Johnny Lytle

Artist: Johnny Lytle

LP: Be Proud

Song: "Be Proud (Of What You Are)"
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Song: "You've Got to Love the World"
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Song: "Sit Tight"
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These songs by jazz vibraphone master Johnny Lytle seem to embody the positive message of human rights master Martin Luther King, Jr. The album was released in 1969, a year after King was killed, but if he'd been alive, I bet he would have liked listening to this one. You can read about Johnny Lytle of Springfield, Ohio here. 
Happy MLK Day!

[ Johnny Lytle: October 13, 1932 — December 15, 1995 ]

Julie London

Artist: Julie London

LP: Julie

Song: "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" 
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"Emergency!" was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid, so it's crazy that I never realized until just now that it was Julie London I was watching as nurse Dixie McCall all those years ago! Anyway, I stopped by Jackpot Records in Portland's Hawthorne District (the downtown store is gone!) and picked up something there I hope I won't be posting for at least another decade...

[ Jackpot Records — Portland, Oregon ] 

...but I didn't really hit pay dirt again until I stopped off at Everybody's Music in Vancouver, WA on my way back to Seattle. Amongst other vinyl treasures, I found this 1957 LP by smokey-voiced crooner and TV nurse Julie London, accompanied by jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles, a native Washingtonian from Spokane. Everybody's Music has lots of great stuff in their $1 bins; I'd recommend stopping by if you're ever in the neighborhood. Notes on the TRANSISTORIZED-Spectra-Sonic-Sound process and a letter from the office of Si Waronker are included below.

[ Everybody's Music — Vancouver, Washington ]

[ Julie London: September 26, 1926 — October 18, 2000 ]

Dorothy Donegan

Artist: Dorothy Donegan

LP: At the Embers

Song: "Sweet Georgia Brown"

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This terrific Dorothy Donegan record was another one of the things I'd planned to get rid of, mainly because instrumental piano jazz isn't really a genre I can commit to with my limited space. BUT after just watching her amazing 1945 piano duel (on a rotating grand piano!) where she plays with incredibly reckless perfection, I've decided to put this one back on my shelf, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more! You can read about Dorothy Donegan on Wikipedia here, and find the notes from the back of this amazing pianist's 1957 "Live at the Embers" LP below. I didn't know people were using the word "hipsters" back in 1957.

Dorothy Donegan on YouTube:

[ —dueling piano jazz, 1945!— ]

[ Dorothy Donegan: April 6, 1922 — May 19, 1998 ]

Tommy Edwards

Artist: Tommy Edwards

LP: Tommy Edwards Sings

Song: "A Long Time"

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Song: "The Cherry In My Fruit Cocktail"

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This Tommy Edwards record sounded so good I accidentally bought two used copies of it on my summer road trip around Ohio—one in Cincinnati and the other in Toledo. Best known for his 1958 chart-topper called "It's All In the Game," Tommy Edwards had a lengthy string of songs hitting the charts between 1951 and 1960. This LP from the Newark, New Jersey-based Regent label was evidently released at the end of 1958, though it contains at least some songs that were recorded in '48 and '49. You can read more about the dashing Tommy Edwards here.

 [ Tommy Edwards: February 17, 1922 — October 22, 1969 ]

Duke Jordan

Artist: Duke Jordan

LP: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Song: "Jazz Vendor"

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Before there was this movie adaptation, this one, and of course this one too, French filmmaker Roger Vadim scandalized all of France (not an easy thing to do) with his 1959 film version of the shocking 1782 novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Choderlos de Laclos. According to Wikipedia,  "it is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two rivals (and ex-lovers) who use sex as a weapon to humiliate and degrade others, all the while enjoying their cruel games. According to the liner notes on the back of this LP, it seems there may have been some confusion as to who actually wrote the music for Vadim's film, with jazz pianist Duke Jordan receiving due credit in 1962, three years after the movie was released. You can read more about Duke Jordan on Wikipedia here, and find the informative notes from his 1960 "Flight to Jordan" LP on the Hard Bop website here.

[ Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan: April 1, 1922 — August 8, 2006 ]

Terry Callier

Artist: Terry Callier

LP: What Color Is Love

Song: "Dancing Girl"

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Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1945, Terry Callier learned to play the piano when he was young. He started performing in Chicago's folk clubs and coffee houses in the 1960s, then hooked up with the Chess and Cadet labels to release three commercially unsuccessful LPs in the early 1970s. "What Color Is Love" from 1972 is the second of the three, featuring a musical style critics labeled "jazz-folk." Frustrated with the lack of interest in his musical career, Callier took classes in computer programming and got a job at the University of Chicago in the early 1980s, where he studied at night to earn a sociology degree. As is often the case with so many of the brilliant-but-neglected musical recordings of the USA, it required some Europeans to finally discover and fully appreciate the 1970s and early '80s work of Terry Callier. His music started getting played at clubs in the UK, where Callier began traveling to perform during vacation time from work. More popular than ever, Callier revived his music career in the late 1990s, releasing five albums in the past decade and working with the likes of Beth Orton and Massive Attack. Unfortunately, the good folks at the University of Chicago realized that it would be entirely too distracting for the students to have their computers programmed by a musical superstar, so Callier was let go when his moonlighting was finally made known. You can read more about Terry Callier on Wikipedia here and visit his official website here.