Calvin Jackson - Obscure Columbia Sessions

Calvin Jackson was born in Philadelphia in 1919 to Harry and Margaret Jackson. His mother was a concert singer in Philadelphia. Jackson played piano from childhood, having lessons with private teacher. He studied at Juilliard and New York University

At the beginning of his career Jackson worked with Frankie Fairfax. From 1943–47 he worked in Hollywood as an assistant director of music for MGM on productions including Meet Me in St. Louis and Anchors Aweigh.

In 1947 he recorded with Phil Moore and also as a solo pianist for Discovery Records. In Summer 1948, he played with a singer Mildred Bailey and a dancer Avon Long at Café Society in New York City. In 1950, he moved to Toronto, where he often played on television and radio. Over the course of the 1950s and early 1960s he released several LPs for labels such as Columbia Records.

In 1957 he returned to Los Angeles, where he resumed work as a composer and orchestrator for television and hit musicals like Where the Boys Are and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which was Oscar-nominated for best adapted score. Occasionally he could be seen onscreen as a piano-playing character.

Jackson also arranged for Ray Charles at one point, receiving an arrangement and co-producer credit for Charles' 1964 release Sweet & Sour Tears (ABC-Paramount). By the early 1980s, he had moved to San Diego County, where he lived in semiretirement in the Point Loma neighborhood, giving music lessons on a piano in his apartment. In 1984 he sat in as a guest at the Sunday night jam sessions Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham hosted at the Bahia resort on Mission Bay, playing piano and harmonica between sets and occasionally with the band.

He was working on arrangements for a 31-piece concert jazz orchestra in Point Loma when he developed a heart ailment and was taken to the hospital. He died on November 28, 1985, at age 66.

The Calvin Jackson Quartet

Calvin Jackson

And still another new group, this one all Canadian except for the leader. Jackson has been heard off and on in the past in jazz performances which were usually marked by a strong display of technique but little feeling for jazz. His jazz efforts are still a little stiff, flecked with self-conscious coyness, but he now includes some heavy doses of showmanship and is backed by a trio which swings brilliantly. The leading element in this backing is vibrist Peter Appleyard, a genuine find. His attack is sharp, clean and imaginative in his jazz passages and he provides a perfect foil for Jackson when a show-stopper is called for. This latter is provided in this instance by a lengthy, high speed version of "Love Me or Leave Me" in which Jackson and Appleyard race around giving four-handed demonstrations on piano, vibes and tom-toms, building to a climax which ought to set the ears of "Sing, Sing, Sing" fanciers spinning. *John S. Wilson*

A virtuosic pianist, Calvin Jackson often played music that was outside of jazz. However, his 1955 quartet with vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, bassist Johnny Elwood and drummer Howard Reay was an excellent vehicle for his occasional interest in jazz. This hard-to-find LP features Jackson and his group performing a couple of obscurities, "Dream of You," "All the Things You Are", "Shadow Waltz" and a remarkable version of "Love Me or Leave Me". On the latter, Jackson and Appleyard constantly switch instruments; Appleyard joins Jackson on piano, they both switch to vibes, then drums, then vibes and then back to where to where they belong, and the 15-minute version does hold one's interest. Overall, this is one of Calvin Jackson's finest jazz dates. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Lotus Land

(C. Scott)

2 - Cal-isthenics

(C. Jackson)

3 - Dream Of You

(E. P. Morgan, Lunceford, Oliver)

4 - All The Things You Are

(Kern, Hammerstein II)

Side 2

5 - Shadow Waltz

(Dubin, Warren)

6 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(Kahn, Donaldson)

Calvin Jackson (piano), Peter Appleyard (vibes), Johnny Elwood (bass), Howard Reay (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 27 (#1, #2, #3), July 29 (#5) and August 3 (#4, #6), 1955.

***

The Calvin Jackson Quartet

Rave Notice

Calvin Jackson was a Juilliard-trained pianist equally at home in classical music, writing for films and jazz, though he has fallen somewhat into obscurity. Studio sessions such as this mid-'50s recording, with vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, bassist Johnny Elwood, and drummer Howard Reay, provide a set of standards that are enjoyable, yet not overly memorable. The songs are pretty much all standards, though Appleyard proves to be a more inventive improviser than the leader, who has a tendency to play hackneyed lines that haven't stood the test of time very well. Highlights include a runaway "Linger Awhile" and a hard-swinging "Stompin' at the Savoy." Long out of print, this LP will appeal to collectors looking for something that may be quite rare yet not overly expensive. *Ken Dryden*

Jackson purveys an agreeable variety of middlebrow jazz, with nothing to offend the average pop buyer. Most of the time, the pianist (assisted by his alter ego, Peter Appleyard on vibes) seems to be aiming ayt the awank East Side cocktail set with his polite music-making, but there are moments when the foursome swings determinedly. Jackson stick to a forthright lyric spproach, wich in some of the quiet ballads (like "Dream" and "Linger Awhile") has great appeal. Pop deejays will find more than one item here valuable to spruce up an evening show. *Billboard, July 28, 1956*

Side 1

1 - Stompin' At The Savoy

(Razaf, B. Goodman, Webb, Sampson)

2 - Dream

(Mercer)

3 - You And The Night And The Music

(Dietz, Schwartz)

Side 2

4 - The Touch Of Your Lips

(R. Noble)

5 - Mine

(G. and I. Gershwin)

6 - Linger Awhile

(Owens, V. Rose)

7 - Get Out Of Town

(Cole Porter)

Calvin Jackson (piano), Peter Appleyard (vibes), Johnny Elwood (bass), Howard Reay (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 27 (#1, #3, #5), July 29 (#2, #6, #7) and August 3 (#4), 1955.