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

Liberty Records • Jazz in Hollywood Series (XII)

Red Norvo • In Hi-Fi

Vibe-Rations

✤Liberty (LJH 6012)✤

That Red Norvo now wears a beard (which makes him look somewhat like one of Saul Steinberg's cats) has nothing whatever to do with his having been born Kenneth Norville about forty-seven years ago in Beardstown, Illinois, but it is symbolic of his standing as one of the evergreen geniuses of jazz; Red was in Chicago in the late twenties when Eddie Condon and that bunch were, and although it was difficult for him to wheel his instrument, then the xylophone (Red says "zillaphone"), to the sessions at which they drank bad gin and played much music that was probably almost as bad but sounded great partly because it was fresh and exciting (and partly 

because of the gin), he nevertheless won the respect of all, even that of the staid Goodman, who later hired him when he was between combinations of his own; and at the risk of challenging the Times' Gilbert Millstein's title of World's Longest-Opening-Paragraph Writer, I must add that Red continued to grow and grow until the kids who play progressive began to pay strict awestruck attention to his work on the vibes (which replaced the "zillaphone"), a continuing homage which he has acknowledged by uttering the beard. 

Few other musicians can make that claim, let alone that transition. 

⁂

I don't want to talk about the music except to say that it is strikingly representative of the personality of its creator: I am no musician, and it speaks for itself, swinging with lightness of touch beautifully fitting for the profound and humorous imagination that conceives it. I have spent the happiest times I've ever had with jazz listening to Red Norvo play, and I have had some of the happiest times I've ever had with another human being listening to Red Norvo talk. I want to talk about Red the human being: 

In the summer of 1956 when I was in Hollywood on some magazine jobs, I went to hear him (Norvo) every night I could make it at Ken Brown's place in Santa Monica. I would sit there marveling as he played "Rhee! Oh Rhee!" (my favorite) and the rest, and between sets we would sit around and talk about the days seven or eight years ago when he was playing at the Embers in New York and after hours hd and I and Eddie Condon would go to a Chinese restaurant where the proprietor would bring us a teapot full of what Condon always called "slant-eyed whisky". After the playing and reminiscing were over – I'm talking about the Hollywood visit again – Red and I would go out somewhere and eat. One night I noticed that he was strangely quite. I didn't want to ask what was wrong. He is sometimes shy, I thought this was one of his shy nights, and he couldn't bring himself to say much (in that Embers period, he often thought of more to say than some of us felt was necessary; but he had not yet gone on the wagon, then) We ate, said good night, and he went over to his house in Santa Monica and I went back to my hotel. The next evening he apologized. He said, "I'm sorry for being so quiet last night. We had to take our little boy to the hospital yesterday. It was sort of serious. I started to tell you about it but then I knew you'd worry and I didn't want to spoil your evening".

That is one side of him. Adjectives may now be filled in at random, and all the noble one will do.

⁂

That's Red. Here, on these selections, is the man's music. He has augmented his trio with Jack Montrose, who plays tenor, second flute and clarinet; Bob Drasnin, first flute: Bill Kosinski, English horn; and Bill Douglass, drums. Eugene Wright plays bass, and Bill Dillard, who was burned to death a few weeks after these sides were recorded, is the guitarist and composer, with Red, of "Rhee! Oh Rhee!" and "Porsche". 

Like everything else about Norvo, they are remarkable, and it is my great pleasure to commend them to everyone who loves jazz. *Richard Gehman (liner notes)*

On Vibe-Rations, Red's associates are the late Bill Dillard, guitar; Jack Montrose, tenor, clarinet, flute; Robert Drasnin, flute; Bill Kosinski, English horn; Gene Wright, bass; Bill Douglass, drums. The rhythm section has the rare combination of pulsating sureness and a light, ensemble-conscious, fluid, knitted sound. Dillard's loss was obviously a great one. He plays here with impressive warmth, ideas, and time. Red himself is, as always, youthfully imaginative and a marvelously relaxed master of the vibes. At 47, he remains a musician who transcends stylistic lines. His contributions to jazz have been many and major. He is the best and the most personal soloist on the date. Montrose blows good, vigorous tenor, Drasnin's flute is skilled but lacks funk. Kosinski makes his assignments. Chief liability of the set are the anemic arrangements, most bloodless in the rather wispy ensemble sound, and the rather routine nature of the ensemble figures. The date would have been more successful either as a straight blowing session or with more challenging frameworks. Anyway, it's worth owning for Red, the rhythm section, and Dillard. Good, pointed notes by Dick Gehman, and fine sound. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 12, 1956)*

Side 1

1 - Sweet Georgia Brown

(Bernie, Pinkard, Casey)

2 - It Could Happen To You

(Burke, Van Heussen)

3 - All This And Heaven Too

(DeLange, Van Heusen)

4 - Fascinatin' Rhythm

(G. and I. Gershwin)

Side 2

5 - Rhee! Oh! Rhee

(Dillard, Norvo)

6 - Get Out Of Town

(Cole Porter)

7 - Ship Without A Sail

(Rodgers, Hart)

8 - Porsche

(Dillard, Norvo)

Red Norvo (vibes), Jack Montrose (tenor sax, clarinet, flute), Robert Drasnin (flute),

Bill Kosinski (English horn), Bill Dillard (guitar), Gene Wright (bass), Bill Douglass (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, May 21 [#1 to #4, #6, #7] and May 28 [#5, #8], 1956

Buddy Collette And Teddy Edwards - The Crown Sessions

Buddy Collette (1921-2010) and Teddy Edwards (1924-2003) were two prominent, individual jazz musicians whose beginnings were firmly rooted in the Los Angeles Central Avenue jazz and rhythm and blues scene of the 1940s.

Buddy, born in Los Angeles, gained recognition in 1946 as an alto saxophone and clarinet player, performing alongside musicians like Lucky Thompson and Charlie Mingus. In 1950, he became the first Black musician to work in Los Angeles film and TV studios, further establishing his reputation in jazz through his versatility as a woodwind player. His collaborations with the Chico Hamilton Quintet and his own albums as a leader showcased his talents as a composer and thoughtful jazz musician.

Teddy, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, was credited with recording the first bop solo on tenor saxophone in 1946 on "Up in Dodo's Room" with Howard McGhee's sextet. He was an early associate of jazz greats like Dexter Gordon, Sonny Criss, Art Pepper, Max Roach, and Clifford Brown. Known for his charging, up-tempo, bluesy style, Edwards was equally adept at producing a sweet, burnished tone from the tenor sax, making him a significant influence on other tenor saxophonists like Harold Land and Sonny Rollins.

Throughout their extensive careers, both musicians remained deeply connected to Los Angeles as their home base and source of inspiration.

In the tracks included on this CD, recorded between 1959 and 1960, we hear Buddy Collette and Teddy Edwards in two rare quartet sessions, navigating through a set of blues and originals. The uniqueness of these recordings lies in the fact that they were originally scattered across several Crown label albums, without any personnel or composer information, often indiscriminately attributed to different jazz artists, with the musicians not always properly credited. Here, for the first time, they are grouped together in a single collection. *Jordi Pujol*

1 - What's Up?

2 - Hideaway

3 - Reunion

4 - Joggin'

5 - Evergreen

6 - Bye Bye

7 - The Groove

8 - Lucky Me

9 - Miss Beat

10 - I'll Get Away

11 - The Grind, Part 1

12 - The Grind, Part 2

13 - Across Town

#1 to #8:

Buddy Collette (tenor sax), Gerald Wiggins (piano),

Joe Comfort (bass), Bill Douglass (drums).

#1, #2, #3: from Way Out Wardell (Crown CLP-5278)

#4 : from Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker/Chico Hamilton/Buddy Collette/Gerald Wiggins (Crown CLP-5289)

#5, #6, #7, #8: from Groovin’ High (Crown CLP-5284)

#9 to 13:

Teddy Edwards (tenor sax), Joe Castro (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Billy Higgins (drums).

#9, #10 from: Sonny Criss/Gerald Wiggins/Erroll Garner/Stan Getz (Crown CLP-5292) 

#11, #12, #13: from Erroll Garner/Wardell Gray/ Barney Kessel/Gerald Wiggins Crown (CLP-5293)

Recorded at Modern Records Studio, Hollywood, between 1959 and 1960.