tamarabeck]

Live at

Mezzrow Jazz Club (aka Smalls by which name you may know it). The Anderson brothers, twins on sax [Peter, tenor; Will, alto]. It’s Rossano Sportiello on piano. They will play at 7:30 and 9 on Jul 16th. You’ll be treated to a classic jazz concert. That era highlights Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington ‘mong others. Enjoy. Tickets

[incorrectpepperann]

Cissy: Trinket St. Blair is flawless. Nicky: She has two Fendi purses and her parents drive a silver Lexus. Milo: I hear her hair's ensured for $10,000. Gwen Mezzrow: I hear she does car commercials...in Japan. Constance: Her favorite movie is Clueless. Tessa: One time she met JTT on a plane... Vanessa: ...and he told her she was pretty. Dieter: One time she punched me in the face. It was AWESOME.

[evilhorse]

Mezz: Galactic Tour 2494 #1

[lboogie1906]

Thomas “Tommy” Ladnier (May 28, 1900 - June 4, 1939) jazz trumpeter was born in Florenville/Mandeville, Louisiana. His father was Alfred Ladnier and his mother was Willie Williams Ladnier. He played in local bands beginning in 1914 and one of his teachers was trumpeter Bunk Johnson. He became part of the Great Migration of African Americans to Northern cities when he relocated to Chicago with his mother. He married Hazel B. Mathews (1918).

He began his career playing in St. Louis with Charlie Creath. He made numerous recordings for Paramount Records with pianist Lovie Austin accompanying the three leading female blues singers of the era: Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, and Alberta Hunter. He played with King Oliver’s Band.

He joined pianist Sam Wooding for his first European tour. He played with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. He was one of the main soloists making some of the most cherished Henderson recordings. He rejoined the Sam Wooding Orchestra for another European tour. He worked as a freelancer in Paris. He joined Noble Sissle’s dance band performing in Paris and London. They did a US tour and took another short visit to Paris.

He teamed up with saxophonist Sidney Bechet, forming the New Orleans Feetwarmers. During the Great Depression, they ran a small tailor shop in Harlem. He continued to play periodically along the East Coast, sometimes giving trumpet lessons.

His recordings with Paramount Records earned him the name “The Praying Cornet.” His use of syncopations was outstanding and his intensity was sometimes overwhelming.

He made a series of recordings with clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow. He reunited with Bechet for one recording session and participated in the first Spirituals to Swing concert in December 1938. His very last recordings were with singer Rosetta Crawford in February 1939. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence