MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
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MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
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For those "Powerssound" readers who prefer the more mellow jazz sounds, reliable Arbors Records, based in Clearwater, Fla., has two new CD packages that should prove pleasing to your ears.
Peter Ecklund plays cornet and sometimes trumpet. He also writes original music. He attempts to provide a blend that mixes the swinging jazz of the 20s through the 40s, along with ideas inspired by traditional American music. Ecklunds new album, "Gigs: Reminiscing in Music" provides a pleasing and diverse program of songs that should stir memories and inspire some to hit the dance floor.
The new album features a number of well-known names providing accompaniment for Ecklund's beautiful stylings on the cornet. Some of the musicians you might recognize include Warren Bernhardt, David Grisman, Marty Grosz, Ken Peplowski, Jay Ungar and the fabulous guitarist Frank Vignola.
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For one thing, she has been in show business for a long, long time. She began her professional career at age 11, appearing weekly on a children's radio show in her home state of Indiana. The next year she appeared frequently with such names as Paul Whiteman, Ethel Waters and Sophie Tucker. During her college days, she and her piano coach made a extended tour of colleges and convents in the South.
In 1964, she decided to move to New York City, where she was hired as the staff organist at Shea Stadium, the home of the New York Mets. That gig lasted 16 years. Later she joined the Muzak Corporation (!) and produced more than 300 recordings. She eventually became vice president of the company.
While all this was going on, Jarvis never lost her jazz chops, and she worked regularly at night clubs in New York. For years she worked as a duo with the fantastic bassist Milt Hinton. Today she continues dates with Hinton, and also appears in a quartet than includes Benny Powell and Earl May. She was a charter member of the Statesmen of Jazz, composed of musicians 65 and older.
Three years ago, her first CD for Arbors was selected as a critics' journal pick in Jazz Journal International.
The new album, "Atlantic -- Pacific," features Jarvis spotlighted with a host of stellar players backing her. Six of the tunes were recorded on the Pacific side of the country, featuring trumpeter Bill Berry, tenor sax star Tommy Newsom, trombonist Dan Barrett, bassist David Stone, and the marvelous Jake Hanna, on drums.
The band on the East Coast features Benny Powell on trombone (he's special), former Count Basie favorite Frank Wess on tenor, Earl May on bass and Jackie Williams at the drum kit.
Three originals by Benny Powell appear in the Atlantic tracks, and Jarvis is listed as co-writer for "Here Lies My Love," along with Michael Suchomel. The other half of the CD has one original, "Rachel," by Jarvis and Gunnar Jacobsen, along with such standards as "Georgia on My Mind," "I Concentrate on You," "Just One of Those Things," and "After Twelve OClock."
I find Jarvis sounds at times like Marian McPartland, which isn't bad at all. Jarvis knows her jazz, and performs with a relaxed sense of authority that makes "Atlantic -- Pacific" a CD worth adding to your collection. 
Ecklund often goes on the road with his own group, enlivening matters at some of the better dance emporiums in the U.S. His credits include performances at jazz festivals with his small groups. Both his cornet and trumpet were heard in the film, "King of the Gypsies." He was the cornet soloist on Ken Burns' "The Civil War." Over the years, Ecklund has played on 35 albums. His work has been the focus of a chapter in Chip Deffaas' book, "Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz."
The tune list impresses, including "Say It With a Kiss;" "Django and Bix," an original Ecklund dedicated to two cats belonging to a friend; and "Blue Bix," dedicated to the great cornetist of the past, Bix Beiderbecke. Then there are such gems as "When You're Smiling," "My Blue Heaven," and "When You and I Were Young, Maggie."
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Jane Jarvis on Both Sides
The jazz critic Leonard Feather once described Jane Jarvis's career as having nine lives.
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