Curtis Peagler & the Jazz Disciples - Low Life (single)

Alto saxophonist Curtis Peagler (1929-1992) and a group billed as the Jazz Disciples recorded this one-off single for Columbia in 1961 after he had recorded two well-regarded LPs for the New Jazz label. The group was known as the Modern Jazz Disciples for those albums.

For background on Peagler and to hear the flip side of this 45, It's a Blue World, go to this previous post. There's no indication whether the personnel on the single is the same as it was on the LPs.

Low Life



The quality of this recording is not the greatest. The speed sounds a bit wonky and it's possible this side of the single was pressed a bit off-center. I don't have it handy to check. Unfortunately neither side of the 45 has received a digital release.

Peagler played with Ray Charles's orchestra in the mid- to late '60s and followed that with a seven-year gig with Count Basie. In later years he performed as a solo act, mainly in southern California, and played with the San Diego-based Sweet Baby Blues Band.

The first of the two Modern Jazz Disciples LPs for New Jazz was a self-tiled effort released in 1959. At the time Peagler did not receive a separate billing from the group. Disciples Blues was written by Peagler and another group member, William Kelley.

Bud Shank - California Dreamin'

Alto saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank (1926-2009) helped define the "cool jazz" sound that developed on the U.S. West Coast in the 1950s. Later he was the among the musicians who introduced North American audiences to Brazilian music.

But a series of albums Shank recorded for World Pacific in the 1960s had little to with jazz and everything to do with appealing to a pop audience and garnering radio airplay. That's not to say these were bad albums -- they weren't.

But with titles like Michelle, Girl in Love, A Spoonful of Jazz and Magical Mystery listeners knew exactly what to expect -- jazz-flavored easy listening versions of current pop hits. Tracks from these LPs turned up regularly on the playlists of radio stations that featured what was then known as "good" or "beautiful music" -- in other words easy listening with a heavy emphasis on instrumentals. Jazz stations also played these albums, but mainly in the daytime.

Shank's cycle of pop-oriented albums began with California Dreamin' (1966). Interestingly he had played a flute solo on the Mamas and Papas original recording in 1965, but here Shank sticks mainly to alto although there is a brief flute interlude. Trumpeter Chet Baker contributes a few licks as well.

California Dreamin'



Shank's California Dreamin' album has appeared on CD only on a Japanese import, which goes for anywhere from $23 to $40. It's also not available as a legal download in North America though a version does appear on iTunes in the U.K. I can almost guarantee that the releasing company didn't have access to the World Pacific master recordings, so proceed with caution.

Used vinyl copies of California Dreamin' have appeared recently online for a s little as $5. And if you live near a good used record store (or two) check them out as well. You shouldn't have to pay more than the aforementioned five bucks -- and perhaps even less.

Here's another cut from Bud Shank's California Dreamin'.

Curtis Peagler and the Jazz Disciples - It's a Blue World (45 single)

Alto saxophonist Curtis Peagler (1929-1992) fronted a group known as the Modern Jazz Disciples, which recorded two well-regarded LPs for New Jazz (an offshoot of Prestige) in 1959 and 1960.

The group had a rather unique easy swinging sound, due in large part to the use of a normaphone, played by William Kelley. This instrument is a valve trombone in the shape of an alto sax.

The Modern Jazz Disciples disbanded after the two New Jazz LPs and Peagler moved over to Columbia where he recorded a one-off single, It's a Blue World/Low Life, in 1961. This 45 did not lead to an album, a rather rare occurrence when you're talking about a jazz artist, and is now a collector's item.

Peagler is top billed (he wasn't on the LPs) and the "modern" has been dropped from the Jazz Disciples' name.

It's a Blue World



There is no indication of the personnel on this single and I'm not sure if the trombone sound is that of a normaphone. The two sides have not been released digitally.

Peagler went on to spend three years with the Ray Charles orchestra and seven years with Count Basie. He also worked in the recording studios and put out a couple of albums under his own name.

Here's Curtis Peagler with the Modern Jazz Disciples from one of their LPs recorded for Prestige.

Hank Crawford - Double Cross

Saxophonist Hank Crawford is firmly in the soul jazz camp for Double Cross (Atlantic, 1968), which is not surprising since it was released at the height of popularity of saxophone and/or organ led combos.

Crawford's alto takes the vast majority of the solo space, although tenor heavyweight David (Fathead) Newman is along to provide support as are trumpeters Joe Newman and Melvin Lastie. Guitarist Carl Lynch works in quite a few licks as well.

What better track to choose as a single than the Quincy Jones-penned theme for In the Heat of the Night, one of the biggest movie hits of 1967 and winner of five Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor (Rod Steiger).

The single, at 2:13, is about half the length of the LP track. But unlike a lot of jazz singles this one isn't merely faded out when convenient. It has actually been edited into a reasonably coherent track by cutting some of Crawford's solo. The 45 likely was designed mainly for DJ and jukebox use as I can't see many jazz fans opting for a single over the album. If you like what you hear you'll probably want the full version.

Note for trivia buffs: The piano fills on In the Heat of the Night are by Brother Jack McDuff, who's usually heard on organ.

In the Heat of the Night (45 edit)



Double Cross received a first-rate CD release in 2001, a two-on-one issue on the Collectables label that pairs it with an earlier Crawford album on Atlantic, True Blue. It's available directly from the company at Oldies.com, at a very reasonable price.

Double Cross is also available from most of the major sources as a download issued by Rhino/Atlantic.

Wrapping it up, here's another tune from the album, also taken from a 45 apparently.

Lou Donaldson - Light Foot (Post #2)

This superb LP from alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson's early days on Blue Note was discussed in a post in March 2013. All the background and availability information is still relevant, so you can click here to read it.

The track contained in the previous post was the laid-back Day Dreams, which was put on the "B" side of a single to promote the album to jazz radio stations.

On the "A" side was a bluesy Donaldson original, Hog Maw. Again, as on Day Dreams (an original by the pianist on the session, Herman Foster), Blue Note managed to squeeze almost six minutes of music onto a 45. That's the source of the track you can listen to below.

Hog Maw



Here's something from Lou Donaldson's funk period in the late 1960s. Jazz purists scoffed at these recordings of course, but a lot of people dug them. This is from Mr. Shing-A-Ling (Blue Note, 1967).