Rare And Obscure Criteria Jazz Recordings (III)

The Lon Norman Sextet

Gold Coast Jazz

(Volume 2)

This is the third of several VSOP releases of Criteria recordings. This 1957 recording exemplifies the high caliber of jazz that made it onto this label. In addition to Miami's finest, this recording features Johnny Williams and Vinnie Tanno.   Lon Norman had started with the U.S Army Field Band in Washington, D.C., and joined the Willis Conover-Joe Timer aggregation, "The Orchestra", for which he wrote charts and filled in on trombone.  He left D.C. in 1957 with Herbie Fields Sextet and settled in with their stady gig at the Fountainbleau Hotel. Later he worked on the Jackie Gleason show and on H.B. Barnum's T.V. show in the 1970s.

This recording is the second of two that Lon Norman led, the first one being "The Octet" Criteria 1.  At various times, Vinnie Tanno takes over this session with his extroverted style. Lon Norman, not to be outdone, provides some very fine trombone and outstanding charts, demonstrating that he is definitely deserving of significant recognition. A fine CD. *magnebit.xeran.com*

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". This "truism" applies not only to the world of physics but to the world of music as well. How so? Well, music has its own fascinating physical laws. For example, when more than one musical tone is sounded simultaneously, the blending of overtones of the fundamental sounds creates an extra-dimensional voice. This acoustical phenomenon may be called the blend of sound, and its nature is directly related to the volumen, pitch, and general proportion of the basic tones. Once this "new voice" is created, it takes an active part in shaping and blending the basic tones, working its complex acoustical properties on the original tones. It will enhance one tone and darken another, becoming the master painter in the musical picture. This is scientific fact.

Less scientific, perhaps, but widely-held, is the belief that just as there is a blending of musica tones, so is there a blending of personality overtones among the musicians who créate these sounds -- nad taht this blending of personalities also adds an extra-dimensional ingredient to the music.

Does this happy blend of musical personalities always accur? By no means. A recording sesión, for example, can be a tedious and exasperating experience. Jazz music, after all, is largely a matter of individual interpretation, for even the written note serves only as a general guide to the way the music is to be played. Thus, two men could hold widely divergent opinions on the way a passage should be phrased, and neither one could be accused of being wrong. What happens, then, when musicians of equal skill and reputation disagree violently on the interpretation of an arrangement? Such a dilemma frequently calls for hours of pleanding, cajoling, arbitration and compromiso before a solution is reached that satisfies all "egos" involved. It is probably unnecessary to point out thet a recording waxed under such strained circumstances usually emerges cold, stilted and sterile.

No such catastrophe marred the creation of this album. As a matter of fact, the psychological compass was pointed in exactly the opposite direction. The minds of the individual musicians were in such a state of complete harmony that the harmónica blend of the music itself reflects the presence of this happy extradimension, for the Sextet swings along through Lon Norman's intrincate arrangements as though all the sidemen had been fused into a single vibrant personality. The resulting musical porridge that is served up, hot, contains a savory blend of elements that will please the particular palate of the jazz gourmet. *Val Machen (liner notes)*

1 - Fu-Dunk

(Lon Norman)

2 - Evelina

(Harold Arlen)

3 - I Remember You

(Schertzinger, Marcus)

4 - Lons-On-Ya

(Lon Norman)

5 - How Deep Is The Ocean

(Irving Berlin)

6 - Star Eyes

(De Paul, Raye)

7 - Everything Happens To Me

(Adair, Dennis)

8 - Pu-Dah

(Lon Norman)

Lon Norman (trombone), Vinnie Tanno (trumpet), Gus Moss (tenor sax),

John Williams (piano),  Al Simi (bass), Bill Ladley (drums).

Recorded at Criteria-Reela Studios, Miami, Florida, August 1957