Candid Records Remastered Reissues

Jaki Byard – Blues for Smoke

Nancy Harrow – Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues

Memphis Slim – Memphis Slim, U.S.A.

 The revitalized jazz label, Candid, releases newly remastered albums from the early ‘60s that are now available in all formats. This is the first time that pianist Jaki Byard’s 1960 Blues for Smoke is available on vinyl in the states. The others are the groundbreaking debut from blues singer Nancy Harrow, 1961 Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues, and the 1961 Memphis Slim, U.S.A. from the iconic blues pianist and singer Memphis Slim, both produced by the legendary Nat Hentoff. These are all remastered from the original tapes with Michael Graves on Memphis Slim and Nancy Harrow while Bernie Grundman takes the honors on Jaki Byard. The sound quality on all three is as immaculate as you would expect from these Grammy winning engineers.

Jaki Byard is known mostly as a jazz player as even during this time he was a vital member of Charles Mingus’s ensemble, holding down the piano chair of albums such as Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus; The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, and Live at Monterey. He also recorded a series of albums for Prestige in the ‘60s with such icons as Art Blakey and Elvin Jones. So, in that sense this solo piano effort is somewhat of a crossover to blues. Of course, Mingus’ music was also deeply infused with blues so this is not a stretch in any way. The interesting aspect is how Byard merges the many piano styles of stride, ragtime, and bebop, sometimes within the same piece. His versatility is stunning as heard in the opener, a tribute to his Queens roots in “Hollis Stomp.” He then segues into the simmering blues of “Aluminum, Baby.” Other key tracks are the dramatic “Flight of the Fly,” the deep, pondering title track, and the rollicking “One, Two, Five.” Interestingly, although recorded in 1960, the album sat in the vaults until first released in 1988.

Nancy Harrow sits right at the intersection of jazz and blues. Harrow doesn’t make her vocal entrance until three and half minutes in following the long instrumental intro for “Take Me Back, Baby.” She’s fronting an extraordinary band in this collection of standards and blues classics. The octet features such enduring names as Buddy Tate (tenor sax), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Dickie Wells (trombone), Dick Wellstood (piano), Kenny Burrell (guitar), and Milt Hinton (bass). Harrow’s vocals are natural, smooth, and unforced, as typified by the lilting “All Too Soon” and the romantic “Can’t We Be Friends.”  She exudes both joy and class on the chestnut “Sunny Side of the Street” while bringing a heavy dose of sass to the title track. Commenting on the session, Harrow says, “…So many great solos – it was like playing tennis with a pro.” Even though this is a 1961 session, the music sounds much older, like vintage ‘30s and ‘40s, all with a deep foundation in the blues. Listen to Wellstood’s piano solo on the title track as just one of many examples.

Memphis Slim (aka John “Peter” Chatman)  was one of the best storytellers in blues. Memphis Slim, U.S.A. was on the few pure blues album released by the Candid label, which mostly specialized in jazz. On this intimate session he holds court with vocalist Arbee Stidham and harmonicist Jazz Gillum although many tracks are solo as well. On the opening “Born with the Blues” he cites Willie Dixon, Leroy Carr and Big Bill Broonzy as prominent progenitors of the idiom, his mentors. The album has a generous 14 tracks and he introduces the background for some of these songs, such as “Just Let Me Be.” To best appreciate his rollicking piano style, check out “Red Haired Boogie.” He slows it down considerably for most of the vocal tracks, such as those mentioned, “Blues and Disgusted,” and “I Just Landed In Your Town,” among others. He slows down Broonzy’s classic on “New Key to the Highway” with an assist from Gillum on blues harp. He sings on a few up-tempo tunes as well, including “Harlem Bound” and the title track. Throughout, you’ll hear many classic blues phrases and conventions, some of which owe to Slim but mostly to his mentors.

 

 

 

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