JAZZ AS LIFESTYLE SOUNDTRACK:
Reviews of some recent collections of jazz music

Jazz compilations are a mainstay of the industry, with an incredible number released each year. One reason for this, of course, is that most of the music released on collections are by artists who have departed this earth and whose music the recording label owns outright. Another reason is that collections allow listeners who are interested in hearing excellent jazz performances, but who have no plans to comb through the Blue Note or Verve catalog album by album, surveying each track for greatness. These listeners are seeking a refined taste, like a good single malt scotch, with all unnecessary overtones removed. In other instances, people see a collection of jazz music as shorthand for sophistication, and it becomes the perfect soundtrack to those parts of their lives to which they wish to add some romance and sophistication.

While jazz purists may scoff at the concept of jazz as a lifestyle soundtrack, the reality is that the music itself can be marketed to almost anyone if the minds behind the collections have done their homework and understand the music. That’s where many of today’s corporate behemoth entertainment conglomerate record labels fail miserably. They treat the music as a product and therefore it makes sense to repackage it in any number of unique ways. Reverse cream Oreos = Time Life Jazz For Lovers. Nonetheless, music buyers sometimes get much more than they pay for when they purchase a good, solid collection of music. They can sample artists who they don’t know very well, with the intention to pursue additional recordings by that artist in the future. Even the person who buys a collection of romantic jazz for a candlelight dinner may be suddenly arrested by the sound of Stan Getz’s tenor sax waffling from the speakers and find him/herself rushing to buy Getz/Gilberto or another classic Getz disc. Joel Dorn, producer of such acts as Cannonball Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Roberta Flack, and Leon Redbone, hit the sweet spot a few years back with a collection called Jazz For. "Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon, Jazz for this, jazz for that" says Dorn about the collection that helped finance projects like 32 Records and Label M…"and then, what happened was, with the success of those, every record company in the world started doing what they call lifestyle compilations. So, the market was kind of like glutted with that stuff… You go into a record store, you go into Tower or Borders or Barnes and Noble and other places, you go into the compilation sections, there could be 7000 compilations, you know. You have to find a way to market yours so you get past the nonsense…past the, you know, all the shells so you can get out to the clear water."

With those comments in mind, here’s a roundup of some recent and semi-recent collection releases:

If Verve’s When Love Goes Wrong is a lifestyle soundtrack, then its likely those living such a lifestyle may turn up on Cops. With its pulp paperback cover art, liner note essay by Harvey Pekar and collection of losers in love tunes, it’s the perfect Sunday afternoon chill out. Of course, with a couple martinis and smoky bar, it could also be the perfect way to wallow in your sorrows after that love affair turns bad.

When Love Goes Wrong starts out with a beautiful 1956 version of “Good Morning Heartache” by Billie Holliday, with a supporting cast that includes Charlie Shavers, Tony Scott on clarinet (it’s his arrangement as well), Paul Quinchette on tenor and Wynton Kelly at the piano. Guitarist Kenny Burrell turns up on the track as well as well as on the second one, a laid-back 1964-model Chet Baker crooning “Born to Be Blue,” accompanied only by Burrell and the bluesy piano of Bobby Scott.

Johnny Hartman and Jimmy Scott are two vocalists whose voices are at opposite ends of the range spectrum, but their similarity in being victims of neglect by the public until recent resurgences binds them together, as does their incredible way with a song. Here we get a chance to hear Hartman’s gorgeous baritone wrapped around the Rogers & Hart tune “It Never Entered My Mind” accompanied by pianist Hank Jones, guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Osie Johnson. Cut in 1964, the track comes from Hartman’s third Bob Thiele-produced session for the Impulse! Label, titled The Voice That Is! Jimmy Scott, originally billed as Little Jimmy Scott, with his voice coming close to soprano range and a somewhat androgynous appearance that is the result of a hormonal imbalance, shares lineage with some of the best doo-wop and group vocalists of the 1950s. He is heard here, as he first came to prominence, with Lionel Hampton’s sumptuous band, recorded in 1950. Scott became the toast of the town during the 1990s due in part to the strange nature of his voice—he sang the song “Sycamore Trees” in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Hartman, who died in 1983, was also resurrected via the soundtrack to the Clint Eastwood-directed Bridges of Madison County featuring Hartman performances of “It Was Almost Like A Song” and “For All We Know.”

Certainly it’s no stretch to imagine tracks from Peggy Lee, Shirley Horn, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, or Ella Fitzgerald here. It’s unusual to hear Frank D’Rone, a Chicago vocalist and guitar player who still gigs around town, performing “Everything Happens To Me,” probably around 1959. Touted by performers as distinctive as Tony Bennett and Nat “King” Cole, D’Rone’s voice is smooth but his performance contains just the right amount of seasoning to give it depth. Horn’s tribute to Miles Davis, a performance of his beloved “I Fall In Love Too Easily” features Miles-esque trumpet work from Roy Hargrove with longtime Davis accomplices Ron Carter and Al Foster supporting Horn’s piano playing and smoking vocals, is another standout.

All in all, When Love Goes Wrong is a winner, ending on a perfectly dour version of “Gloomy Monday” by Mel Torme. Based on a Hungarian song said to cause those who hear it to commit suicide, Torme’s version is suitably somber, with a knockout Marty Paich arrangement that makes great use of Bud Shank’s trademark alto sax sound. Listen at your own risk.

>>More collections | Romantic Jazz | CD Store

Visit our Romantic Poster Store