Jazz records in NYC NY

10/25/2024

10/25/2024

Antoine "Fats" Domino, Jr. was born February 26, 1928. He was an American pianist and singer-songwriter. Domino released five gold (million-copy-selling) records before 1955. He also had 35 top 40 American hits!

06/17/2022

06/08/2022

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05/29/2022

"Pieces of a Man"(1971) , the debut studio album by American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, Gil Scott-Heron (1 April, 1949 – 27 May, 2011) https://youtu.be/b7Jm2jubZUY

One the truly great albums of the 1970s, "Pieces of a Man" was released in 1971 in stereo format on Flying Dutchman Records in the United States. It was also issued in the United Kingdom on Philips Records in 1972.

Recording sessions for the album took place at RCA Studios in New York City on 19 April and 20 April in 1971. The album serves as the follow-up to Scott-Heron's live debut album, "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox" (1970), and it features compositions by Scott-Heron that were recorded in a more conventional song structure rather than the spoken word style of his previous work.

The album marked the first of several future collaborations by Scott-Heron with musician Brian Jackson. It is one of Scott-Heron's most critically acclaimed albums and one of the Flying Dutchman label's best-selling LP's. Earning modest success upon its release, "Pieces of a Man" has since received retrospective notice and praise from critics. Music writers have noted Scott-Heron's and Jackson's musical fusion of soul, jazz-funk, and proto-rap styles on the album and its influence on subsequent dance and hip hop music. The album was reissued on compact disc by RCA Records in 1993.

Track list:
01. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (00:00)
02. Save the Children (03:06)
03. Lady Day and John Coltrane (07:31)
04. Home Is Where the Hatred Is (11:05)
05. When You Are Who You Are (14:24)
06. I Think I'll Call It Morning (17:45)
07. Pieces of a Man (21:13)
08. A Sign of the Ages (26:04)
09. Or Down You Fall (30:08)
10. The Needle's Eye (33:15)
11. The Prisoner (38:04)
Bonus Tracks:
12. Chains (47:28)
13. Peace (50:51)
14. A Toast to the People (56:58)

07/25/2021

Charlotte Forten, a freeborn black woman from Philadelphia, was already a powerful voice in the anti-slavery movement in her twenties. During the Civil War, she volunteered as a nurse to care for the black soldiers serving the US Army.

Forten recorded her experiences in her diary:

"Wednesday, July 22 [1863].

My hospital life began today. Went early this morning with Mrs. L. and Mrs. G the surgeon's wife, saw that the Dr. had not finished dressing the wounds, and while I waited below Mrs. S gave me some sewing to do-mending the pantaloons and jackets of the poor fellow. (They are all of the 54th [Massachusetts]).

It was with a full heart that I sewed up bullet holes and bayonet cuts. Sometimes I found a jacket that told a sad tale-so torn to pieces that it was far past mending. After awhile I went through the wards. As I passed along I thought 'Many and low are the pallets, but each is the face of a friend.' And I was surprised to see such cheerful faces looking up from the beds.

Talked a little with some of the patients and assisted Mrs. G. in distributing medicines. Mrs. L. kindly sent her carriage for me and I returned home, weary, but far more pleasantly impressed than I thought possible, with hospital life."

Source:
Charlotte L. Forten Grimké, "The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimké," Brenda Stevenson, Ray Allen Billington editors, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, page 495.

Image credit:
Charlotte L. Forten Grimke, c.1870, New York Public Library via Wikimedia Commons.

07/25/2021

Billie Holiday with Ray Ellis Orchestra - The End of a Love Affair (1958)Personnel: Billie Holiday (vocals), Mel Davis (trumpet), J.J. Johnson, Tom Mitchell,...