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CurtJazz’s Best Jazz Albums of 2011 – The Final List

Posted in Best Jazz Albums of 2011, CD Reviews, The Jazz Continues... with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 13, 2011 by curtjazz

About six months ago, I posted a halftime list of my favorite 2011 jazz recordings heard between January and July.  I promised to be back around now to fill out the list with what I experienced over the last six months.  My original intent was to pare that list down to a final dozen or so, spanning the entire year…

Well, I changed my mind y’all. Instead, we’re going to add another ten to that first list, making it a Top 20.  And, like last year, there was an excellent 2010 disc that I completely missed until 2011. It will be included as well.

As a reminder, here are albums from the July post. You can see/read the entire July post HERE.

So here they are, in alpha order by album title – my favorite jazz discs from the second half of this year:

Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook – Miguel Zenón (Marsalis Music) – He’s not prone to ostentatious self promotion, but this Guggenheim and MacArthur fellow has quietly become one of the most important saxophonists in jazz today.  Each of his albums has topped the previous one; taking his artistry to a new place and keeping us, the audience, on the edge of our seats. Alma Adentro, is the exploration of the music of five composers, who are unknown in the U.S. but very important in Puerto Rican musical lore. It’s not “Latin Jazz” in the sense that we’ve come to know it, but is outstanding music that broadened my horizons.

Bitches – Nicholas Payton (In + Out Records) – Yes, the title did make me wince a little, but the music made me smile, a lot.  This has been an interesting year for Mr. Payton, as his blunt, insightful and often profane musings have made him one of the more controversial and compelling figures in the world of jazz social media.  Not surprisingly, this album has also caused its share of controversy, raising eyebrows in the same way that In a Silent Way, another album with a dream-like vibe, did in 1969.  Payton composed every song, played every instrument and sings on many of the tracks (quite well, I might add), more than holding his own with some top-drawer guests, like Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson.  If you’re looking for “jazz” of the type that Payton played on his early Verve albums, you won’t find it here. Bitches has more in common with mid-70’s ballad driven R & B and with neo-soul. But as someone who grew up with the former and has developed a keen appreciation for the latter, I really dug this album.

Black Lace Freudian Slip – René Marie (Motema Music)

René Marie was very quiet for a while after her 2008 controversies, but she is back with a vengeance; releasing not one but two outstanding albums in 2011. The first; Voice of My Beautiful Country, (which was on our first “Best of” list) was a tribute to patriotic and traditional standards. Black Lace Freudian Slip is mostly comprised of Marie originals, including the title track, which is every bit as sly and sexy as the title suggests. The two discs may be lyrical opposites but the music on both is outstanding. Don’t try to choose between them, get them both.

For All Those Living – Sheryl Bailey (Pure Music Records)

Guitarist Sheryl Bailey gets better with every recording. She follows up last year’s impressive big band outing,  A New Promise, with a terrific quartet disc that displays her impressive chops and full-bodied swing to great advantage.  The Emily Remler comparisons are easy to make, but I think that that’s too limiting.  Sheryl Bailey has the potential to outshine her role model, whose untimely death halted her artistic growth. Bump the gender limitations; Ms. Bailey is one of the best jazz guitarists working today, period. This disc also has its heart in the right place as 20% of the proceeds from all sales will be donated to Ronald McDonald House.

The Mosaic Project – Terri Lyne Carrington (Concord Records)

As I stated in my earlier review of this album, The Mosaic Project is Terri Lyne Carrington’s most completely realized project, by a mile. It also is one of the best jazz works of the year by any artist. Click HERE to see my full post about it.

Pinnacle: Live and Unreleased from Keystone Korner – Freddie Hubbard (Resonance Records)

What a find this was by Resonance Records! Hubbard, at the top of his game in 1980 on performances compiled from summer and fall appearances at the legendary San Francisco club.  The version of “The Intrepid Fox” that opens the album, is jaw dropping. What follows is just as good, including the only known recording of Hub playing “Giant Steps”. The title says it all.

Road Shows Volume 2 – Sonny Rollins (Doxy/EmArcy)

I was one of the few who liked, but didn’t love Road Shows Volume 1; mostly because of the unevenness of the 30 years worth of performances. Volume 2’s tracks by contrast, were all recorded during 2010, most of them during Newk’s already legendary 80th birthday concert, the remaining two a month later in Japan.  Sonny is in very fine form and the guest stars, including Roy Haynes, Roy Hargrove, Jim Hall, Christian McBride and Ornette Coleman, in his first ever public performance with Rollins, all rise to the occasion. Sonny Rollins proves once again, that age ain’t nothin’ but a number.

Something Beautiful – Eric Reed (WJ3 Records)

Something Beautiful is Eric Reed doing what he does best; playing in a trio setting. It’s hard to believe that it’s been over twenty years since Reed first debuted with Wynton, but in those years he has grown from teenaged prodigy to one of the best pianists of his generation, with an impeccable melodic sense that accompanies his gospel influenced chord structure.  Something Beautiful consists mostly of songs by others, from Berlin to Brubeck to Billy Joel; all of them sounding as unsullied as if they were being played for the first time.

 

Tirtha – Vijay Iyer (ACT)

Tirtha is the self titled debut of pianist Vijay Iyer’s latest trio, which also includes tabla player Nitin Mitta and guitarist Prasanna.  As expected, the album has a strong South Asian influence, but I feel that slapping a term such as “Indian Jazz” on this music is almost insulting in its limitations.  Their sound is alive and its intricacies grow with every hearing.   Iyer has never been afraid to challenge conventions and he usually creates something fresh in the process. He and his Tirtha band mates have done so here.  In a genre often chided for being stale, Tirtha is a welcome breath of fresh air.

 

Triumph of the Heavy Volumes 1 & 2 – Marcus Strickland (Strick Music/CDBY)

Strickland is another of those young saxophonists who give me hope for the future whenever I hear him blow.  On this two disc set (gutsy for a relatively unknown artist), he brings the goods on tenor, alto, soprano and clarinet.  Disc 2 is a live trio set with Marcus’ twin brother E.J. on drums and up and coming bassist Ben Williams. They push the boundaries of convention to the limits, with a hard-driving sound that is spare, but never thin.  On Disc 1, recorded eight months later, they add David Bryant, a young Tyner influenced pianist with mad promise, to the mix.  Bryant’s angular harmonies are the main reason I have a slight preference for the studio set but it doesn’t really matter, because neither disc has left heavy rotation in my iPod since I bought them.

And a 2010 disc that I missed…

Introducing Triveni – Avishai Cohen (Anzic)

I’m continuing the tradition that I started last year of recognizing an outstanding disc released in the previous year that managed to escape my ears until the current one.  Triveni was released in September 2010. It’s a trio session led by the trumpet playing brother of Anat Cohen, who has garnered renown for her work on sax and clarinet.  Avishai Cohen is one of two Israeli jazzmen working today who share the same name (the other plays bass) and as of now, he’s the lesser known of the two.  This strong outing should do something to change that. Trumpet/bass/drums trio sessions are rare but Cohen is more than up to the task, collaborating with bassist Omer Avital and drummer Nasheet Waits on originals and standards that mine the depths of hard bop, swing, funk with a nice dose of avant-garde as well.  Cohen is not going to bowl you over with flights into the upper register but the impressiveness of his facility and inventiveness in the mid range is worth a dozen high notes. Many thanks to Canadian journalist/pianist Peter Hum for pulling my coat about this one.

Notable Mentions

Here are a few more fine discs from 2011 that are worth a listen or ten. Don’t pass them up if you have a chance:

  • A Boy’s Journey – Peter Hum Quintet (self-released) – The knowledgeable and witty jazz journalist is also a very fine pianist. An impressive debut recording.
  • Parallel Lives – Andrea Wolper (Jazzed Media) – This vocalist grows more impressive with each album.  Her coolly inviting mix of originals with rarely heard standards are a perfect tonic for a tough world. 
  • State of Art – Ben Williams (Concord Jazz) – The Monk Competition winner drops a formidable blend of the new and the traditional on his first disc.  It’s fresh, it’s exciting and I want to hear more.
  • Sweet Thunder (Duke & Shak) – Delfeayo Marsalis (Troubador Jass) – Delfeayo does The Duke proud on this hard-swinging octet version of Such Sweet Thunder. It’s the year’s best album from someone named Marsalis (Read the full review post HERE)
  • When the Heart Emerges Glistening – Ambrose Akinmusire (Blue Note) – A rare case of a much-hyped major label debut living up to expectations. Akinmusire is the real deal; and the greatest thing is that he’s nobody’s clone.

And that’s how things looked this year from my “plush” Charlotte studio/mancave.  Tracks from these albums and more will be heard on Curt’s Café WebJazz Radio, starting on December 27 and continuing on through the month of January.  Your thoughts, comments and criticisms are always welcome and your spam is always deleted.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts this year. I don’t take your support for granted. I hope you’ll stick around for what I expect will be an interesting 2012.

A Happy and Healthy Holiday Season to all of you. 

Until the next time, the jazz continues…

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Video Tribute – Art Blakey

Posted in Video Vault with tags , , , , on November 12, 2011 by curtjazz

Art Blakey [Abdullah Ibn Buhaina] 1919 – 1990

Art Blakey of course, will be forever known as  “headmaster” of jazz’s greatest finishing school, the legendary Jazz Messengers.  He was also for a time, the unofficial house drummer for Blue Note Records.  The list of jazz legends who’ve logged time with the Messengers is stunning. Just the trumpet players alone could fill their own wing in the Jazz Hall of Fame (Brownie, Morgan, Hubbard, Wynton and even Chuck Mangione!).

Blakey and the Messengers have been well documented, so instead of repeating any more of their history, I’m going to repeat one of my favorite fables about Blakey, who was known for never missing an opportunity to be an advocate for music he loved:

“Art was driving to an out-of-town job and passed through a village where traffic was completely tied up because of a funeral procession. Since he couldn’t get past the cemetery until the service was over, he got out and listened to the eulogy. The minister spoke at length about the virtues of the deceased, and then asked if anyone had anything else to add. After a silence during which nobody spoke up, Art said, ‘If nobody has anything to say about the deceased, I’d like to say a few words about jazz!”

So here are “Bu” and the boys with a few “words” to say about jazz!

With the incredible 1961 Messengers, on “Moanin”

 The same group on Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere”

From the ’80’s, with the Marsalis Brothers on “Ms. B.C.”

And one of the final editions of the Messengers does it right on “Along Came Betty”

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A Video Tribute to Oscar Brown, Jr.

Posted in The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , on November 11, 2011 by curtjazz

Oscar Brown, Jr. (1926 – 2005)

This piece was originally intended as a birthday tribute to Oscar Brown, Jr. I couldn’t move fast enough to get it out last month, but the tracks were too good to languish in the draft file, so here it is a month later.

Many know Mr. Brown for “But I Was Cool”, one of his lighter pieces, which achieved some fame when a deodorant company used it (with Brown’s vocals) to advertise their product.

Oscar Brown was the natural predecessor to Gil Scott-Heron and other spoken word music poets. He composed over 1,000 songs, at least a dozen plays and recorded 12 albums, including the classic “Sin and Soul”; during his lifetime. He was also a political activist, who ran for the Illinois State Legislature and Congress.

I usually keep the text to a minimum during these video tribute posts and this one will be no exception, so here now are some great performances by a legendary griot.

Let’s start with this terrific overview:

Here he adds a heartfelt touch to Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere”

“The Snake” – with that irresistible refrain

And one of his best, IMHO, “Mr. Kicks”

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Unsung Women of Jazz #10 – Terry Pollard

Posted in Unsung Women of Jazz on November 5, 2011 by curtjazz

Terry Pollard (1931 – 2009)

 “A recording Pollard made around this time with…Dorothy Ashby caused one jazz critic to rate her as ‘one of the best in the country on piano’.  Her hard swinging, witty, soulful piano stylings would doubtless have made her a name artist had she not chosen to stay in the Motor City.” – Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazz Women by Linda Dahl

“Where have I been? How is it that I never knew about Terry Pollard? I’ve researched jazz women. Hell, I was on the board of directors…of International Women in Jazz. Yet I remained clueless.”  – Andrea Wolper

Let me echo the words of my friend (and TDWR in her own right) vocalist Andrea Wolper. I cannot believe that I have missed Terry Pollard all these years.  I wish that I could even say that I learned of Ms. Pollard through Andrea but I even missed her then.  Sorry Andrea, I promise to read your blog regularly from now on!

I first heard of this gifted pianist/vibraphonist a few weeks ago, when putting together the post on Mary Osborne; as Ms. Pollard was the pianist who “battled” Horace Silver on “Anything You Can Do…” from Cats vs. Chicks.  A Google search on her name led me to the remarkable piece of footage below, from Steve Allen’s Tonight Show in 1956. 

At the time of the appearance, Ms. Pollard was at the point of her jazz career that brought her the most renown, as the pianist and 2nd vibist in Terry Gibbs quartet. She played and recorded with Gibbs from 1953 – 1957, when she returned home to her native Detroit to raise a family.  Gibbs had “discovered” her (though I hate that phraseology) in 1952, when she was working with saxophonist Billy Mitchell at Detroit’s famed Baker’s Keyboard Lounge.  Ms. Pollard recorded a number of albums with Gibbs; with her hard-driving swing moving Gibbs’ group decidedly out of the “MJQ” territory that many with similar instrumentation inhabited.

During that fertile period, Terry Pollard also recorded her sole album as a leader, for Bethlehem Records, in 1955. Though Gibbs was not featured, there were impressive turns by guitarist Howard Roberts and on trumpet, Don Fagerquist, another name that is new to me, but definitely worth further research.  I listen to her on this album and I’m floored by the creativity in her solos and the sheer joy in her sound.  I shake my head repeatedly, as I wonder how the hell did we let all this talent go to waste!  Others took notice at the time, for in 1956, Terry was a recipient of DownBeat’s New Artist Award.

Ms. Pollard did not retire completely after leaving Gibbs. She was in the Motor City, after all, which in the ’50’s, housed perhaps the most jazz scene in the U.S., outside of NYC and New Orleans.  She recorded with Yusef Lateef [Angel Eyes] and Dorothy Ashby (Soft Winds – I have got to get that album!) and she backed many a headliner passing through town, including George Benson, Earl Klugh and even Diana Ross and the Supremes. 

Terry Pollard died in 2009, at a nursing home in the Bronx, following a long illness.  Like many of the artists in this series, she left us in the world of jazz with a lot of catching up to do.

As this first part of the Unsung Women of Jazz series concludes, I’m again grateful for and humbled by the support that it has received from around the world. I only hope that we were able to pique your interest about some of these great ladies, who have been until now missed by the spotlight. Hear their music and wherever possible, buy it. Especially if the artist is still living.

Recommended Recordings:

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My Halloween Jazz – A Few Treats (but no “Tricks”)

Posted in The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , , , , on October 28, 2011 by curtjazz

Though I admit to not being a big Halloween person, our friends at NPR’s A Blog Supreme, inspired me with a great post yesterday on Halloween Jazz.

I thought of four more tracks that I’ve always had a fondness for that fit well with the season. Some have an obvious connection and some are a bit of a stretch, but I hope that you’ll dig ’em all.

Happy Halloween!!!

 It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is number two in my book of Charlie Brown specials, behind A Charlie Brown Christmas. However Vince Guaraldi’s score for …Pumpkin is as good as his immortal work on the Christmas special, though it doesn’t get as much ink. “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” is as warm and inviting as hot cider on a chilly fall evening.

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross were making an obvious grab for a seasonal single with “Halloween Spooks”. It’s not the best of their work, but it still swings and includes some of their trademark wit.  The clip created by TurnipGirl13, includes some great shots of seasonal pumpkin carving.

I was quite surprised to find that there was no clip already on YouTube for Philly Joe Jones’ “Blues for Dracula”, so I made my own.  Philly Joe does a great Bela Lugosi impersonation standing in for his friend Lenny Bruce, whose standup routine inspired the monologue. Bruce was also supposed to do the monologue on the song, but schedules didn’t work out.  Nice solo work by Julian Priester on trombone, Johnny Griffin on tenor and Tommy Flanagan on piano are additional highlights.

Our last track is “Spooky” by Stanley Turrentine. An instrumental version of the old pop hit for Classics IV. It was a filler track on a late ’60’s Turrentine date for Blue Note. This kind of groove was right in Stan’s wheelhouse and he is all over it.

Where To Find the Tracks

“The Great Pumpkin Waltz “- CD – Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits (Vince Guaraldi); mp3 also available

“Halloween Spooks” – CD – Hottest New Group in Jazz (Lambert, Hendricks and Ross)

“Blues for Dracula” – CD – Blues for Dracula (Philly Joe Jones); mp3 also available

“Spooky” – CD – The Lost Grooves “67 – ’70 (Blue Note Artists)

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Unsung Women of Jazz #9 – Clora Bryant

Posted in Unsung Women of Jazz with tags , , , , on October 23, 2011 by curtjazz

Clora Bryant

“It was a Sunday afternoon…They were trying to get Charlie [Parker] to play at the club next door, the Lighthouse, but no one could get him to sit in. Then he came over to where I was playing, borrowed a new Selmer tenor from somebody, and said, ‘Well, what do you want to play Clora?’ And I said, ‘Now’s the Time.’ So I set the tempo… and everybody got really swinging.” – Clora Bryant recalls playing with Charlie Parker

She has played with Bird, Diz and Satchmo. She is a legend of L.A.’s Central Avenue Jazz Scene. Yet, Clora Bryant is barely known outside of Southern California.

Clora Bryant was a “trumpetiste” (her preferred term) for over half a century. Women trumpet player/leaders are still fairly rare today. In the ’40’s and ’50’s, they were virtually unheard of.  But that didn’t stop Ms. Bryant.

Born in Texas in 1927, Clora Bryant’s originally played the piano and sang.  She did not pick up a trumpet until her junior year in high school, after her brother was drafted and went off to serve in WWII.  She wanted to be in the marching band and the trumpet was her way in.  Clora was a fast learner. So fast that she earned trumpet scholarships to Bennett College and Oberlin, only a year later.  She turned down both scholarships, opting instead to attend Prairie View College in Houston, which was closer to home.

When Clora’s father landed a job in Los Angeles, Clora transferred to UCLA.  It was there that she heard the sound of bebop, coming from the clubs on Central Avenue, the center of African-American life in L.A. at the time.  Clora was drawn to that sound like a moth to a flame. She began sitting in during late night jam sessions, where she played with other West Coast jazz players, like Howard McGhee, Frank Morgan and Teddy Edwards.  She was a good enough player to get invited to sit in when some cats would come from the east, like Bird and Diz.  The bond with Dizzy was so strong that he became Clora’s mentor, starting a friendship that would endure until Dizzy’s death.

Clora Bryant has always been resourceful. In addition to being a trumpet player and vocalist, she also learned to paly the drums. She was proficient enough on the skins to land a job with the Queens of Swing and tour with them for several years. In the early ’50’s Ms. Bryant returned to playing the trumpet. She backed Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker during that time. She also married and gave birth to her first two children.

In 1957 Clora Bryant recorded and released her first and only album as a leader; …Gal With a Horn, for Mode Records.  It’s an infectious, mostly uptempo affair, with Clora singing as well as blowing on all eight tracks. She gets solid support from a strong group that includes veteran bassist Ben Tucker and tenor saxophonist Walter Benton.

Ms. Bryant spent most of the remainder of the fifties on the road, playing the hot spots in Chicago, Denver and Vegas.  During the sixties, she teamed with her vocalist brother, Mel, to create a successful song and dance act, even hosting their own TV show in Australia for a while.  Clora made international headlines in 1989, when she accepted then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s invitation to play in U.S.S.R.; becoming the first female jazz musician to do so.

A 1996 heart attack forced Clora to put down her trumpet, but she barely skipped a beat. She continues to sing and lecture across the country about her rich life experiences and what it was like to be a pioneering woman in jazz.  Within the past decade, Clora Byrant has begun to receive some long overdue recognition.  She was Honored by Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with its 2002 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival Award, in 2002. And in 2007 a long-planned documentary Trumpetisically, Clora Byant,  was released.

As you can see in these recent clips, Clora Bryant is still going strong.  May she continue to do so for many more years!

Recommended Recordings:

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Birthday Video Tribute – Anita O’Day

Posted in The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , , on October 18, 2011 by curtjazz

Anita O’Day was so cool, that she was hot.

In my book, she’s up there with Sarah, Ella, Billie, Nina and Carmen. Like those ladies, she was an original. You can recognize her within three notes. And her way of bending a long note (purportedly necessitated by a botched tonsillectomy), was pure artistry; others imitated it but they could never duplicate it.

Her life story is the stuff of a Hollywood movie. A great documentary has already been made, but man, a writer could have a field day on her without even having to bend the facts!

I asked myself, what made Anita O’Day so amazing? Then it hit me – like Wynton and Esperanza, Anita was born on October 18, which is also my birthday.

Here are a few familiar and not so familiar tracks from the great lady. Including, the unforgettable part of her set from Newport ’58 that was included in Jazz On A Summer’s Day. 

After watching, you may understand how I feel.

Happy Birthday Anita, wherever you are…

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Birthday Video Tribute – Wynton Marsalis

Posted in The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , on October 18, 2011 by curtjazz

He’s arguably the most well-known and controversial jazz musician to come on the scene since 1980. He’s revered by many and reviled by almost as many.

He’s Wynton Marsalis – prodigiously gifted, passionate about the music and never at a loss for words. Today he is 50 years old.

Say what you want about him, but I can remember a time when some of the greatest jazz musicians ever to walk the earth were making disco records in order make a payday.

A lot of that changed when Wynton came on the scene  (with the full faith and credit of the Columbia Records publicity machine behind him). Suddenly, “real” jazz was cool and marketable again. Was it retro? Yeah; but it had heart and soul. And someone of my age was out there standing up for the jazz tradition.

Within a few short years, those who had loved Wynton passionately in 1982, had turned on him with a vengeance, but he has kept going, in spite of the haters.

He helped make straight ahead jazz relevant again, at a time when it was in danger of disappearing completely and we’re born on the same day, one year apart. Those are two reasons why I dig Wynton.

Here are a few performances from over the years, in tribute to “E. Skain Dankworth”.

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Birthday Video Tribute – Esperanza Spalding

Posted in The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , on October 18, 2011 by curtjazz

I’ve always dug Esperanza Spalding for her music. Now that I’ve found that we share the same birthday, I dig her even more.

She’s been called “the future of jazz”, “The Beyoncé of Jazz”, “jazz’s savior” “the coolest guest ever on my show” (by a leering David Letterman) and many other heady things.

I choose to call her a damn good musician, with a bright future and leave it at that…

One more thing I call her – the reigning Grammy “Best New Artist” (I’m still a little giddy over that one!)

Here are a few samples of her art. After viewing, feel free to attach the superlative of your choice…

Happy Birthday, Ms. Spalding!

Esperanza Spalding performs “Overjoyed” at the White House – Before the President and Stevie Wonder

Esperanza Spalding performs “I Know You Know” from her breakout album ‘Esperanza’

With her trio, at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Finally, on the very hip “Jazz Ain’t Nothin’ But Soul”

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Unsung Women of Jazz #8 – Mary Osborne

Posted in Unsung Women of Jazz with tags , , , , on October 15, 2011 by curtjazz

Mary Osborne (1921 – 1992)

“The only electric guitar I knew of was the Hawaiian guitar, I’d listen to all the jazz guitarists of the time, but they all played acoustic. But here was Charlie Christian playing Django Reinhardt’s ‘St. Louis Blues’ note for note but with an electric guitar. It was the most startling thing I’d ever heard.” – Mary Osborne

When I began this series, I only chose nine women. Because I knew that somewhere along the way, there would be a talented woman whom I had overlooked, that needed to be on this list. Well, surprise! I found not one, but two. The first, profiled here, is guitarist Mary Osborne. The second is…well, you’ll find out in the next post.

Born into a musical family in Minot, ND; Mary’s direction was set from an early age. “We had a very large family and everybody could play an instrument, but nobody intended to be a musician.” Mary said in a 1991 New York Times interview.  “They tell me that one time they found me sitting at the piano picking out tunes. I was 2 or 3 or something. My dad says ‘I think I finally got myself a musician.’ From then on he just doted on me, he brought me every string instrument.” Ms. Osborne tried the mandolin and the banjo, before settling on the guitar at age 9.  As a teenager, she played her acoustic guitar on local radio broadcasts, for which she was paid in Hershey Bars.

At 17, her life was changed when pianist Al Trent came to Bismark, ND, on a one-nite stand. Trent’s electric guitarist was a gifted young man named Charlie Christian.  The next day, Mary bought herself an electric guitar and became a devoted follower of Christian’s. And Christian, impressed by their mutual love of Django Reinhardt, took the time to mentor Mary.

In the late ’30’s Ms. Osborne moved to Pittsburgh and then to New York. Though she encountered barriers due to her sex, her talents were too good to be completely ignored.  Eventually, Mary landed a gig with legendary violinist Joe Venuti, (who considered her a replacement for his late partner Eddie Lang) which then led to work and recordings with Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams, Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie and much to her chagrin, many bookings as part of gimmicky all-girl groups.  Her love though, was joining in the late night jams at the famed clubs along 52nd Street.  She was quite a sight, this pretty, petite white girl, up on the stand and more than holding her own with some of the best jazzmen of all time.

Around that same time, Mary met her husband, trumpeter Ralph Scaffidi.  They remained in New York and Mary kept working, leading her own trio, which played many NYC hotels and appearing often on radio and in this upstart new medium, television.  She also gave birth to three children, between 1955 and 1959.  While pregnant with her third child, she recorded the first of her two albums, A Girl and Her Guitar.  Despite the corny title, this was no novelty record. Mary swung hard, cool and fast, leading a group that included pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer “Papa” Jo Jones.

[From Cats vs. Chicks, Mary trades licks with the great Tal Farlow on “Anything You Can Do…”]

During the ’60’s, Mary Osborne continued to work on the NY scene. She even refined her skills by taking classical guitar lessons. In 1968, Mary and Ralph decided to move to Bakersfield, CA, where they started a successful company that made guitars and amplifiers. She continued to perform locally and she taught at Cal State University in Bakersfield.  She would surface occasionally for recordings and higher profile gigs. In 1977 she appeared on Marian McPartland’s album Now’s The Time, which featured an all female group that included another of our Unsung Women, Vi Redd.  in 1981, Stash Records released  Now and Then, which was split between freshly recorded trio tracks and some cuts from A Girl and Her Guitar.  The ’81 tracks proved that Mary had not lost a step over the years; in fact her sound had matured into something that was less Charlie Christian and more uniquely hers.

In 1990, she joined Lionel Hampton for a set during the Playboy Jazz Festival. By all accounts, the 69-year-old Osborne stole the show (I tried desperately to find some video or audio footage, but no luck).  This led to her coming back to New York for a week at the Village Vanguard in 1991. Sadly, it would be her last New York gig. Mary Osborne died of cancer in 1992.

When I conceived this series, this spot in the order was to be filled by Emily Remler. Though we will still touch on Ms. Remler at a later date, I find it ironic that we are instead speaking of a woman who made Emily possible. Mary Osborne was a true pioneer.

Recommended Recordings:

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