Teddy Charles: New Directions

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Vibraphonist Teddy Charles was playing free and modal jazz nearly as early as Lee Konitz, Lennie Tristano, Billy Bauer and Gil Melle. In 1951, '52 and '53, Teddy recorded a series of three 10-inch LPs for Prestige in the trio, quartet and quintet formats. I was thinking of Teddy yesterday and gave them a listen, finding the material to be as interesting today as it must have been back then.

Joining Teddy on the trio tracks were Don Roberts (g) and Kenny O'Brien (b). The quartet session featured Jimmy Raney (g) Dick Nivison (b) and Ed Shaughnessy (d). The quintet material, recorded on the West Coast, featured Shorty Rogers (tp), Jimmy Guiffre on reeds, Curtis Counce (b) and Shelly Manne (d). The trio tracks are O’Brien's a Flyin’, This Is New, Ol' Man River, Tenderly, Basin Street Blues, I'll Remember April, The Lady Is a Tramp and Blue Moon. The quartet tracks are Edging Out, Nocturne, Composition for Four Pieces and A Night in Tunisia. And the quintet material included Free, Evolution, Margo and Bobalob(tracks without Giuffre were Wailing Dervish, Variations on a Motive by Bud, Further Out and Etudiez le Cahier).

Teddy was always hip. Whether he was playing other artists' material, such as Dizzy Gillespie's A Night in Tunisia or Hall Overton's Mobiles, standards such as Lady Is a Tramp or Tenderly, or his own compositions such as Nocturne, the execution was always a serious swinging scene. Back in 2007 and 2008, I spent a lot of time on the phone with Teddy talking jazz. I'd frequently call him to ask about a recording session, but the most fun was when Teddy called me, often for an opinion on one subject: "Hey Marc? It's Teddy Charles." Then he go on to ask me what I thought about new albums. 

I'd always stay neutral, which would give him the opening he wanted in the first place. "He's a nice guy but he can't swing. I mean a lot of guys today can't swing. Swing used to be everything. Today it's nothing." Teddy, of course, was right. Jazz used to be about how well musicians could swing what they were playing and get listener emotions raised in the process. Think Lester Young, Lucky Thompson, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz and so on. It's hard to find swingers now, largely because swing is no longer a key ingredient in the music. [Photo of Teddy Charles above by Barbara Ellen Koch]

I remember the time I called his place out on Long Island and he was rehearsing a bunch of young local guys for an upcoming gig. He told me to hold on, that he was going to put the phone down so I could hear them going through a tune. It was glorious to listen to Teddy play vibes. The pianist was killer as well.

At the end, Teddy got back on the phone. "What did you think?" I told him how much I dug it, asking who was on piano. "That was me. My guy didn't show so I slid over to the keyboard. Were we swinging?" I said, "Yes, you were swinging." "Were they?" he asked. "You were swinging," I replied. "Look, man, I know," he said. "What can I say? I'll have them swinging by the time we get on stage." [Photo above of Teddy Charles]

All of Teddy's albums swing with a cool attack, as if he knew instinctively what the listener's ear wanted to hear. It's like seeing a pocket square perfectly folded or a tie knotted just so. It's what guys knew how to do back in the 1950s, things that no longer matter.

The recordings mentioned above are a great place to start if you're unfamiliar with Teddy's vibes and cerebral swinging style. Fortunately, they're on one CD. As you collect him, you'll always marvel at his ability to go deep and to keep it real. Teddy died in 2012. I miss hearing him on the other end of the phone wishing things were different.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Teddy Charles' series of early Prestige recordings on New Directions here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the Teddy Charles Quartet playing A Night in Tunisia...

Here's Teddy on Tenderly...

Here's Teddy playing Edging Out...

And here's The Lady Is a Tramp...

Used with permission by Marc Myers