Ronnie Lang: Underrated modern jazzman

Ronnie Lang And His All-Stars

Modern Jazz

Ronnie Lang (sometimes spelled Ronny) born Ronald Langinger in Chicago, Illinois, July 24, 1927. His professional début was with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. He also played with Earle Spencer (1946), Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis (1947). Lang gained attention during his two tenures with Les Brown's Orchestra (1949–50 and 1953–56). He recorded with the Dave Pell Octet in the mid-1950s. During this time he attended Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences studying music and woodwinds. 

He lost interest in jazz in the early 70's and was mainly active in recordings for films and TV productions.

In 1958 he became a prolific studio musician in Los Angeles, often employed by Henry Mancini, and he played the iconic sax melodic line in Bernard Herrmann’s score for the movie Taxi Driver (1976). Lang also recorded with Pete Rugolo (1956), Bob Thiele (1975), and Peggy Lee (1975).

MODERN JAZZ features some of the greatest progressive jazz musicians in the business and Ronny Lang, who heads the group, is one of the truly outstanding new talents in the country. Each of the men who accompany him are featured soloists in their own right. Up to now, circumstances have prevented the group from ever having played 

together as a unit. This album has finally given them their long-awaited opportunity. 

In Ronny's own words, "We have tried in our first TOPS album to express how we really feel about modern jazz. Good progressive jazz has many moods and expresses 

itself in many ways. Our choice of tunes reflects our attempts to capture as much of the real sound and spirit as one record permits. After being a side man for many years and conforming to the musical discipline of big bands, I welcomed the freedom that's only possible with a small but great group such as this. Additionally, the chance to pick the tunes, tempos, and arrangers, made this album a completely enjoyable experience for all of us".

We know the listening public will find MODERN JAZZ an equally enjoyable listening experience.

*(from the liner notes)*

A workmanlike collection of standards and originals ("Basie Street" and "Cantara") highlighting Lang's alto with spurts of flashing piano by Paich, "Basie Street" achieves a  Count Basie mood, with Paich leading the way and Envoldsen blowing his best in the set. The three horns are heard only on the first six tracks. The other six are all Lang with rhythm, except "'S Wonderful", which is a baritone solo. It’s probably Pell. "Cantara", featuring Lang on flute, is a wild, Latin American flavored piece. The six sextet sides ar brightly arranged with pretty routine solos. The quartet sides, with exception of "Cantara", are rather straight melodic vehicles.

*Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, February 20, 1957)*

Side 1

1 - Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

(H. Arlen, T. Koehleer)

2 - How About You

(B. Lane, R. Freed)

3 - They Can't Take That Away From Me

(G. and I. Gershwin)

4 - I'll Be Around

(Alec Wilder)

5 - Basin Street

(Ronny Lang)

6 - Taking A Chance On Love

(V. Duke, J. Latouche)

Side 2

7 - Skylark

(H. Carmichael, J. Mercer)

8 - Midnight Sun

(L. Hampton, S. Burke, J. Mercer)

9 - 'S Wonderful

(G. and I. Gershwin)

10 - A Foggy Day

(G. and I. Gershwin)

11 - Cantara

(Ronny Lang)

12 - Lullaby In Rhythm

(E. Sampson, C. Profit, B. Goodman, W. Hirsh)

#1 to #6: Ronnie Lang Sextet 

Ronnie Lang (alto sax), Dave Pell (tenor sax, baritone sax), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone),

Marty Paich (piano), Ray Leatherwood (bass), Johnny Loais (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1956

#7 to #12:  Ronnie Lang Quartet

Ronnie Lang (alto sax, baritone sax [#9], flute [#11]), Marty Paich (piano),

Ray Leatherwood (bass), Johnny Loais (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1957

Note: Although the back cover of the LP lists Ronnie Lang as the tenor saxophonist, 

on these recordings he plays alto sax, flute, and baritone sax.

Les Brown's Men

On June 15, 1955, Down Beat magazine profiled the members of Les Brown's orchestra in an article titled "Here's The Lineup Of The Les Brown Ork". The four protagonists of the album presented below were introduced as follows:

RONNY LANG [a.k.a. Ronnie Lang], 25, alto sax, was bom in Chicago, but first started playing in Los Angeles with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. Ronny also worked with Earle Spencer, Dick Pierce, Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis. He joined Les in 1949 and played with him for a year before being drafted. Ronny rejoined Les in 1953. He is married, has one child, and stays in shape by playing tennis and golf.

RAY SIMS, 34, trombone, started playing at 15. Ray, brother of Zoot Sims, worked for Don Briggs, then with Giggie Royse in Honolulu until the war. He was in the army

three years. Ray also played for Jerry Wald, Bobby Sherwood, and Benny Goodman, before joining Les. "I love to watch and play baseball", says Ray.

DAVE PELL, 30, tenor sax, bass clarinet, oboe, and English horn, played with the bands of Bob Astor, Bobby Sherwood, and Tony Pastor before going to the coast to join the Bob Crosby show. Dave had a small group around L.A. for a few years, and recorded an album for Trend Records with an octet made up of the nucleus of the Brown band which proved to be a big success. Since then, the group recorded two more albums for Trend and one for Atlantic Records. When the Les Brown band has open dates, Dave has no trouble booking the group for jazz concerts and teenage dances. In his "spare time", Dave maintains a photography studio and an advertising and publicity office in Hollywood. He is married, and his wife is expecting a child.

DON FAGERQUIST, 28, trumpet, started his career in music back in his home town, Worcester, Mass. Don studied with local teachers and played in his high school band. He has been associated with the following orchestras: Mal Hallett, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, and a small combo with Anita O'Day, before joining Les Brown.

Don enjoys his record collection, and keeps in trim by swimming. He has two children: Tom, 8, and Donna June, 2.

Ronny Lang • Ray Sims • Dave Pell • Don Fagerquist

The Les Brown All Stars

The Les Brown All Stars are actually three groups — the Dave Pell Octet, Ronny Lang Saxtet and Don Fagerquist Nonet — comprised for the most part of members or alumni of Brown's popular and long-lived Band of Renown and encircling on this anthology from the mid-'50s three numbers by Zoot Sims' older brother, trombonist Ray, with string section. Pell's group, the precursor to the others, is heard on three tracks, as are the Fagerquist and Lang groups.

Pell, who joined Brown's band in 1948, formed his crowd-pleasing octet five years later. While the first group was made up entirely of personnel from the Band of Renown, others soon were enlisted, such as baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon, pianist Paul Smith and bassist Joe Mondragon, who are among the performers here. Pell is the common denominator in all three groups, manning the front line with Gordon and tenor giants Sims and Bill Holman in Fagerquist's nine-piece ensemble, with altos Lang and Bob Drasnin in the former's Saxtet.

The music, much of it taken from the Great American Songbook and neatly arranged by the likes of Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Wes Hensel, never strays far from Brown's dance-oriented philosophy (as Pell says, music that was "danceable and yet still had a jazz feel ). It's cheerful music that swings breezily along behind buoyant solos by Pell and the others. Pell, a remarkably durable musician who made his professional debut in 1941 plays a "happy tenor" that would put a smile on almost anyone's face. If you've heard Zoot or Bob Cooper, the tenors who perhaps came closest to Pell in style and temperament, if not in sound, you'll know what I mean.

*Jack Bowers (allaboutjazz.com)*

Four of Les Brown's most talented stars... leading four gifted groups through stimulating jazz performances! 

You may, quite rightfully, be bothered about the title "All-Stars" being applied to almost every musical group of more than four pieces. And then along comes a unit which has every right to use the title, and all of a sudden you feel sorry for the ones that try to bluff.

Such a group is the entire Les Brown Orchestra — a facile, skilled, sharpshooting gang of musicians who know what to do when jazz time rolls around.

A number of Brown's men lead bands in this album, augmented by a few sturdy West Coast jazzmen who are in complete rapport with them. See if you don't agree that this collection puts the phrase "All-Stars" back in the position where it belongs — a signification of strength and quality that corresponds to "sterling" on silver. *Jack Tracy (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Mike's Peak

(Shorty Rogers)

2 - Thou Swell

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - The Way You Look Tonight

(Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields)

4 - You Don't Know What Love Is

(Don Raye, Gene De Paul)

5 - The Man I Love

(George and Ira Gershwin)

6 -Sorta Moonlight

(Wes Hensel, Ronny Lang)

Side 2

7 - Love Is Just Around The Corner

(Lewis E. Gensler, Leo Robin)

8 - Klump Jump

(Marty Paich)

9 - My Funny Valentine

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

10 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)

11 - Let's Fall In Love

(Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)

12 - Poopsie

(David Pell)

#1, #8, #12: Dave Pell Ensemble

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (Baritone sax), Ray Sims (trombone),

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Paul Smith (piano),

Joe Mondragon (bass), Ralph Peña (bass [#8]), Jack Sperling (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California,

June 15 (#1, #12) and June 17 (#8), 1955

#2, #6, #10: Ronny Lang Saxtet

Ronny Lang, Bob Drasnin (alto saxes); Dave Pell, Abe Aaron (tenor saxes);

Butch Stone (baritone sax); Donn Trenner (piano); Buddy Clark (bass); Bill Richmond (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 23, 1955

#3, #5, #7: Don Fagerquist Nonette

Don Fagerquist (trumpet); Bill Holman, Dave Pell, Zoot Sims (tenor saxes);

Bob Gordon (baritone sax); Vernon Polk (guitar); Donn Trenner (piano);

Buddy Clark (bass); Bill Richmond (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 21, 1955

#4, #9, #11: Ray Sims With Strings

Ray Sims (trombone, vocal [#11]), Ronny Lang (flute), Corky Hale (harp),

Donn Trenner (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Bill Richmond (drums).

[String section led by Les Brown but unidentified personnel]

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 27, 1955

Red Norvo: A hidden gem

Red Norvo

Ad Lib

Featuring Buddy Collette

One of the hippest Red Norvo records ever — a rare outing for Liberty that features Buddy Collette on reeds, bringing in a new level of color to the Norvo group! Red's work on vibes is precise and nicely chromatic — often coming across in waves of sound on the mellower tracks, and with a poppingly melodic quality on the more upbeat ones. Other players include Dick Shreve on piano, Bill Douglass on drums, and either Curtis Counce or Joe Comfort on bass — and titles include "A Few Days After Xmas", "Tar Pit Blues", "Shreve-Port", "The Brushoff", and "Fifth Column". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

How does the man do it? Year in and year out, Red continues to maintain standards of musicianship and ideational interest that have been associated with him for better than a quarter-century on records. The latest pair of LPs (Ad Lib and Music To Listen To Red Norvo By) will add further luster to Red's reputation; there is little to choose between them except for the added interest of Bill Smith's writing on the second set.

"What Is There to Say?" typifies the Liberty sides (Ad Lib). The melody is neatly rephrased in strikingly effective vibes-flute unison, with accents by brushes and rhythm. Shreve is his usual spare, incisive self; Red, Buddy, and the bassist (why don't they tell us who played on which tracks?) all capture the spirit of the easy tempo and sunny-afternoon mood.

It's the same on most of the other items, with Buddy's clarinet most effective on "Shreve-port" and "School", his alto pleasant on "Waterfront". The latter tends to become rhythmically logey; the piano gets a fine funky sound (or sounds out of tune, whichever way you prefer to look at it). The originals (three by Buddy, two by Dick) are all light and charming, especially "Xmas", Buddy’s "Frenesi"-like, up-tempo blues. *Leonard Feather (Down Beat, September 19, 1957)*

When you cross bridges, combine schools, intertwine the swinging with the cool, you could not choose two better ingredients than Red Norvo and Buddy Collette for the purpose.

Red's great vibe work has been one of jazz's standout commodities for years, whether rocking some small group of his own or backstopping a great vocalist such as the late, great Mildred Bailey. Red's soft tasty beat with the right ideas in just the right places has given his work that individual stamp which defies eras and fads. Red is certainly one of the "jazz greats" of the music world.

Watching him in a session, leading the way with his own ideas, one readily comprehends Red's mastery of his instrument. For Red to come through with continuously brilliant performances have become commonplace.

It is only natural that an artist with the conception of Norvo should reach out and attract artists of equal stature. Such is the case of "The Man of Many Parts", Buddy Collette. This master of the reed family, is a new artist only in the sense of being discovered but lately by the jazz aficionados.

Buddy has long been one of the stalwarts of the West Coast scene. Not only has he shown to advantage with various jazz groups but being a full, well-schooled musician, he has been sought after for the more mundane vocations of the studio orchestra chair and serious musical projects.

However, it is in jazz, obviously Buddy's first love, that he has risen to giant proportions. In Ad Lib, Buddy's and Red's talents blend so beautifully that we are forced to re-evaluate some earlier conceptions of the cool scene. Here, at least, it is not all technique and a nose tilted haughtily at the solid beat. Here, at least — Red, Buddy, and their cohorts manage to interject a feeling of warmth and swinging, listenable, understandable and over-all projection of a wonderful mood in jazz.

Ad Lib showcases Buddy Collette's new discovery. His name's Dick Shreve and his fresh and scintillating pianistic slyle stamps him as a sure-fire bet to join his illustrious compatriot in the Jazz Hall of Fame. *Simon Jackson (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - What Is There To Say

(Vernon Duke, E. Y. Harburg)

2 - Shreve-Port

(Dick Shreve)

3 - 96th Street School

(Buddy Collette)

4 - Fifth Column

(Dick Shreve)

5 - The Brushoff

(Buddy Collette)

Side 2

6 - I Cover The Waterfront

(Johnny Green, Edward Heyman)

7 - A Few Days After Xmas

(Buddy Collette)

8 - Mad About The Boy

(Noel Coward)

9 - Tar Pit Blues

(Dick Shreve)

Buddy Collette (flute, clarinet [#3, #4, #5, #9], alto sax [#6]);

Red Norvo (vibes); Dick Shreve (piano); Bill Douglass (drums);

Curtis Counce [#1, #5, #6, #7], Joe Comfort  [#2, #3, #4, #8, #9] (basses).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, December 18 [#1, #5, #6, #7], 1956;

December 27 [#2, #3, #4], 1956 and January 4 [#8, #9], 1957

Serge Chaloff: The white Charlie Parker

The Serge Chaloff Sextet

Boston Blow-Up!

Three storming horns — surging baritone, booting alto, and a pummelling trumpet— plus three rhythm go to make up a new sextet from Boston. In a spirited concert of fresh music ten tunes scored with the Forward Look are played with a zip that looks back to the happy days of early jazz. Serge Chaloff of the hawk-like profile and booming big-horn gained fame as end man to the Four Brothers in the Woody Herman Herd that featured that fabulous foursome. Boots Mussulli, probably the most popular altoist that Kenton ever had, is a Kenton Presents star on his own. Having gained his first attention in a later Kenton band, Herb Pomeroy offers trumpetwork that is assured and properly earthy, and between them he and Boots chart nine of these ten selections. The rhythm team is composed of the pick of the Cape's current crop.

"Great conception and execution, good taste, clean tone and Bird-like style..." Leonard Feather, now of DownBeat, has said of Serge Chaloff. Thirty-one and Boston-born, 

Chaloff has long been recognized as one of the four or five chief soloists on his horn. How long is indicated by the fact that Feather's praise was written over six years ago. But for several years before that and up until recently Serge was a victim of personal troubles that gradually dropped him into obscurity. Now after nine years of what he himself calls "living hell" he has come out of the hospital a whole man again, determined to blow his way back to the top; this is his musical announcement of that intention. He is writing a book about his experience which he hopes will help others with similar difficulties, but in the meantime as far as the musical evidence of his recovery is concerned, this album stands as sound testimony.

Chaloff has shown rare strength in conquering his intense personal problems and now stands free to conquer new fields with his horn. This second battle should prove far 

easier. Loyal fans from the past offer a solid nucleus for a new following. In these fast-moving times, jazz listeners are sharply divided over styles and schools, but these new samples of the surging Chaloff baritone should show that Serge still suits most everybody.

*Will MacFarland (liner notes)*

Baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff lived a short, often ugly and painful life. A hard-line, nodding off, ankle-scratching junkie with bad personal hygiene problems, he died horribly at the age of 34. Yet he was a master of his cumbersome instrument and capable of creating music of extraordinary beauty.

Boston Blow-Up!, made in 1955 as part of bandleader Stan Kenton's "Kenton Presents" series, is one of Chaloff's finest recordings. In some ways it's better even than the iconic Blue Serge, made the following year, which presented him in front of a trio comprised of Sonny Clark (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums).

By contrast, Boston Blow-Up! places Chaloff somewhere nearer his big band roots — he'd worked, most famously, with Woody Herman in the late 1940s, and was a member of that band's Four Brothers saxophone quartet — in a three horns-led sextet which frequently sounds like a band twice its size.

Chaloff's key collaborators on the sessions are alto saxophonist Boots Mussulli and trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, both graduates of the Stan Kenton orchestra, who between them composed and arranged most of the tunes. Music lovers will be reassured to learn that precisely none of Kenton's ponderous, wannabe-Wagnerian aesthetic appears to have rubbed off on any of the players, and in particular the arrangers. The band, though based in Boston and recorded in New York, sounds like a West Coast lineup of the era, all light and airy arrangements over a loosely but energetically swinging rhythm section. Most of the tunes feature through-arranged horn charts, little big band style. The sound puts you in mind of Art Pepper's Los Angeles dates with ten or eleven-piece bands.

Much of the album is up-tempo, extroverted and infectious, but two of the most memorable tracks are ballads: "What's New" and "Body And Soul" both feature delightfully gentle and intimate bass register baritone work. "Body And Soul" includes what is possibly Chaloff's most emotionally touching recorded solo, alternating softly spoken passages with gruffer, rougher moments.

A predominantly happy, sunny album, and a very worthwhile reissue from a troubled master.

*Chris May*

One of the few key recordings issued by baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff before his untimely early death — a tremendous little record that really helped redefine the place of his instrument in jazz! The album is one of a number produced by Stan Kenton for Capitol at the time, but it's far from the cooler jazz outings of other "Kenton Presents" sessions — a real Boston Blow up that has Serge standing starkly out front on the baritone, hitting some tremendous notes that show a command and dexterity on his instrument that few other players could match! Also noteworthy is the presence of the great Boots Mussulli on alto sax — a sharp-edge player with a lot of Charlie Mariano touches, and an artist who's rarely heard in a setting so stripped-down as this. Other artists include Herb Pomeroy on trumpet, Ray Santisi on piano, and Jimmy Zitano on drums — and titles include the original numbers "Kip", "Unison", "Bob The Robin", and "Sergical" — plus versions of "What's New", "Yesterday's Gardenias", and Jaki Byard's "Diane's Melody". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

1 - Bob The Robin

(Boots Mussulli)

2 - Yesterday's Gardenias

(Robertson, Cogane, Mysels)

3 - Sergical

(Boots Mussulli)

4 - What's New

(B. Haggart, J. Burke)

5 - Mar-Dros

(Boots Mussulli)

6 - Jr.

(Boots Mussulli)

7 - Body And Soul

(Heyman, Green, Sour, Eyton)

8 - Kip

(Boots Mussulli)

9 - Diane's Melody

(Jaki Byard)

10 - Unison

(Boots Mussulli)

11 - Boomareemaroja

(Boots Mussulli)

12 - Herbs (long take)

(Herb Pomeroy)

13 Herbs (short take)

(Herb Pomeroy)

Serge Chaloff (baritone sax), Boots Mussulli (alto sax), Herb Pomeroy (trumpet),

Ray Santisi (piano), Everett Evans (bass), Jimmy Zitano (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City,

April 4 (#5, #7, #8, #10) and  April 5 (#1 to #4, #6, #9, #11 to #13), 1955

Art Pepper and Sonny Redd: Two talents reunited

Art Pepper • Sonny Redd

Two Altos

Art Pepper • Sonny Redd is an album by American alto saxophonists Art Pepper and Sonny Redd. The four standards which appear on the album were recorded in Los Angeles with West Coast-jazz musicians between 1952 and 1954, whilst the two originals were recorded at Van Gelder Studio, in 1957. Regent Records, a subsidiary of Savoy Records, released these recordings in 1959. 

Following in the tradition of great alto saxophonists, a great star of today and a new star of today match their talents in a combination album of what's new and good in modern jazz. Following a tradition on the horn that featured such luminaries as Johnny Hodges, Don Redman, and Benny Carter... the alto saxophone was completely revamped, revitalized, and revved up under the influence of the late Charlie Parker. "Bird's" genius transformed this smaller member of the virile saxophone family into a thing of perfect beauty. He hastened its pace, transformed its tone, and gave a sky-high new horizon for its possibilities that has been untouched yet!

Perhaps the finest star on this horn today is Art Pepper. A bird-inspired disciple who has developed his own powerful voice, Art's allegiances have been with the so-called "West Coast" school of jazz, but he's a mighty swinger! 

Two tracks are extended vehicles for the combo led by young alto star Sonny Redd. A Detroiter, recently in New York, he has stirred great interest with his emotional, fiery alto style.

*Alan Stein (from the liner notes)*

Two of our favorite 50s alto talents together on one LP — both players who handle their instrument better than most of their contemporaries, and always with a unique and personal sound! The album offers four tracks by Art Pepper — recorded with groups that include Hampton Hawes on piano, Larry Bunker on drums, Jack Montrose on tenor, and either Russ Freeman or Claude Williamson on piano — and two tracks by Sonny Redd, recorded with a quintet that includes Pepper Adams on baritone, Doug Watkins on bass, Wynton Kelly on piano, and Elvin Jones on drums — more of a Prestige lineup than a Regent one, and really remarkable for the set. The Redd tracks — "Watkins Products" and "Redds Head" — are the longer and more enticing numbers on the set — but we should also say that we love Pepper's work for Regent, and think it's some of his best – and find his tracks pretty darn nice, too. Titles by Pepper include "Deep Purple", "Everything Happens To Me", "These Foolish Things", and "What's New". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

1. Deep Purple

(Robbins, Parish)

2. Watkins Production

(Doug Watkins)

3. Everything Happens To Me

(Dennis, Adair)

4. Redd's Head

(Sonny Red)

5. These Foolish Things

(Maschwitz, Link, Strachey)

6. What's New

(Haggart, Burke)

#1, #6: Art Pepper Quintet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Jack Montrose (tenor sax),

Claude Williamson (piano), Monty Budwig (bass), Paul Ballerina (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, August 25, 1954

#2, #4: Sonny Redd Quintet

Sonny Redd (alto sax), Pepper Adams (baritone sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Doug Watkins (bass), Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, November 12, 1957

#3: Art Pepper Quartet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Russ Freeman (piano), Bob Whitlock (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 29, 1953

#5: Art Pepper Quartet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Hampton Hawes (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 1952

Lou Levy: Rescued from oblivion

The Lou Levy Trio

Jazz In Hollywood Series

32 years after the fact, listening to this album is a double experience. To explain, follow my thoughts. I'm listening to an album that I forgot was ever made, yet I remember everything as it's played back to me. Now put yourself in my place. As I listen I'm now 58 years old. If this album were to be done again, it would be very similar and yet very different. The reason for the difference would be basically playing and living another 33 years. But that's what it's all about.

As I listen to the final track, the youthful enthusiasm makes me smile. And knowing that enthusiasm is still there makes me happy. Very happy.

After all, jazz musicians never grow old. They're just a big wonderful bunch of grown-up children. *Lou Levy (November 29, 1986)* 

During the period in 1948 that I was playing with Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" band, perhaps my most fervent wish after Fred Otis, the pianist, left was to get this extremely talented "kid" from Chicago on the band. It did happen but not until I had left to return to some money-making jobs in Hollywood. On a 1949 trip to Hollywood, when Oscar Pettiford was playing with the band, I got a chance to substitute a couple of nights when Lou was there, and it was clear I was right.

My next experience with Lou was in the mid-fifties — he was actually out of music, working as some sort of executive in the publishing business. On trips to L.A. he saw most of his old friends doing pretty well playing — responded to my invitations to come and play with us — made the Virgil Gonsalves record for me and followed with the Trio. Very shortly thereafter, publishing lost a promising young executive and the World was blessed by the return of one of its finest pianists. *Harry Babasin (October 28, 1987)*

This Nocturne album represent the return of Lou Levy to the jazz scene after three years absence. Since his profesional debut with George Auld in 1947, he accompanied Sarah vaughan, and toured Scandinavia with Chubby Jackson at the end of 1947. Later he worked with several bands and groups -- Boyd Raeburn, Woody Herman, '49-'50; Louie Ballson-Terry Gibbs Sextet, '50; Tommy Dorsey, George Auld again and Flip Philips all in 1951, after which he settled in Minneapolis working as an advertising salesman for a dental survey publication.

In spring 1954 Lou traveled to Los Angeles and met his old friend Harry Babasin who invited him to record in his own Nocturne label. Lou made two records dates, one with Virgil Gonsalves and the other this trio session, which unfortunately remained unisseud until now.

At the time the record was announced as an imminent reléase on Nocturne, but the company ceased its activities just before the record could come out. At last this album has been rescued from oblivion and appears now its original number, NLP-10.

Backing Lou Levy, are two regular members of the Nocturne label, Larry Bunker drums, and the company's founder, the venerable Harry Babasin on bass.

Now we can savour the first album of Lou Levy as leader. It was almost twenty five years ago. *Jordi Pujol (liner notes, 1988)*

1 - The Gentleman Is A Dope

(Rodgers, Hart)

2 -Serenade In Blue

(Harry Warren, Marck Gordon)

3 - Woody'n You

(Gillespie)

4 - Without You

(Dave Stamper, Gene Buck)

5 - All The Things You Are

(Kern, Hammerstein II)

6 - Tiny's Other Blues

(Lou Levy, Tiny Kahn)

7 - Like Someone In Love

(Burke, Van Heusen)

8 - Bloo Denim

(Lou Levy)

Lou Levy (piano), Harry Babasin (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at United Western Recorders, Los Angeles, California, September 23, 1954

Paul Nero: A Musician Ahead of His Time

When one thinks "West Coast Jazz",  it's the big names like Chet Baker, Furgeson, Getz and other horn players that are credited as its dominant force. Be-bop artists from the East Coast visited and left their mark but  to many, West Coast Jazz was devalued as lacking in be-bop's sophisticated edge. Strings didn't get the recognition they deserved  despite their major presence and Paul Nero was a major player. Unlike improvising artists Venuti and Grappelli, Nero was  prolific composer, conductor and arranger who campaigned vigorously to highlight string performers and  the string jazz genre as the West Coast Jazz sound. Nero argued that a violin had a greater capacity to adapt to and reshape modern jazz than status quo critics and many musicians allowed. He proved his case by inserting jazz violin in both be bop and classical genres, developed and taught jazz technique for string players and pushed the musical envelope with his own recording of a jazz violin orchestra: Paul Nero and his Hi Fiddles.

Paul Nero was among the first violinists of his time to fuse classical technique with jazz rhythms and be-bop frameworks while keeping his rich melodic persona. Although highly-regarded among his peer musicians, Nero never got the recognition he and others believed he deserved.

Why is Nero virtually unknown to the general public? One explanation for this could be that he was at least ten years ahead of his time, and since he left us too soon, he couldn't ride the wave of popular music's breakout. The music market of his time was not interested in new art forms for violin. Had Nero lived as long as his contemporaries (i.e. Venuti, Grappelli, Stuff Smith), his name wold have joined these artists who were "rediscovered" in the l970's jazz fiddle revival.

Another reason for Nero's low profile is that, until now, no one has provided an organized presentation of his life and works to musicians and music lovers.

Paul Nero, born Kurt Joachim Polnariow (Polnarioff) in Hamburg on April 29, 1917, was the youngest of three children. His father, Albert Abraham Icko Polnariow (Polnarioff), was a Ukranian violinist performer and composer who travelled extensively throughout northern Europe as kappelmeister.  His older sister, Rosa, a violin prodigy at 14, had already left for America with her father,  on an artist visa to perform with the Philadelphia orchestra.  Young Kurt stayed behind with his mother and middle sister initially but when he turned six they too sailed to New York  to rejoin the family for a new life in America. Like many Jewish immigrants, Nero grew up in a tight knit old world Russian-German community in the Bronx.  He became rapidly "Americanized" in the city’s public school system but at home he was trained  to become a classical violinist in the Russian tradition.

In Paul Nero's own violin playing, the old Russian classical technique of his early training and homeland culture permeates his musical expression. Instead of muting these influences in obedience to jazz idiom, he embraces them.

At Curtis Institute, young Kurt Polnarioff studied with Alexander Hilsburg in classical violin and composition, and after graduating in l937, he began his orchestra career with the Pittsburgh Symphony string section under Fritz Reiner's baton.

But it was jazz violin that Nero chose as his future path even  in the rigorous Curtis Institute. As his fellow students, Bernstein and Barber were excelling in the traditional classical  traditions, young Polnarioff formed the first Jazz Orchestra for Curtis students.

Polnarioff Americanized his name to Paul Nero and enlisted for military service right after the Pearl Harbor. He served in the US Navy in 1942 and was stationed in Washington D.C. as musical director of the US Navy Dance Band.

After the war's end and his honorable discharge, Nero returned to New York where he worked briefly in New York City, with Gene Krupa's Band as featured soloist, along with Anita O'Day,  then  at NBC  radio and  the Jan Savitt Jazz Orchestra  and also  teaching briefly at Juilliard.  Nero concertized on stage with Andre Previn at Town Hall and introduced his "hot fiddle" sound to receptive New York audiences.  He was elected to ASCAP in l946 and soon left the East Coast permanently for the Los Angeles emerging jazz scene.

Nero was able to find work as a free-lance session musician and his career quickly took off. In Los Angeles, hiring talent was coordinated by contractors who worked for radio producers. Nero was soon held in great demand; performing with such luminaries as, Paul Weston and Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records for Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee. Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Jo Stafford, and other L.A. based recording stars in the famed Capitol Studio. Nero soon started to go on his own and  recorded  for the Capitol, Decca and Sunset Records. His compositions blended old world memories with Californian cool sound  in the key of  optimism for America's postwar l950's. Paul Nero died of a heart attack on April 2, 1958 at the age of 41, in Los Angeles. *paulneroshotfiddles.com*

Paul Nero and His Hi Fiddles

Play The Music Of 

Shorty Rogers • Marty Paich

Jimmy Giuffre • David Raksin

Frank Comstock • Bob Cooper

Jack Montrose • Ruby Raksin

& Paul Nero

"It's about time someone did some real jazz with strings", said the Prez of Sunset Records. I agreed. "Go", said the Prez. And that's ALL he said. There were no (pardon the pun) strings attached.

This was to be my album. I a choice of tunes, arrangers, and composers. For more than twenty years I had been working toward this moment. Everybody said you couldn't play jazz on a fiddle. I said you could. 

This is not a typical album. Neither are these typical program notes. They could easily have been written in the third person. But this is no time to be coy and I'm as egotistical over my musical background as I am over my ability to breathe. The comments in the program have been written by the men who composed and arranged the music. Who is better qualified to explain the intent of the work than they?

As to the musicians... again I was very lucky. Gerald Vinci, Stan Harris and Paul Bergstrom are not typical string players. Combined with their excellent facility and background on their instruments, which speaks for itself, are the years of listening to good jazz and that rare quality of following the tone color, phrasing, and mood of the lead instrument, no matter what it did, yet never losing their individualities as performers. The fabulous sound and pulse of Rolly Bundock's bass; the imaginative solos and harmonic colors of Bobby Gibbons' guitar; the almost unbelievably restrained forcefulness of the two drummers — Milt Holland, who was in for eight sides — and Irv Cottler for four, made a septet out of what could very easily have become a string group with  a rhythm section backing it up. 

That's my story. I said fiddles can play jazz. I hope you are in agreement. *Paul Nero (liner notes)*

Paul Nero and His Hi Fiddles tries ambitiously to elicit jazz from a string quartet plus rhythm section. The various tracks are successful, however, only in direct ratio to the ability of the various composers and arrangers to feel fiddles and write for them.

Nero's own jazz background is not nearly as extensive as some of the other writers', yet his composition, "Scherzo-Phrenia", turns out to be the best side here. It swings, something most of the others fail to do, and it feels right — there is no self-consciousness or hokum evidente.

Nero also wrote "Vibrato, "Lullaby, and "Bridie", but with les over-all impact. Most successful of the other writers were Shorty Rogers, whose "Minuet" is a rather charming outing for the two violins, cello, viola, and rhythm (Rolly Bundock, bass; Bobby Gibbons, guitar, and Milt Holland and Irv Cottler splitting drums chores); Ruby Raskin, who neatly achieves his stated goal of "bop Dixieland" on "That's A Plenty", and Jack Montrose, who turns "Midnight Sun" into a hauntingly Bartokian excercise. Jack, who is steadily developing into a writer of real stature, faces a great future.

Jim Giuffre's "Waterfront" has moments of real merit, but it is the rhythm section that provides them, not the strings. Marty Paich makes "Street of Dreams" sound too much like Muzak, and Bob Cooper's "Flew" is dull and unimaginative.

This is a courageous try by Nero to explore the jazz possibilities of the string quartet, however, and succeeding albums would seem to be in order.

Suggestion: for the next LP, retain two or three of the writers from this one and ask other men like Russo, Mulligan, Lewis, Ellington, Burns, etc., to submit Works. Strings represent a challenging médium to the jazz composer, and precios few have ever shown they can work well in it.

*Jack Tracy (Down Beat, May 16, 1956)*

Side 1

1 - Scherzo-Phrenia

(Paul Nero)

2 - Street Of Dreams

(V. Young, S. Lewis)

3 - Just A Minuet

(Shorty Rogers)

4 - I Cover The Waterfront

(Green, Heyman)

5 - That's A Plenty

(Lew Pollack)

6 - Flew The Coop

(Bob Cooper)

Side 2

7 - Yes, We Have No Vibrato

(Paul Nero)

8 - Love Is For The Very Young

(David Raskin)

9 - Lullaby Of The Leaves

(Petkere, J. Young)

10 - Midnight Sun

(L. Hampton, F. J. Burke)

11 - A Foggy Day

(George and Ira Gershwin)

12 - Birdie Murphy, Won't You Please Come Home

(Paul Nero)

Paul Nero, Gerald Vinci (violins); Stan Harris (viola); Paul Bergstrom (cello);

Bobby Gibbons (guitar); Rolly Bundock (bass); Milt Holland, Irv Cottler (drums and percussion).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, March, 1956

Dave Pell: From Dixie to Cool

Dave Pell Octet

The Old South Wails

In a considerably cooler climate than is usually found below the Mason-Dixon Line, the Dave Pell Octet swings solidly through the South with their smooth, danceable stylings of Dixieland favorites. Bringing a new, modern sound to this fine collection of Dixie chestnuts is the inventive writing of no less than six different arrangers, who have up-dated such two-beat classics as "Ballin' The Jack" and "Sugar Foot Strut" to suit the "soft-swing" style that characterizes the music of Dave Pell. Many of the tunes begin in traditional Dixieland fashion, then make a subtle switch from hot to cool, as in "Jazz Me Blues" and Bill Holman's swinging, uptempo arrangement of "Oh, Didn't He Ramble" which opens with a slow and stately intro that's reminiscent of a solemn Bourbon Street processional. Still another highlight is the famous jazz spiritual "When The Saints Go Marching In", which is treated to a brilliant modern arrangement by Marty Paich, a Dave Pell colleague of long standing. Here Dave is featured on tenor sax, along with Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Harry Betts, trombone; Med Flory, baritone. Marty Paich and Johnny Williams share piano duties, heading a rhythm section that includes Lyle Ritz, bass; Tommy Tedesco, guitar; and Frankie Capp on drums.

*(From the liner notes)*

The final recording by the Dave Pell Octet until 1984 is a bit of a departure, for the 12 numbers are mostly Dixieland standards, including "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble", "Ballin' the Jack", "Jazz Me Blues", and even "The Saints". The arrangements (by Med Flory, Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Harry Betts, Bob Florence and John Williams), however, are more modern, very much in the 1950s West Coast jazz style championed by Pell. The Octet (which includes Pell on tenor, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Harry Betts, baritonist Flory, Paich or Williams on piano, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, bassist Lyle Ritz and drummer Frankie Capp) plays the charts well, swinging lightly, and the key musicians take plenty of short solos. Although there are hints of Dixieland in spots, this is mostly a cool jazz session and serves as the swan song for the fine group. It is a pity that so few of Dave Pell's recordings (including this one) have yet to be reissued on CD. *Scott Yanow*

This is a great example of the Dave Pell group. The jazz improv here is of the "brief" variety and the arrangements do interesting things...each one has its own eccentricities, and they all change around constantly. The style would probably qualify as "cool jazz", since the octet format has a number of different sound colors and the approach is not strictly bebop, but rather modern jazz as it was done in LA around the late fifties and early sixties.

This album takes tunes that would have been known in colleges and especially in the South, and sticks them into the jazz octet world of Dave Pell. All the tunes give plenty of soloing time, assuming you are not insistent upon extended form soloing like that of Miles and Trane.

If you are already familiar with the Jazz at the Lighthouse or the Shelly Manne and his friends style of jazz, then you will seriously dig this album.

I especially enjoyed hearing trombonist Harry Betts. Harry is also a great, great arranger and he plays great bone. Since I am a trombone player, I like to hear him.

*Christopher Tune (Amazon customer)*

Side 1

1 - Shi-Me-Sha-Wabble

(Spencer Williams)

2 - When The Saints Go Marching In

(Traditional, Arr. by Marty Paich)

3 - Sugar Foot Strut

(Pierce, Schwab, Myers)

4 - Ballin' The Jack

(Chris Smith, Jim Burris)

5 - There'll Be Some Changes Made

(Higgins, Overstreet)

6 - Paper Doll

(Johnny S. Black)

Side 2

7 - Jazz Me Blues

(Tom Delaney)

8 - Oh, Didn't He Ramble

(Handy, Arr. by Bill Holman)

9 - Blues (My Naughty Sweety Gives To Me)

(Swanstone, McCarron, Morgan)

10 - Manhattan

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

11 - Ida! Sweet As Apple Cider

(Leonard, Munson, Arr. by Mary Paich)

12 - Tishomingo Blues

(Spencer Williams)

Dave Pell (tenor sax); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); Harry Betts (trombone);

Med Flory (baritone sax); John Williams, Marty Paich (piano);

Lyle Ritz (bass); Tommy Tedesco (guitar); Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1961