Five-Star Collection... Lem Winchester

Lem Winchester

Another Opus

The title of the tune which give this recird its name, Another Opus, is a deep bow in the direction of an LP released on the recording equivalent of what radio stations are in the habit of calling "another network". There are several reasons for this. One of them is that three contributors to the earlier LP appear here — Hank Jones, Eddie Jones, and Frank Wess. Kenny Clarke played drums then, Gus Johnson plays them now. The featured soloist on the other record was the great vibraphonist Milt Jackson, this time it is Lem Winchester. That Lem, who you probably do not need to be told also plays vibes, would wish to pay his respects to Jackson in this manner, is readily understandable. Once Chris Albertson, who wrote the liner notes to an earlier Winchester album asked Lem who his favorite musicians were. "I have three of them", Lem answered. "Bags, Milt and Milt Jackson".

Now, let us consider that for a moment. One of the most overworked terms in the lexicon of everyone connected with jazz-musicians, critics, and fans — is "influence". In an atmosphere where the put-down is considered the ultimate in hipness, is the very easy to dismiss a man with "Oh, yeah, he plays like..." But "influence and "imitation" are two different things, and which of two words really applies to a musician is the determining factor in how important that musician will be. Half of any artist is who he chooses as his model before he is ready to step forth with an original statement. If man is forever content to play like his model, then he will always be a second-rate musician. But if, on the other hand, he uses his model only as a model, a signpost from which to progress, then there is no limit to how far he can go once use of that model has helped him to find his own voice.

So, with that idea as a reference, we find that the title Another Opus has further, more important, significance. It is another Lem Winchester opus, Opus 2, to be exact, for with this record Lem steps out of the Milt Jackson shadow (and admittedly, it is an enormous shadow) to speak with his own voice. That he has chosen to make his first statement within the same framework as an earlier recording by Jackson has two meanings. First, it is a tribute, and a deserved one. Secondly, and more important, it is a challenge. Not to compete with Milt, who is perhaps beyond competition, but to duplicate the original experiment under what scientists call original control conditions, and see what conclusions can be reached.

It has been, you will find, a highly successful experiment, and you can check the results step by step. *Joe Goldberg (from the liner notes)*

Winchester's playing on this album makes his untimely death seem all the more tragic. The rating is not one of those posthumous gifts — this LP is the best the vibist produced in his short career. I don't know if Prestige has any more tapes of sessions like this one, but I hope there is more of Winchester's latter-day playing to be issued. His work on this album indicates that he finally had his Milt Jackson-derived style shaped to his own measurements.

In Winchester's playing, there were qualities of jazz excellence: originality, power, and passion. He employed devices most other vibraharpists rarely, if evel, used: parallel fourths and fifths, played in swooping phrases; octaves and rolls, but not in the way Red Norvo uses octaves and rolls — Winchester used them earthily, more as a blues pianist would than in the xylophone-technique-applied-to-vibes manner of Norvo. Winchester's use of octaves, fourths, and fifths puts me in mind Wes Montgomery's guitar playing — both have used similar devices to get their blues-rooted messages across. Besides the devices, there is another strong parallel that can be drawn between Winchester and Montgomery: Lem stood in relation to Milt Jackson as Montgomery stands in relation to Charlie Christian. Each is an extension of his instrumental predecessor. It's regrettable that Montgomery and Winchester never recorded together.

The other opus implied by the album title is Opus de Jazz, recorded by Jackson a few years ago on Savoy. The tenor of the two albums is the same — unpretentious blues-based playing. Both albums have a good standard ballad (in this case, Like Someone; in Jackson's album the ballad was a breathtaking You Leave Me Breathless). The personnel overlaps between the two Opuses also: Wess and the two Joneses play on both. But the greatest similarity between the two LPs is that both contain some of the best results produced at blowing sessions. 

The outstanding track is the extremely mournful Blues Prayer. It is one of those slow blues that a lot of musicians attempt but few carry off. Winchester and colleagues not only carry it off but have given us one of the bluest performances recorded in the last few years. Winchester's blues playing is on a high level—as high as Jackson's heralded blues feats. Wess' flute seems to weep in an intensely emotional solo following Winchester's. There is no double timing on the track, giving the performance a continuity it might not have had had there been ex tensive doubling up. 

The other blues track is the title tune. It is faster than Prayer, but the essentially blue characteristic of the slower-paced track is retained, although the feeling is lighter. Winchester, Wess, and Hank Jones all seem to dance through their solos — Winchester tumbles and cascades, Wess whirls like an evil spirit, and Hank bobs and weaves. There is a novel interlude on this track when the vibist plays rhythm vibes—if there is such an animal—for 24 bars of Eddie Jones' solo: four-mallet chording on each beat, as rhythm guitar is played. Eddie and Johnson provide firm support for all the soloists throughout the album but especially on this track. The album is an utterly satisfying emotional experience. By all means, get it. *Don DeMichael (Down Beat, June 8, 1961 [5 stars])*

1 - Another Opus

(Lem Winchester)

2 - Blues Prayer

(Lem Winchester)

3 - The Meetin'

(Oliver Nelson)

4 - Like Someone In Love

(Burke, Van Heusen)

5 - Both Barrels

(Lem Winchester)

6 - Lid Flippin'

 (Johnny Smith)

#1 to #5:

Lem Winchester (vibes), Frank Wess (flute),

Hank Jones (piano), Eddie Jones, (bass), Gus Johnson (drums)

#6:

Lem Winchester (vibes), Johnny "Hammond" Smith (Hammond organ),

Eddie McFadden (guitar), Wendell Marshall (bass), Bill Erskine (drums).

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 

June 4 (#1 to #5) and October 14 (#6), 1960

Five-Star Collection... Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne And His Men Play Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn is an adult mystery with a different kind of hero: a private eye who is literate, suave, well-groomed, and —digs jazz. The weekly show hit the NBC-TV network September 22, 1958, and zoomed to a success which is, in part, the result of its jazz score, composed and arranged by Henry Mancini, known as Hank to the leading jazz stars in the Los Angeles area who have played for his soundtracks. Since November 1958, Shelly Manne and Victor Feldman have been regular members of the band which records the show's score. When Shelly became enthused about the idea of recording an album of Mancini originals from Peter Gunn, he invited Feldman to appear with him as a guest star. (...)

In Shelly Manne, Mancini has an ideal interpreter for the Peter Gunn music. In recent years Manne's talent has matured and developed so that today he is recognized as the most melodic and inventive of drummers, as well as one of the great swinging drummers of jazz history. For the past three years he has won first place in all three major jazz popularity polls — Playboy, Down Beat and Metronome. 

When Shelly and Mancini discussed the recording of this album, Mancini urged him to feel free to use the compositions as points of departure for creating personal jazz performances.

The album was done at one all night session which began at 6 Monday evening, January 19th, with Peter Gunn, and finished at 7:30 the next morning with Fallout. Improvisation with six men is not easy. It takes musicians who are experienced and skilled, as well as great jazz blowers. (...)

For jazz musicians to be free to express themselves, and to make personal statements, they need the kind of relaxed atmosphere not commonly found in recording studios. The average record date takes but three hours. But, like a barbecue fire which always seems to be glowing at its best after you've removed the steaks, jazz record dates usually begin to develop a "feeling" just as the three-hour time limit is up. At Contemporary we've tried to break this time barrier by scheduling sessions of at least six or nine hours. In the case of Peter Gunn we took four three-hour sessions and as a result an exceptionally close rapport was achieved; each musician felt free to contribute his ideas and suggestions came so thick and fast Shelly was often in the position of a moderator at a heated Town Hall session. That The Men were able to approach each of Mancini’s pieces with a fresh, spontaneous and valid conception is a tribute to their outstanding talents, as well as to the vitality of Mancini's provocative new jazz themes. *Lester Koenig (from the liner notes)*

It looks like The Drummer has done it again. From a sales standpoint this modern jazz treatment of Hank Mancini’s music from Peter Gunn television crime series is sure to equal, even possibly surpass, the great success of the Manne-Previn My Fair Lady enterprise of 1956.

Viewed as a jazz set, moreover, this tentet of tunes and variations is notable for two main reasons: the inspired drive and purposefulness of the group (with guest Feldman added to capture some of the identifying sound of the TV underscore); and the superlative solo work, principally by Geller and Candoli.

Alto and open trumpet achieve a most attractive blend on Floater, but it is not until Geller gets moving in his powerful solo that the real excitement begins. The altoist is consistently stimulating throughout the album, reaching an apex of musical achievement with his long, emotional solo on Dreamville toward the record's close.

Candoli, also, whether muted (as on Sorta Blue) or open (on Slow And Easy and others) plays with an authority and sureness of conception rarely heard before in his playing.

Feldman is always effective on either vibes or marimba. The latter instrument is used primarily for effect, which brings one to an essential characteristic of much of the album. There is more than a hint of the exotic to some of the tunes, due to Manne's feeling that Mancini's music demanded special treatment. Fallout for example, is more of a mood piece than a vehicle for blowing. But in the particular instance the idea proves a good one, providing breathing space (via piano and bass dominance) in between the more extroverted tracks.

The title tune is aptly almost rock and roll in basic conception, just as the television theme opens on a heavily accented guitar figure. (Gunn, backed with the slow and funky blues, Slow And Easy, has been released by the company in a bid for the single market. For single play, however, the blues was abbreviated).

Of Manne, Freeman, and Budwig there is little that can be said beyond their ideal function as a rhythm team and their individuality as solo contributors. Manne impressed with especial brilliance in his playing on Breezy, a smeary, dirty line with a rippling, yet somehow angular, solo by Freeman. Budwig has developed into one of the more distinctive bassists in jazz from the standpoint of fundamental tonal quality, which conveys the essence of real jazz sound.

This album could well become one of the top jazz LPs of 1959.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, March 5, 1959 [5 stars])*

1 - Peter Gunn

2 - The Floater

3 - Sorta Blue

4 - The Brothers

5 - Soft Sounds

6 - Fallout

7 - Slow And Easy

8 - Brief And Breezy

9 - Dreamsville

10 - A Profound Gass

(All compositions by Henry Mancini)

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Herb Geller (alto sax), Victor Feldman (vibes, marimba),

Russ Freeman (piano), Monty Budwig (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary Records Studio, Los Angeles, California, January 19 and 20, 1959

Five-Star Collection... Art Pepper

Art Pepper

Art Pepper + Eleven

A Treasury Of Modern Jazz Classics

In a period when the qualifications for having one's own jazz album remains nebulous, it's been all the more astonishing that Art Pepper has been in charge of so few. Pepper has grown remarkably in imagination and emotional depth in the past few years as was hotly clear in Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary 3532, Stereo 7018). In this new, uniquely integrated set, Pepper receives a differently challenging framework from Marty Paich than he — or most other soloists — has yet received on records. And Art responds with consistent brilliance.

What Paich has done has been to provide more than just accompaniment for Art. He has integrated the resilient band backgrounds with Art's playing in a way that stimulates Pepper but doesn't obstruct the improvisatory flow of his ideas. Paich was able to accomplish this fusion because he knows Pepper's style well through several years of association, including dates on which Marty was pianist for Art. (...)

The programmatic concept of the album is also challenging to both Pepper and Paich. These are twelve established modern jazz standards — music directly out of the jazz experience, written by jazzmen. They're part of that growing body of thoroughly indigenous jazz material to which player-writers like Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, Duke Ellington, and in more recent years, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, John Lewis and others have contributed.

Pepper and Paich collaborated on selecting these twelve songs. "We treated them with a great deal of respect", Paich emphasizes. "The tune itself is there all the time. Unlike, for example, doing jazz versions of Broadway shows, with these jazz standards you don't have to alter and extend the chords and make other changes for jazz purposes". (...)

In essence, Art Pepper + Eleven demonstrates, first of all, how mature a soloist Art Pepper has become. It also reemphasizes how much of their own material jazzmen have to work with, and helps considerably in making known Marty Paich's qualifications as a particularly knowledgeable and sensitive jazz arranger. *Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

This is a highly satisfactory album for which Marty Paich, who conducts and did the arranging, deserves a full measure of credit.

The tunes read like a jazz hit parade of the '40s and '50s, and Paich has treated them with the reverence and seriousness they deserve while still retaining wit and a freshness of view. Pepper, in the context of this group, turns out one of his best performances on record. As an altoist, he immediately assumes his place again in the front rank with the added virtue of successfully escaping the tyranny of Charlie Parker’s spirit and still keeping that full-blown swing. He is surprisingly sensitive and moving on clarinet (Anthropology of all things!), and if he ever gets seriously down to work on that instrument as his major, there's room to believe he might be the one to bring it up to the point of development of the other solo horns.

On tenor he is a solidly swinging, tough-minded soloist, but it is on alto, still, that he shines. The whole album is in excellent taste, the solos by Freeman here and there are a gas, too, and Lewis provides a fine, swinging foundation. 

*Ralph J. Gleason (Down Beat, February 18, 1960 [5 stars])*

1 - Move

(Denzil Best)

2 - Groovin' High

(Dizzy Gillespie)

3 - Opus de Funk

(Horace Silver)

4 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams)

5 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - Shaw Nuff

(Gillespie, Parker)

7 - Bernie's Tune

(Leiber, Stoller, Miller)

8 - Walkin' Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Anthropology

(Gillespie, Parker)

10 - Airegin

(Sonny Rollins)

11 - Walkin' (original take)

(Richard Carpenter)

12 - Walkin' (alternate take 1)

(Richard Carpenter)

13 - Walkin' (alternate take 2)

 (Richard Carpenter)

14 - Donna Lee (original take)

(Charlie Parker)

15 - Donna Lee (alternate take)

(Charlie Parker)

Art Pepper (alto sax, tenor sax [#1, #5, #11], clarinet [#9, #12, #13]) with:

Pete Candoli [#3, #4, #8, #10], Jack Sheldon, Al Porcino [#1, #2, #5 to #7, #9, #11 to #15] (trumpets);

Herb Geller [#3, #4, #8, #10], Bud Shank [#2, #6, #9, #14, #15], Charlie Kennedy [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (alto saxes);

Dick Nash (trombone); Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax, valve trombone); Vincent DeRosa (French horn);

Bill Perkins [#2, #3, #4, #6, #8 to #10, #14, #15], Richie Kamuca [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (tenor saxes);

Med Flory (baritone sax); Russ Freeman (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California, March 14 (#3, #4, #8, #10),

March 28 (#2, #6, #9, #14, #15) and May 12 (#1, #5, #7, #11, #12, #13), 1959.

Five-Star Collection... Bill Holman

Bill Holman

Big Band In A Jazz Orbit

Bill Holman's compositions and arrangements are both experimental and basic at the same time; they never for one moment cease swinging, and yet their rhythmic complexities are brilliant. His harmonic sense is quite daring at times, and still his changes are comfortable and logical to play on. All his pieces have form and definite orderliness; they have strength and an underlying feeling of "There's something left in reserve, this isn't the climax yet". His voices are for the most part linear and his sections play a good deal in unison; however, the interweaving of the lines is so assured and musically sophisticated as to create a bigger harmonic sound than the thickest of chordal arranging. He builds his arrangements carefully and soundly and rarely succumbs to the screaming flag-waver ending so popular with many big bands. He has limited himself to the orthodox jazz instrumentation; trumpets, trombones, saxes and rhythm, but his knowledge of their possibilities is enormous. Being a highly talented instrumentalist himself, his arrangements are relatively easy to play. Everything lies well in the horns, a fact for which Bill is looked upon with gratitude by the playing musicians. He is very fond of the use of canonic imitation in his writing, and uses it to great advantage throughout this album. From a composer-arranger's point of view, he has already arrived at an enviable position: namely that his style is totally distinctive, recognizable, and personal; it is possible to say "That's Bill Holman" after listening to 8 bars of his music, and that is a very major accomplishment for a creative musician.

Bill Holman most assuredly is a first-rate saxophonist, but this true instrument is the orchestra, and he plays it with musicianship, honesty and brilliance. *André Previn (from the liner notes)*

While this, the second Holman big band set to be released in a year, lacks the compositional stature lent the first LP by his monumental work, The Big Street, it stands as an excellent album of modern big band jazz writing.

Thanks to the powerful rhythm section and the well-drilled ensemble, there is no dearth of rhythmic excitement. But the essence of musical interest lies in the imaginative quality of Holman's writing. One particularly interesting aspect of this set is the obvious Ellington-Strayhorn influence in certain portions of the ensemble work. This is evident — to this reviewer, anyway — in the saxes on No Heat and the massed brass effects on Kissin' Bug. It must be stressed, however, that these voicings are used not in imitation, but rather for effect where the overall character of the arrangement demanded them.

The composer ranges from utilizing an almost small band effect (on The Man I Love) to sheer powerhouse ensemble sound (as on Aura, for example) . Yet, for all the complexity of the arrangements, there is ample room for solo blowing and the various horn men use it well. Fontana solos only twice in the entire album, on The Man I Love and After You've Gone. Sheldon plays all the jazz trumpet, from fast glittering open horn lines to moody, muted statements blown right into the mike in the Davis manner. Holman has most of the tenor solos, although Kamuca is heard in relaxed statements on The Man I Love and Aura.

Space does not permit extended discussion of the playing of all soloists, unfortunately, but there is very little disappointment in the individual performances.

It is becoming increasingly evident to these ears that Holman and Gil Evans now emerge as the only two arranger-composers to come to prominence in recent years who have reached a point of maturity wherein their work is so completely individual that it becomes immediately recognizable. Each speaks with his own voice and, as the music on this album attests, Holman’s is eloquent indeed. Highly recommended. Also available on stereodisc.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, March 19, 1959 [5 stars])*

1 - Kissin' Bug

(Billy Strayhorn, Rex Stewart, Joya Sherrill)

2 - The Man I Love

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

3 - Goodbye

(Gordon Jenkins)

4 - You Go To My Head

(Jay Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)

5 - After You've Gone

(Henry Creamer, Turner Layton)

6 - Far Down Below

(Bill Holman)

7 - No Heat

(Bill Holman)

8 - Theme & Variations #2

(Bill Holman)

9 - Aura

(Bill Holman)

Conte Candoli, Ed Leddy, Al Porcino,

Jack Sheldon [replaced by Stu Williamson on #3, #4, #9] (trumpets);

Carl Fontana, Frank Rosolino, Ray Sims (trombones); Herb Geller, Charlie Mariano (alto saxes);

Bill Holman (tenor sax); Richie Kamuca, Charlie Kennedy (tenor saxes);

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California,

February 11(#1, #2, #6), 12 (#5, #7, #8) and 13 (#3, #4, #9) 1958.

Five-Star Collection... Stan Getz / Bob Brookmeyer

Stan Getz And Bob Brookmeyer

Recorded Fall 1961

Despite what you read in liner notes, an appalling percentage of jazz albums lose their allure over the years. I think particularly of that period in the mid-1950s when the monthly streams (main and others) of jazz releases first began to overflow. Many of the sets issued during those years have become as inactive on most turntables as Paul Whiteman sides without Bix. Yet a few albums of the time have proved durable, and among them were the Verve colloquies between Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer. The reason they lasted is that both these jazzmen had already established substantial personal styles that did not feed on fads (cool or funky) and besides, they completed each other so naturally that whole performances resulted, not fragmentary strings of solos.

The first meeting between Getz and Brookmeyer since that period took place in September 1961, while Getz was back in this country to refuel himself through stimulation from American jazzmen. (And also make some money). Since 1958, Getz has been an expatriate in Copenhagen, and while his recordings in Europe have been consistently interesting, they often lacked the level of mutual interaction between Getz and the local sideman that ignites the best of home-brewed recordings. (If this be chauvinism, ask American jazzmen about their experiences with most European rhythm sections).

The lapse of years and distance have not flawed the musical communion between Getz and Brookmeyer, as is evident from the first track on. They interweave lines and fuse rhythmically as if they'd been playing together steadily for a long time. Both, moreover, have a rare capacity for fresh, uncluttered, melodic imagination that is a refreshing relief from dates on which the players beguile themselves — but not always the listener — by the speed with which they can conjugate chord changes. The opener itself was written by Brookmeyer a month or so before the session, and as the title indicates, represents his quixotic conception of what a contemporary, jazz-limned minuet can sound like.

(...)

The rhythm section is one that Getz chose for his club dates on his return to America. John Neves has long been known to musicians who visited Boston in recent years and for a time was an important part of the Herb Pomeroy band there. Steve Kuhn, who also first established a reputation in that area, is an uncommonly imaginative pianist with formidable technique. In the past year, Kuhn has become even more effective as he's learned how to edit his abundance of ideas. Roy Haynes may well be the most taken-for-granted major drummer in jazz. He also been so reliable and resourceful for so long that he doesn't get nearly the degree of attention he merits.

The quintet blends well together, all the more so since each of the five has enough confidence in his own musical way to relax enough to listen to the others. From this kind of shared attitude records are produced that can be replayed long after the polls have changed and rechanged.

*Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

This marks two events, the first recording by Getz since his return to the United States; a reunion with Brookmeyer, his partner of the mid-'50s.

The simultaneous happenings are cause for celebration. Getz and Brookmeyer are mature players, and everything they do on this record is in perfect balance insofar as ingredients required for one style of complete jazz performance are concerned.

The group, exclusive of Brookmeyer, is the one Getz has toured with since spring, 1961. Kuhn is a young pianist who has shown a liking for Bill Evans. He manifests this in several places here but also exhibits things of his own. He fits well in a subtle but driving (when it has to) rhythm section, completed by the strong Neves and the impeccable Haynes.

The three Brookmeyer originals are delightful: Minuet has as infectious a line as I’ve heard in a while, Who Could Care? is a lovely ballad. Thump is an equally engaging composition.

The other material is complementary. Berkeley Square is a beautiful ballad that has not been recorded into the ground, and Buck Clayton's Love Jumped Out is an old Basie feature that has only been done once since the 1930s (Paul Quinichette with a Basie alumni group in the '50s). It also has been some time since we've heard Nice Work. When it's played like this, however, you can enjoy it even if you had just heard several other versions.

There are many good things to be said about the individual merits of Getz and Brookmeyer, but the most important factor in the success of this set is the ease with which these men communicate their thoughts and feelings to the audience. It seems to flow out and by the same token, right in.

*Ira Gitler (Down Beat, February 15, 1962 [5 stars])*

1 - Minuet Circa '61

(Bob Brookmeyer)

2 - Who Could Care

(Bob Brookmeyer)

3 - Nice Work If You Can Get It

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

4 - Thump, Thump, Thump

(Bob Brookmeyer)

5 - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

(Manning Sherwin, Eric Maschwitz)

6 - Love Jumped Out

(Buck Clayton)

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone),

Steve Kuhn (piano), John Neves (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded at Nola Recording Studio, New York City, September 12 and 13, 1961

Five-Star Collection... Miles Davis

Miles Davis

Blue Moods

There was a boy... somehow strange and enchanted, perhaps... but a natural, not a nature boy. This one grew and learned, among other things, not to whistle at the lovely lady of a cigar-smoking citizen of Mississippi. Which made it possible for him to grow enough to read news service reports about what happens to that kind of boy. It made possible, too, some disenchanted wanderings, with horns often not his own; wanderings along a series of personal precipices where nostrils may ache from the sheer agony of breathing.

If there is dignity and artistry in such a boy, he will record such a life with gaunt gestures, or as an anointed conscience, or as the inveterate cynic, or, or... there are some few, even, who merely reflect, neither urging nor decrying. Miles, it seems to me, is one of these latter. His the almost fragile, though never effeminate, tracing of a story line which is somewhat above and beyond him, of almost-blown-aside, pensive fragments which are always persuasively coherent.

His are moods, blue ones if we can allow for a programatic spectrum. Not the kind of blue that happens on Mondays those lastNIGHTWASanight, now-it's-five-days-till-Friday kind of blues. More like Sunday blue; nothing to do in the morning, no family dinner, only a movie in the afternoon and a gig at night kind of blues. That's what Miles says to me anyway, says it in particular and at length in the course of this LP, says it, too, in as moving a way as it can be said.

(...)

All those moods, present and to be accounted for in the music on this LP. For example, you don't hear it here, but on one take Miles wandered so far afield that he was completely lost. But he made no mention of it, not even a request for another take, although, fortunately, another was made, almost as if he really didn't care, was above caring, whether anyone had discovered the error.

And the tunes: "Nature Boy", and where was I; "Alone Together", oh there I am; "There's No You", there never was; and "Easy Living", maybe, but I haven't seen it. All cut of the same cloth. Again, moods. Again, blue.

From this, and the sensitivity of each musician to the others, comes a clarity of expression which makes annotation superfluous, perhaps, even presumptuous. But there are these things which occurred to me, which may make this seemingly strange sales-talk more persuasive. (Sales-talk it is, too, for I am moved enough by this poignant side of jazz to boost its circulation.)

(...)

Through it all, none of the musicians show Miles' finality of mood, but they do perfectly match him as if they shared the same secret, each one adding, as is natural, his own interpretation, and, in the case of Teddy and Mingus, his own answer to that secret. In that very special way it is Miles’ album in the same way that a wedding always belongs to the bride no matter what entertainment is presented at the reception.

These are reflections about a life in which we are all shareholders.

*Bill Coss (from the liner notes)*

Note: The spelling "programatic" appears in the original liner notes and is most likely a typographical error for "programmatic". It is reproduced here as part of the original text.

The album is called Blue Moods and the title is exact. Miles is backed with taste and intelligence by Charlie Mingus, Teddy Charles, Britt Woodman, and drummer Elvin Jones. Everyone falls sensitively into the reflective twilight scene, and everyone plays excellently. Miles has the major share of solo space and demonstrates again how lyrically he excels in this kind of context. Mingus is characteristically strong and penetratingly imaginative in both solo and section. Britt has only one solo (There's No You). It's a good one, and he should have had more. All the spare, well-knit arrangements (except for Mingus' equally capable one of Alone Together) are by Teddy Charles. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 14, 1955 [5 stars])*

1 - Nature Boy

(Eden Ahbez)

2 - Alone Together

(Dietz, Schwartz)

3 - There’s No You

(Adair, Hopper)

4 - Easy Living

(Rainger, Robin)

Miles Davis (trumpet), Britt Woodman (trombone),

Charles Mingus (bass), Teddy Charles (vibes), Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, July 9, 1955

Five-Star Collection... Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane

Certain combinations of men have been leaving indelible marks on the music called jazz since its beginning. Some formed a lifetime association; others were together only for a brief period. Some actively shaped the course of jazz; others affected it more osmotically. All have had one thing in common; they produced music of lasting value.

One historic teaming was that of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane at New York's Five Spot Cafe, beginning in the summer of 1957. Although the group remained together for only a half-year, those of us who heard it will never forget the experience. There were some weeks when I was at the Five Spot two and three times, staying most of the night even when I intended just to catch a set or two. The music was simultaneously kinetic and hypnotic. J.J. Johnson has compared it to the mid-Forties union of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. "Since Charlie Parker, the most electrifying sound that I've heard in contemporary jazz was Coltrane playing with Monk at the Five Spot. … It was incredible, like Diz and Bird", Jay said.

Monk and Coltrane complemented each other perfectly. The results of this successful musical alliance were beneficial to both. In this setting, Monk began to receive the brunt of a long-overdue recognition. On the other hand, Coltrane's talent, set in such a fertile environment, bloomed like a hibiscus. 'Trane's comments in a Down Beat article (September 29, 1960), clearly describe how he reveres Monk. "Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way — through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers by playing them. I could watch him play and find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of things that I didn't know about at all", he stated.

Later in the piece, 'Trane added: "I think Monk is one of the true greats of all time. He's a real musical thinker — there're not many like him. I feel myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him. If a guy needs a little spark, a boost, he can just be around Monk, and Monk will give it to him".

Monk certainly brought 'Trane out beautifully. It was in this period that John began to experiment with what at the time I called "sheets of sound". Actually, he was thinking in groups of notes rather than one note at a time. Monk's practice of "laying out" allowed 'Trane to "stroll" against the pulse of bass and drums and really develop this playing attitude on his own. 

(...)

To round out the album, three alternate masters from previously released Monk sessions are included. Off Minor and Epistrophy were heard on "Monk’s Music" (Riverside RLP 242). It is stimulating to compare the different versions and how the solos vary and coincide from take to take. Off Minor has solos by Hawkins, Copeland and Monk, but the bits by Ware and Blakey are not as developed as on the original issue. Epistrophy, in the original version, featured all the horns of the septet and Monk. Here, only Coltrane and Copeland are heard in solo.

The first Functional is on "Thelonious Himself" (Riverside RLP 235). This version is as different in individual idea and, at the same time close in spirit to the other, as two takes can be. It almost deserves a title of its own. I only wish I had two turntables. I think the two Functionals might make a wild duet for four Monk hands.

But, as intriguing as these alternate masters are, the main attraction here is the unearthing of the quartet tracks. These are milestones in jazz history and important to every serious listener.

Steve Lacy, the soprano saxophonist who worked with Monk for 16 weeks in 1960, has said of Monk's music: "Monk has got his own poetry and you've got to get the fragrance of it".

It is obvious that in 1957, Coltrane was doing some deep breathing.

*Ira Gitler (from the liner notes)*

To spell out the contents for a bit, Functional is a remarkable, unaccompanied piano solo. It is an alternate version to the one included on Thelonious Himself (Riverside 235) and so different from the original that I think it should have been given a different title.

Off Minor and Epistrophy are alternate and briefer versions from the septet date that produced Monk's Music (Riverside 242). The former has very good solos by Hawkins, Copeland, and Monk, the latter solos by Coltrane and Copeland.

Nutty, Ruby, and Trinkle are by Monk. Coltrane, Ware, and Wilson — the quartet that had an almost legendary stay at the Five Spot in New York during the summer of 1957, a prelude to Monk’s rediscovery as a major jazzman and to his current popularity and surely one of the most important (and exhilarating) events in jazz in recent years.

These three selections were recorded and the tapes were labeled "for posterity" and set aside until contractual conflicts had been resolved, permitting their release now. They are strong experiences, and if they are not as good as the performances one heard those summer nights at the Five Spot, they are nevertheless exceptional jazz.

Each member of that quartet played with great enthusiasm and at the peak of his own abilities, and through Monk's music each man was discovering and expanding his potential almost nightly.

Monk and Coltrane had exceptional emotional rapport. Technically, on the other hand, they were superb contrasts. Coltrane's techniques are obvious, Monk's more subtle. At the same time that Coltrane, with his showers of notes and his "sheets of sound", seemed to want to shatter jazz rhythms into an evenly spaced and constant array of short notes, Monk seemed to want to break them up subtly and phrase with a new freedom. Monk is a melodist: his playing is linear and horizontal. Coltrane is an arpeggio player; his approach is vertical. He is a kind of latter-day Coleman Hawkins.

But even Coltrane's earlier solo on Epistrophy shows that he found enormous harmonic stimulation in Monk's music — he seemed to know not only where Monk was but where he was headed, as very few players did. But again, as the quartet tracks show (particularly Ruby, Coltrane also knew that Monk's melodies are very strong and important and that it isn’t enough merely to run their changes. Over and over again here, Monk's materials discipline Coltrane and order his explorations in a way that no material he has since dealt with seems to have done.

Ware is, like Monk, a melodist, and he also finds surprise twists even in the most traditional approach. Wilson, whose early work had the smooth evenness of a Jo Jones, responds to Monk's hints with enthusiastic and appropriate polyrhythmic patterns.

Monk also got a remarkable variety of textures from this group — by playing with Coltrane, by playing contrapuntally against Coltrane, by laying out and leaving Coltrane to Ware and Wilson, sometimes predominately to one of them, sometimes to both equally.

Some details: On Nutty, after Coltrane has strayed further and further into elaborate harmonic implications of the piece, Monk enters for his solo with, as usual, a simple and eloquent re-establishment of the theme in paraphrase. He does the same on Trinkle, with an even more subtle recasting of that intricate melody.

Ruby is a knowingly embellished version of a lovely piece. The end of Coltrane's opening solo has a particularly beautiful (and Monkish) effect of suspension, and Monk's decision to begin his solo with lightly implied double-timing was a near master-stroke of meaningful contrast.

The best quartet performance is Trinkle. The one flaw is that the line itself, unlike most of Monk's melodies, is a bit pianistic in conception to be fully effective on saxophone. But the spontaneous interplay between Monk and Coltrane in Trinkle is quite wonderful, as is Monk's intuitive logic in knowing just when to stop it and let Coltrane stroll along against Ware and Wilson. Ware's solo is good (and I'm afraid makes one long for those evenings when he would spin several effortless choruses in each piece).

As I said, this solo Functional is quite different from the previous version. On the earlier releases, Monk manages to play variations on one of the simplest and most percussive of all blues phrases in a nine-minute tour de force of cohesive imaginative invention. Here we hear nearly 10 minutes of Monk playing the blues in a dramatic yet lyric curve of melody.

Other delights: the interplay of Ware behind Monk on Off Minor. Copeland's solo on the same piece; in his way he knows the relationship of parts of Monk's music, of melody to harmony, as well as Coltrane does.

Nostalgia can corrupt memory, of course, but even allowing for that, I don't think these quartet performances are up to the level one heard at the Five Spot from this group. However, Trinkle very nearly is. The other two are fine performances. I think that in this way Epistrophy is excellent, too. And Functional is a near masterpiece.

*Martin Williams (Down Beat, December 21, 1961 [5 stars]*

Note: Although the Original Jazz Classics CD edition cites a four-star Down Beat rating, no contemporary issue of the magazine appears to support that figure. The original Down Beat review published on December 21, 1961 awarded the album five stars, and no earlier four-star review has been documented. The discrepancy likely stems from a later typographical error rather than from the original magazine review.

1 - Ruby, My Dear

(Thelonious Monk)

2 - Trinkle, Tinkle

(Thelonious Monk)

3 - Off Minor (alternate master)

(Thelonious Monk)

4 - Nutty

(Thelonious Monk)

5 - Epistrophy (alternate master)

(Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk)

6 - Functional (solo piano, alternate master)

(Thelonious Monk)

Thelonious Monk (piano); John Coltrane (tenor sax); Ray Copeland (trumpet [#3, #4]);

Gigi Gryce (alto sax [#3, #4]); Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax [#3, #4]);

Wilbur Ware (bass); Shadow Wilson [#1, #2, #4]), Art Blakey [#3, #5] (drums).

Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York City,

April 12 (#6), June 26 (#3, #4) and circa July (#1, #2, #4), 1957

Five-Star Collection... Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker Memorial • Vol.1

CHARLIE PARKER was born in Kansas City, August 29, 1920. He played baritone saxophone in his school band and accumulated his experience with the orchestras of Lawrence Keyes and Harlan Leonard. In 1937 he joined Jay McShann with whom he came to New York in 1942. "BIRD" left McShann to work with Kenny Clarke and Thelonious Monk at Minton's and Clark's Uptown House. Soon after he blew with Noble Sissle for about a year and then he joined the Earl Hines Orchestra which featured Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Harris and Billy Eckstine. In 1944 he joined the fine Billy Eckstine Band and, at this time, he cut his first session which, we are proud to say, is on Savoy records.

One of the greatest chapters in Jazz came to a close on Saturday, March 12, 1955 when CHARLIE PARKER passed away, stricken with bronchial pneumonia and a greater blow to Jazz was never dealt. We in Jazz will never forget the "BIRD" and because we feel that you, the Jazz audience, may not have had the opportunity to know the "BIRD" as well as you would have liked to, we are releasing all of his unreleased versions of his most famous compositions.

Along with these new versions and short takes, we include some of the original masters to try to give you a more complete musical description of CHARLIE PARKER's recording sessions and also to give you a greater insight of his work. Also heard herein is some conversation between CHARLIE PARKER and the other musicians on the dates, which is added because we are sure you will find it as interesting as we do. *Ozzie Cadena (from the liner notes)*

This is the first of the Savoy 12" Memorial LPs. Included are several previously unreleased takes, as well as several (often more than one to a number) short takes. The comparisons are illuminating insights into the processes of improvised creation. Ozzie Cadena has clearly listed the nature of each take as well as complete personnel. Rudy Van Gelder has done a first-rate remastering job, and while this is not a hi-fi recording, as the envelope states, it's often a considerable improvement over the originals and the sound is quite clear.

Among the musicians present are Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter, Max Roach, John Lewis, Curly Russell, and Bud Powell. These are taken from Bird's 1944-1948 sessions for the label, a period that saw Bird's influence on modern jazz begin to take hold firmly throughout the country and world. These records were some of the vital messengers of the new era, and they rank in musical and historical importance with the Louis Armstrong Hot Fives 20 years before.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, June 1, 1955 [5 stars])*

1 - Another Hair Do (short take 1)

2 - Another Hair Do (short take 2)

3 - Another Hair Do (original take 3)

4 - Bluebird (new take 1)

5 - Bird Gets The Worm (new take 1)

6 - Barbados (new take 1)

7 - Constellation (short take 2)

8 - Constellation (new take 1)

9 - Parker's Mood (new take 1)

10 - Ah Leu Cha (short take 1)

11 - Ah Leu Cha (original take 2)

12 - Perhaps (short take 4)

13 - Perhaps (new take 5)

14 - Perhaps (original take 6)

15 - Marmaduke (short take 1)

16 - Marmaduke (new take 2)

17 - Steeplechase (original take 1)

18 - Merry Go Round (new take 1)

19 - Buzzy (short take 4)

20 - Buzzy (original take 5)

(All compositions by Charlie Parker)

Charlie Parker (alto sax) with:

#1 to #5:

Miles Davis (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums).

Recorded at United Sound Studios, Detroit, Michigan, December 21, 1947

#6 to #18:

Miles Davis (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Curly Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums).

Recorded at Harry Smith Studios, New York City,

September 18 (#6 to #11) and September 24 (#12 to #18), 1948

#19 and #20:

Miles Davis (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Max Roach (drums).

Recorded at Harry Smith Studios, New York City, May 8, 1947

Five-Star Collection... Bud Powell

 ...and here we go again

At the end of last year, the story was deliberately left with The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 1 — the first five-star album in Down Beat’s modern jazz reviews. It was a natural place to pause, with a promise implied rather than stated: the sequence would resume where it inevitably led. Returning now, Outlet Jazz picks up exactly at that point, with The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 2, an album that also received the magazine’s highest rating and confirmed that the earlier accolade had been no isolated judgment.

The fact that Bud Powell was the first musician to achieve the highest rating was no small detail.His emergence as a modern pianist — capable of reshaping the bebop language from the keyboard — marked a clear before and after for critics and musicians alike. That initial five-star rating did more than celebrate virtuosity; it acknowledged, in real time, the arrival of a defining voice in mid-twentieth-century jazz.

Between 1949 and 1955, Bud Powell recorded three albums that not only defined his career but also shaped the course of modern jazz piano: The Amazing Bud Powell and The Artistry of Bud Powell. The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 1949–51) and The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1953) document, with remarkable clarity, the evolution of an artist who brought the language of bebop to the keyboard with unprecedented precision and intensity. The first, recorded for Alfred Lion with musicians such as Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, and Max Roach, displays Powell’s genius in trio, quintet, and solo formats, establishing a model that would influence an entire generation. The second volume, more introspective and focused, reveals a less explosive but more refined Powell, asserting his voice amid the personal difficulties already beginning to surround him.

Finally, The Artistry of Bud Powell (Norgran, 1954), produced by Norman Granz, offers a different perspective on the pianist. Recorded in a more controlled setting and with a polished sound, it finds Powell joined by George Duvivier, Percy Heath, and Art Taylor, revisiting standards and original compositions with a serenity that contrasts with the urgency of his Blue Note sessions. Heard together, these recordings trace Bud Powell’s creative summit: the passage from the fire of bebop to a more contained — yet no less intense — maturity, and the sound world of one of the most decisive artists of the twentieth century.

When Down Beat reviewed The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 2, it did more than close the chapter opened by the first volume. The magazine used the occasion to place Powell’s recent work in a broader context, bringing The Artistry of Bud Powell into the same critical frame. Following that logic, Outlet Jazz resumes its work by addressing both albums together.

Here is how Down Beat reviewed the two albums that concern us today — The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 2 and The Artistry of Bud Powell:

Two absorbing journeys (recorded this June) into the musically astonishing and troubled mind of Bud Powell. The first, made for Norman Granz, has Arthur Taylor on drums with George Duvivier and Percy Heath splitting the bass assignment. On the five standards, Bud is in an unusually gentle, reflectively passionate mood. Buttercup is a characteristically angular, intensely rhythmic original that is almost sunny in its casualness. Fantasy is more angular, more intense. (Norgran LP MG N-23)

The Blue Note program is more diversified. On this set, issued by Alfred Lion with the permission of Norman Granz, Bud was backed in August, 1953, by Taylor and the amazing Duvivier (amazing not only in his too long underrated bass artistry but in his ability to communicate so fully with Bud, no matter how rapidly and unpredictably the latter's musical mind races). Bud involves himself with Autumn and Polka Dots here with much the same measured passion as in the Granz album.

On the other bands (but one) he is the familiarly unfamiliar Bud Powell at middle and uptempo originals and in reappraisals of standard lines. The one exception is Enclosure, the best and most stimulatingly organized Bud original yet recorded and one that shows in small area the potential of this musician for significant composition as well as influential interpretation. It is to be hoped for himself and for music that Bud soon will come back to health. Good, helpful notes for the Blue Note LP by Leonard Feather. The Blue Note is better recorded and has the better cover. Both sets are worth repeated listening. (Blue Note LP BLP 5041). 

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, November 17, 1954 [5 stars]*

Bud Powell

The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 2

Between these covers lies the harvest of a journey through the mind of Bud Powell. It is a journey in which beauty and darkness, pleasure and sorrow are to be gleaned along the way; for this mind is a strange land, endowed with a glow of genius yet beset by illness and deprivation.

Bud Powell's career has been an erratic one, gregarious months along 52nd Street alternating with lonely months in the hospital. For all the inconsistency of his march to fame, he has managed to earn the unanimous admiration of his contemporaries and to forge an ineradicable place for himself in the international hall of jazz fame.

A year ago, on his return from a year's absence, he was approached by Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records to make his first return to the recording studios since his illness. But at that time he was enjoying two weeks' vacation between engagements at Birdland.

The session that resulted was no hasty, impromptu venture. It was the product of many meetings between Lion, Powell and Duvivier and Taylor. Each tune was selected to show a certain aspect of Bud's style, and the entire set offers a comprehensive picture of this extraordinary talent. (...)

If you know Bud Powell only by repute, or through the media of radio and night clubs, this LP is the definitive set to represent him in your collection. If you already have his earlier recordings, you will probably agree with me that in this group of performances Bud Powell is at his peak. Let us hope that today, at the age of 30, he may have a future studded with many more such achievements. *Leonard Feather (from the liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Reets And I

(Benny Harris)

2 - Autumn In New York

(Vernon Duke)

3 - I Want To Be Happy

(Vincent Youmans)

4 - Sure Thing

(Jerome Kern, Ira Gershwin)

Side 2

5 - Glass Enclosure

(Bud Powell)

6 - Collard Greens And Black-Eye Peas

(Oscar Pettiford)

7 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

8 - Audrey

(Bud Powell)

Bud Powell (piano), George Duvivier (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, August 14, 1953

✳✳✳

Bud Powell

The Artistry Of Bud Powell

I've tried, in the past album brochures which I have written about Bud Powell, to describe carefully the man's playing with the man himself, because the two parts are inseparable and each is the key to the other’s personality.

I know of no other musician on the jazz scene today who is as frustrated as Bud Powell. He has so much to say and he tries so hard to say it that from time to time his efforts are too much for his body and his mind. I started to say and his spirit but I find that once seated at the piano his spirit is unquenchable. Bud loves his music and, having a natural talent for creation, something wonderful usually comes out of this marriage of creation and love. But there are too the frustrated edges which occasionally creep in, and in saying this I don't mean to derogate Bud but rather to describe him as accurately as I can, and in many ways this frustration at the edges is a kind of comment that Bud has to make about life and about his music, just as they, in turn, explain Bud.

This date was done with a great deal of preparation and Bud made it a point to practice his numbers as often and as thoroughly as he could so that he would be completely familiar with them and I think this comes through genuinely and sincerely on the sides. Bud chose all the tunes himself, and among them are the great standards, "Moonlight In Vermont", "Spring is Here" and "My Funny Valentine", and also a perfectly delightful original composition Bud made, entitled "Buttercup". The date was done in two sections and on one date we used George Duvivier on bass and on the other Percy Heath. The drummer on both dates was Art Taylor. The respect that these men have for Bud is evident, as is their own contribution on the date.

This, then, is more of the creative Bud Powell. *Norman Granz (from the liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Moonlight In Vermont

(Karl Suessdorf, John Blackburn)

2 - Time Was

(Miguel Prado, Gabriel Luna, Bob Russell)

3 - Spring Is Here

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

Side 2

4 - Buttercup

(Bud Powell)

5 - Fantasy In Blue

(Bud Powell)

6 - It Never Entered My Mind

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

7 - My Funny Valentine

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

Bud Powell (piano); George Duvivier [#1, #3, #4, 5],

Percy Heath [#2, #6, #7] (basses), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sound Studio, New York City,

June 2 [#1, #3, #4, 5] and June 4 [#2, #6, #7], 1954

✳✳✳

For those who prefer digital versions, each file includes the corresponding CD which, as usual, also adds bonus tracks and alternate takes not present on the original LPs.

The compact disc Bud Powell's Moods appears here thanks to the generosity of my dear friend Melanchthon.

Five-Star Collection... The Down Beat Five-Star History (Part III)

After exploring both the symbolic ratings of 1946 and the numerical approach introduced in 1951, we now arrive at the reform that would define Down Beat for generations of readers.

This final part revisits the introduction of the magazine's most enduring metric — its hallmark five-star scale.

✤ 1952 ✤

The Star System

Finally, in the May 21, 1952 issue, Down Beat introduced the five-star system — the format that would come to define the magazine's identity for decades. By then, the review department was organized into three distinct sections: Popular, Jazz, and Rhythm & Blues, each with its own criteria and editorial approach.

The new system formalized a crucial distinction. Popular and Rhythm & Blues releases were to be judged by their broad general appeal, while Jazz records — reflecting the magazine's core mission — were evaluated strictly on their musical merit. The editors also devised an additional symbol for popular and R&B items whose musical interest rose above their commercial category.

Here is how Down Beat announced the change:

"Records in the popular and rhythm-and-blues sections are reviewed and rated in terms of broad general appeal. Records in the jazz section are reviewed and rated in terms of their musical merit.

Records in the popular and rhythm-and-blues sections of interest from the musical standpint are marked with a sharp (#), or, if exceptionally interesting, a double sharp (##)".

Ratings:

★★★★★ Excellent (Masterpiece [today])

★★★★ Very Good (Excellent [today])

★★★ Good

★★ Fair

★ Poor

With this clear and durable format — and with its three-tiered review structure firmly in place — Down Beat finally arrived at the rating system that would carry it through the 10-inch and 12-inch LP eras, the CD market, the reissue boom, and well into the digital age.

What was the first Jazz album reviewed that achieved the highest score?

The Amazing Bud Powell!

Bud Powell

The Amazing Bud Powell

Two piano solo sides, four trios and two numbers by a quintet (Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins and rhythm) are here combined into an LP, justifiably entitled "The Amazing Bud Powell".

Cynics who are inclined to sneer at bop and belittle its accomplishments are hereby advised to spend a few hours browsing over this disc. Congratulations to Blue Note's Alfred Lion for catching Bud at his fabulous best, and to the artist, name of Bacon, who conjured up that brilliant likeness of Bud for the cover. (Blue Note LP 5003.) *(Down Beat, Chicago, May 21, 1954 [5 stars])*

Powell's place in the jazz galaxy can hardly be overstated. He was a genius, the Charlie Parker of piano, and a brilliant composer. He was a contemporary (and friend) of Thelonious Monk, but declared that his greatest influence on piano was Art Tatum. He had a right hand that was described as lightning fast, a dazzlingly melodic way of improvising, and a rhythmic complexity that nonetheless flowed naturally. In the course of his career, Powell’s playing underwent style changes and, near the end, as his health went downhill, there was sometimes a certain raggedness about it — but it was always right.

The Amazing Bud Powell is the product of two separate recording sessions, one of a quintet on August 9, 1949, the other of a trio on May 1, 1951. Originally released on the Blue Note label in 10-inch LP form, the album, not surprisingly, has been re-released a number of times. 

Along with Powell on the 1949 date are the pioneering bop trumpeter Fats Navarro, a 20-year-old Sonny Rollins on tenor sax, bassist Tommy Potter, and drummer Roy Haynes. The trio date in 1951 included bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach.

As the leader on both the recording dates, Powell's playing is naturally showcased. But what a treat to hear Fats Navarro — a bebop icon who died way too young — along with Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes, both of whom are still alive, still playing, and whose evolving approaches to the music we’ve been able to witness over all these years. Not to mention Max Roach, who many consider to have been the greatest drummer in jazz history.

The original Powell compositions recorded here are bebop classics, and wonderful to hear. But the album also more than does justice to compositions by Bird, Dizzy and Monk as well as some hand-picked gems from the Great American Songbook.

I'm hardly the first to note that this is bop at its highest level. And if you have any real interest in jazz, this album belongs in your collection. Be warned, though: Bud Powell can be addictive. ("Betcha can’t hear just one!"). *Terry MacDonald (seacoastjazz.org)*

Side 1

1 - Un Poco Loco

(Bud Powell)

2 - Over The Rainbow

(E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Harold Arlen)

3 - Ornithology

(Bennie Harris)

4 - Wail

(Bud Powell)

Side 2

5 - A Night In Tunisia

(Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

6 - It Could Happen To You

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

7 - You Go To My Head

(J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)

8 - Bouncing With Bud

(Bud Powell)

#1, #5:

Bud Powell (piano), Curley Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums).

#2, #6:

Bud Powell (solo piano)

#3, #4, #7, #8:

Fats Navarro (trumpet), Sonny Rollins (tenor sax),

Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City,

August 9, 1949 [other source gives August 8, 1949] (#3, #4, #7, #8)

and May 1, 1951 (#1, #2, #5, #6)

The CD containing these recordings is a digital replica of the 12" LP issued two years later.

Appropriately, it too was "awarded" five stars… While Bud’s solo "Over The Rainbow" is not included, the disc is rounded out by alternate takes and additional tracks not found on the original 10" LP.

Bud Powell

The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 1

In view of the importance of this album historically, and the fact that four of its tracks have never been released previously, this part-reissue set gets listed here. Loco, one of Bud's most striking performances, is shown here in genesis. Infidels, never released on LP before, has Fats Navarro, Sonny Rollins, Tommy Potter, and Roy Haynes. Like Theme, Wail, and Bouncing with Bud (which have the same personnel and were previously on 10'' LPs), Infidels was recorded in 1949.

It Could Happen is a hitherto unreleased alternate master as is the first Tunisia. Both, like Loco and Parisian Thoroughfare, were cut in 1951 with Curly Russell and Max Roach. Ornithology with Potter and Haynes dates back to 1949. Thoroughfare, never released before, is an earlier version of the original Bud recorded for Clef. This is the first volume of two Blue Note 12'' Powell LPs. Blue Note has also repackaged in 12'' form albums by Sidney Bechet (BLP 1201), Jay Jay Johnson (BLP 1605) and Miles Davis (BLP 1501). All are recommended. Remastering has been done by Rudy Van Gelder. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, April 18, 1956 [5 stars])*

1 - Un Poco Loco (1st take)

(Bud Powell)

2 - Un Poco Loco (2nd take)

(Bud Powell)

3 - Un Poco Loco

(Bud Powell)

4 - Dance Of The Infidels

(Bud Powell)

5 - 52nd St. Theme

(Thelonious Monk)

6 - It Could Happen To You (alternate master)

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

7 - A Night In Tunisia (alternate master)

(Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

8 - A Night In Tunisia

(Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

9 - Wail

(Bud Powell)

10 - Ornithology

(Bennie Harris)

11 - Bouncing With Bud

(Bud Powell)

12 - Parisian Thoroughfare

(Bud Powell)

#1, #2, #3, #7, #8, #12:

Bud Powell (piano), Curley Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums).

#6:

Bud Powell (solo piano)

#4, #5, #9, #10, #11:

Fats Navarro (trumpet), Sonny Rollins (tenor sax),

Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City,

August 9, 1949 [other source gives August 8, 1949] (#4, #5, #9, #10, #11)

and May 1, 1951 (#1, #2, #3, #6, #7, #8, #12)

After The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 1 came The Amazing Bud Powell • Volume 2, a logical next step for the Blue Note label.

It, too, received five stars — reason enough to leave the story here, and to pick it up again next year.

For now… a pause...

The Punta del Este lighthouse points me in the right direction for summer vacation... 

Best wishes to everyone for the upcoming 2026!

Will back in February...

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