SMITHVILLE: French Spice (rehearsal recording)

SMITHVILLE Live in Lewes!

Radio Tribute to Joe Lee Wilson on Seahaven FM

Keith B took over the Big Band spot on Seahaven FM last night and he devoted the second half to the music and life of Joe Lee Wilson. We chose choose that reflected the range of his singing style and were personal favourites.

Return of the Prodigal Son is a soul jazz track from 1969, not long after Joe Lee drew with Sly & The Family Stone in a national TV talent show. Sly Stone signed to Columbia and enjoyed huge commercial success. Joe Lee recorded for Columbia but they just sat on the tapes. A couple of singles appeared and disappeared (the first recording of He Ain't Heavy . . . He's My My Brother). The Return of the Prodigal Son is a big budget production (a nine piece band including Kenny Burrell and Kenny Barron) but first saw the light of day in Japan. Is this one of the Columbia tapes that they handed over to Joe Lee? Are there more out there?

How Deep Is The Ocean was recorded in Italy in 2008. Shows that Joe could still tell a story and move people with his voice.

Feelin' Good is from the album of the same name. A great session with Kirk Lightsey (piano), Steve Watts (bass), Julian Siegel (tenor), Dave Wickens (drums). Recorded in 2000 is shows Joe Lee on top form with  a great band, caught at the end of a UK tour. This is Joe Lee at his most joyful and positive.

Jazz Ain't Nothin' But Soul was recorded is 1972 as a live radio concert at Columbia University. When is was released two years later (on the Livin' High on Nickels and Dimes LP) it became a hit for Oblivion records. It describes jazz thus:

Jazz is makin' do with taters and grits

Standing up each time you get hit

Jazz ain't nothin' but soul

Jazz is livin' high on nickels and dimes

Telling folks what's on my mind

Jazz ain't nothin' but soul

Not financially rewarding but a kind of truth. Joe would have established his NYC loft (The Ladies Fort) at this time  and created many opportunities for himself and other musicians to entertain an audience. This song is another positive message from Joe.

You can hear the complete album here.

I Love You is from a 1981 session with guitarist Jimmy Ponder. Just the two of them. His voice is beautiful and the two musicians complement each other perfectly.

Goin' To Chicago (from Feelin' Good) is a straightforward blues. Joe Lee never considered himself a blues singer but he could certainly do justice to the blues, recalling blues shouters like Big Joe Turner.

Home in the Country (from Feelin' Good) was written by trumpet player and singer Kenny Dorham (KD). Joe Lee used to hand out in Tompkins Square Park with KD. Joe Lee was a country boy, raised a farm in Oklahoma, and this song talks about wanting to leave the city and get back to a home in the country. The story is dramatically told by Joe Lee with Kirk Lightsey:

The city's bright, bright like diamonds and hard like glittering stone

Ain't got some sweet place I can call my home

Your hair is soft, feels so fine, let's get out of New York City while we got time

I want a home in the country. Won't you come there with me.

Come to the country

Thanks to Seahaven FM for the opportunity to put some of Joe Lee's music on air and on the internet.

Photographs of Smithville at the The Brighton Bandstand

Thanks to Paul Statter for these great photos. More info here.

John Harris Trio,"You would be so nice to come home to"(Cole Porter).

Recorded at The Basement, 02/06/10 by Niall Burke.

Kineojazz presents Claire Martin, 2nd June, The Basement

Following on from the success of the Joe Lee Wilson/Remember April event, we have organised a gig with Claire Martin. Claire lives in Brighton but has an international reputation as one of the finest jazz singers of her generation. For this gig she has a great band consisting on Jim Mullen (guitar), Laurence Cottle (bass) and Ian Thomas (drums). Here is the flyer for the gig:

[Click to enlarge)

Claire will be supported by my own Trio featuring Keith Baxter (Fender bass) and Tony Kenyon (drums), with guest singers Jon Gilhooly and Ela Southgate.

Tickets from The Dome Box Office (01273 709709). Full details of the gig here: http://www.kineojazz.com/ - the site includes links to photos of the Joe Lee Wilson/Remember April gig.

Phoenix Gallery Brighton - Dream Home "Housewarming Party" 23rd April

A "Housewarming Party" for an exhibition at The Phoenix Gallery on the theme of Dream Home has had artist & vocalist Jonathan Gilhooly, bassist Keith Baxter and myself scurrying around looking for off-beat tunes to perform. We have a growing list including: Roxy Music's In Every Dream Home a Heartache; Robert Johnson's Come on in my Kitchen; Tom Waits' What's He Doing in There; and standards such as A Cottage For Sale, You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To and On The Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady. For the time being we've decided against The England World Cup Squad 1970  hit - Back Home, but then again . . .

The Housewarming Party is on the 23rd April and you can "meet the artists, explore the house and experience a number of impromptu performances throughout the evening."

More info on the Phoenix Gallery Website. The image above is from Gary Barber.

April 24 - June 6. 2010

Late opening: Fri 14, Sat 15 & Sun 16 May until 9 pm  Apr 24 - Jun 6, 2010 

Daily opening: Tue - Sun 1 am - 5pm

Jeff Howlett Trio stretching out on Blue Monk

The Round Georges, November 2009.

Live Recording: Oscar Pettiford's Blues in The Closet

A duo piece with myself and Keith Baxter (Fender bass) recorded on a gig with Ela Southgate (vocals) at the Round Georges in November 2009. The quality of the recording is terrible and features accompanying toe-tapping from my right foot, placed rather too close to the mic.

Five Years At Fitz

Plenty of familiar faces down Fitz last night for a celebration of Three Plus One's five years at the venue. Five years must make it one of the longest running in Brighton (Steve Thompson at The Sussex Yeoman made it to four and a half). The evening started with a set by ERM (Ela Southgate and Rachel Day on vocals, Matt Wall on 7-string guitar). Lovely harmony vocals and some nice original tunes managed to calm the typically rowdy early evening crowd. We played a set of the usual and then guitarist Piers Clark joined Keith Baxter (bass), Matt and me for some Parisienne-style swing. Piers has a wonderful sense of time - even if he won't play a lick later than 1939! Master chef Freddie (of Terre a Terre) made a delicious strawberry birthday gateaux, with a piece for everyone in the pub and the band played on for another set. I never forget it's a privilege to have a regular weekly gig, and just hope that Fitzherberts manages to survive the creeping gentrification of the area.