Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XVIII)

Benny Bailey And The Quincetet

The Music Of Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones wears many hats. He is an arranger of brilliance. He plays trumpet passably. He leads his own large orchestra, a feat that requires more than conducting, in that a leader also has to be father, mother, wife, and psychiatrist to some 16 musicians. But, most of all, he is a composer who writes with delicate melodic sense and rhythmic vigor-

He is a budding Duke Ellington, and there are many who will tell you that his orchestra will be the band of the 1960s.

He already has given impressive indication of the road he intends to take. The recent trip he made with his band revealed to listeners what his first two albums had led them to suspect – that his orchestra is precise, joyously swinging, and interested in exploring arrangements that show thought in their preparation and are written expressly for the musicians in that band, utilizing their individual capabilities.

One of those individuals created a good deal of attention on his own. That would be Benny Bailey, the trumpeter with huge tone and broad attack who went to Europe in 1953 with Lionel Hampton and stayed there until Quincy called Benny back from Sweden to join him.

Bailey's performances herein show you why Jones was so eager to get him on the band. This LP was cut in Sweden last year in the company of another American, drummer Joe Harris, and the light-quick Swedish trombonist Åke Persson, another member of the Jones band. Several combinations of Swedish all-stars make up the backing.

We think you'll find this combination of Quincy Jones' music and the resounding horns of Benny Bailey and Åke Persson to be a stirring mixture and one that points out yet one more facet of Quincy's talent. He has an unerring sense of taste when it comes to picking the right chairs. Quincy Delight Jones is something else! *Al Porch (liner notes)*

An excellent album that's a perfect document of the strong impact that Quincy Jones had in the transatlantic jazz scene of the late 50s and early 60s! The set was recorded in 1960, and features two players that Quincy would leave behind in Europe to have a huge influence on the scene. Trumpeter Benny Bailey is the greatest of these – and his impact on jazz in Germany and Sweden during the 60s and 70s cannot be discounted. The other is drummer Joe Harris, who does excellent work here in a group that includes Arne Domnérus on sax, Åke Persson on trombone, and Gunnar Svensson on piano – all Swedes that Quincy picked up after touring the country heavily during the late 50s. The set grooves with the best of Jones' work on Mercury from the time – and although Quincy's not listed in the credits, it's probably only because of contractual reasons. Titles are all Jones originals – including "Meet Benny Bailey", "Plenty, Plenty Soul", "Fallen Feathers", and "The Midnight Sun Never Sets". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

This album is one of the earliest devoted solely to the compositions of Quincy Jones and emerged from his work in Europe in the late 1950s. A classic session that took place 1959 in Stockholm featuring international stars Joe Harris and Benny Bailey. Together with a troop of legendary Swedish jazzers from this era they recorded this album which in many ways is a tribute to the songwriting skills of master Quincy Jones. Apart from Åke Persson, musicians like Arne Domnérus, Lennart Jansson and a handful of others are making this to a true gem.*paladinvinyl.com*

Side 1

1. The Golden Touch

(Jones, Pettiford)

2. I'm Gone

(Quincy Jones)

3. Jones Beach

(Quincy Jones)

4. The Midnight Sun Never Sets

(Jones , Salvador)

Side 2

5. Meet Benny Bailey

(Quincy Jones)

6. Plenty, Plenty Soul

(Jones, Jackson)

7. Fallen Feathers

(Quincy Jones)

8. Count 'Em

(Jones, Cleveland)

Benny Bailey (trumpet); Åke Persson (trombone); Arne Domnérus (alto sax);

Bjarne Nerem (tenor sax); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax);

Gunnar Svensson [#1], Gösta Theselius [#2 to #8] (piano); Gunnar Johnson (bass);

Anders Burman [#3, #6], Joe Harris [#1, #2, #4, #5, #7, #8] (drums).

Recorded at Millessalen Recording Studios, Stockholm, Sweden, October 8, 1959

Benny Golson - Stockholm Sojourn

The International Jazz Orchestra

Under The Direction Of Benny Golson

Stockholm Sojourn

In recent years Benny Golson has been known — aside from his excellent tenor playing — for his small group writing. It should not be forgotten that he first attracted attention as an arranger through his work for Dizzy Gillespie's big band. The years since then have seen a constant accretion of his skills. In this album, a return to a big band format (23 men in all), we can see, or rather hear, how much his talent has grown. 

It is an album of tightly-woven textures. He uses an instrumentation of four trumpets, three trombones, four French horns, flutes, clarinets, alto flutes, oboes, English horns, a bass clarinet, a baritone saxophone, bass and drums. The voicings are often unusual. "A lot of times", he said, "I wanted a blanket effect-like a crazy quilt".

Listening to the tape, he added, "You'll notice I had the bass recorded a little heavy. That's because there's no piano, and the two rhythm have 21 men sitting on top of them". Fortunately, the bassist is Roman Dylag, the young Pole whose work was gaining repute even before he slipped out under the Iron Curtain and took up residence in Sweden.

Sweden has proved a haven for many jazzmen, including some Americans. One of these is the brilliant trumpeter Benny Bailey, who plays lead and a number of the solos in this recording. The majority of the musicians, however, are Swedish, residents of Stockholm, where this LP was recorded.

Though Benny Golson is one of the most gifted of the younger composers to come out of jazz, his writing exceeds the scope of what current cant considers to be jazz, which has become too often a term of narrowing, of cramping, of littleness. It is to be hoped that the context in which he writes can continue to grow broader apace with his talent. *Gene Lees, February 1965 (liner notes)* 

Although the International Jazz Orchestra (which was arranged and conducted by Benny Golson) recorded their parts for this album on July 14, 1964, some of the soloists were dubbed in later that year. Golson, who does not play at all on this set, seemed inspired by the large instrumentation — a full orchestra with trumpets, trombones, French horns, several English horns doubling on oboes, five reeds, up to six additional flutes and a pianoless rhythm section — and his charts (six of his originals and three standards) are both inventive and full of subtle surprises. Among the many highlights are Golson's reworkings of "Are You Real", "Waltz for Debby" and "I Remember Clifford". This underrated set is recommended. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

01 - Stockholm Sojourn

02 - Tryst

03 - Are You Real

04 - Goodbye

Side 2

05 - Waltz For Debby

06 - My Foolish Heart

07 - A Swedish Villa

08 - I Remembered Clifford

(All compositions by Benny Golson)

[Note: On the 1997 CD edition, a bonus track is added ("The Call") that does not appear on the original LP]

The International Jazz Orchestra:

Benny Bailey, Bengt-Arne Wallin, Bosso Broberg, Bertil Lövgren, Maffy Falay (trumpets); Åke Persson, Georg Vernon, Jörgen Johansson, Eje Thelin, Grachan Moncur III (trombones); Bengt Olsson, Carl Nyström, Elis Kårvall, William Foch (French horns); Rune Ericksson (euphonium); Alf Nilsson, Ingvar Holst, Lars Skoglund, Erik Björkhager (English horns, oboes); Bengt Christiansson, Nils Wahrby, Börje Marelius, Yngve Sandström, Gösta Ströberg, Ulf Bergström (flutes); Arne Domnérus (clarinet, alto sax); Cecil Payne (baritone sax); Rune Falk (clarinet baritone sax); Torsten Wennberg, Claes Rosendahl (clarinet, saxes); Bjarne Nerem (tenr sax); Rune Falk (baritone sax, clarinet); Jan Johansson (piano); Roman Dylag (bass); Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 1964.

Arranged and conducted by Benny Golson with solos by Benny Bailey, Cecil Payne, Grachan Moncur III, Bengt-Arne Wallin, Eje Thelin, Rune Falk, Bo Broberg and Roman Dylong.

[The parts of Grachan Moncur III and Cecil Payne were dubbed in New York during autumn 1964. Same was done with the solo parts of Persson, Thelin, Domnérus and Nerem who were dubbed in on August 1964 in Stockholm].