impeccable, adj. faultless, flawless; irreproachable. E.g., Hank Jones.
Hank Jones, July 31, 1918-May 16, 2010
“Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’,” live, Paris, 2009
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“This Is This” (with Joe Lovano, saxophone), live
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“Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child” (with Charlie Haden, bass), 1995
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lagniappe
When you listen to a pianist, each note should have an identity, each note should have a soul of its own.—Hank Jones
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Really dumb!
You’re sitting, in 1926, in the back of a little church in Dallas. It’s hot and the windows are open. This woman, who’s been at the piano since you walked in, begins to play.
Arizona Dranes, piano, “Crucifixion,” 1926
You don’t have to go to Chicago’s south or west sides to hear music that comes from the gospel tradition. The other day, at a Catholic church in a far northwest suburb (Barrington), a funeral service (for my uncle) closed with this.
Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993), “Precious Lord,” live, c. 1981 (Say Amen, Somebody [1982])
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lagniappe
More from Mr. Dorsey (and Say Amen, Somebody):
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Since it’s the best-known gospel song [‘Precious Lord’], it was perfectly natural for Dr. Martin Luther King to request its performance the night of his death.
—Anthony Heilbut, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times (6th ed. 2002)
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Want more gospel?
Here’s the theme song for one of my favorite radio shows, Kevin Nutt’s Sinner’s Crossroads (WFMU-FM), which can be heard live on Thursday night from 7-8 p.m. (EST) or at the archives anytime.
Silver Quintette, “Sinner’s Crossroads” (1956, Chicago)/mp3
(This comes from The Widow’s Might, a DVD containing [in mp3 format] every song played on Sinner’s Crossroads in 2009, which is available as a premium for a $75 pledge to WFMU.)
These guys sounded awfully good the other day—let’s hear some more.
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, “Orleans & Claiborne,” live, New Orleans, 2010
There are a lot of things to like about this performance. One is the way Shorty, following two hot solos (tenor, baritone), doesn’t try to out-blow those guys. Instead, he changes directions (3:20). Sometimes nothing packs more punch than restraint. (Yeah, I don’t know why this clip cuts off when it does, either.)
Want more? Here.
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lagniappe
passings
Soon I’ll be leaving for a funeral—my uncle, Hugh Frebault. Nine days ago we sat and talked and laughed for over an hour; now he’s silent. Does life get any more understandable as you get older? I don’t think so—if anything, it seems to become only more mysterious, more unfathomable.
Blind Willie Johnson, “Dark Was The Night – Cold Was The Ground” (1927, Dallas)
Same song (as last Sunday), same city, different singer.
Grandpa Elliott, “Amazing Grace,” live, New Orleans, April 29, 2010
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lagniappe
Interview with Grandpa Elliott, New Orleans, April 29, 2010
This is like my medicine, my doctor, my everything.
—Grandpa Elliott
Want more? Here.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2010/part 3
Aaron Neville, “Amazing Grace”
The records this man made, during sessions in Dallas in the 1920s, where he played an instrument that has long mystified listeners (dolceola? fretless zither?), are like nothing else I know.
Washington Phillips
“Lift Him Up” (1927, Dallas)
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“What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?” (1928, Dallas)
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“Denomination Blues,” Part 1 (1927, Dallas)
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lagniappe
Someone could offer me a million dollars to forget this voice and I still couldn’t do it.
The Soul Stirrers featuring R.H. Harris
“Walk Around” (1939)
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“Lord I’ve Tried” (1946)
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“I Want To Rest” (1946)
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“I’m Willing To Run” (1947)
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lagniappe
“He [R.H. Harris] was The Man – the guy everyone tried to sound like,” says gospel historian Anthony Heilbut. “If you’ve been to a black church or listened to R&B music, you’ve heard the influence of R.H. Harris.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame made the Soul Stirrers its first gospel inductees in 1989.
Musically, Harris and the Soul Stirrers helped shape gospel’s transition from the old “jubilee” a cappella style into the “quartet” style, with a more distinct lead voice and musical parts.
Harris sang in a striking high voice Heilbut calls “a combination of gospel moans, cowboy yodels and a clear Irish tenor.”
Harris helped found the Soul Stirrers in Texas in the 1930s. When he left in 1950, Cooke took over as lead singer and always called Harris his major stylistic influence. He then passed the style to the likes of Al Green.—David Hinckley, New York Daily News, September 6, 2000 (obituary)
Some singers—like this one, featured a few weeks ago—you just can’t get enough of.
Dorothy Love Coates & the Gospel Harmonettes
“(You Can’t Hurry God) He’s Right On Time,” live (TV broadcast)
(This song, written by DLC, reportedly inspired the Supremes’ hit “You Can’t Hurry Love” [Holland-Dozier-Holland].)
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“You Must Be Born Again,” live (TV broadcast)
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“It’s Getting Late In The Evening,” live, Los Angeles, 1955
Want more? Here.
music clip of the day 