Trumpet Conclave (II)

 In the previous post, about the so-called "Cool Gabriels", we can checked out Nat Hentoff's review. While he didn't completely dismiss them, he did raise a few eyebrows — mainly pointing out that some of the solos felt a bit too restrained:

"The solos are also of a consistently controlled and assured level while the ensemble playing is sharp and alive. Yet there is little here that really clutches the emotions, little that is nakedly beneath the surface. It's like a good issue of a well-produced slick magazine", Hentoff wrote.

He then took the chance to recommend another trumpet session — one he clearly thought packed more emotional punch:

"For a more earthy, more deeply wailing trumpet meeting, try Savoy's Top Brass under Ernie Wilkins' direction", he said.

And knowing how tough Hentoff could be when it came to handing out stars, it's worth paying attention. Top Brass actually got the full five stars from him — the highest rating in Down Beat. So, let's take his word for it and give Top Brass the spotlight it deserves.

Ernie Wilkins Presents

Top Brass

Featuring Five Trumpets

Top Brass is a modern and expanded reincarnation of several of the Keynote sessions in the '40s when a pride of several lions on one particular instrument was assembled to exchange ideas and styles. In this case, five trumpeters (Ernie Royal, Idress Su-lieman, Joe Wilder, Ray Copeland, and  Donald Byrd) blow in various Ernie Wilkins’ settings backed without flaw  by Hank Jones, Kenny Clarke, and Wendell Marshall. Three of the originals are by Ernie; one he co-wrote with Earl Van Riper, and "Dot's What" is by Johnny Mandel. The lines are sprightly and Ernie, who arranged all, is his usual spare, swinging, estimable self.

On the first five, the hornmen alternate in the various chairs from lead on. The complete notes identify all positions and solos, and provide good, concise biographical backgrounds (and some spelling mistakes). Most of the second side is devoted to ballad explorations by each trumpeter, and the comparison of approaches is illuminating and enjoyable all down the line. Note particularly Joe Wilder's "Willow Weep For Me", one of the most movingly lyrical solos ever recorded. On the up-tempos, everybody swings and each has several individual statements of worth to make. The recorded sound is appropriately bright. All hail to Savoy and Ozzie Cadena for thinking this one up, and to Mr. Wilkins and his friends for making it work so excitingly.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, April 4, 1956)

Although he was a better than average saxophonist with Count Basie, by the time of these 1950s sessions for Savoy, Ernie Wilkins was working exclusively as an arranger and composer. Most of the music within this compilation comes from a 1955 session with trumpeters Donald Byrd, Ray Copeland, Ernie Royal, Idrees Sulieman, and Joe Wilder, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Kenny Clarke. Four of the first five tracks are swinging originals by Wilkins, and there's also an obscure Johnny Mandel blues, "Dot's What." The remaining music from the first session is a ballad medley where each trumpeter is featured in turn playing a personal favorite, all of which have become time-tested standards. If there's any complaint about this studio date at all, it is the excess reverb used at times, which is surprising due to Rudy Van Gelder's usually impeccable sound. The bonus tracks are from another Wilkins-led session from 1957; trumpeters Art Farmer, Charlie Shavers, Emmett Berry, and Harold "Shorty" Baker join Royal, with Don Abney taking over on piano and Bobby Donaldson on drums. Both of Wilkins' originals, "Blues in 6/4" and "Trumpets All Out," are enjoyable even if they never became widely known. *Ken Dryden*

Ernie Wilkins wrote the lines for this collection of five trumpeters — Joe Wilder, Ernie Royal, Ray Copeland, Indres Sulieman and Donald Byrd — and rhythm — Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall and Kenny Clark. Savoy was kind enough to carefully note each solo and section position of each trumpeter on each selection. All of it is rather moderate modern, mostly on the boppy kick (some of the solos are less than that). But over-all it's an interesting, certainly a swinging, album; five tracks have section work and then individual solos while the other side features one ballad apiece. Aside from Donald Byrd, who is overshadowed here, it would be hard to finally pick among the four, especially on the ballads, for which and for Hank's comping, the album draws its major favor. *Metronome • Music USA (June, 1956)*

1 - 58 Market Street

(Ernest Wilkins, Earl Van Riper)

2 - Trick Or Treat

(Ernest Wilkins)

3 - Speedway

(Ernest Wilkins)

4 - Dot's What

(Johnny Mandel)

5 - Top Brass

(Ernest Wilkins)

Ballad Medley:

6 - Willow Weep For Me

(Ann Ronell)

7 - Imagination

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

8 - It Might As Well Be Spring

(Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers)

9 - The Nearness Of You

(Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington)

10 - Taking A Chance On Love

(Vernon Duke, Ted Fetter, John Latouche)

11 - Blues In 6/4

(Ernest Wilkins)

12 - Trumpets All Out

(Ernest Wilkins)

#1 to #10: from the album Top Brass Featuring 5 Trumpets (Savoy Records MG 12044)

Donald Byrd, Ray Copeland, Ernie Royal, Idrees Sulieman, Joe Wilder (trumpets);

Hank Jones (piano); Wendell Marshall (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums).

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios,Hackenshack, New Jersey, November 8, 1955

#11 and #12: from the album Trumpets All Out (Savoy Records MG 1209)

Art Farmer, Ernie Royal, Charlie Shavers, Emmett Berry, Harold Baker (trumpets);

Don Abney (piano); Wendell Marshall (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums).

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios,Hackenshack, New Jersey, January 15, 1956

Sam Most... ★1955★

Sam Most

I'm Nuts About The Most.... Sam That Is!

East Coast Jazz N°9

Here is a modern group with its own sound playing familiar standards. Sam Most had a definitive purpose in mind when he decided upon the clarinet or flute, guitar, baritone sax, and rhythm combination. The result of this wedding is a fresh, sometimes fragile, yet cohesive sound that is modern without being, in the contemporary sense, "far out". It's an easy-to-listen-to sound that could not be offensive even if it were the neophyte's first contact with modern jazz.

*Creed Taylor (liner notes)*

⁂

Just sit back, relax and listen to the inventiveness of each soloist, whose appearance on each piece is varied. We think you will hear jazz improvisation at it best! I would like to express my gratitude to all the musicians who helped make this album for their exellent cooperation and sensitive work. Each one, I'm sure, is well know to every ardent modern jazz admirer. *Sam Most (liner notes)*

Sweet flute work from the great Sam Most — a player who really shone brightly during his 50s recordings for Bethlehem Records — of which this is one of the best! Sam's got a mean, lean quality to his solos — a mode that rivals that of Frank Wess on the instrument at the time, and may well beat Herbie Mann — able to step lively on more boppish numbers, but step back into these soulful lines at just the right moments. The rest of the group has a tight feel too — modern, but a bit playful too — with Marty Flax on baritone, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Billy Triglia on piano, and Oscar Pettiford on bass. Titles include "Deed I Do", "Broadway", "Smiles", "Don't Worry Bout Me", "How Deep Is The Ocean", and "Tea For Two".  *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

1 - Cherokee

(Noble)

2 - Don't Worry 'Bout Me

(Koehler, Bloom)

3 - What A Difference A Day Made

(Grever, Adams)

4 - How Deep Is The Ocean

(Berlin)

5 - Falling In Love With Love

(Rodgers, Hart)

6 - Rose Room

(Williams, Hickman)

7 - Smiles

(Chaplin, Turner, Parsons)

8 - Broadway

(Woode, McRae, Bird)

9 - Tea For Two

(Caesar, Youmans)

10 - 'Deed I Do

(Hirsch, Rose)

Sam Most (flute, clarinet); Marty Flax (baritone sax); 

Barry Galbraith (guitar); Billy Triglia (piano);

Burgher Jones [#1 to #4,  #8], Oscar Pettiford [#5 to #7, #9, #10] (basses);

Bobby Donaldson [#1 to #4,  #8], Osie Johnson [#5 to #7, #9, #10] (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 29 (#1 to #4,  #8),

and between March/April (#5 to #7, #9, #10), 1955

Sam Most... ★1952 • 1954★

 Sam Most (1930-2003) was born in Atlantic City, NJ, and began making a name for himself in nearby New York City, where his family moved when he was four years old. Sam played several instruments, including piano, saxophone, clarinet, and flute. It was with the last two that he earned a reputation as a trendsetter among modern jazz musicians, and it is these two instruments that are featured here.

Sam's earliest influence and inspiration came from his brother Abe, ten years his senior, who was the star clarinetist in the bands of Les Brown and Tommy Dorsey. At 20, Sam briefly played also with Dorsey, and later with the bands of Shep Fields, Boyd Raeburn, and Don Redman. However, his main claim to fame was the stellar work he did with his own modern groups, where his distinctive clarinet style (notably focusing on the instrument's higher register) and his remarkable agility on the flute blended so superbly.

In the summer of 1952, Sam truly came into his own when he recorded the flute feature "Undercurrent Blues". At the time, jazz flute was little more than a novelty, rarely featured in recordings or performances in the modern bebop style. "Undercurrent Blues" showcased the instrument's potential in a fresh way and, while not a major hit, it caught the attention of many musicians, establishing Sam as the first modern jazz flutist.

Herbie Mann, the first jazz flutist to achieve widespread popularity, once said, "When I started playing jazz on flute, there was only one record out: Sam Most's Undercurrent Blues".

Sam's emergence on the jazz scene was further recognized in 1954 when he won the New Star clarinet division in the Down Beat Critics' Poll.

This CD set brings together, for the first time, Sam Most's earliest recordings as the leader of his sextets from 1952 to 1954. *Jordi Pujol*

Sam Most Sextettes 

Undercurrent Blues

Prestige, Debut And Vanguard Sessions

When LA was truly "La La Land"

Jazz musicians had it nice in LA in the 1950s and 60s, making good money playing in the studios for movies and TV shows and then hitting the clubs at night for hip gigs. And they could all afford to buy a house in the suburbs! What could go wrong?!?

Here is a Fresh Sound Records reissue that prove jazzers didn't have to suffer to be creative.

Playing flute and clarinet, Sam Most made a nice career as a studio stud, still finding time to put out an impressive number of his own albums. These sessions from 1952-54 (ironically recorded in NYC) start with Most with Doug Mttone/tp, Chuck Wayne/g, Dick Hyman/p, Clyde Lombardi/b and Jackie Moffett/dr with the leader's flute sublime on "Undercurrent Blues" and his clarinet bouncy on "Taking A Chance On Love". A larger band brings in Urbie Green/tb, Bob Dorough/p, Percy Heath/b, Mettome/tp and L ouie Bellson/dr for a classy take of "Scroobydoo" and classical "I Hear A Rhapsody". The band further expand with some charts by Quincy Jones on a hip "Skippy" and suave "Open House" with Jones' own "Blues Junction" a nice showcase for Most's licorice stick. Woodwind wonders.

When it was hep to be hip! *George W. Harris*

1 - Undercurrent Blues

(Sam Most)

2 - First With The Most

(Sam Most)

3 - Sometimes I’m Happy

(Youmans, Caesar, Grey)

4 - Takin' A Chance On Love

(V.Duke, J. La Touche)

5 - Scrooby Doo

(Bob Dorough)

6 - I Hear A Rhapsody

(Fragos, Baker, Gasparre)

7 - The Night, We Called It A Day

(M. Dennis, T. Adair)

8 - A Cuss Called Coss

(Sam Most)

9 - Eullalia

(Bob Dorough)

10 - There Will Never Be Another You

(Carl O. Begner)

11 - Notes To You

(Sam Most)

12 - Skippy

(Ronnie Woellmer)

13 - Blues Junction

(Quincy Jones)

14 - Just Tutshen

(Sam Most)

15 - My OId Flame

(Johnson, Coslow)

16 - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

(Cole Porter)

17 - Open House

(Ronnie Woellmer)

18 - Give Me The Simply Live

(R. Bloom, H. Ruby)

19 - Everything Happens To Me

(M. Dennis, T. Adair)

#1 to #4: from the album Introducing a New Star: Sam Most (Prestige EP-1322)

Doug Mettome (trumpet), Sam Most (flute, clarinet), Chuck Wayne (guitar),

Dick Hyman (piano), Clyde Lombardi (bass), Jackie Moffett (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 10, 1952

#5 to #10: from the album Sam Most Quartet Plus Two (Debut DLP-11)

#11: from album Hall of Fame (Design DLP 29)

Doug Mettome (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Sam Most (flute, clarinet), 

Bob Dorough (piano), Percy Heath (bass), Louie Bellson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 29, 1953

#12 to #19: from the album Sam Most Sextet (Vanguard VRS-8014)

Sam Most (flute, clarinet), Marty Flax(baritone sax), Bill Triglia (piano), 

Barry Galbraith (guitar), Aaron Bell (bass), Bobby Donaldson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 3, 1954

Sam Most Sextet

One of the most difficult feats in modern jazz is the formation of a "new sound", one that will have musical validity as well a commercial acceptance. Every type of instrument, from the harmonica to de harpsichord, has been utilized, and in 1955 the flute is emerging as a favored instrument.

Sam Most is equally at home on the clarinet and flute. His brother, Abe, was for years one of the great jazz clarinetist, with Les Brown and other bands, before settling down to the security of Hollywood studio work. Sam studied at Juillard and played with a variety of orchestras before joining the Mat Matthews Quintet. 

Like many classically-trained younger jazz musicians, Sam Most is primarily concerned with experimental rhythmic and harmonic patterns. He prefers the discipline of arrangements to the usual free-wheeling collective improvisations of the Vanguard jazz sessions. The result is that three of the outstanding composer-arrangers of modern jazz did the writing for this session; Hall Overton, Quincy Jones, and Ronnie Woelmer. *John Hammond (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Skippy

(Woelmer)

2 - Give Me The Single Life

(Ruby, Bloom)

3 - My Old Flame

(Johnson, Coslow)

4 - Just Tutshen

(Most)

Side 2

5 - Blues Junction

(Quincy Jones)

6 - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

(Porter)

7 - Everything Happens To Me

(Adair, Dennis)

8 - Open House

(Woelmer)

Sam Most (clarinet, flute), Marty Flax (baritone sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Bill Triglia (piano), Aaron Bell (bass), Bobby Donaldson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 3, 1954. 

Coleman Hawkins And The Big Sax Section

For much of Coleman Hawkins' post-1940 career, the tenor saxophonist fronted quartets, quintets and other small groups. When he did play with full-size orchestras, Hawk was typically the featured soloist, not a sit-down, chart-reading member of the reed section. So unfortunately you don't often get to hear how the flavor of a superb reed section might change with Hawk's mighty tenor as part of the mix.

Hawk also didn't play much with Count Basie's band. Which makes perfect sense, since Hawk and Lester Young, Basie's star tenor saxophonist, were intense rivals. Hawk recorded with Basie on only a few occasions — in January 1941 as poll-winning members of the Metronome All Stars; with Basie's big band in April 1941 (Young was fronting his own band and working with Billie Holiday at the time); and in December 1957 for CBS' The Sound of Jazz, the noir TV jam session.

Long curious to know how Hawk's confident, cutting tone would sound within Basie's bluesy sax section, Savoy Records' producer Ozzie Cadena proposed a recording summit in early 1958. Hawk agreed, and Basie gave his blessing. So on April 24, right after Basie's band returned from a Canadian tour and just before Hawk left for Europe with Jazz at the Philharmonic, nine musicians converged on Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio in New Jersey. Cadena oversaw the session for World Wide Records.

For the date, Marshall Royal and Frank Wess were on alto saxes; Frank Foster and Hawk were on tenors; and Charlie Fowlkes was on baritone sax. The only reed player missing was Billy Mitchell, who had just joined Basie months earlier on tenor and was the sax player dropped to make room for Hawk. The rhythm section featured guitarist Freddie Green and bassist Eddie Jones, both Basie-ites, and Bobby Donaldson on drums and Nat Pierce on piano.

To ensure that the session went off without a scoring hitch, Cadena turned to rock-solid Billy Ver Planck for the swinging arrangements. Ver Planck, a trombonist, had written for the Jimmy Dorsey and Claude Thornhill bands, and in 1958 was recording for Savoy.

The result was Coleman Hawkins Meets the Saxophone Section, which was first released on World Wide to show off the label's newfound stereo capability. Recorded only in stereo (rather than mono and stereo), many jazz listeners passed on the LP, since the more expensive stereo format was relatively new technology and most people had only mono equipment. Ultimately, the recording also was released on Savoy as Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section.

The five tracks recorded that day included three blues and two show tunes —"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" and "There Is Nothing Like a Dame". The first track on the album, "Ooga Dooga", is particularly fascinating given that Hawk does not solo. Instead, you get to hear how the section sounds with Hawk as one of two tenors reading down Ver Planck's charts. The standards also are stunning swingers, with Hawk tearing in and out of Frederick Lowe's loping Face and Richard Rodgers' charging "Dame".

For my money, Coleman Hawkins Meets the Saxophone Section may be one of the best and most robust reed-themed albums ever recorded. Every track lives up to the album's title, and you get everything you expect, from the sauciest blues to street-smart standards. There isn't a bad note on the album. It's just a shame that another five tracks weren't captured that day. *Marc Myers*

This studio session for Savoy finds the great Hawkins playing as part of a five-piece sax section. Actually the other saxophonists and part of the rhythm section were taken from the Count Basie Orchestra and outfitted with arrangements by Billy Ver Planck. They play a variety of little-known but swinging material; the logical charts and high-quality solos make this LP well worth acquiring. *Scott Yanow*

A thoroughly swinging and wonderfully arranged session. There is the essence of swinging the blues all through the set. The Basie sax and rhythm section (with Nat Pierce siting in for Basie) are absolutely wonderful! A must have performance! *David M. Robinson*

1 - Ooga Dooga

(Coleman Hawkins)

2 - I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face

 (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner)

3 - Thanks For The Misery (master take)

 (Billy Ver Planck)

4 - An Evening At Papa Joe's

 (Frank Foster)

5 - There Is Nothin' Like A Dame

(Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)

6 - Thanks For The Misery

(Billy Ver Planck)

Coleman Hawkins, Frank Foster (tenor saxes); Frank Wess, Marshall Royal (alto saxes); Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax); Nat Pierce (piano); Freddie Greene (guitar); Eddie Jones (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, April 24, 1958.

Billy Ver Planck Orchestra - Jazz For Playgirls

Billy Ver Planck is a highly respected arranger, composer and trombonist, husband of the brilliant singer Marlene Ver Planck (Marlene Paula Pampinella), surely one of the most underrated vocalists of the last three decades. This is one of the three or four albums he did for Savoy in the 1950s using a big-sounding nine-piece band containing such notable soloists as trombonist Bill Harris, also saxist Phil Woods, trumpeter Joe Wilder and Eddie Costa doubling vibraphone and piano. The writing is excellent for it inspires the soloists and allows them space to deploy themselves. This was a particularly productive period for Woods, who takes off like a rocket on a number of tracks and is fea tured throughout "Whoo-ee!". The unique sound that was Bill Harris is still a joy, and when Ver Planck takes over the solo trombone role on one track it is obvious who he admires. The playing time could be better, but the work of Ver Planck and his colleagues is above reproach.

A nine man ball! Yes, that’s the best way to describe the exciting occurence in jazz captured in the enclosed album. Billy Ver Planck, versatile young trombonist-writer, has composed and arranged seven superb essays for jazz nonet that are sure to capture the vote of every jazz fan! Featuring the brilliant Bill Harris and Phil Woods, Seldon Powell, Eddie Costa, Joe Wilder and "a cast of thousands" as the ads say! Ver Planck and Ozzie Cadena, SAVOY A&R chief, have collaborated and individually contributed tunes, that Billy has given a wide range of interpretation. *H. Alan Stein (liner notes)*

A good straight ahead 1957 nonet album arranged and conducted by little known Billy Ver Planck featuring the alto sax of Phil Woods and the trombone of ex Woody Herman trombonist Bill Harris. One or the other, or both, solo on every track with occasional trumpet or tenor sax solo as well. 

The sequencing here is perfect beginning with the most popular tune first, although Horace Silver had just recorded it the previous year. Billy raises the tempo perhaps hoping to get some radio airplay too and the down tempo tunes are well placed. My only minor objection is the vibraphone playing of Eddie Costa on the longest track, comping behind Harris's playing and then taking a Lionel Hampton like solo of his own detracting a bit from the straight ahead nature of the album. Costa plays piano on the rest album. Keep a ear out for Phil Wood's cool but brief clarinet solo on "Winds". *John M. (Amazon customer)*

Arranger Billy Ver Planck leads a nones on some hard-swinging numbers; all but Horace Silver's "Señor Blues" were composed either by Ver Planck or producer Ozzie Cadena. Starring on these spirited sides are trombonist Bill Harris (who is heard at his most exciting on "Play Girl Stroll"), altoist Phil Woods (doubling on clarinet), Eddie Costa (doubling on vibes and piano) and trumpeter Joe Wilder. Ver Planck's arrangements make the group sound twice as big as it was yet have the feel of a small combo. A highly recommended disc. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Señor Blues

(Horace Silver)

2 - Play Girl Stroll

(Ozzie Cadena)

3 - Aw, C'mon Sugah!

(Ozzie Cadena)

Side 2

4 - Whoo-ee!

(Ozzie Cadena)

5 - Miss Spring Blues

(Billy Ver Plank)

6 - Winds

(Billy Ver Plank)

7 - Du-udah-udah

(Billy Ver Plank)

#1 and #3 to #7:

Clyde Reasinger, Joe Wilder (trumpets); Bill Harris [#1 to #5], Billy Ver Planck [#6] (trombones); Phil Woods (alto sax); Seldon Powell (tenor sax); Gene Allen (baritone sax); Eddie Costa (vibes, piano); George Duvivier (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums). 

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, November 17, 1957

#2

Bernie Glow, Phil Sunkel (trumpets), Bill Harris (trombone); Phil Woods (alto sax); Seldon Powell (tenor sax); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Eddie Costa (vibes, piano); Wendell Marshall (bass); Gus Johnson (drums). 

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, July 30, 1957

Billy Ver Planck (Arranger and conductor)