Notes from the Producer

When this project was first brought to my attention, I was truly excited as I always dug Eddie Jefferson and I hadn’t done a straight ahead jazz vocal recording in a minute.  In the back of my mind, I thought it would be fairly straight forward and a change from the past two recordings I had produced with Allan, which covered the gamut of some of the music we grew up with - the Black Bar Jukebox series.  I was imagining what drummer Kenny Washington would describe as a ‘spang-a-lang’ date; swinging at various tempos with some ballads and blues thrown in.  But even though we had covered an Eddie Jefferson classic on each of the previous recordings as part of the Black Bar Jukebox series (I Got The Blues (Lester Leaps In) and Moody’s Mood For Love, respectively), I hadn’t ever worked on an entire  program of Jefferson repertoire!  Thankfully pianist Eric Reed and Allan had previously worked up an Eddie Jefferson program for a Jazz At Lincoln Center concert a few years back with Carla Cook, so some of the homework had been done.  

Eric Reed, besides being one of the greatest pianists working today, is also a stone cold Eddie Jefferson freak and without his input, preparation and hip arrangements, this recording wouldn’t have gone as smooth as it did.  And that’s even with some other last minute hiccups.  Though we knew Richie Cole would be part of the proceedings thanks to the synergy of Don Lucoff of DL Media, I also suggested we add Ralph Moore a week or two out as I knew he would be in town and  was on the road working with Willie Jones III and Eric just the week before our date to record.  This meant Eric had to come up with some new slick two horn arrangements for a few tunes in the midst of all the other projects he was working on.  And then, of course, there was the whittling down of the repertoire as Eddie had so many gems to consider.  I say all this to give props where props are due.  Biggup to Poppa Reed!   And enough can’t be said of the rest of the swinging rhythm section of George Delancey and WIllie Jones III.  Ralph Moore has been everyone’s favorite tenor man for years now and any Eddie Jefferson tribute would be remiss without having his longtime last-partner-in-crime on board, altoist Richie Cole.   The night before our sessions, Allan confessed to me that he couldn’t sleep because it finally hit him; the enormity of the challenge to do a whole record of Eddie’s repertoire, but not just that; also the pressure to get it exactly right and pay the utmost respect, not only to Eddie’s songs, but to the whole tradition and the original, now iconic, solos and soloists themselves.  

Now a little about the man who changed the game and who’s 100th birthday we celebrate this year - Eddie Jefferson!  Eddie Jefferson is not just any jazz vocalist.  He spearheaded a completely unique sub-genre of jazz singing-Vocalese.  This unique art form was/is truly only practiced by a small subset of the jazz vocal universe.  And that subset is getting smaller and smaller as time marches on. Folks like Leo Watson, Jon Hendricks, King Pleasure and Babs Gonzales have left us.  Annie Ross, George V. Johnson Jr., The Manhattan Transfer, Carla Cook, Allan Harris and a very select handful are keeping the flame alive.  And there is reason that scant few have taken up the mantle; this Vocalese thing ain’t easy!  It’s a whole other ballgame for singers.  Just ask any one of the few artists practicing the art, or better yet, LISTEN!  

Very much part of the African American vocal tradition, Vocalese is in fact, part of the African vocal continuum.  What Eddie did when he wrote and sang Moody’s Mood for Love was not just memorialize a jazz solo (James Moody’s solo to I’m In The Mood For Love) but tell a story, profess a love, ‘rap’ in the vernacular and through King Pleasure’s recorded version, become part of the Black cultural zeitgeist… not just when the song was released but til this very day!  Sing “There I go, there I go, there I go…” and people from all ages across the cultural spectrum will sing back to you, “Pretty baby, you are the soul that snaps my control…” all to James Moody’s original saxophone solo!  I myself learned every note of Coleman Hawkin’s famous solo to Body & Soul (the solo that put saxophone on the map!) through Eddie’s version of Body & Soul.  He pays tribute, not only to the icons of African American music, but to the particular artwork of the artists, and in doing so, teaches everyone who these artists are, as well as, how great their work is.  In fact for fans of Eddie, he teaches us those solos, whether you play an instrument or not!  

How great is that?   How DEEP is that?  

Imagine if you could teach art appreciation like that, through another related art form.  This is what Eddie does. He entertains, memorializes AND teaches.  He was a true living African griot that has left the world his art to enjoy, to teach, to share and to pass down as a gift and as living history.

And this is what Allan Harris and these wonderful gents are doing on The Genius Of Eddie Jefferson.  They are not only saying Happy 100th Birthday Eddie, they are paying tribute and they are passing down the lessons and spreading the word for generations to come.  Gather ‘round and listen, laugh, learn, sing and pass it on down too!

- Brian Bacchus,   February 2nd, 2018