In Monday’s posting revisiting an early <em>Rifftides</em> piece about Tom Talbert (pictured ca.
1956), the staff was remiss in not including examples of Talbert’s music. Let’s remedy that. From his remarkable Bix Duke Fats album, we will hear his transformation of two Duke Ellington compositions. The first is “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,†one of Ellington’s best-known popular hits; the second, “Ko Ko,†is perhaps his most celebrated pioneering of bitonal harmonies). Both were from 1943. Talbert gives them his own distinctive flavors.
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Soloists and featured players were Eddie Bert, trombone; Jimmy Buffington, French horn; Aaron Sachs, tenor saxophone; Barry Galbraith, guitar; Herb Geller, alto saxophone; and Joe Wilder, trumpet. Oscar Pettiford was the bassist, Osie Johnson the drummer.