1945 - May 23

Art Hodes’ Hot Seven – May 23 1945

 

Dan Morgenstern – Hot Jazz at Blue Note CD Liner Notes 

[On Wolverine Blues] It’s not a blues, and Jelly complained about the title (his was “The Wolverines”), but the lyricists insisted on it. It was composed as a piano solo, “to sound as much as a band as possible,“ Jelly explained in his famous Library of Congress interviews. Hodes and company take it for a nice ride, varying the ensemble textures (another Jelly trademark), as in the trombone’s restatement of the second strain, with clarinet embellishment, Centobie sounds good in his middle (“chalumeau” register, and drummer Danny Alvin does his woodblock stuff. 

Dan Morgenstern – The Complete Art Hodes Blue Note Sessions 

With WOLVERINE BLUES (no blues at all; the original title was THE WOLVERINES) we’re back with Jelly. Good ensemble work on the verse and chorus, and then a nice arranging touch: clarinet improvises with trombone playing the melody underneath. Lesberg takes a break, and Art and Danny get together again, the pianist sounding very Hines-like, before the ensemble takes it home. MILENBERG JOYS, also by Jelly, of course has several strains. Good solos by Art (one on each strain). Bujie, and Max (both with breaks); the final ensemble is held together by the dependable Alvin, a very underrated drummer. WALK ON DOWN is a nice, old-timey original by Art. Kaminsky plays the verse, Centobie the chorus. and Lugg takes solo honors, again playing with feeling. The concluding ensemble features a break by Max and some stop-time stuff. WILLIE THE WEEPER, a piece popular among Chicago jazzmen in the '20s (both Louis and King Oliver recorded it), survives in two takes. It has major and minor strains. Both takes have good ensemble work. but the recording balance is better on the second, with the clarinet more prominent; this is also the take with Lugg's best effort. Bujie and Aft are the other soloists, piano doing well by the minor strain. BUJIE, clearly made up on the spot, is a fastish blues jam featuring the kid from out of town. Art walks it on, clarinet and rhythm find a groove, piano solos, bass takes one, and Bujie resumes, this time in lower register. Then— surprise—Max climbs on board a good hot one, develops riff,  then another, and so the session ends on a nice informal note. 

Blue Note Album 104 Liner Notes 

This was a Monday Date by necessity rather than choice. It was the musicians' off-night, and was selected because in May of prosperous 1945 no musician had much free time if he could help it. The headlines then are history now: PATTON RACES MONTGOMERY TO PARIS...AMERICAN FORCES INCADE JAPAN'S BACKYARD...and New York, in spite of a war imposed dimout, was the entertainment capital of the world. On Broadway, Rodger's and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL, played to capacity houses, liberally sprinkled with a variety of uniforms. But probably nowhere else in the world was there a more cosmopolitan collection of different uniforms than those clustered in front of the many little jazz bands in New York's "bohemian" Greenwich Village. 

One of these jazz combos was the Art Hodes Trio, which featured Max Kaminsky. Art, who brought his own ideas about jazz from Chicago, occupies an unusual position at Blue Note. He is invaluable on record dates, they learned long ago, not only as a pianist but also for his knowledge of musicians and tunes. He has a remarkable instinct for the character of a tune, which suggests the tempo, the position of the solos, and the less tangible "feeling" necessary. Art knows his ingredients like a bartender - a dash of clarinet in the right spot being as trenchant an issue as the olive in a martini. The musicians he works with recognise this instinct, knowing that Art's ideas will get the best, not only from the tunes, but from their own special abilities. 

So when, at just about this time, Art Hodes received a phone call from Blue Note he was not surprised to find that they wanted to make a record date. He was well pleased with the men they had selected on trumpet, drums and bass. 

Max Kaminsky, who was with Hodes at the Village Vanguard, is always a desirable trumpet player to have on any date because of his intense drive and a temperament that is unsatisfied unless he plays his best...Danny Alvin, fresh from Chicago, was at Nick's. On a date such as this, his ability to pace a small band without overpowering it was exactly what Blue Note wanted...Jack Lessberg, as accomplished symphonic bass-man by day, and a much sought after jazz man at night, was perfect. His technique and taste are impeccable. 

"I can arrange it with Max, and I'll check with Danny and Jack" said Art. "Who's on clarinet?" 

"A fellow who just came in from New Orleans. Bujie Centobie. I know you never played with him." 

"No. How is he?" 

Bujie had first come to the attention of Blue Note at a jam session in the village. This quiet, sensitive man, has a clean, full tone and relaxed style, strongly reminiscent of the legendary Leon Rappolo. Bujie was in New York on a temporary basis at the time, and if he was to be recorded it had to be then. So when Blue Note answered Hodes, all they said concerning Bujie's playing was, "We think he's great." 

"That's good enough for me," said Art, and that was the beginning. 

When the subject of trombone and guitar came up Art suggested George Lugg and Chick Robertson. 

The late George Lugg was another Chicago alumnus, part of the tradition that produced Rod Cless and Marty Marsala. He was popular among musicians (who called him "The Professor") because he could play an honest tailgate trombone without sounding as mechanical as a piano roll. "Besides," as Art Hodes said more than once, "you can depend on George to take a lead without schmalzing it up,"...which is what Lugg expertly proved at the date, on WOLVERINE BLUES. 

Chick Robertson was no great jazz name. As a matter of fact, at the time of this date, he was holding down a comfortable job with a society band at the Savoy Plaza. He played jazz, however, and had often sat in on jam sessions. His greatest asset is a sharp, crisp beat, best examples of which can be heard behind Bujie's clarinet solos. 

These, then, were the musicians, and this was how Monday Date began. 

An afternoon rehearsal at Jimmie Ryan's place, on 52nd Street, seemed perfectly logical; it began inauspiciously with the discovery that not one of the nine men collected in front of the familiar door had the key. Max Kaminsky, however, knew where to locate the proprietor, routed him out of bed, and the rehearsal got under way. 

Rehearsing a jazz date may seem unnecessary, unless one considers that knowing WILLIE THE WEEPER cold doesn't automatically produce a well-oiled cohesion when seven men remember it all at once. And Blue Note will testify that procuring sheet music for a tune like I NEVER KNEW WHAT A GAL COULD DO is a nasty piece of legwork. It had to be done, though, because even Art Hodes, who suggested the tune, had forgotten the bridge. 

Once chosen, the tunes took shape quickly. The yardstick was not their relative immortality, but how well they suited this band. which quickly assumed an identity of its own after a relatively few minutes of jamming. 

A pre-rehearsal conference between Hodes and Blue Note had brought to light some numbers Art had written around 1944. One of them was a catchy thing called SHE WENT AND DID HER DANCE. However, things being what they are, the tune was recorded as CHICAGO GAL - no vocal. 

WOLVERINE BLUES and MR. JELLY LORD, two of Jelly Roll Morton's finest compositions, were included for several reasons. One of the best of these reasons was that no one else has ever approached Jelly's capacity for writing jazz tunes. It should be noted that they are not easy tunes to play, and the smoothness with which this band handles them is appropriate testimony to its capabilities. 

The infrequently recorded WILLIE THE WEEPER was chosen precisely because it hasn't been worked to death. Possibly even more overlooked was the blithe I NEVER KNEW WHAT A GAL COULD DO, written by Elmer Schoebel just 21 years before this session, where he played piano with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. 

Armed with these tunes, the band met at the studio on that Monday night. Art Hodes had arrived shortly after nine o'clock and was working out some ideas on the piano. The other musicians came in shortly afterwards. 

All the numbers were recorded and re-recorded, some being a matter of minutes, while others required more time. The weeding out process found all parties agreed that one side wasn't up to the standard of the rest, and was repeated. This left Blue Note with five sides marked "yes," faced with the immediate need of a sixth. That need was eliminated quite by accident. 

Bujie was playing around with a fast blues, backed by the rhythm section. After listening for a few bars Blue Note nodded: "Start that again - we want it." The red light flashed on, and BUJIE became the sixth side. Kaminsky originally had no intention of getting in on it, but after two minutes sitting it out, he picked up his horn and played the rest of the way. 

This is your introduction to Blue Note's Monday Date. What happened is on the records on this album. 

Bujie has long since returned to New Orleans, where he is playing in a small band. Monday Date is the last date that George Lugg will ever make. But something besides two fine jazz musicians has passed from the local scene. A certain, undefinable spirit seems to have departed as well. In these days of economic unceratinty and atomic tension, it seems impossible to capture the easy manner that is an essential to really good jazz. For some reason, that mood was part of this session, and has been recorded. Newspaper headlines can't change it. Perhaps hearing these records will remind is of something we never even knew we lost. 

Art Hodes - B-6502 Liner Notes 

"Willie The Weeper" is a tune about a cat who's hung up on some stuff that makes for dreams. Our guys give it a shot of reality with Maxie's driving horn and Danny A. rolling along. That was one I could have layed out on and enjoyed. 

Session Information 

Max Kaminsky, trumpet; George Lugg, trombone; Bujie Centobie, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Chick Robertson, guitar; Jack Lesberg, bass; Danny Alvin, drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, May 23, 1945 

BN241-0, Wolverine Blues, Blue Note 550, BLP 7015 

BN242-4, Milenberg Joys, Blue Note BLP 7015 

BN243-0, Walk On Down, Blue Note BLP 7015 

BN244-2, Willie The Weeper, Blue Note 552, BLP 7015, B-6502 

BN244-3, Willie The Weeper (alternate take), Blue Note B-6509 

BN245-0, Bujie, Blue Note 550, BLP 7015