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"Jazz Celebration — Tribute to Carl Jefferson"
Various Artists
(Concord Jazz)
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the best jazz labels don't merely record good musicians, they create a
musical community, a nexus through which like-minded players can explore a
shared aesthetic vision. Since the '70s, no label has been more
successful than Concord Jazz at building an extended musical family. That
family came together on July 8, 1995 to commemorate the label's founder,
the late Carl Jefferson, who died in March 1995. The resulting four-CD box set,
"Jazz Celebration: A Tribute to Carl Jefferson," reunites about 80 of the artists who helped define
Concord's mainstream swing-oriented sensibility.
Ever since Concord's inaugural release in 1973, a duo session with fret
masters Joe Pass and Herb Ellis, the label has been known as the
preeminent outlet for mainstream jazz guitar. Though many of the original
players are no longer associated with Concord, virtually an entire wing of
the guitar hall of fame showed up to pay their respects on "Jazz
Celebration." From the Great Guitars, a trio featuring Herb Ellis, Charlie
Byrd and Ron Eschete (filling in for the ailing Barney Kessel) burning
through the Benny Goodman/Charlie Christian warhorse "Seven Come Eleven" to
Kenny Burrell's masterful Ellingtonia on "Take the 'A' Train," the
instrument's elder statesmen were very well represented.
In a sad postscript to the concert, "Jazz Celebration" is the last
recording by the great Brazilian guitarist/composer Laurindo
Almeida, who died less than two weeks later. He opens his set with a brisk
reading of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," accompanied by bassist Jeff
Chambers and drummer Billy Drummond, and closes with a delicate version of
Jobim's "Meditation" with Charlie Byrd (who, along with Stan Getz, helped
introduce Brazilian music to the U.S.).
Concord has also been a haven for vocalists. "Jazz Celebration"
showcases such up and coming singers as Eden Atwood, Karrin Allyson and
Dennis Rowland, as well as established veterans like Susannah McCorkle and
Carol Sloan (who offers a delightfully swinging version of Ellington's
"Love You Madly"). Mel Tormé and Rosemary Clooney, two of the greatest
exponents of the Great American Songbook, have both found very comfortable
homes at Concord, recording much of their best work for the label. Neither
could make it to the July 8 concert, but both recorded their farewells to
Jefferson later. Clooney reprises one of her early hits, "Sentimental
Journey," and Tormé concludes the box set with a haunting version of Cole
Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," conveying the sense of loss many of
the musicians speak of between sets.
— Andrew Gilbert
Andrew Gilbert is a Berkeley-based freelance writer. His work has
appeared in Musician, Jazziz and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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