Buddy Bregman - Swinging Kicks

Buddy Bregman is one of the most ubiquitously industrious arrangers in the music industry. He has scored several major TV series and spectaculars, and is in musical charge of the new Eddie Fisher program on NBC-TV. He has written film scores, including Jerry Lewis’ Delicate Delinquent, and he also has charted the music for Jerry Lewis’ stands at the Palace and in Las Vegas. For Verve, he has written for Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby and a sizable number of other artists of demandingly varying styles and idioms. 

This set is a special project for Buddy, because "it’s the first album I’ve had under my own name that I think is good jazz. It’s as good jazz as I can write".

Buddy conducted the date in addition to doing the writing. Some of the tracks are short and episodic because this is, after all, a score for a quickly moving film, but connecting all the episodes emotionally is a guttiness and an almost graphic skein of the neon-shapes and fears and hard hopes that begin to circulate in any big city after about nine o’clock at night. *Nat Hentoff (Liner notes)*

Best known as an arranger for singers and for commercial sessions, Buddy Bregman led one full-fledged jazz instrumental date, Swinging Kicks. Because many of the selections are brief (seven are under two minutes) and due to the intriguing titles, this seems a bit like a soundtrack to a film that was never made. However, few of the tracks seem truncated and there are some excellent solos along the way, particularly from Ben Webster, Conte Candoli, Herb Geller, Bud Shank, and Paul Smith. The personnel changes from cut to cut, ranging from a 19-piece big band with screaming trumpet playing from Maynard Ferguson and Conrad Gozzo to various combos, a Ben Webster/André Previn duet on "Kicks Is in Love", and a rapid workout for Paul Smith on "Go Kicks". Bregman uses some of the top West Coast jazz players and various musicians who were on Verve at the time, with Stan Getz making a guest appearance on "Honey Chile". Recommended. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Wild Party

2 - Melody Room

3 - Bada Blues

4 - Kicks Swings

5 - Melody Lane

6 - Lost Keys

7 - Go Kicks

8 - Gage Flips

Side 2

9 - Derek's Blues

10 - Mulliganville

11 - Terror Ride

12 - The Flight

13 - Tom's Idea

14 - Melodyville

15 - Honey Chile

16 - End Of Party

17 - Kicks Is In Love

(All compositions by Buddy Bregman)

Buddy Bregman (arrangements and conductor).

#1, #3, #6, #8, #9, #11, #12, #13, #16:

Maynard Ferguson, Conrad Gozzo, Ray Linn, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Lloyd Ulyate, Frank Rosolino, Milt Bernhardt, George Roberts (trombones); Ben Webster, Bob Cooper, Georgie Auld (tenor saxes); Bud Shank, Herb Geller (alto saxes); Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax); Al Hendrickson (guitar); Joe Mondragon (bass); Paul Smith (piano); Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, December 20, 1956

#2, #4, #5, #7, #10, #14, #15:

Conte Candoli (trumpet); Frank Rosolino (trombone), Bud Shank (alto sax), Stan Getz [#15] (tenor sax), Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax), Al Hendrickson (guitar), Joe Mondragon (bass), Paul Smith (piano); Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, December 18, 1956.

#17:

Andre Previn (piano), Ben Webster (tenor sax).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, December 20, 1956.