Hampton Hawes's "All Night Session" with Jim Hall

At JazzWax, an absolutely perfect jazz album—three, in fact. Hampton Hawes's "All Night Session" with Jim Hall... https://t.co/cqjUQMmhas pic.twitter.com/rTHRoTQgzt

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) 8 de junho de 2017

Gunther Schuller & Jim Hall

Gunther Schuller & Jim Hall - Variants On a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross)

Uploaded on Jun 29, 2011
Gunther Schuller & Jim Hall - Variants On a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross) - From JAZZ ABSTRACTIONS (Variants I - IV)

Ornette Coleman (alto sax)
Eric Dolphy (flute, alto sax, bass clarinet)
Robert Domenica (flute)
Jim Hall (guitar)
Eddie Costa (vibes)
Bill Evans (piano)
Scott LaFaro (bass)
George Duvivier (bass)
Sticks Evans (drums)
and the Contemporary String Quartet

Jim Hall (1930-2013)

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Jim Hall, a soft-spoken and sophisticated postmodernist jazz guitarist who recorded as a leader and with many of the most visionary artists on the East and West coasts, offering swinging rhythmic support and piercing melodic solos, died on December 10. He was 83.

Thanks to early friendships with prolific artists and a reputation for being a lyrical musical adventurer, Jim appeared on many of jazz's finest recording sessions. In the mid-1950s, his work with the Chico Hamilton Quintet blazed a new path for the jazz guitar, placing the instrument on an equal footing with the rest of the band as an improviser and musical conversationalist.

As Jim told me in a 2010 interview: "Many guitarists at the time played rhythm or supporting lines for leaders and soloists. I wanted to play so that my counterpoint and alternative melodies stood out clearly."

Among the many high points of Jim's career include recording sessions with Hampton Hawes, the Jimmy Giuffre 3, John Lewis, Bob Brookmeyer, Buddy Collette, Sonny Rollins (The Bridge) and landmark duo albums with Bill Evans and Ron Carter, and the magnificent quartet albums with Paul Desmond. Amazingly, these represent just a handful of Jim's storied discography. [Pictured above: Jim Hall and Bill Evans]

During several extensive phone conversations with Jim, I found him to be remarkably understated—aware of his gifts but rather mystified by the fuss over his exceptional playing style and recordings. To Jim, he was just doing what came naturally—expressing himself and taking risks with players who knew a thing or two about being out on a limb and converting the unknown into soaring artistic triumphs.

Jim was a master of taste. He knew how to let a note ring just long enough, how to peck away at a run, how to slide down to another note the way a ring slips onto a finger, and how to captivate listeners and take them along for a delicious ride.

Jim's guitar carries on conversations with parts of your soul you never knew existed. And once Jim gets going on a recording, it's pretty tough to take it off. It was as if Jim knew innately what he was up against—short attention spans and a desire for sonic action and modulation traditionally handled by horns or piano. But Jim knew that, if engaged properly, a listener would linger and be soothed—lulled into listening carefully to what he was trying to say on his instrument and be wiser for it. Like Bill Evans, Jim operated like a painter and knew all about seduction, color and space. In jazz, beauty never ages, and Jim left behind in his recordings a landscape of daring grace.

More on Jim: Here's my three-part interview with Jim from 2010:

Part 1...

Part 2...

Part 3...

JazzWax clips: The Chico Hamilton Quintet's Sleepy Slept Here...

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/12/jim-hall-1930-2013.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.73o6vtQG.dpuf

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Jim Hall: New Toronto Find

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

In 1975, Jim Hall was in Toronto, Canada, appearing at Bourbon Street, a club that routinely showcased American jazz artists—usually backed by local rhythm sections. Jim appeared there in June with bassist Don Thompson and drummer Terry Clarke, and the result was Live! (A&M Horizon), widely considered to be one of Jim's finest live trio dates. [Photo above of Jim Hall by Archtop History, Inc.]

Over the years, most fans assumed that what we heard on that album was it for the club date—five tracks. Now it turns out much more was recorded during Jim's visit. Weeks ago, the playfully titled Jim Hall Live, Vol. 2-4 (ArtistShare), was released—putting the original A&M recording on notice that it was now  Vol. 1. The results are breathtaking and revelatory on every level.

Here's the story from Jim's site...

"Live! Vol. 2-4 features previously unreleased recordings from trio performances at Bourbon Street in Toronto, Canada. The recordings provide an additional three hours of music from the original Live! (Horizon) release. Live! Vol 2-4 was released as part of my latest Fan-Funded project. The CD case is a 150 page hardcover book with three audio CDs (and a fourth disc containing 24bit/48k audio files) as well as access to video and print interviews with and commentary by fellow musicians and friends such as Pat Metheny, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Scott Colley, and others."

The new boxed set gives us a whopping 21 additional tracks from the live date. This bounty of perfectly executed and recorded jazz is spirited and engrossing, with fidelity that is warm, wide and deep—as if the audience had been invited into a recording studio rather than a club.The applause and drinks are way off in the distance if heard at all.

For those not in the know, Jim is a jazz guitarist without peer. Starting in 1955, his small-group recordings with Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond and Bill Evans are among the finest jazz-delicate recordings in the post-war period. Throughout this roughly 10-year period, Jim was placed in virtually every type of musical configuration, all of them exceedingly difficult musically. And yet Jim simplified and seduced with sophisticated voicings and solo lines.

Since the 1960s, Jim has only improved and developed as a solo voice. What always makes Jim special is the humbleness of his aggression. When paired with other jazz greats, Jim is a conversationalist—playing in and out of what they're doing rather than taking his turn. As a leader, he knows how to tickle the ear and satisfy the heart. In fact, the only musician I can think of who is comparable on this bashful-bold level is Bill Evans.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Jim Hall Live, Vol. 2-4 is among the most important archive finds released in recent months. It will remind you of Bill Evans: Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate, 1968 (Resonance), released last year.

Jim's perspicacious guitar style and ringing tones encouraged lyrical risk-taking, urging his bandstand colleagues to express their thoughts tenderly and honestly, and gave thinking-feeling audiences a thrill. This is a musical kitchen-table conversation between three great players and the result is jazz at its absolute finest.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Jim Hall Live, Vol. 2-4(ArtistShare) at Jim's sitehere, which links to the shopping cart here. While the box set is pricey ($75), it's worth every dollar, and I guarantee you'll thank me.

A special JazzWax thanks to David Langner and Devra Hall Levy.

JazzWax clip: Here's Jim Hall, Don Thompson and Terry Clarke on Fly Me to the Moon...
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Fly Me to the Moon

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" is a song by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The words were written by Ned Washington and the music was written by George Bassman. It was first performed in 1932. The original copyright is dated 1933 and issued to Lawrence Music Publishers, Inc. The copyright was assigned to Mills Music, Inc. in 1934. Noni Bernardi, a saxophonist with the Dorsey orchestra arranged this song.

 Tommy Dorsey was the featured trombone soloist when his orchestra played it. It was first recorded in September 1935. A second recording on October 18, 1935 is the exact arrangement that Tommy would henceforth feature. Tommy's expert breath control, command of the upper register, and phrasing added to the sweetness of the song which typified his orchestra. Frank Sinatra, who got his start in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, sang this song in the Dorsey Orchestra and also featured it in an album, I Remember Tommy, after Tommy Dorsey's death in 1956.

The tempo is considered a fox trot or swing.

Lyrics
Never thought I'd fall, but when I hear you call,
I'm getting sentimental over you.
Things you say and do just thrill me through and through,
I'm getting sentimental over you.

I thought I was happy I could live without love,
Now I must admit, love is all I'm thinking of.
Won't ypu please be kind, and just make up your mind
That you'll be sweet and gentle, be gentle with me
`Cause I'm getting sentimental over you.


Jazz guitarist Jim Hall performs "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" with a trio consisting of Steve Swallow on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums. This tune was Hall's feature on Art Farmer's "Live at the Half-Note" record and this footage is likely from a 1964 appearance of the Farmer quartet.


This is not the original 1935 recording of one of the most recognizable theme songs of the Swing Era, but is one that has been remixed for stereo playback. The song was written in 1932 by Ned Washington and George Bassman and arranged by a member of the Dorsey orchestra especially to highlight the trombone playing of Tommy Dorsey.

Jim Hall: Guitar As Miniature Orchestra

by Rez Abbasi
Guitarist Rez Abbasi's new album, Things to Come, sets South Asian melodies, Indian classical vocals and modal jazz alongside each other in a beautifully complex puzzle. The Pakistan-born, L.A.- and New York-bred musician has a serious jones for guitarist Jim Hall, who happens to celebrate a birthday on Dec. 4. What better way to recognize Hall's contributions to jazz guitar than with a longtime admirer? —ed.
The most difficult hurdle a jazz musician encounters is to find a unique sound coupled with a unique vocabulary. For me, sound encompasses many facets, including feel and tone. Since most listeners of jazz tend to focus on sound, the inner structure and complexity of a phrase becomes blurred. Because most jazz musicians often focus on the chemistry of their vocabulary, developing a unique sound can take a back seat.

Guitarist Jim Hall is in a league of players who've turned the tables for jazz and their respective instruments. As far as modernizing the sound and vocabulary of jazz guitar to the degree he did, Hall is unmatched. Many other guitarists of his era were heroically proficient at emulating and expanding the nuances of bebop and post-bop vocabulary, but Hall placed great emphasis on a compositional approach to soloing. His introspection, lyricism, spontaneity and risk-taking further set him apart. His technique on one hand is idiosyncratic to the guitar, utilizing open strings and guitaristic textures, yet he is highly influenced by saxophonists and pianists.

Furthermore, his use of the guitar as a miniature orchestra has become iconic. It's possible to base an entire thesis on Hall's prolific creativity, but for now, here are five examples of his greatness in action. I could have picked virtually anything, but I chose these. When listening back for the first time in a while, I was awestruck all over again.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120889787

Jim Hall - Birthday, Dec 4

In conversation with Jim Hall

By Patrick Spurling

Were family members an influence on your early interest in music and jazz?

I didn’t really know my father, who split when I was about seven. And my mom’s family was hillbilly WASPS from around Ohio on the Great Lakes. Somebody once put together a bootleg record of some of my stuff and the liner notes said my mother was a pianist, my uncle was a guitarist and my grandfather was a conductor -- which is all true. But my mom played a kind of horrible church piano, my uncle Ed, probably a very bright guy, played country music and drank himself to death; and my grandfather was a conductor. He was a conductor . . . but on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

Can you remember the reason for choosing guitar?

I heard Charlie Christian on a record when I was 13. I didn’t know what that was but … I realized then that that was my calling. A guitar teacher who was really important to me was Fred Sharp, who played with Red Norvo and others. I stayed in touch until he died about a year ago. He really opened up the guitar for me.

You earned an undergraduate degree in music theory and worked on a master’s degree in composition. Why not guitar performance over theory and composition?

That was in the 1950’s. I graduated in 1955 and there was no jazz at the school. If you were not killed in the service there were GI schools that taught jazz but that was not ‘serious’ music. I had a marvelous teacher for composition and theory, but I was this hillbilly kid and he scared the hell out of me somehow -- Marcel Dick. He played viola in the Kolisch String Quartet and was a good friend of Arnold Schönberg.

Did you play other instruments early on?

In high school there were never enough bass players for the orchestra so I played string bass. At the Cleveland Institute I played bass again in the orchestra, but when we’d have a concert they’d get some real bass players and I’d move down to the end. I would intentionally not practice because I didn’t want to mess up my hands. Fortunately I hear the bass now as a lower extension to the guitar.

Was there a good reason for your leaving the Cleveland Institute without completing the graduate degree in composition?

Ray Graziano, a good friend and I had talked about going to Los Angeles. Finally he said one day I’m leaving Saturday if you want to go. It was an impulse I guess. I don’t know if it’s still possible but you could deliver a car –- say Cleveland to L.A. -- and just pay for the gas. We sort of delivered it.

How do you feel about your honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music?

I thought about saying where were you when I needed you? But it was great. Ray Brown was there, Milt Jackson and my friends. … [Presented at the Umbria Jazz Festival - at the Sala del Notari in Perugia, Italy - July 16th, 2005]. Sometimes I’ll read, ‘this is Down Beat award winner and honorary doctorate Jim Hall.’ I could understand if I were involved with some kind of medical profession. Okay, I’m a doctor, that sort of thing. But It depends how far you go with that. I dislike titles.

When Jane and I got married [in 1965] -- which was great -- I needed to get off the road. We were looking around for work so I made the trip up to the Berklee ‘School’ of music for an interview. I assumed having worked with Sonny Rollins and Ella Fitzgerald that [I would be offered a job] but I didn’t get hired. Instead I ended up doing the Merv Griffin show for three and a half years. Good guests but some pretty putrid music.

Little by little Berklee did offer the Jim Hall Scholarship [Fund for guitarists]. Sometimes I’d be so broke I’d want to apply for it.

Your experiences with Ella Fitzgerald and that tour of South America – memorable moments?

Everything with Ella was pretty amazing. Going to South American was incredible for me, especially the first stop. We played at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. We played three weeks in this great hotel right on the water. The bossa nova was just starting up and the music was just kind of coming out of the air. I couldn’t believe it. We went to São Paulo after that, Montevideo and then on to Buenos Aires. I heard Astor Piazzolla’s music for the first time. I’d never heard tango music and it was an ear-opening experience.

Ella was just stunningly good. I think I heard her miss one note. Working with Gus Johnson we once played an arrangement by Nelson Riddle at the Academy Awards. There was a quick key change and she missed one note. She was amazing.

And you stayed on a while in South America after that tour?

I did. We were supposed to go to Chile but Santiago had had a bad earthquake so that part of the tour was cancelled. I borrowed some money from Norman Granz and stayed in Buenos Aires for about a month.

Norman Granz also managed Jimmy Giuffre so I was able to work with Ella Fitzgerald because of him -- took Herb Ellis’s place. I felt like Lou Gehrig without the disease -- always in the right place at the right time.

About Ron Carter -- both of you had classical backgrounds. Did that have an impact on your work together as a duo?

I am not sure it did -- maybe unconsciously. I met Ron through Art Farmer though I’ve not worked with Art Farmer. His group at that time included Ron Carter and Walter Perkins. Ron hadn’t been in New York too long and we were working together on 7th Avenue one night, and Miles Davis came in and was skulking around. He asked Ron about working with him, but Ron said you’d have to talk to Art. Anyway Ron went to work with Miles Davis and Steve Swallow took his place. That happened a lot in those days.

Later I somehow got a job at this place called The Guitar where Kenny Burrell was part owner. I called Ron and we started doing these duets together in the mid and late sixties. About 15 years later we hooked up again and played the Blue Note in New York and then three Blue Notes in Japan.

Did you have opportunities to play with Eddie Gomez?

Yes, though I didn’t play with Eddie a lot. Of course he is entirely different from Ron Carter. He is a cool friend and actually lives in my neighborhood in New York City. We each have a dog so we talk about dogs. I think I recommended him once for the Bill Evans trio.

It was a "turning point" when playing with Sonny Rollins in the early sixties?

Sounds corny but I felt accepted somehow by the jazz community. In spite of everything that was happening, I got this note in my mailbox one day from Sonny Rollins. I remember the first performance in an upper west side club. God, everybody came in. Max Roach, John Lewis and Wes Montgomery used to come to hear me play -- because of Sonny. It is amazing the camaraderie among musicians. Of course, Sonny was and is one of my heroes. I still can’t believe the way he can play.

Who has something to say among the younger players?

People like Bill Frisell get my attention because I never know what the hell is going to come out. We’ve been working on a duet recording for a while. I kind of like young people who surprise me and keep pushing the envelope. I love Chris Potter’s playing. He composes as he plays rather than plays what is under his fingers. He is surprisingly good. Dave Binney is another but not as well known as Chris. I love Tom Harrell’s playing, especially considering what he’s been going through. Joe Lovano of course, I love Joe’s playing. Tenor saxophone has always been just about my favorite instrument. I had the honor of working once with Ben Webster before working with Sonny.

What attracts you to Sergei Rachmaninoff and Béla Bartok?

Béla Bartok was my hero more than Rachmaninoff. Some things are pretty obvious, like the melodies he uses in his orchestral pieces, but his interest in folk music is part of it. In school I loved his quartets. When I first got into the Cleveland Institute of Music [Paul] Hindemith was a favorite because he reminded me of Stan Kenton. I knew nothing about Mozart and thought he was elementary, but in five years he got so much better. I don’t listen to music very much now because it tends to influence what I am doing. I look more at paintings and that sort of thing. If somebody asked what recording I would take on a desert island, "4’33” of silence by John Cage would be my choice.

‘Clarity is the thing you are after.’ What is clarity in improvisation?

It means listening to what you just played then reacting to that and making something out of it -- which is not to say that you can’t push the envelope a lot too.

You once said the guitar is still a mystery to you.

Absolutely. You get all of these awards like the Chevalier from the French Government [2007] -- which is startling -- or the NEA award [Jazz Masters Fellowship, 2004] and then I’ll be doing an interview on the telephone with someone and the guy says, ‘Mr. Hall, you played with Beethoven…blah … blah.’ And the guitar sits there in the corner and says ‘yeah big deal. Try to tune me today.’ Yeah it is a mystery. Which is good too, I think.

You live in Greenwich Village?

We’re across from the New School for Social Research.

So you’re in the good neighborhood?

Yeah, well, yeah it is. But it’s not my fault. It’s a fascinating neighborhood. Meryl Streep had a building right down the street and Ramsey Clark is a neighbor. We got to know each other by grimacing at one another over the years. He was going all over on genocide trials when I first knew him. Some people I know from just being out there with my dog Django.

After the first election –- what ever you call that thievery -- I never heard so much cursing as on our block. And the second election, it was so blatant with all the Supreme Court meddling. I was in mourning for months after that second election and had to tune everything out for a while. Somehow it was mildly amusing, but I wonder what is going to happen now?

Do you vote?

Yeah. But I’m in a quandary about what to do this next time. It’s going to take us 50 years to recover no matter who takes power. We [Americans] feel badly about cigarettes, McDonald’s, Americana, George Bush and fascist governments.

Why have you not done more composing?

In a way I regret not doing more with composition. But its sort of come full circle since I got with Telarc Records. The first record I did for Telarc was just me and over dubs. They were understandably leery of investing in that, so I said okay, I’ll do it for free. Then later at the Village Vanguard I did another one and that Helped. Telarc has been great.

Did you consider conducting the compositions By Arrangement (1998) and Textures, (1996)?

No, but funny you should ask. André Previn asked me the same thing. I said I couldn’t conduct electricity.

How did you feel about your recordings with Itzhak Perlman and André Previn?

It was great being around Itzhak Perlman. André Previn had called Shelly Manne to play drums and Red Mitchell to play bass –- both old friends of mine. I had known André Previn in California from years before. My favorite part of it was as soon as Itzhak and Shelly were introduced their eyes met and that was it -- the Jewish jokes started. Anyway, I don’t think they are very good records, but it was a lot of fun.

How did you feel about performing at the new Jazz at Lincoln Center venue?

It’s not like the Village Vanguard, but then why should it be. On one hand I am not a huge fan of Wynton Marsalis, but on the other I could never have done anything like what he has accomplished. They’ve created a lot of interest in jazz, though it’s not particularly forward-looking.

Then you feel there is a bias there toward older jazz?

Exactly. Duke Ellington or Art Tatum certainly wouldn’t have felt like that. I heard a piece that Wynton recorded on some classical concert and he sounded terrific, but it was like the preservation society. I dislike the term classical jazz. I do like Stanley Crouch and Wynton too but, in spite of himself, Stanley and I always get into these kinds of arguments.

For young musicians interested in playing jazz what do you say to them?

What I usually say is a long distance quote from John Lewis. John had this School for jazz at the end of summer for three weeks up in Lenox Massachusetts. At the end of one three week session he was talking to the graduates and a couple of guys asked if there were any gigs out there? John said: “Wait, wait, you got it backwards.”

What he was saying was that music gives you so much already. What the hell else do you want? This is your reward right here just being involved. And it is really just stunning what you can get out of music. It’s unique; it’s yours and its something to be cherished. Making a living is an added bonus occasionally, but I think you already have quite a bit if you can play. . ..

Would you like to see a picture of my dog Django? He is very demanding but he has a calming affect.

Credit > http://jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2008/9/12/in-conversation-with-jim-hall