The Count Basie Orchestra plays “Dance of the Gremlins” and “Swingin’ the Blues” in 1941, with Don Byas on tenor, Harry Edison on trumpet, and Jo Jones on drums:
(This is the latest in a weekly series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Wednesday.)
Archives for 2010
TT: Almanac
“There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
THE IRRELEVANT MASTERPIECE
“The gap in quality between The Glass Menagerie and such later Tennessee Williams plays as Suddenly Last Summer and The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore is so wide that it is tempting to suppose in retrospect that his first success might have been overrated as well. But to see a revival of The Glass Menagerie is to be reminded anew that it is, indeed, as good as its reputation, one of a handful of American plays that can stand up to direct comparison with the permanent masterpieces of European theater…”
TT: Almanac
“It occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
EXHIBITION
Kenneth Noland, 1924-2010: A Tribute (Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Ave., up through June 20). Four carefully chosen canvases painted between 1959 and 1981 by one of the masters of the now-unfashionable Color Field style of abstract expressionism. Needless to say, Noland is sorely in need of a full-scale retrospective, but this anti-blockbuster show contains the root of the matter (TT).
CD
Mitchell’s Christian Singers, Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (Document). The rough-hewn, sometimes startlingly dissonant a cappella harmonies of this vocal quartet, which traveled from North Carolina to Carnegie Hall in 1939 to sing at John Hammond’s first From Spirituals to Swing concert and subsequently got written up in Time, have since caught the ears of everyone from Bob Crosby to Maria Muldaur. The first volume of Document’s comprehensive reissue of the group’s 78 recordings contains its best-known side, “Traveling Shoes,” plus plenty of other gospel songs that swing and shout like nobody’s business (TT).
CD
Johnny Hodges: The Small Group Sessions 1941-1952 (Phantasm, three CDs). A wonderfully handy new collection of key recordings by Duke Ellington’s unflappable alto saxophone soloist, a universally admired yet inexplicably underrated instrumental master who was equally adept at sensuous balladry, hard-swinging riff tunes, and deep-dish blues. From start to finish, this set is packed full of unpretentious, deeply satisfying jazz (TT).
BOOK
Anthony Julius, Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England (Oxford, $45). This disquieting study of England’s most respectable prejudice argues all too convincingly that British anti-Semitism has not only failed to wither away but is currently experiencing an alarming upsurge. Not a pleasant read, but an indispensable one (TT).