David Dalle
Thursday January 27th, 2022 with David Dalle
From the collection of Bill Drake part II: honouring a fellow Ottawa radio DJ, William Drake with a slice of classic Americana from his collection.
Continuing today with part II honouring a fellow Ottawa radio DJ, William Drake. Born in Dodge City, Kansas, Bill Drake worked as a DJ at several radio stations in the Midwest before ending up at WCOP in Boston in the 60's. Around 1970 he heard of an opening at CKSO in Sudbury and decided to apply, despite never having visited Canada. He spent a couple years there before he moved to Ottawa and CFRA. He spent the next decade at CFRA, at which time CFRA was the most popular station in Ottawa. In the early 80's he left the radio business for good to become a writer for high tech in Ottawa, but he kept his passion for music until the end of his life. Bill Drake was also the father of my brother-in-law and I enjoyed talking music with him over the years. I am now the grateful custodian of a large music collection from him. Bill Drake's first love in music was jazz and Americana. His favourite jazz was primarily American musicians from the 30's to the 60’s; as well, he had some early and mid-20th century American composers. All of which really defined a national American sound in the 20th century. You can listen to part I here:
https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/54408.html
| In part one we started with that great aristocrat of swing and jazz, Duke Ellington. Part II will begin the other great aristocrat, Count Basie. We start with an album from 1963, "Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie" nearly three decades after he left Kansas City with his orchestra. Quincy Jones was a toddler then, but he wrote all the compositions for this album, starting with the titletrack, which showcases Basie on the piano. |
| Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie Count Basie and his Orchestra - Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie - Verve |
| Belly Roll Count Basie and his Orchestra - Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie - Verve |
| Count 'Em Count Basie and his Orchestra - Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie - Verve |
| Surprisingly, it also took until 1963 for the Queen of Jazz to collaborate with Count Basie. |
| Them There Eyes Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie - Ella and Basie! - Verve |
| It used to be I would have said I am not interested in jazz organ. That was before I actually heard jazz organ played by Jimmy Smith. This amazing take on a James Brown song was recorded in 1996. |
| Papa's Got A Brand New Bag Jimmy Smith - Damn! - Verve |
| What could be more American than the convergence of Gershwin and Bernstein? Bernstein conducting Gershwin's famous Rhapsody from the piano in a live recording from 1983. |
| Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin/Leonard Bernstein, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra - Rhapsody in Blue, West Side Story: Symphonic Dances - Deutsche Grammophon |
| Ending the first set with that other legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday from her final album, "Lady In Satin", recorded in 1958. |
| Glad To Be Unhappy Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin - Columbia |
| You Don't Know What Love Is Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin - Columbia |
| The second set will feature almost exclusively Black American musicians from the 50's and early 60's showing a progression from Bebop to Hard Bop to tentative hints of Free jazz. Many of these musicians were members of the famous Jazz Messengers. |
| The Eternal Triangle Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Ray Bryant, Tommy Bryant, Charlie Persip - Sonny Side Up - Verve |
| With the exception of trumpeter Art Farmer, the other four musicians on this 1957 album were important members of the Jazz Messengers in the 50's (including their founder Art Blakey, who led the Messengers until his death in 1990). |
| Funk In Deep Freeze Hank Mobley, Art Farmer, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins, Art Blakey - Hank Mobley Quintet - Blue Note |
| Base On Balls Hank Mobley, Art Farmer, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins, Art Blakey - Hank Mobley Quintet - Blue Note |
| The second album led by Hank Mobley is from 1961 and features the (then) young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard to whom I have really taken a liking. |
| Roll Call Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Blakey - Roll Call - Blue Note |
| We come to a 1964 album led by Freddie Hubbard. Hubbard recorded with Ornette Coleman but never really embraced Free jazz. |
| Blue Frenzy Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Ronnie Mathews, Eddie Khan, Joe Chambers - Breaking Point - Blue Note |
| This Gershwin prelude was the encore at the concert with the Rhapsody in the first set. |
| Prelude for Piano no. 2 George Gershwin/Leonard Bernstein - Rhapsody in Blue, West Side Story: Symphonic Dances - Deutsche Grammophon |
| Breaking Point Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Ronnie Mathews, Eddie Khan, Joe Chambers - Breaking Point - Blue Note |
| Exit stage left... with a favourite of Bill Drake, Oscar Peterson. |
| The Honeydripper Oscar Peterson Trio - Night Train - Verve 
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2:22 PM, January 27th, 2022