Jazz Scene U.S.A. – Cannonball Adderley Sextet/Teddy Edwards Sextet + Frank Rosolino Quartet/Stan Kenton & His Orchestra + Phineas Newborn, Jr. Trio/Jimmy Smith Trio

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Episodes: B- each

 

 

Last time we looked at a pair of episodes from the 1962 TV series Jazz Scene USA issued by Shanachie, we got to enjoy the Shelly Manne/Shorty Rogers pairing.  Each show ran under a half-hour and each disc delivers a pair of these too-short installments.  This time, we look at three more sets:  Cannonball Adderley Sextet/Teddy Edwards Sextet; Frank Rosolino Quartet/Stan Kenton & His Orchestra; Phineas Newborn, Jr. Trio/Jimmy Smith Trio.

 

The Adderley/Edwards set offers:

 

Jessica’s Birthday

Primitive

Bossa Nova Nemo

Work Song

+ The Cellar Dweller

Sunset Eyes

Afraid Of Love

Good Gravy

Velvet Mist

 

Adderley is very creative and spontaneous and had a hit album the year of this broadcast with the great Nancy Wilson, while Edwards just keeps coming up with these pieces that carry a realistic weight to them, all original compositions.  The Rosolino/Kenton episodes are also solid, with Rosolino delivering some well-timed humor considering the tricky time signatures of Jazz that reminded me of Jazzy pranksters later like Steely Dan and Michael Franks.  His set includes:

 

Yesterdays

Mean To Me

Please Don’t Bug Me

Lover Man

Well You Needn’t

 

Kenton is one of the giant names in the genre and for good reason, having logged three Top 20 albums nationally by the time of this show on the national chart.  Here he is with one of the last big orchestras of the classical Jazz era performing the following:

 

Limehouse Blues

All The Things You Are

Waltz Of The Prophets

Maria

Malaguene

 

 

That leaves the Newborn/Smith shows, also with their great highlights and moments.  Phineas Newborn, Jr. was an exceptional talent and innovator, some of which is reflected by the titles and stories that go with the following tracks:

 

Theme For Basie

Lush Life

Blues For The Left Hand Only

New Blues

Oleo

 

Though there are all kinds of technique to spare, that never gets in the way of him being in the moment.  Jimmy Smith takes more popular works and personalizes them by giving them a pure Jazz twist, not to mention a few hits of his own with his string of 10 Top 35 albums from 1962 – 66.  His elongated performances here are:

 

Walk On The Wild Side

Mack The Knife

The Champ

 

 

Though they could never be long enough, these are impressive, enduring Jazz programs like they do not produce anymore.  They take their music seriously enough and the talent is amazing.  The Adderley title was originally issued in 1999, while the others were issued in 2001, so why the company still has not released a box of the entire series is a shame and only the one other previously reviewed title has been issued to date.  If there are more, they deserve release.

 

The full frame image is monochrome and from old TV masters, so they only look so good, but this could be at least a generation down.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 is monophonic on all the DVDs and a few-generations-down at that, but the 1999 Adderley disc claims stereo.  It barely is.  Whether better visual source materials exist is one question, but a sound clean up would be nice down the line.  The only extra is some smart text on the back of the box, which is still more than many such titles from Shanachie have in the way of extras.  Jazz Scene USA was a great music TV show and if more shows exist, they are long overdue to be issued.  All are worth your time.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo