In this heartfelt tribute to his former boss at New York’s Sweet Basil, longtime Cheatham accompanist Chuck Folds brings together two of Doc’s favorite trumpet-playing sitters-in, Spanky Davis and Irvin Stokes, along with bassist Frank Tate and drummer Jackie Williams, for an alternately joyous and reflective revisit to 16 of the many tunes the two played during almost 17 years of Sunday Jazz Brunches. Pianist Folds plays eight of the thoughtfully chosen tracks as slow to medium-paced solo and trio selections, of which three are medleys, but on “I Double Dare You,” “After I Say I’m Sorry,” “That Old Gang of Mine,” “My Buddy” and “Someday You’ll Be Sorry” the tempos and spirits pick up, invariably inspiring the seldom heard but welcomed improvisations of Davis and Stokes, both masters of the mainstream swing idiom. Davis and Stokes’ solo contributions are clearly indicated in the booklet, which benefits from George Avakian’s annotation.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro