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JOHN LaPORTA
Quintet, Quartet, Trio and Duo - Complete Debut Recordings 1954-57 [Lone Hill Jazz, 2CD]
Very good to excellent audio.
Kudos to Spanish label Lone Hill Jazz for assembling and releasing these public domain recordings in 2008. John LaPorta is hardly remembered these days but he was there at the beginning of cool jazz. This collection is of his recordings for Charles Mingus and Max Roach’s Debut Records over 60 years ago. If you want a physical product with a higher bitrate, go online to buy this two-CD set released in Europe.
Or, if you’re the one percent, you can search for the vinyl. We’re sharing this with the 99 percent.
John LaPorta was a Philadelphia-born jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. LaPorta’s sound has been compared to that of fellow jazz experimenter Jimmy Giuffre. He is usually considered a member of the “cool” school in jazz and his improvisations identify him as a well-schooled, thoughtful player.
LaPorta also developed his sense of jazz from such prominent figures as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lester Young and Herschel Evans. He picked up both alto and tenor saxophone. As a teenager he played with Philadelphia bands alongside such players as Charlie Ventura and Bill Harris. [He also worked as a sideman with Charles Mingus, Woody Herman and Lennie Tristano.]
Along with guitarist Jack Petersen, LaPorta helped fashion the Berklee curriculum. Specifically, the pair pioneered the use of Greek modes for teaching chord-scales, a technique which has become the standard for teaching music theory worldwide. LaPorta died from complications of a stroke on May 12, 2004, in Sarasota. - wikipedia
LaPorta wasn’t just a great sideman, he was also a great teacher. His book, A Guide To Jazz Improvisations, should be essential reading to students of jazz. LaPorta, it should be noted, was among the talented jazzmen who was comfortable playing both traditional (composed) and free (improvised) jazz.
The publisher of his book, Berklee Press, had this to say “A Guide to Jazz Improvisation is an invaluable touchstone for every aspiring jazz musician. A long and impressive list of famous and successful musicians have learned to develop their own unique style based on LaPorta’s approach.”
Cover picture: The original 10-inch vinyl release from 1954.
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (224 kbps).
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Disc 1:
Track 101. Fluid Drive 3:18 (5.6MB)
Track 102. Right Around Home 4:39 (7.8MB)
Track 103. The Old Man’s Touch 2:54 (4.9MB)
Track 104. The Hectic Life 3:43 (6.2MB)
Track 105. Quarto 3:26 (5.8MB)
Track 106. Fringe Area 3:36 (6.1MB)
Track 107. Three Moods (Bright-Eyed Blues, Minor Rhythm, Bird’s World) 11:56 (20.1MB)
Track 108. Harangue 0:44 (1.2MB)
Track 109. Don’t Blame Me 5:21 (9.0MB)
Track 110. Two Party Campaign 0:48 (1.3MB)
Track 111. All The Things You Are 5:41 (9.5MB)
Track 112. Chance Acquaintance 1:10 (2.0MB)
Track 113. Saxidental 3:37 (6.1MB)
Track 114. Fringe Area (alternate take) 2:51 (4.8MB)
Track 115. Fluid Drive (alternate take) 3:34 (6.0MB)
Track 116. Fluid Drive (alternate take 2) 3:22 (5.7MB)
Track 117. Right Around Home (alternate take) 4:54 (8.2MB)
Track 118. This Hectic Life (alternate take) 3:51 (6.5MB)
Track 119. The Old Man’s Touch (alternate take) 3:06 (5.2MB)
Track 120. Quarto (alternate take) 3:51 (6.5MB)
77 mins
Disc 2
Track 201. All The Things You Are (alternate take) 5:12 (8.7MB)
Track 202. Bright-Eyed Blues (alternate take) 3:31 (5.9MB)
Track 203. Saxidental (alternate take -incomplete) 2:11 (3.7MB)
Track 204. Don’t Blame Me (alternate take) 4:10 (7.0MB)
Track 205. All The Things You Are (alternate take 2) 5:13 (8.8MB)
Track 206. Nightly Vigil 1:30 (2.5MB)
Track 207. Concertina for Clarinet 3:46 (6.3MB)
Track 208. Triplets, You Say 1:01 (1.7MB)
Track 209. Small Blue Opus 5:15 (8.8MB)
Track 210. Little Fantasy 0:51 (1.4MB)
Track 211. En Rapport 5:19 (8.9MB)
Track 212. Wash Day 0:47 (1.3MB)
Track 213. Perdido 7:34 (12.7MB)
Track 214. Lou’s Tune 1:41 (2.8MB)
Track 215. Absentee 4:58 (8.4MB)
Track 216. Ferme La Porta 4:55 (8.3MB)
Track 217. Dirge for Dorsey 5:49 (9.8MB)
Track 218. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 4:12 (7.1MB)
Track 219. Darn That Dream 5:06 (8.6MB)
Track 220. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams 4:26 (7.4MB)
78 mins
CD 1, 1-6 & 14-20:
John LaPorta Quintet
Louis Mucci (tp), John LaPorta (as, cl), Wally Cirillo (p), Richard Carter (b), Ed Shaughnessy (d)
New York, March 9, 1954
CD 1, 7-13 & CD 2, 1-5:
John LaPorta: Three Moods
Louis Mucci (tp), John LaPorta (as, cl), Barry Galbraith (g), Richard Carter (b), Charlie Perry (d)
New York, April & June, 1955
BONUS TRACKS
CD 2, 6-16:
John LaPorta Septet: Conceptions
Louis Mucci (tp), Sonny Russo (as), John LaPorta (as, cl), Sol Schlinger (bar), Wally Cirillo (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Clem DeRosa (d)
New York, June, 1956
CD 2, 17-20:
John LaPorta Trio: The Clarinet Artistry Of John LaPorta
John LaPorta (cl), Jack Keller (p), Clem DeRosa (d)
San Francisco, January 30, 1957
Click here to order A Guide to Jazz Improvisation: E-flat Instruments, by John LaPorta.
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