Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Monk Higgins - Extra Soul Perception






Monk Higgins - Extra Soul Perception
Solid State Records SS-18046 (1968)




Side One:
1. Extra Soul Perception
2. The Look Of Slim
3. A Good Thing
4. Watermelon Man
5. Straight Ahead
6. Canadian Sunset



Side Two:
1. Collision In Black
2. Just Around The Corner
3. Little Green Apples
4. Poker Chips
5. Sittin' Duck
6. Doing It To Deff






Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums
Monk Higgins - Producer, Arranger, Tenor Saxophone, Organ
Bob West, Ron Brown - Bass
Jerry Williams - Congas
Jim Horn - Flute
David A. Duke - French Horn
Al Vescovo, Arthur Adams, Freddy Robinson - Guitar
Miles Grayson - Piano, Percussion
Dee Ervin - Producer, Percussion, Organ
Thomas Scott - Trumpet
William Peterson - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Alan Estes - Vibraphone, Percussion





Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Julie London ‎– Yummy, Yummy, Yummy






Julie London ‎– Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
Liberty Records LST 7609 (1969)





Side One:
1. Stoned Soul Picnic
2. Like To Get To Know You
3. Light My Fire
4. It's Nice To Be With You
5. Sunday Mornin'
6. Hushabye Mountain


Side Two:
1. Mighty Quinn
2. Come To Me Slowly
3. And I Love Him
4. Without Him
5. Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
6. Louie Louie






Personnel:
John Guerin, Hal Blaine - drums
Julie London - vocals
Bob Knight - trombone
Bill Perkins, Jim Horn - saxophone
Michel Rubini - piano
Al Casey, Neil Levang, Mike Deasy, Lou Morell - guitar
Lyle Ritz – bass 
Gary Coleman, Dale Anderson - percussion
Tommy Oliver – producer, arranger





Thursday, August 30, 2018

The Unbelievable True Story of the Wrecking Crew’s Max Bennett




In the category of minimalist torch—if there is such a category—“Fever” by Peggy Lee has to be the assumed pinnacle of the form. Ms. Lee’s voice, accompanied by little more than a creeping bass line and snapping fingers, captures not only a genre of music, but a specific milieu in a specific era in American life, where cocktail glasses clink, eyebrows raise, and pent-up prosperity percolates insistently in the body politic. The song is feral, assertive, and unrelenting, and an unequivocal classic.

“Fever” was suggested to Peggy Lee by jazz bassist Max Bennett, a veteran of the Chicago, New York, and West Coast jazz scenes, and Ms. Lee’s close personal friend. It boasts a bass line for the ages.

“One day she said to me, ‘Oh by the way, I’m looking for a torch song,’ ” remembers Bennett, now 88 and alive and well in San Clemente, Calif. “ ‘If you hear anything like that, give me a ring.’ So I was working on Western Avenue, not the nicest area of L.A., with, like, a jazz trio. And a young kid walked in and said ‘Can I sit in?’ and we said, ‘Sure why not, what do you want to sing?’ He said, ‘I want to sing a song called ‘Fever.’ I’d never heard of it. But it has like two chords. We played it, and I thought, perfect for Peggy. So I called her up and told her about the tune, and the rest is history.”

It must have been a heady moment for a young man who, not that many years earlier, had left the unjazz capital of the world—Oskaloosa, Iowa—with just the clothes on his back, to seek his unfortunes in the music business. Now here he was, laying down one of the iconic bass lines in the American music canon with one of the most eye-popping and ear-caressing vocalists of the era.

“Oh, I didn’t record it. Peggy wasn’t working, so I was out with Ella Fitzgerald. So she recorded it with a friend of mind named Joe Mondragon. Howard Roberts, who was a great guitarist, was going to play but he didn’t. All he did was snap his fingers.”

Through the twists and turns of being a gigging jazzer and go-to session guy living in L.A.—he was a member of the mythical “Wrecking Crew”—Max Bennett would, however, leave his low-end imprint on many other important performances and recordings across several decades. Following the dissolution of his original Mothers of Invention, none other than Frank Zappa would tap Bennett as something of a de facto new Mother. That’s Max all over arguably Zappa’s meisterwerk Hot Rats, featuring the gorgeous and much beloved, “Little Umbrellas.” That’s Max on the sublime “Twenty Small Cigars” on Chunga’s Revenge. And those are just a couple of the Zappa albums on Max’s CV. It must have been a very special and inspiring period to be working with Zappa at the height of his powers.

“I was not familiar with Zappa’s music. Our paths never crossed. I was never a big fan of avant garde music in that sense. It was while I was working in the studio, what was it, 1967, I think? And I got a call from John Guerin. He said, ‘Get your stuff over to TTG’—that was in Hollywood—‘I got a double session for you with Frank Zappa.’ So we get there and we worked two double sessions for two nights. And that was the album, that was Hot Rats.”

“I was talking to someone about that, and they were telling me that that particular album got the best write-ups of any of the stuff he ever did. What’s interesting, I was on the computer the other day, and I’m seeing I’m on these other tunes. As it turns out—we would play the same chord changes for forever, you know, after we got through, just keep going and going—Frank took those takes and made other songs out of them. All of a sudden I realize I’m not just on Hot Rats, I did five Zappa albums! That was cool. I don’t mind.”

It’s easy for him to shrug off these stops along the way. Max Bennett is a jazz guy. His jazz life is what looms largest in his memory.

“When I started in Oskaloosa, I was a jazz musician from Day One. I just wasn’t a very good one. I was never interested in anything else. I didn’t play on any pop music—literally none. I never did any casuals, I didn’t play any commercial music till much later. I got started in Chicago, the late-’40s, used to go to Clark Street, there were a whole bunch of strip joints, and they used to hire groups from the South Side. They were good players—but the strip clubs wouldn’t hire bass players, so those guys were glad to see me. I would sit in with them. I was just getting started, so I learned quite a bit from them. From there I went to New York and hung out there for a little while and then joined Georgie Auld’s band and we went on the road.”

Great things would follow. “My jazz influences are essentially, like, Chicago and New York. But I was fortunate, even after I moved out to L.A., I went on tour with Ella Fitzgerald, and when we got finished with the tour, she and Oscar went home—Oscar Peterson was the headliner—so when we got back from France, we went out with Jazz At The Philharmonic. That had Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz and Roy Eldridge, Big Joe Turner, Sonny Stitt—I don’t know if you know who that is—all those guys…”

Eventually, West Coast jazz and points further afield were in the mix too, with Max joining Stan Kenton’s band, and at some point doing a stint with a more Middle America jazz head. “Believe it or not I was working with Roger Miller, the country guy? All the guys he was playing with were jazz guys. He loved jazz music, he just couldn’t, you know, play it. And he didn’t like most country music. He was unique. He was very hip. He didn’t want to be characterized with, between you and me, ‘those goddamn hat singers.’ He was a great guy to work for. I went on a couple tours with him.”

His journey would eventually have him cross paths with saxophonist Tom Scott, and the two would embark on a fruitful and influential collaboration in the mid-’70s.



“The L.A. Express—that was actually all my idea. Tom Scott and I worked in the studios together—for a long, long time doing movies and TV and that whole thing that studio players do. But he had a quartet, it was a bebop quartet. He was working at the famous club in Hermosa Beach, The Lighthouse. On Sunday afternoons—he had a really great bass player, stand-up player, Chuck Demonico. He couldn’t make it one Sunday, called me and asked me if I could come down and sub for him. I said sure, and I took my Fender bass, and I played that. And we played the first tune I ever wrote, a tune in E, called ‘TCB in E.’ We played that and…something, just, happened.”

“We would play the same chord changes for forever—Frank [Zappa] took those takes and made other songs out of them. All of a sudden I realize I’m not just on ‘Hot Rats,’ I did five Zappa albums! That was cool. I don’t mind.”

“Joe Sample was down there playing with him—Tom probably called him for this job, because Joe was pretty busy with the Crusaders—and I think the drummer was Ed Greene at the time. And something just clicked. So Tom said, ‘Well let’s do it again next Sunday.’ And I brought some tunes and he brought some tunes, and he changed all the tunes he brought so they kind of fit that format that I already started. And I kept writing. So that kind of started it, and we were working at The Baked Potato in North Hollywood—well actually Studio City—and we were doing it every Tuesday night, late, because that was the only time we could make it. And the crowd just got bigger and bigger and bigger.”

“That was the quartet, we didn’t have a guitar yet. I began thinking about ‘Boy, the group sounds good, like it’s real powerful’…so I got this name ‘Express’—I didn’t know what to put in front of it. I had a concert one night with Lalo Schifrin downtown at Dorothy Chandler, I think. So backstage I was waiting to go on, I was talking to this buddy of ours, Louie Shelton, and told him…and he said, ‘Well, how about L.A. Express?’ And that was it.”

One of those in attendance at The Baked Potato was John Guerin’s girlfriend, a famous folk singer by the name of Joni Mitchell. “She flipped for the band,” remembers Bennett. They would go on to work together on four of the strongest albums in Mitchell’s career, among the strongest by anyone in the ’70s. One can imagine that it must have been rewarding and a little surreal for a contemporary jazz combo to ascend to working on the likes of Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira and Miles of Aisles.


“We ran into the studio—I honestly didn’t think much about it. I didn’t even know who she was! We were buried in the studio. Her kinda music just didn’t get to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it—I didn’t know anything about it! Tom knew a little bit because he did some soprano sax on either For The Roses or Blue. Joni was great to work for. She really was. She had really good time, and she gave us carte blanche pretty much. I talked to her some time ago, and she had written something about how impressed she was with the band because if—she’d drop notes, she dropped time, stuff like that, which was her format, you know—we didn’t mind that at all, she’d worked with people before that were kinda perplexed about it. But it wasn’t real straight-like. So she really liked the band and it worked.”

“She was intrigued by jazz. Once she got playing with it, she was really stoked about it, she kind of developed a real affinity for it. Like I did that one song with her on Court and Spark, ‘Twisted’—Annie Ross did it first. There was actually a blues to it. But it was just John Guerin, and me, and her. It turned out nice, on the record. It’s wonderful.”

Max Bennett—in the neighborhood, and often right in the house, while music history was being made. Gigs with Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin loom larger in his story, and sessions with Marvin Gaye and Harry Nilsson and Mel Torme are just the tip of that iceberg—a mountain of music considering those menager beginnings.

“I told you about when I was in Chicago, starving? We used to go to the High Note and have a jam session every night. 450 North Clark. They had headliners there, but they closed the doors at 2, but they left the back door open, and we’d have jam sessions from 2 till 6. All the strippers and hookers and musicians would come in the back door, because they’d serve alcohol but with the front door closed.”

“So I’m sleeping in my car one night in front of a hotel, and there’s a knock knock knock, and it’s these two hookers that I knew that were real nice gals. Took me to breakfast, and, uh, then I moved in with them. They said if they had a run, rather than take a cab—I had a little Chevy convertible, so I could get them to their job, that way I could stay at their place for nothing. And, ah, I won’t tell you the rest of it. It’ll be in my book.”


Rest In Peace Mr. Bennett.





Monday, August 20, 2018

Quincy Jones And Bill Cosby ‎– The Original Jam Sessions 1969






Quincy Jones And Bill Cosby ‎– The Original Jam Sessions 1969
Concord Records CCD-2257-2 (1969)





Track Listing:
1. Hikky-Burr
2. Groovy Gravy
3. Oh Happy Day
4. Jimmy Cookin' On Top (Interlude)
5. Toe Jam
6. Jive Den
7. Eubie Walkin'
8. Monty, Is That You
9. The Drawing Room (Interlude)
10. Hikky-Burr








Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums
Quincy Jones - Composer, musical director
Bill Cosby - Vocals
Arthur Adams - Guitar
Eddie Harris - Tenor saxophone
Ernie Watts - Tenor saxophone
Clare Fischer - Piano
Les McCann - Piano
Monty Alexander - Piano
Joe Sample - Fender Rhodes piano
Jimmy Smith - Hammond B-3 organ
Milt Jackson - Vibraphone
Victor Feldman - Vibraphone
Ray Brown - Bass
Carol Kaye - Bass
Paul Humphrey - Drums
Jimmy Cleveland - Trombone
Marvin Stamm - Trumpet





Friday, August 17, 2018

Merv Griffin ‎– Escape






Merv Griffin ‎– Escape
TAV DK-4004 (1984)




Side One:
1. Changing Keys
2. Escape
3. Nightwalk
4. I Just Can’t Say Goodbye
5. Blue Eyes


Side Two:
1. Merv’s Theme
2. Struttin’ On Sunset
3. I Can’t Believe That I’m In Love
4. Jeopardy Theme
5. Bossa Man





Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums
Merv Griffin - Piano
Pias Johnson - Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Larry Klein, Bob Cranshaw - Bass
Pat Kelley, Mundell Lowe - Guitar
Chris Rhyne, Bobby Martin - Keyboards
Mort Lindsey - Keyboards, Music Director
Judy Chilnick - Percussion
Merv Griffin - Piano
Steve Lindsey - Producer
Jack Sheldon - Trumpet





Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Elmer Bernstein ‎- Cahill/United States Marshal OST







Elmer Bernstein ‎- Cahill/United States Marshal OST
Intrada Special Collection Volume 229  (1973)




Track Listing:
1. Cahill: US Marshal (Main Title)
2. Train
3. Billy Joe
4. Thickening Plot
5. Killers
6. Venture
7. Apology
8. Smoke
9. New Money
10. Surrounded
11. Necktie Party
12. Oath
13. Born to Hang
14. A Man Gets to Thinkin' (Instrumental)
15. A Man Gets to Thinkin' (Vocal)
16. Cemetery
17. Lightfoot
18. Danny - Billy Joe
19. Various Troubles
20. Finale
21. A Man Gets to Thinkin' (End Cast) 1:05 






Personnel:
John Guerin, Lou Singer, Shelly Manne, Joe Porcaro, Tom Raney - percussion
Elmer Bernstein - composer, conductor
Nathan Kaproff, Israel Baker, Virginia Barthold, Alex Beller, Clebanoff, Sam Cytron, Baldassare Ferlazzo, David Frisina, Jimmy Getzoff, Howard Griffin, Davida Jackson, Anatol Kaminsky, Kathleen Lenski, Joe Livoti, Erno Neufeld, Jerome Reisler, Linda Rose, Sam Ross, Gerald Vinci, Tibor Zelig, Sherry Zippert - violin
Virginia Majewski, Milton Thomas, Eliyth Belofsky, Rollice Dale, Myra Kestenbaum, Robert Ostrowsky, Joseph Reilich, David Schwartz - viola
Kurt Reher, Justin DiTullio, Dennis Karmazyn, Tibor Kertez, Jeff Solow - cello
Milton Kestenbaum, Abe Luboff, Peter Mercurio - double bass
Sylvia Ruderman, Burnett Atkinson, Carole Levine - flute
Arnold Koblentz - Earl Dumler - oboe
Dominick Fera , James Kanter, John Neufeld - clarinet
Jack Marsh, Norman Herzberg - bassoon
Vincent DeRosa, David Duke, Arthur Maebe, Richard Perissi, Alan Robinson - French horn
Robert DiVall, Robert Fowler, Manny Stevens - trumpet
Lloyd Ulyate, Milton Bernhard, Barrett O'Hara - trombone
Sam Rice - tuba
Dorothy Remsen, Gale Laughton - harp
Pete Jolly, Artie Kane - piano
Bob Bain, Dennis Budimir, Al Hendrickson, Tommy Tedesco - guitar
Bill Pitman, Peter Bernstein - bass





Frank Sinatra ‎- My Way






Frank Sinatra ‎- My Way
Reprise Records FS 1029 (1969)





Side One:
1. Watch What Happens

2. Didn't We
3. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
4. Yesterday
5. All My Tomorrows


Side Two:
1. My Way
2. A Day in the Life of a Fool

3. For Once in My Life
4. If You Go Away
5. Mrs. Robinson 2:55 









Personnel:
John Guerin, Irv Cottler, Alvin Stoller - drums
Frank Sinatra - vocals
Don Costa - producer, arranger, conductor
Sonny Burke - producer
Lou Levy, Bill Miller - piano, celeste, harpsichord
Bobby Gibbons, Bill Pitman, Al Viola, Joe Pass - guitar
Joe Mondragon, Chuck Berghofer, Monty Budwig - bass
Alan Estes, Wallace Snow, Emil Richards - percussion
Ann Mason Stockton, Kathryn Julye - harp
Hubert Anderson - vibraphone
Mischa Russell, Lou Raderman, Sally Raderman, Joe Stepansky, William Kurasch, David Frisina, Erno Neufeld, Maurice Dicterow, Sam Freed Jr., Thelma Beach, Arnold Belnick, Nathan Ross, Israel Baker, Marshall Sosson, Ralph Schaeffer, Gerald Vinci, Bonnie Douglas, Jacques Gasselin, Paul Shure, Harold Dicterow, Harry Bluestone - violin
Barbara Simons, Alvin Dinkin, Alexander Neiman, Paul Robyn, Allan Harshman, Virginia Majewski, Cecil Figelski - viola
Nino Rosso, Joseph Saxon, Lester Harris, Irving Lipschultz, Justin DiTullio, Edgar Lustgarten, Armand Kaproff, Jacqueline Lustgarten, Kurt Reher - cello
Conte Candoli, Shorty Sherock, Bud Brisbois, Ray Triscari, Pete Candoli, Don Fagerquist - trumpet
Milt Bernhart, Lou Blackburn, Tommy Pederson, Lew McCreary, Dick Noel - trombone
Ernie Tack, Kenny Shroyer - bass trombone
Arthur Frantz, James McGee, George Price, Richard Perissi, John Cave, Vincent DeRosa - French horn
Buddy Collette, Ethmer Roten, Justin Gordon, Chuck Gentry, Ted Nash, Gene Cipriano, Lloyd Hildebrand, Ronnie Lang, Bud Shank, Don Lodice, Paul Horn, Bob Hardaway, Nino Tempo - saxophone, woodwinds





Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Kenny Rogers ‎- Timepiece






Kenny Rogers ‎- Timepiece
Atlantic Records 7567-82698-2 (1994)





Track Listing:
1. I Remember You
2. But Beautiful
3. When I Fall In Love
4. Love Is Here To Stay
5. The Nearness Of You
6. My Funny Valentine
7. Love Is Just Around The Corner
8. Where Or When
9. My Romance
10. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
11. I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)
12. You Are So Beautiful








Personnel:
John Guerin, Jeff Hamilton - Drums
Kenny Rogers - Vocals
Buell Neidlingel, Chris Kollgaard, Chuck Domanico, Don Ferrone, Ed Meares, Frances Lui, John Patittuci, Margaret Storer, Richard Feves - Bass
Ann Karam, Armen Ksajikian, Christina Soule, Christine Ermacoff, Dane Little, Dan Rothmuller, Dan Smith, David Low, David Shamban, Ernie Ehrhardt, Fred Seykora, Jodi Burnett, Larry Corbett, Marie Fera, Miguel Martinez, Paula Hochhalter, Ray Kelley, Rowena Hamil, Steve Erdody, Steve Richards, Suzie Katayama, Todd Hemmenway, Vage Ayrikyan - Cello
Jeremy Lubbock - Co-producer, Arranger, Conductor
Johnny Mandel - Co-producer, Arranger
Edward Karam - Conductor
Brad Warnaar, David Duke, Diane Muller, Joe Meyer, Marni Johnson, Rick Todd - French Horn
John Chiodini, Jon Pisano - Guitar
Amy Shulman, Gayle Levant - Harp
Don Williams, Larry Bunker - Percussion
Mike Melvoin, Terry Trotter - Piano
Randy Waldman - Piano, Synthesizer
David Foster - Producer
Claude Gaudette - Synthesizer, Drum Programming
Dick Hyde, Dick Nash, George Bohanon, Randy Aldcroft - Trombone
Frank Szabo, Oscar Brashear, Rick Baptist, Ron King - Trumpet
Andrew Picken, Brian Dembow, Carrie Holzman-Little, Dan Neufeld, David Stenske, Dimitri Bovaird, Evan Wilson, Harry Shirinian, Hershel Wise, Jimbo Ross, Jody Rubin, John Scanlon, Karie Prescott, Kazi Pitelka, Ken Burward-Hoy, Margot Maclaine, Marilyn Baker, Mike Nowak, Mihail Zinovyev, Pamela Goldsmith, Bob Becker, Roland Kato, Rollice Dale, Sam Boghossian, Steve Gordon - Viola
Alan Grunfeld, Arnold Belnick, Assa Drori, Barbra Porter, Bob Sanov, Brian Leonard, Bruce Dukov, Clayton Haslop, Diana Halprin, Dixie Blackstone, Don Palmer, Dorothy Wade, Elizabeth Wilson, Jerry Vinci, Gil Romero, Gordon Marron, Haim Shtrum, Henry Ferber, Horia Moroaica, Irma Neuman, Isabelle Daskoff, Israel Baker, Jay Rosen, Jayme Miller, Joel Derouin, Joe Goodman, Juliann French, Julie Gigante, Karen Jones, Leslie Katz, Marc Sazar, Margaret Wooten, Mari Tsumura, Mike Ferril, Miran Kojian, Miwako Watanabe, Pat Johnson, Polly Sweeney, Rafael Rishik, Razdan Kuyumjian, Richard Altenbach, Bob Sushel, Robin Olson, Ron Clark, Russ Cantor, Shari Zippert, Sheldon Sanov, Spiro Stamos, Stan Plummer, Yoko Matsuda - Violin
Bob Tricarico, Dan Higgins, Dominic Fera, Earle Dumler, Gary Foster, Jack Nimitz, Jim Walker, Joel Peskin, Jon Clarke, Louise DiTullio, Marshall Royal, Pete Christleib, Rickey Woodard, Sheridon Stokes, Susan Greenberg - Woodwind





Ron Grainer ‎- The Omega Man OST






Ron Grainer ‎- The Omega Man OST
Silva Screen Records Ltd. SILLP1561 (1971)




Side One:
1. A Summer Place
2. The Omega Man
3. Surprise Party
4. Needling Neville
5. Swinging at Neville's
6. The Spirits Still Linger


Side Two:
1. Where Did Lisa Go
2. 'Round Midnight
3. Jumped By The Family
4. On The Tumbril


Side Three:
1. Bad Medicine For Richie
2. All Through The Night
3. Zachary Makes His Move
4. Hope Springs Eternal


Side Four:
1. Richie On The Roof
2. Neville Crashes Through
3. Matthias The Victor
4. Dutch Takes Over






Personnel:
John P. Guerin, Kenneth E. Watson, Louis Singer, Milton Holland, Victor Feldman - Percussion, Drums
Abraham Luboff, Milton Kestenbaum, Peter A. Mercurio, George "Red" Callender - Bass
Dominick Fera - Bass Clarinet
Edgar Lustgarten, Emmet Sargeant, Frederick R. Seykora, Gloria Strassner, Irving Lipschultz, Jesse Ehrlich, John Ryan Selberg, Joseph DiTullio, Joseph Saxon, Justin DiTullio, Kurt Reher, Marie Fera - Cello
Ron Grainer - Conductor
William Pitman - Bass
Robert F. Bain - Guitar
Arthur Gleghorn, Harry Klee, Leonard V. Posella, Louise M. DiTullio Dissman - Flute
Alan I. Robinson, George W. Hyde, Vincent N. DeRosa, William A. Hinshaw - French Horn
Denzil (Gail) Laughton - Harp
Douglas Clare Fischer, Clark Spangler - Organ
Paul T. Smith, Raymond Turner - Piano
Lukas Kendall, Jeff Bond - Producer
Plas Johnson - Saxophone
Barrett O'Hara, George M. Roberts, Hoyt Bohannon, Francis L. "Joe" Howard, Karl Dekarske, Milton Bernhart, Terry C. Woodson, Thomas Shepard - Trombone
Allan Harshman, Cecil Figelski, Dorothy Colton-Pratt, Joseph DiFiore, Joseph Reilich, Maurice Keltz, Milton Thomas, Myra Kestenbaum, Robert Ostrowsky, Rollice Dale, Virginia Majewski, Yukiko Kurakata Kamei - Viola
Alex L. Beller, Baldassare Ferlazzo, Bernard Kundell, David Berman, Debbie Sue Grossman, Erno Neufeld, George Kast, Gerald Vinci, Harry Zagon, Henry Arthur Brown, Herman Clebanoff, Howard W. Griffin, Israel Baker, Jerome Joseph Reisler, Robert "Bob" Sushel, Samuel Cytron - Violin




Milt Jackson ‎- Big Mouth






Milt Jackson ‎- Big Mouth
Pablo Records 2310-867 (1981)





Side One:
1. Bags' Groove
2. The Look Of Love
3. Big Mouth
4. I Love You


Side Two:
1. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
2. Yusef
3. The Days Of Wine And Roses
4. I Owes Ya






Personnel:
John Guerin, Nick Ceroli, Carlos Vega - Drums
Milt Jackson - Vibraphone
Abraham Laboriel - Bass
Dennis Budimir, Ron Eschete, Oscar Castro-Neves - Guitar
Michael Lang, Don Grusin - Keyboards
Larry Bunker, Joe Porcaro, Paulinho Da Costa, Roger Bethelmy - Percussion
Ray Brown - Bass, Producer
Jackie Ward, Edie Lehmann, Marti McCall, Linda Harmon - Vocals





Justin Morell ‎- Septet






Justin Morell ‎- Septet
Sonic Frenzy CD1100 (2000)




Track Listing:
1. Jungle Book   
2. Whirfy Bird   
3. Seventy Three Falling   
4. You Might Be Mistaken   
5. Rumble   
6. Dog Years   
7. Occam's Razor   
8. Fine Art in the Eye of a Beast   
9. Evil Twins   
10. Passers By   







Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums
Todd Sickafoose - Bass
Bob Carr - Bass Clarinet
Justin Morell - Guitar, Arranger
Tom Peterson - Tenor Saxophone
Alan Ferber - Trombone
John Daversa - Trumpet






American Spring ‎- American Spring






American Spring ‎- American Spring
United Artists Records UAS 29 363 (1972)




Side One:
1. Tennessee Waltz
2. Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby
3. Mama Said
4. Superstar
5. Awake
6. Sweet Mountain


Side Two:
1. Everybody
2. This Whole World
3. Forever
4. Good Time
5. Now That Everything's Been Said
6. Down Home







Personnel:
John Guerin - drums
Diane Rovell, Marilyn Wilson - vocals
Keith Ellison, Ray Pohlman - bass
Igor Horoshefsky - cello
Carl Wilson, David Cohen, Larry Carlton - guitar
Alan Beutler - horns
David Sandler, Lincoln Mayorga - piano
Brian Wilson - producer





Tina & David Meltzer ‎- Green Morning






Tina & David Meltzer ‎- Green Morning
RD Records RD 5 (1969)




Side One:
1. Heavenly City    
2. Let The Door Stay Open    
3. Hungry    
4. Luna Tune #1    
5. Green Morning    
6. Shara    
7. Keep On Lovin'


Side Two:    
1. The Garden    
2. Child Ballad    
3. Luna Tune #2    
4. The Angel    
5. Let The Light In    
6. Do You Think Your God    
7. It's Simple






Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums
Tina Meltzer - Vocals
David Meltzer - Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica
Lyle Ritz - Bass
David Lindley - Violin
Michael Rubini - Piano
Scott Hambly - Mandolin





Saturday, May 5, 2018

The Beach Boys ‎– Sunflower






The Beach Boys ‎– Sunflower
Reprise Records RS 6382 (1970)






Side One:
1. Slip On Through
2. This Whole World
3. Add Some Music To Your Day
4. Got To Know The Woman
5. Deirdre
6. It's About Time


Side Two:
1. Tears In The Morning
2. All I Wanna Do
3. Forever
4. Our Sweet Love
5. At My Window
6. Cool, Cool Water









Personnel:
John Guerin - drums
Brian Wilson - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, piano, bass, keyboard, writer, producer
Carl Wilson - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Alan Jardine - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, writer
Bruce Johnston - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, bass, piano, writer
Mike Love - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, percussion, writer
Dennis Wilson - vocals, harmony vocals, backing vocals, drums, tambourine, writer
Ed Carter - guitar
Al Casey - guitar
David Cohen - guitar
Jerry Cole - guitar
John Conrad - guitar
Daryl Dragon - piano
Larry Knechtel  piano
John Audino - trumpet
Tony Terran - trumpet
Gene Estes - chimes, bells, percussion
James Bond - string bass
Joe Osborn - bass
Ray Pohlman - bass
Frank Capp - percussion
Dennis Dragon - drums
Earl Palmer - drums
Michel Colombier - arranger, string arrangements





Saturday, April 28, 2018

Peggy Lee ‎– Make It With You






Peggy Lee ‎– Make It With You
Capitol Records ST-622 (1970)




Side One:
1. One More Ride On The Merry-G-Round
2. The Long And Winding Road
3. That's What Living's About
4. The No-Color Time OF Day
5. Let's Get Lost In Now

Side Two:
1. Make It With You
2. Passenger Of The Rain
3. I've Never Been So Happy In My Life
4. You'll Remember Me
5. Good-Bye







Personnel:
John Guerin - drums
Peggy Lee - vocals
Benny Golson - arranger, conductor
Mike Melvoin - arranger, conductor
Phil Wright - producer
Gene L. "Gino" Bozzacco, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Emmanuel "Manny" Klein - trumpet
Robert "Bob" Ascher, George Bohannon - trombone
David Allan Duke, Alan Robinson - french horn
Donald Waldrop - tuba
Dennis Budimir, Peter Woodford - guitar
Max K. Bennett - bass
Lou Levy, James "Jimmy" Rowles - piano
Carl Fortina - accordeon
Jules Greenberg, Emil Radocchia, aka Richards - percussion
Israel Baker, Erno Neufeld, Stanley Plummer, Nathan Ross - violin
Gene Cipriano, Mel Tax - woodwinds






Peggy Lee ‎– Somethin' Groovy






Peggy Lee ‎– Somethin' Groovy
Capitol Records ‎ST 2781 (1967)




Side One:
1. Somethin' Stupid
2. Makin' Whoopee!
3. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby
4. I Can Hear The Music
5. It Might As Well Be Spring
6. Two For The Road

Side Two:
1. Release Me
2. Sing A Rainbow
3. No Fool Like An Old Fool
4. Love Is Here To Stay
5. I'm Gonna Get It






Personnel:
John Guerin - drums, percussion
Peggy Lee - vocals
Dave Cavanaugh - producer
Lou Levy - piano, conductor
Dennis Budimir, Mundell Lowe - guitar
Toots Thielemans - guitar, harmonica, whistle
Max K. Bennett - bass





Peggy Lee ‎– Guitars A La Lee






Peggy Lee ‎– Guitars A La Lee
Capitol Records T 2469 (1966)



Track Listing:
1. Nice 'n' Easy
2. Strangers In The Night
3. Mohair Sam
4. Goodbye My Love
5. Think Beautiful
6. An Empty Glass
7. Good Times
8. Sweet Happy Life (Samba De Orfeu)
9. Touch The Earth
10. Beautiful Beautiful World
11. My Guitar
12. Call Me








Personnel:
John Guerin - drums
Peggy Lee - vocals
Dave Cavanaugh - producer
Dave Grusin - conductor, arranger
Richard Hazard - arranger
Billy May - arranger
Bob Bain - guitar, arranger
Laurindo Almeida - guitar
Dennis Budimir - guitar
Al Hendrickson - guitar
John Collins - guitar
Herb Ellis - guitar
Louis Morell - guitar
Lou Levy - piano
Max Bennett - bass
Francisco Aguabella - percussion
Larry Bunker - percussion




Saturday, February 17, 2018

Helen Reddy ‎– Play Me Out






Helen Reddy ‎– Play Me Out
MCA Records MCA-5202 (1981)





Side One:
1. Optimism Blues
2. Do It Like You Done It When You Meant It
3. I Can't Say Goodbye To You
4. Save Me
5. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me


Side Two:
1. The Stars Fell On California
2. I Don't Know Why (I Love That Guy)
3. When I Dream
4. Let's Just Stay Home Tonight
5. Play Me Out







Personnel:
John Guerin - drums, hand claps
Helen Reddy - vocals, tamburine, hand claps
John Barnes, Ron Fever - keyboards
Gary Coleman - percussion, hand claps
Robben Ford, Thom Rotella, Robert Waddy Wachtel, Timothy May - guitar
Larry Klein - bass, hand claps
Eddie Bongo Brown - bongos, congas, hand claps
Jim Horn - saxophone
Ernie Watta - saxophone
Rick Baptist - trumpet
Denise Maynell, Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews, Julia Waters Tillman, Maxine Waters Willard, Clydene Jackson, Oren Waters, Luther Waters - background vocals
Joel Diamond - producer, arranger
Artie Butler, Charles Calello, Gene Page - arranger, conductor




 

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Richie Cole, Oscar Brashear, Mike Wofford, Tony Dumas And John Guerin ‎– Tribute To Charlie "The Bird" Parker







Richie Cole, Oscar Brashear, Mike Wofford, Tony Dumas And John Guerin ‎– Tribute To Charlie "The Bird" Parker
Hibrite Inc. PCB-6 (1989)




Track Listing:
1. Walkin'
2. April In Paris
3. My Little Suede Shoes
4. If I Should Lose You
5. How High The Moon / Orinithology
6. Lover Man
7. Melancholy Baby
8. Bird Medley (Now's The Time - Au Privave- Chi-Chi)








Personnel:
John Guerin - drums
Richie Cole - alto saxophone
Oscar Brashear - trumpet
Mike Wofford - piano
Tony Dumas - bass





The Animals ‎– Animalism







The Animals ‎– Animalism
MGM Records E-4414 (1966)





Side One:
1. All Night Long
2. Shake
3. The Other Side Of This Life
4. Rock Me Baby
5. Lucille
6. Smoke Stack Lightning



Side Two:
1. Hey Gyp
2. Hit The Road, Jack
3. Outcast
4. Louisiana Blues
5. That's All I Am To You
6. Going Down Slow







Personnel:
John Guerin - Drums (A1,A3)
Eric Burdon - Vocals
Chas Chandler - Bass Guitar
Dave Rowberry - Keyboards
Hilton Valentine - Guitar
Barry Jenkins - Drums
John Steel - Drums
Frank Zappa -  Guitar, Bass, Arranger
William Roberts - Harmonica, Guitar
Larry Knechtel - Organ
Don Randi - Piano
Carol Kaye - Bass, Guitar
Tom Wilson - Producer