B-6502

The Funky Piano Of Art Hodes

Released - 1969

Recording and Session Information

NYC, March 18, 1944
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Ray Conniff, trombone; Rod Cless, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Bob Haggart, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN963-2 Slow 'Em Down Blues

NYC, March 22, 1944
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Ray Conniff, trombone; Rod Cless, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Sid Jacobs, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN964-2 Doctor Jazz

NYC, April 21, 1944
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Sandy Williams, trombone #2; Art Hodes, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; Israel Crosby, bass.

BN968-0 M.K. Blues
BN970-1 Jug Head Boogie

WOR Studios, NYC, June 1, 1944
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Edmond Hall, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; Sid Weiss, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN979-1 Sugar Foot Stomp

WOR Studios, NYC, December 11, 1944
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Mezz Mezzrow, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; George "Pops" Foster, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN202-0 Shake That Thing (alternate take)

WOR Studios, NYC, April 6, 1945
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; Art Hodes, piano; Fred Moore, drums, vocals.

BN230-0 K.M.H. Drag (Draggin' The Blues) (as KMH Blues)
BN229-4 That Eccentric Rag (as Eccentric)

WOR Studios, NYC, May 17, 1945
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; George Lugg, trombone; Bujie Centobie, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Chick Robertson, guitar; Jack Lesberg, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN237-1 Chicago Gal

WOR Studios, NYC, May 23, 1945
Max Kaminsky, trumpet; George Lugg, trombone; Bujie Centobie, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Chick Robertson, guitar; Jack Lesberg, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.

BN244-2 Willie The Weeper

WOR Studios, NYC, September 14, 1945
Oliver "Rev." Mesheux, trumpet; Omer Simeon, clarinet; Art Hodes, piano; Al Lucas, bass; Fred Moore, drums.

BN259-1 Blues For Jelly (alternate take 2)

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Slow 'Em Down Blues	Art Hodes	March 18 1944
Doctor Jazz	J. Oliver-W. Melrose	March 22 1944
M.K. Blues		April 21 1944
Jug Head Boogie		April 21 1944
Sugar Foot Stomp	J. Oliver-W. Melrose	June 1 1944
Side Two
Shake That Thing	Jackson	December 11 1944
Eccentric	J. Russel Robinson	April 6 1945
K.H.M. (Draggin' The Blues)	Art Hodes	April 6 1945
Chicago Gal	Art Hodes	May 17 1945
Willie The Weeper	Rymal-Bloom-Melrose	May 23 1945
Blues For Jelly	Emerson	September 14 1945

Liner Notes

It has been over 20 years since I cut these tracks. Let's see; they were recorded in the 1944-45 period. Turn back the clock. New York City was where it was at. The jazz that came up the Mississippi and landed 'smack a' damn in Chicago felt the cold breeze and made the New York scene. The Village was jumpin' with Maxie Kaminsky at the Pied Piper (with Willie "the Lion" Smith at the piano and Rod Cless on clarinet and James P. Johnson holding down the intermission chair). Edmond Hall had the band at Café Society. Me? I was at Jimmy Ryan's on 52nd Street; I had a trio with Danny Alvin, drums and Mezz Mezzrow, clarinet. Couple doors away was the Downbeat Room. Billie Holiday was in residence as was Red Norvo. The Onyx was featuring Lips Page while a few blocks away Cab Calloway (Jonah Jones was in that band) was a feature at the Zanzibar. Oh yes, Muggsy Spanier had the band at Nick's (Pee Wee Russell was with him). The Big Apple held it all.

Not that we were that popular. Say you wanted to buy 'le jazz hot' on records. Steve Smith had the HRS Shop while Commodore was Milt Gabler's. But I got the feeling our jazz was stocked 'under' the counter. Jazz was existing but nobody was making it rich. Thank God for the friends of jazz; Dan Qualey and his Solo Art label; Gene Williams and Ralph Gleason and the Jazz Information Mag. Then along came Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff with their Blue Note label. I latched on and pretty soon I was like 'a house band' leader. Man, those were exciting times. It was something to see Frank Wolff scampering around the studio trying' to catch you (with his camera) in an 'unaware' shot. Lots of dedication then. You could never tell me that within a few years hearty jazz souls were to discover a 'new' music (they called it jazz) and turn their backs on the old. But it happened. Some of the best received works were buried, plowed under. Trad-jazz was just unfashionable; Dad was old-shoe — old button shoe.

The phone call was from Hollywood. Steve LaVere, the son of a pianist I knew and respected back in my growing up Chicago days, was calling.

He explained "I'm with Liberty Records and we own the Blue Note label and we're issuing some of the things you did. How would you like to write the liner notes?" How would I...then the test pressings came and I listened. It was like yesterday had come alive.

"Slow 'Em Down Blues" set the mood. Kaminsky on trumpet, Rod Cless, clarinet, and a new face, Ray Conniff on trombone. Maxie got him for us. He said, "I think this guy'll surprise you." He did...played real clean horn. Cless, of course is like having a friend from down home. And Bob Haggart on bass never hurts. The whole bit was relaxed. The blues played stow "Doctor Jazz" started things moving. It begins 'upstairs'; the band's uptight. This is a Jelly (Jelly Roll Morton) tune. I'd been hearing it for years. Play it on down; let the guys get the feel. I did chart some lead sheets. No sweat, not with everybody pitching in.

"M. K. Blues" (Moore-Kaminsky) opens with that sound you get when you have a guitar blues man who digs. That was Jimmy Shirley. No gimmicks, no chambers. Just an easy groove. Israel Crosby is the bass player..."Jug Head Blues" is a boogie-blues and this digs in. Fact is, Sandy Williams sits in on this track and you talk about a trombone played hot and dirty. I'm reminded of how people used to dance on a dime. "Don't you move a peg."

"Sugar Foot Stomp" winds up the first side. Enter the incomparable Edmond Hall, one of the finest with the clarinet. Also Max Kaminsky and Vic Dickenson (trombone of course) and now we're really movin'. Alvin (Danny) on drums is driving. Instead of two, Maxie takes three. And when did you last hear a drummer play the woodblocks behind a piano chorus. Yeh, its pleasurable. I shut my eyes and let the good times roll.

The flip side opens with "Shake That Thing." I'm playing some 'gone' blues and then Danny shouts out "taffy boy" and Mezz calls "hey Maxie, let's get some of that." Little Maxie gets that big sound out of a trumpet. Mezz loved playing blues. I can live with this. "Eccentric" is a rag-type of tune. Clarinet players are partial to it. Kaminsky and I get completely away from the 'hurry-up' approach. Max and I team up good. He takes that melody right along. This is really enjoyable and Fred Moore is all the help we need to keep that rhythm rolling.

"K.M.H". is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite tracks. I wrote this tune back in my Chicago scuffling days when you had no trouble getting the blues. So now we call it soul. Tell it like it is inside. As I re-hear this music I'm touched. I'm not going to plague you with phony modesty. Recording this bit is like me signing my name. This is Art Hodes; this is from deep inside me. As far as I'm concerned this track is worth the price of admission. "Chicago Gal" is another of my originals. As with many of my tunes it came out of an experience. I believed the chick when she said I was the one and only. It turned out she had her fingers crossed. In any case we decided to 'rest' the lyric. To tell you the truth I don't miss it. Bujie Centobie was in town and he sat in on clarinet; real nice blowing. And with Maxie pumpin' the lead and Alvin barrelling along we hit a fine groove.

"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. "Blues For Jelly" closes the set. We were in for a treat when Omer Simeon arrived to play clarinet on the date. This cat has to be one of the all-time greats on the instrument. No wonder Jelly Roll Morton used him so frequently. On trumpet we used Oliver Mesheux; talk about a guy who 'preaches' on the horn. Al Lucas sat in on bass with Fred Moore at the drums. It's an easy blues mood with nobody tryin' to prove nothin'.

So I'm re-listening how it was years ago. When you arrived at the recording studio 'you'd arrived.' Your experimenting days were behind you. The backrooms where the lights were dim and you got paid off in the dark. The saloons you haunted for a chance to sit in (and I'm remembering T. Monk dropping in at Ryan's and waitin' the set out, then playing the intermission; solo style). Yeh, a recording date meant four sides and make 'em all good. A jazz band? Full of leaders. Count 'em: Kaminsky, Edmond Hall, Alvin, Mezz all had their own bands. Keen competition. But when you listened to the finished product; when they played that disc back to you, that turned you on. Just like re-listening to this now, makes me know it was all worthwhile. You get that good feeling knowing that what you put down yesterday was honest and for real and you can live with it today. Call it pride. After all, you're a jazzman...

Notes by Art Hodes