Thursday, September 22, 2016

AccuRadio Song of The Day-Herb Ellis and Joe Pass

Artist:Herb Ellis and Joe Pass
Song:I'm Confessin' That I Love You
Album:Arrival





If you are a jazz guitar fan, you will want this 2CD set of two of the all time great jazz guitarists. The other interesting thing is these were the first two albums released by Carl Jefferson's Concord Jazz label in 1973. And Concord is still going strong today. Of course Herb Ellis was best known for his days with The Oscar Peterson Trio in the 50s. He was also in the Verve Records house band. Though he recorded occasionally as a leader, Ellis was usually a side man and studio musician. Joe Pass was also a studio musician in the 60s working in films and TV. He also was part of many TV variety show bands. Pass signed with Norman Granz' new label Pablo in 1970. At the same time, Ellis signed with Concord. The two worked a regular gig at Donte's in Los Angeles. Jefferson got the idea to record them as a duo. After getting Granz' permission to use Pass, Jefferson recorded two albums in two days and he released them as the first two albums on Concord. Ray Brown was on bass and Jake Hanna was on drums for both albums. The first album was a studio album titled Jazz/Concord. The second album titled Seven Come Eleven was recorded live at the Concord Jazz Festival July 29, 1973. I'm Confessin' That I Love You is from Seven Come Eleven. That song is a jazz standard that was popularized by Louis Armstrong in 1930. Ellis and Pass recorded a third album Two For The Road in 1974. That was their final album as a duo though I'm sure they worked together many times over the years. Unfortunately they never appeared together on TV. In 2003, Concord decided to commemorate the first two Ellis/Pass albums and the beginning of Concord Jazz in a 2CD set called Arrival. These albums are not available individually. You can only get them in the 2CD package. Jazz guitar fans will want them regardless. Here's a video for I'm Confessin' That I Love You by Herb Ellis and Joe Pass.

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