Five-Star Collection... Power-Packed Trombones

The Trombones Inc.

Jazz has been the scene of a battle of sorts for some time now. Though semantics have generally been the weapons, musicians in the east have traveled their own route and have cast a disparaging eye on the goings on of their colleagues on the Pacific. The latter similarly have come to be identified with a movement sometimes known as "the west coast school of jazz", which they in turn consider superior to the work of musicians in the east. All to the travail of you the listener. This melange has somewhat been abated by various west coast and east coast albums, but no recorded panacea existed to settle the argument once and for all.

The idea of doing an album in which both schools of jazz were heard goes back to a part-time valve trombonist named Jim Conkling who, it might be added, had the idea once before. This reformed cornet player has been in the habit lately of doubling as president of large record companies, first Columbia Records and now Warner Bros., and having instigated the first homage to the seventh position — "Jai & Kai Plus Six" on Columbia — he thought it might be fun to have twenty trombonists do battle, coast-to-coast. The fact that only ten trombonists from each coast would blow at one time helped the mind cope with this proposition, and accordingly, plans were drafted to make this mad, mad project come true. Come true it did, but gloriously. *George Avakian (liner notes)*

If our arithmetic is correct, 27 trombonists participated in the making of this disc— divided into two groups, one on the west coast, the other on the east, and subdivided further by substitutions. The product is (a) a veritable Who’s Who of modern jazz trombone players, (b) a remarkable exercise in virtuosity for arrangers Johnson, Paich and Barker, (c) a revelation of the richness of trombone, and (d), some sort of apex in the career of the trombone itself.

There are 15th century paintings that show the instrument largely as it is today. But is wasn't until the early 19th century that composers, including Berlioz, began to explore its possibilities. And it remained for the jazz musicians of 20th century America to find out what trombones could really do. If you doubt that, listen to any average symphony trombonist struggling through the solo in Ravel's Bolero, even today.

This record is a great tribute to the skill and authority jazz musicians developed on the instrument. It is perhaps impossible to sort out the individual performances on this disc to cite them for merit, but solos and ensemble work are due for high praise. It is safe to say that no instrument but trombone has the variety of colors to permit a recording like this. So enormous are the possibilities of trombone, and so well have Paich, Barker and Johnson exploited them, that you rarely miss the other sections, rarely realize that you're hearing trombones, only trombones, and nothing but trombones (except for that tuba Paich snuck in for three tracks).

The Harvard Dictionary of Music says that "since the movement from position to position requires a certain amount of time, a true legato is not possible on the trombone". Its editor had better hear this disc before the next edition is prepared. *Down Beat, July 9, 1959 [5 stars]*

1 - Neckbones

(J. J. Johnson)

2 - Dues Blues

(J. J. Johnson)

3 - Long Before I Knew You

(Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn)

4 - Soft Winds

(Benny Goodman)

5 - Tee Jay

(J. J. Johnson)

6 - Lassus Trombone

(Henry Fillmore)

7 - It's All Right With Me

(Cole Porter)

8 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

9 - Old Devil Moon

(Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg)

10 - Impossible

(Steve Allen)

11 - Heat Wave

(Irving Berlin)

#1:

Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Eddie Bert, Benny Powell,

Bob Brookmeyer, Melba Liston, Henry Coker, Benny Green (trombones);

Dick Hickson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Wendell Marshall (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 26, 1958

#2, #4:

Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Eddie Bert, Benny Powell,

Bob Brookmeyer, Melba Liston, Bob Alexander, Benny Green (trombones);

Dick Hickson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 29, 1958

#3, #5:

Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, Henry Coker,

Melba Liston, Benny Powell, Frank Rehak (trombones);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Dick Hixson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 31, 1958

#6, #9, #10:

Joe Howard, Herbie Harper, Frank Rosolino, Dick Nash, Ed Kusby,

Tommy Pederson, Murray McEachern, Marshall Cram (trombones);

George Roberts, Kenny Shroyer (bass trombones); Marty Paich (piano); 

Barney Kessel (guitar); Red Mitchell (bass); Mel Lewis (drums); Mike Pacheco (bongos).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, December 5, 1958

#7, #8, #11:

Bob Enevoldsen, Milt Bernhardt, Bob Fitzpatrick, Joe Howard,

Lewis McCreary, Frank Rosolino, Dave Wells (trombones);

George Roberts (bass trombone), Stu Williamson (valve trombone);

John Kitzmiller (tuba); Marty Paich (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, December 3, 1958

Arranged by J. J. Johnson (#1 to #5), Warren Barker (#6, #9, #10) and Marty Paich (#7, #8, #11)

Five-Star Collection... Thomas Talbert

Thomas Talbert

Bix • Duke • Fats

Leon Beiderbecke, Edward Ellington and Thomas Waller were three card-holding musicians, getting their money every Friday, playing a cornet and a couple of pianos, and writing their compositions. They are known in the jazz world's casual I-want-to-be-one-of-the-gang style, as Bix, Duke and Fats. Where the aficionados gather, no further identification is necessary. Bix did most of his writing in the latter twenties. Fats swung right up to his death in 1943. Some of his last work, written for the show, Early To Bed, was his best. Duke Ellington is still very much on the scene and working constantly. The thirties and early forties were a highly creative period for him.

(...)

Fats led a small group of good men. They were mainly a foil for his contagious, exuberant and slyly humorous personality. Bix worked through the Midwest with many small combinations. He played in Gene Goldkette’s bands. Except for recording with small pickup groups, he played his last years with Paul Whiteman. It is said that Henry Busse received the larger share of the hot chair parts. Duke Ellington has been a leader from the beginning, composing and arranging for his own band in prolific quantity.

But they all worked the country's saloons where jazz grew up. This is a world apart from the Broadway, West End or Hollywood composer who has only the current show on his mind. And with the lyricist to carry the day if the tune goes false. They were right in the midst of the instruments that were making the pulse that jazz is all about. And there's the tie-in for an album such as this. Three styles, yes... but all stemming from the same background. *Thomas Talbert (liner notes, 1956)*

The world has changed so much since this music was recorded but the beauty of the compositions has remained constant. I spent a lot of time selecting the material for the album and then the arrangements were written in four late summer weeks. Bond Street, the first, was  finished August 19 and the last, Orange Bright on  September 13. The final recording, the  Ellington tune with ten men, was September 14. There was an individual session for each composer as I used a different instrumentation to enhance how I heard each of their voices.

I remember the warm fall evening, after the Beiderbecke session, as my friend and copyist George Green and I walked west on Forty-second Street. It was not as bizarre a  locale then and we were going to meet Joe Wilder at Dixon's on Eighth Avenue for an early dinner. I was filled with satisfied accomplishment as we quietly spoke of the chamber-music recording challenge and of Joe's marvelous playing. It was a good day and the Wilder solos still soar.

They all did. What a joy it is for an arranger to have his writing, his  dream, played with such verve and empathy. New York had a shine on it in the '50s and it was exhilarating to be part of it.

*Thomas Talbert (liner notes, 1993)*

This is a stunning piece of work by all concerned. Talbert's writing is fresh and moody, and the performances, particularly the solo work, are firstrate.

There is a smooth blend of the horns, spiced by some bright brass figures, in the arranged passages. As for the solos, it's difficult to describe them without using hand motions or including a copy of the record in the magazine.

Wilder emerges as a trumpet man of stature and delicacy. His taste and flexibility are particularly evident on the Beiderbecke pieces, Mist, Candlelight, and Dark. Galbraith also is heard soulfully on the Bix tracks. Cleveland and Bert split the trombone solo spots, with Jimmy percussively exciting and Bert blowing warmly and with restraint.

The Talbert original, Green Night, is a moody, impressionistic work with actually none of the flavor of the three men to whom homage is paid by this album, but rather a logical extension of the mood created by the compositions.

This album is no tribute in style to Bix, Fats, and Duke. Rather, it is a collection of creations based on their works, The closest to a literal reading is Duke's Koko, which smacks of period Ellington in the rich opening ensemble prodded by Pettiford's throbbing bass.

One final word should be said about Wallington, whose presence is a vital thing, and whose solos and fills are a delight to hear.

Packaging is handsome, with the cover perhaps the most attractive jazz cover presented in many months. Talbert's notes are literate and illuminating, a fine argument for having musicians or leaders write the words about their music.

This is a great record, conceived and executed with taste and artistry.

*Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, June 27, 1957 [5 stars])*

1 - Clothes Line Ballet

(Fats Waller)

2 - In A Mist

(Bix Beiderbecke)

3 - Bond Street

(Fats Waller)

4 - Prelude To A Kiss

(Duke Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills)

5 - Green Night & Orange Bright

(Thomas Talbert)

6 - Black And Blue

(Fats Waller, Andy Razaf, Harry Brooks)

7 - Candlelights

(Bix Beiderbecke)

8 - Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now

(Fats Waller, Andy Razaf)

9 - In The Dark

(Bix Beiderbecke)

10 - Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me & Ko-Ko

(Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) & (Duke Ellington)

Thomas "Tom" Talbert (arrangements, conductor)

#1, #3, #6, #8:

Joe Wilder, Nick Travis (trumpets); Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland (trombones);

Aaron Sachs (tenor sax, clarinet); George Wallington (piano);

Oscar Pettiford (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 24, 1956

#2, #7, #9:

Joe Wilder (trumpet), Jim Buffington (french horn), Joe Soldo (flute),

Danny Bank (clarinet, bass clarinet), Harold Goltzer (bassoon), Barry

Galbraith (guitar), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, September 7, 1956

#4, #5, #10:

Joe Wilder (trumpet), Eddie Bert (trombone), Jim Buffington (french horn),

Herb Geller (alto sax), Joe Soldo (alto sax, fute), Aaron Sachs (tenor sax, clarinet),

Danny Bank (baritone sax, bass clarinet), Claude Williamson (piano [#5]),

Barry Galbraith (guitar), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, September 14, 1956

Five-Star Collection... Michel Legrand

Michel Legrand

With Thirty-One American's Greatest Jazzmen

Featuring Miles Davis

Legrand Jazz

Among the many members of a diverse (it is international) and loyal (they have bought more than one million of his LP's) I Like Legrand Society, are those jazz musicians and arrangers who have, by chance mostly, come within earshot of Legrand recordings.

This brilliant young Frenchman has, with remarkable skill, charm, invention and wit, refreshingly introduced a new kind of musicianship into that too often banal and staggeringly prolific area of popular art that we categorically label "mood music", and the French, closer to the mark, call musique légère.

In many of his previous collections, Legrand has not only made frequent and startlingly¹ original use of the jazz musician as a soloist, but, by virtue of his dynamic ensemble scoring and happy understanding of what a rhythm section is supposed to do, has often managed to make his large orchestra swing in the best tradition of Basie, Lunceford, Ellington and (big band) Gillespie.

Michel Legrand (a multi-prize-winning graduate of the Paris Conservatoire) loves jazz with none of the tame enthusiasm, tinged with condescension of the academically oriented "serious" composer. His arrangements pointedly avoid the meaningless trickery of those highly skilled (and successful) popular arrangers who, from time to time, invest their work with "jazz feeling". Michel, still in his twenties, loves jazz with an almost boyish enthusiasm, with, if not a firsthand knowledge of its growth and environment, the kind of passionate devotion and astonishing erudition that European fans are wont to have. His feelings for several important jazz figures border on idolatry.

In the past, however, Legrand's jazz activities have been limited by both the nature of the recording assignments he has been given and the fact that in Paris, despite the liveliness of that city's jazz scene, the optimum conditions for producing a large-scale jazz figures border on idolatry.

And so, while on a visit to the United States in May and June of 1958, Michel Legrand recorded his first jazz LP. The writing was done during the first three weeks of June. The repertoire was chosen from the works of eleven important jazz composers, and the musicians, many of them familiar to Legrand only through their recordings, were selected from among the best then in New York.

Each arrangement was created with two major factors taken into consideration: 1) the styles and techniques of the participating instrumentalists and 2) the structure and mood of the original compositions.  

(...)

In almost every sense, Legrand Jazz must be considered "experimental". Yet, with all of its daring, with all of its surprises and moments of flashing virtuosity, it stays within the bounds of jazz. The beat, the spontaneity, the indefinable spirit of jazz is there. This album is the first work of a truly important new voice in a wilderness where new voices are all too often disembodied. We're looking forward to much more from this powerful, sincere and stimulating prodigy.

*Nat Shapiro (liner notes)*

Note ¹ : In the original 1958 liner notes, the word "startingly" appears. This seems to be a typographical error for "startlingly", which has been corrected in later reissues of the album.

The Michel Legrand we knew as the leader of a huge recording band for Columbia Records' mood music series here turns his hand to jazz with excellent, often startling results. The strength is in the soloists, for whom he wrote mostly ensemble heads and tails, and some interesting inside figures. The rest, they blew.

The roster is impressive, covering most of the modern greats and near-greats.

The Miles sides are superb. The writing is imaginative, tinged with the languid air of Gil Evans at his most soulful, and yet with something more. Django is a moving piece, brilliantly scored, and played by Davis with a cry of anguish. Midnight is short and fragile. Wild Man is a truly contemporary treatment of the Jelly Roll tune, rich with modern writing and blowing.

The trombone sides, solo-wise least effective of the lot, are brightened by the prodding masculinity of Webster's horn. He saves Rosetta and is tremendous on Blue And Sentimental. The trombones have Don't Get Around Much to themselves as a choir, with strong overtones of Kenton in the voicing.

The trumpet sides have highs and lows, but in the soloing more than the writing. In A Mist is an extremely curious treatment of the wispy Beiderbecke song, but it has Rehak's best solo on it. The ending is like running into Jack The Ripper in the mist. The trumpet chases in Tunisia almost, but not quite, crackle into open fire.

While hardly experimental writing, Legrand's scoring is more than a wrap-up of the tunes in an acceptable order for X number of horns. Instead, it is extremely skillful probing (with the exception —Mist — noted) of the vitals of a song, and the careful polishing of a setting for the solo horns. There are many, many rewarding moments on the set, and it’s to be hoped that this doesn't comprise all of Legrand jazz. The scene, it appears, can use a dash of continental spice about now.

*Dom Cerulli, (Down Beat, March 19, 1959 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - The Jitterbug Waltz

(Thomas Waller)

2 - Nuages

(Django Reinhardt)

3 - Night In Tunisia

(John Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)

4 - Blue And Sentimental

(Mack David, Jerry Livingston, William Count Basie)

5 - Stompin' At The Savoy

(Andy Razaf, Benny Geodman, Chick Webb, Edgar M. Sampson)

6 - Django

(John Lewis)

Side 2

7 - Wild Man Blues

(Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton)

8 - Rosetta

(William Henri Woode, Earl Hines)

9 - 'Round Midnight

(Thelonius Monk)

10 - Don't Get Around Much Anymore

(Sidney Keith Russell, Duke Ellington)

11 - In A Mist

(Bix Beiderbecke)

#1, #6, #7, #9:

Michel Legrand (conductor, arranger),

Miles Davis (trumpet), Herbie Mann (flute), Betty Glamann (harp),

Barry Galbraith (guitar), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Phil Wood (alto sax),

Jerome Richarson (baritone sax, bass clarinet), Eddie Costa (vibes),

Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Kenny Dennis (drums). 

Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York City, June 25, 1958

#2, #4, #8, #10:

Michel Legrand (conductor, arranger);

Herbie Mann (flute); Ben Webster (tenor sax);

Frank Rehak , Billy Byers, Jimmy Cleveland, Eddie Bert (trombones);

Mayor Holley (bass, tuba); Hank Jones (piano);

George Duvivier (bass); Don Lamond (drums).  

Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York City, June 27, 1958

 

#3, #5, #11:

Michel Legrand (conductor, arranger);

Ernie Royal, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Joe Wilder (trumpets);

Frank Rehak,y Jimmy Cleveland (trombones); Gene Quill, Phil Woods (alto saxes);

Seldon Powell (tenor sax); Teo Macero (baritone sax); James Buffington (french horn);

Don Elliot (vibes); Nat Pierce (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York City, June 30, 1958 

Gigi Gryce: Jazz with Purpose

Gigi Gryce

Orchestra And Quartet

There are few musicians as well qualified from both the standpoints of academic training and "gigging" in jazz who also are as intensely dedicated as Gigi Gryce. He is a warm, human person whose writing and playing have the love, happiness, sadness and pain which any jazzman with a heart and soul will impart to his listeners. Gigi has paid dues to the union called life. 

Although Gigi has participated in a number of LP recordings both writing and playing, this is the first one under his own name where he is carrying out his own ideas in a manner which he most desired. 

Today, with the 12 inch LP the dominant vehicle for the recorded presentation of jazz, much more space is available to the musician. Unfortunately there are too many 10 inch LPs being stretched beyond the satiation point to appease a merchandising trend. In this LP Gigi has used his talent together with the knowledge of how to utilize it. There is a definite purpose achieved in the contrast and pacing; the two different groups, different in size and spirit with the flexibility and blowing freedom of the quartet on one side, and the synthesis of writing, blowing and singing on the band side. 

The orchestra's personnel will remind those of you who are perceptive of the short lived Miles Davis group of 1949 which made such a deep impression on the jazz of the Fifties but which was never physically used again. Gigi felt that this instrumentation should not be neglected because of its tremendous possibilities of different tonal colors, dynamics, ranges and voicings. He wanted to get away from the brassy sound of the usual jazz band of this size. Gigi was consciously striving for something that every type of listener could enjoy, something that would not all fall into any one category. 

Gigi describes (the quartet sessions) as one of the most relaxed recording sessions in which he has ever played. After setting up the themes, everything was spontaneous even to the length of the solos. There is much to be gleaned, as always, from Monk's originals and the one which Gigi contributed is up to his usual high standard. 

The interplay between Gigi and Monk creates much excitement. In many instances, they take turns at carrying the harmony.Monk's presence alone was inspiring to Gigi. They first met in Boston in 1949 when they played together at the Hi Hat. Since then they have stayed in touch musically and socially. *Ira  Gitler (from the liner notes)*

On the first six, Gigi heads a unit consisting of Art Farmer, trumpet; Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, trombones; Danny Bank, Cecil Payne, baritones; Gunther Schuller, Julius Watkins, French horns; Bill Barber, tuba; Horace Silver, piano; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, drums; and on two, Ernestine Anderson, vocalist. The only weak band is Gigi's ballad, "The One I Love". It's rather routine melodic profile and surprisingly cliche-filled lyrics don't belong in this set although the attractively sounding Miss Anderson does the best she can. She is better served by Gigi's "Social Call", to which Jon Hendricks had added apt lyrics.

The remainder of the side is marked by the freshness of Gigi’s writing (and of the one Horace Silver original), the quality of the solos, and the swinging ensemble empathy of all concerned. (Listen to the band especially on "Smoke Signal").

The differently exciting second side consists of a quartet date with Gigi, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey. The first three characteristic originals are by Monk while the last is Gigi's. On both sides, Gigi blows some of his best alto on record. He has learned to discipline his improvising imagination while retaining his swinging passion. Monk is in fine, relaxed, incisive form. Heath is excellent and Blakey constantly cooks (and solos well in "Nica's Tempo").

As is Signal’s custom, the album is very well recorded, lucidly annotated (by Ira Gitler), and faced with a distinguished cover (by Harold Feinstein). Strongly recommended.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 7, 1956)*

Side 1

The Gigi Gryce Orchestra

1 - Speculation

(Horace Silver)

2 - In A Meditating Mood

(Gigi Gryce)

3 - Social Call

(G. Gryce, J. Hendricks)

4 - Smoke Signal

(Gigi Gryce)

5 - (You'll Always Be) The One I Love

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - Kerry Dance

(J. Molloy)

Side 2

The Gigi Gryce Quartet

7 - Shuffle Boil

(Thelonious Monk)

8 - Brake's Sake

(Thelonious Monk)

9 - Gallop's Gallop

(Thelonious Monk)

10 - Nica's Tempo

(Gigi Gryce)

#1, #2, #4, #6:

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Cleveland [as "James Van Dyke"] (trombone),

Gunther Schuller (french horn), Bill Barber (tuba), Danny Bank (baritone sax),

Horace Silver (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).

#3, #5: 

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Eddie Bert (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Bill Barber (tuba), Cecil Payne (baritone sax),

Horace Silver (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Art Blakey (drums), Ernestine Anderson (vocals).

#7 to #10: 

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Thelonious Monk (piano), Percy Heath (bass), Art Blakey (batería).

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey,

October 15 (#7 to #10) and October 22 (#1 to #6), 1955.

Al Cohn and Shorty Rogers - Equal and Different

Al Cohn • Shorty Rogers

East Coast — West Coast Scene

This album is in no way a contest, but a sincere effort to bring about a comparison of East and West Coast styles. Everything was essayed on an equal footing — the same 

instrumentation was used, an outstanding arranger-soloist of each school was chosen as leader, individual members were allowed considerable latitude for an exhibition of their solo capacities. Consequently, most of the arrangements are of the loose variety, within which the leaders and sidemen are able to demonstrate their improvisational talents. That is why this album has two sets of notes, just as it has two absolutely distinct types of modern jazz. Each different in its own peculiar way, each offering a musical excitement of the highest order. *Jack Lewis (liner notes)*

⁂

About Al Cohn and His "Charlie's Tavern" Ensemble:

Take a group of top-flight jazz musicians, put them in a room to themselves — even in "Charlie's Tavern," the established oasis of New York jazzmen — and it's a safe bet that they'll come up with some pretty wild music. But take a group of East Coast instrumentalists, put them in a small, but wonderfully active recording studio, and  it's an equally sure thing that they'll "cut" just about anything anyone has to offer. For swinging jazz in a modern idiom I'll take the East — in Charlie's Tavern it's Al Cohn three to one.

In the final analysis, there may not be a great deal to choose from between jazz of these two coastal schools — each is obviously loaded with men of enormous invention and talent. But, as representative of what is happening in the environs of Manhattan, these sides are wonderfully expressive of what comparisons are being made. *Bill Zeitung (liner notes)*

⁂

About Shorty Rogers and His Augmented Giants:

The West Coast jazz scene has for some time been almost completely dominated by Shorty Rogers who has kept modern jazz alive when many despaired of anything but Dixieland living through the famine. In his writing and playing he has almost single-handedly created and nurtured a definite West Coast style. The loose, swinging beat, the complex harmonies that have more than ever before brought a rapport between classical music and jazz — above all, the constant experimenting for something new in voicing, instrumentation or phrasing — all these things help to define the West Coast style, the Shorty Rogers style. The two are inseparable.

This record is, I fell, a fine demonstration of the West Coast jazz scene. The best man in the area, truly great arrangements by Shorty, variety of tempos — the musicians could ask no more, nor could the listener. Here are some of the finest things happening in jazz today, played by the most articulate spokesmen — the West Coast jazzmen themselves. *Paul Krupa (liner notes)*

A classic session in the tried and true marketing style of "East Coast vs West Coast" jazz, with one side of tracks by a group led by Al Cohn, and featuring Gene Quill, Hal McKusick, and Joe Newman. The other side's got Shorty Rogers representin' on the West Coast, with Jimmy Giuffre, Zoot Sims, Bud Shank, and Shelly Manne. The album's a nice batch of tracks, in the tightly arranged style that characterizes many of these mid-50's RCA jazz sessions. However, since Cohn's measured playing could never really be taken for New York Hot, and since his longtime partner Zoot Sims is part of Rogers' West Coast group, it's hard to say that these sides are really any sort of true battle between the coasts. Instead, though, the tracks are nice and long, with more room for solos than usual, and titles that include "Loki", "Cool Sunshine", and "Inside Out". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Inside Out

(Al Cohn)

2 - Autumn Leaves

(Joseph Kosma)

3 - Serenade For Kathy

(Al Cohn)

Side 2

4 - Cool Sunshine

(Shorty Rogers)

5 - Loki

(Shorty Rogers)

6 - Elaine's Lullaby

(Shorty Rogers)

#1 to #3: Al Cohn And His Charlie's Tavern Ensemble

Joe Newman (trumpet); Eddie Bert, Billy Byers (trombones);

Hal McKusick, Gene Quill (alto saxes)

Al Cohn (tenor sax); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Sanford Gold (piano);

Billy Bauer (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, October 26, 1954

#4 to #6: Shorty Rogers And His Augmented Giants

Shorty Rogers (trumpet); Milt Bernhart, Bob Enevoldsen (trombones); Zoot Sims (tenor sax);

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax); Lennie Niehaus, Bud Shank (alto saxes);

Pete Jolly (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Curtis Counce (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, September 11, 1954

Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre

Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre:

Altoist Lee Konitz is showcased during a set of adventurous Bill Russo arrangements for an orchestra and strings in 1958, pops up on half of Ralph Burns' underrated 1951 classic Free Forms (the most enjoyable of the four sets), and meets up with baritonist Jimmy Giuffre, whose arrangements for five saxes (including the great tenor Warne Marsh) and a trio led by pianist Bill Evans are sometimes equally influenced by classical music and bop. The least interesting date showcases Giuffre’s clarinet with a string section on his five-part "Piece For Clarinet And String Orchestra" and the 16 brief movements of "Mobiles". *vinylpussycat.com*

These two virtuoso reed players are among the most intrepid improvisers in jazz. In the Forties, Konitz was the alternative voice to Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, playing with a pure, cool sound, and he first came to prominence with the Miles Davis nine-piece band.

Lee Konitz meets Jimmy Giuffre, and it's a small masterpiece of pure jazz. Konitz is the main soloist on nine tracks of standards, ballads and originals, all beautifully scored by Giuffre for five saxophones plus a rhythm section of pianist Bill Evans, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Ronnie Free. The music swings effortlessly and has the added joy of solos by Evans, the late great tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh and Giuffre himself, who plays baritone sax. *classical-music.com*

You And Lee:

A treasure! This album has been long out of print, although it was available on some compilations.

Before I proceed give the sound samples on You And Lee  a listen to get a sense of this album. For one thing, it's more of a big band ensemble. However, the arrangements by Jimmy Giuffre lift this into a different vibe than your typical big band fare. There is a definite West Coast touch to this album. Another feature is the rhythm section, which features Bill Evans on piano leading on most tracks, and Jim Hall on guitar on the remaining ones. That, too, gives this album a distinctive sound without breaking the continuity of the overall listening experience.

This was recorded in New York City for Verve on October 29 and 30, 1959. The core ensemble is comprised of Konitz on alto sax accompanied by a trumpet section (Marky Markowitz, Ernie Royal, Phil Sunkel), a trombone section (Eddie Bert and Billy Byers, with Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone), Bill Evans on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Sonny Dallas on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. *Mike Tarrani*

One of the lesser-known Lee Konitz albums, this LP features the altoist joined by six brass and a rhythm section for eight Jimmy Giuffre arrangements. The shouting brass contrasts well with Konitz's cool-toned solos and together they perform eight underplayed standards. Guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans (who are on four songs apiece) are major assets behind Konitz on this pleasing set. * Scott Yanow*

Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre

Featuring Bill Evans

This release presents the complete Lee Konitz albums You and Lee , and Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre . These were Konitz and Bill Evans' earliest studio collaborations: on the first LP the pianist only played on one of the two sessions (Jim Hall replaced him on the other one), while on the second Evans was featured throughout the entire album. Both works were taped in 1959, and although Konitz and Evans had been previously recorded together in a concert setting, and would be taped in the same fashion during a 1965 European tour, their only other studio LP collaboration was the pianist’s 1977 album Crosscurrents. The great Jimmy Giuffre also participated on both records – on the first as arranger, and on the second as arranger and performer. *jazzmessengers.com*

Merged from two brilliant 1959 studio sessions, this disc is, just as the title and artist credits suggest, a showcase for three immense talents. Those expecting to hear the snap-crackle of Roy Haynes' snare or Bob Brookmeyer's punctuated counterpoints after reading the all-star lineup may be surprised to hear them relegated to the background, but any disappointment will end there. The brilliant playing of Lee Konitz and Bill Evans, paired with Jimmy Giuffre's sensitive arrangements, is enough to satisfy any true jazz lover.

Assembled for the album Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre, the first band, a quintet of saxophones backed by the rhythmic underpinnings of Evans, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Ronnie Free, immediately shows its musicality on the angular, quasi-atonal "Palo Alto. After a rundown of the pointillistic Giuffre arrangement, Konitz jumps in and alternately toys with and floats over the buoyantly swinging rhythm section and airy horn backgrounds. Konitz and Evans solo at length on "Somp'm Outa' Nothin'", which can only be described as a blues that has a hard time getting off the "one" chord. The arrangement is quintessential Guiffre, with its dense tone clusters and recurring rhythmic pedal; Evans takes incredible liberties with the harmonic structure and shows an early affinity for Monk.

Following a chamber-jazz reworking of "Darn That Dream", in which Giuffre masterfully exploits the subtle harmonic movements using a quintet of saxophones, the album is rounded out with a number of tracks from the '59 album You And Lee. Recorded five months after the initial Konitz/Giuffre studio session, this date finds a trio of trumpets and trombones replacing the saxophone section and adding a distinct edge to the music. Konitz is clearly the leader here; his probing, inventive solos are featured throughout the lineup of reworked standards, and the comping work is split by Evans' piano and the earthy guitar of Jim Hall. The tunes, especially "You Don't Know What Love Is", show Konitz at his best. He dazzles the listener with his sensitivity and invention and revels in the shimmering, transparent beauty evoked by Giuffre's arrangements. *Matthew Miller*

1 - Somp'm Outa' Nothin'

(Giuffre)

2 - Someone To Watch Over Me

(Gershwin, Gershwin)

3 - Uncharted

(Giuffre)

4 - Moonlight In Vermont

(Suessedorf, Blackburn)

5 - The Song Is You

(Kern, Hammerstein)

6 - Palo Alto

(Konitz)

7 - Darn That Dream

(VanHeusen, DeLange)

8 - When Your Lover Has Gone

(Swan)

9 - Cork 'n Bib

(Konitz)

10 - I’m Getting Sentimental Over You

(Bassman, Washington)

11 - You Don't Know What Love Is

(Raye, DePaul)

12 - I Didn't Know About You

(Ellington, Russell)

13 - Ev'rything I've Got (Belongs To You)

(Rodgers, Hart)

14 - You're Clear Out Of This

(Arlen, Mercer)

15 - You Are Too Beautiful

(Rodgers, Hart)

16 - The More I See You

(Warren, Gordon)

17 - You're Driving Me Crazy

(Donaldson)

#1 to #9: from the album Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre (Verve Records MG V-8335)

Lee Konitz, Hal McKusick (as); Warne Marsh, Ted Brown (ts); Jimmy Giuffre (bs); Bill Evans (p); Buddy Clark (b); Ronnie Free (d).

Recorded in New York City, May 12 (#1 to #5) and May 13 (#6 to #9), 1959.

#10 to #17: from the album You And Lee (Verve Records MG V-8362)

Ernie Royal, Irving "Marky" Markowitz, Phil Sunkel (tp); Bob Brookmeyer (v-tb); Eddie Bert [except #14 to #17], Billy Byers (tb); Lee Konitz (as); Bill Evans [except #14 to #17](p); Jim Hall [#14 to #17](g); Sonny Dallas (b); Roy Haynes (d). Jimmy Giuffre (arranger).

Recorded in New York City, October 29 (#10 to #13) and October 30 (#14 to #17), 1959.

Phil Sunkel - His Jazz Band And His Music

Phil Sunkel II born as Philip Charles Sunkel, Jr. on November 26, 1925 in Zanesville, Ohio.

After serving in the Army in WWII at age 18 (combat and playing trumpet for the Army Band) overseas, he returned home and went to the Cincinnati Conservatory on the G.I. Bill where he honed his trumpet, flugelhorn, and cornet skills. He ended up in New York City in the 1950's and 60's, which was an exciting and vibrant time for jazz. In addition to albums of his own Jazz Concerto Grosso, and Every Morning I Listen to Phil Sunkel's Jazz Band, he appeared live and on numerous jazz albums as a sideman with the likes of Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans, Tito Rodriguez, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Sauter-Finegan, Claude Thornhill, Charlie Barnet, Dick Meldonian, and many others. He was the trumpet player on the Merv Griffin Show in the early 1960's and played with the Playboy Club Orchestra for seven years, he played at numerous resorts, and played for Broadway musicals. He died on February 27, 2023 in his sleep in a nursing home in Queens, New York. *Walter Bruyninckx*

Phil Sunkel, cornet and trumpet player, was born in 1925 in Zanesville, Ohio. He played with the Claude Thornhill, Charlie Barnet, Stan Getz, Sauter-Finegan, Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans and Tito Rodriguez bands. Leaving his role as a soloist aside, Phil mainly stood out as an arranger and composer of talent, being these recordings his most celebrated works and the only ones he did as a leader.

My idea of a jazzband, he said is something between a small combo and a big band incorporating the good features of both. Here we have the flexibility of a small group which allows the soloist a maximum of freedom, plus the color and drama produced by the different ensemble sounds.

The further possibilities of using a three voice group superimposed on a similarly conceived orchestral backdrop originated Sunkels most ambitious and outstanding work: "Jazz Concerto Grosso". *Jordi Pujol*

Phil Sunkel's name is unjustly missing from a lot of jazz reference works, though his considerable resume as a sideman includes recordings with Hal McKusick, Al Cohn, Lawrence Brown, Urbie Green, Gerry Mulligan, Erroll Garner, Jimmy Giuffre, Lee Konitz and Gil Evans, to name only a few. This first-call trumpeter evidently only made two records as a leader, both of them for ABC-Paramount in the mid-'50s. This album was the first under his own name, with a tentet including baritone saxophonist Gene Allen, alto saxophonist Dick Meldonian, trombonist Gene Hessler, and trumpeter Al Stewart. Sunkel's precise trumpet solos never fail to swing yet don't resort to showboating. His cool arrangements are comparable to those of Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer, with most of the music devoted to Sunkel's tasty originals. *Ken Dryden*

Phil Sunkel's Jazz Band

Every Morning I Listen To... Phil Sunkel's Jazz Band

My idea of a jazzband is something between a small combo and a big band incorporating the good features of both. Here we have the flexibility of a small group which allows the soloist a maximum of freedom, plus the color and drama produced by the different ensemble sounds.

All the arrangements here were conceived with the purpose in mind of creating vehicles for the soloists ideas. Backgrounds were kept at a minimum and used only where they would enhance rather than distort the soloists ideas.

This album was recorded in three separate sessions — May 13, May 23, and June 14, 1956 in New York City. The same personnel was used throughout. Our intentions were to produce some happy spirited music. We had fun making this album and we hope you enjoy it.

*Phil Sunkel (liner notes)*

The set features a tight brace of three trumpets in the lead, alongside trombone, alto, tenor, and baritone — almost an extension of the sounds crafted at the tail end of the swing years, but with some nice modernist inflections too — somewhere in a space between Woody Herman and Stan Kenton, with lots of nice hues and tones in the horns. *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

1 - Jack's Theme

(Phil Sunkel)

2 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(Van Heusen, Burke)

3 - Train Ride

(Phil Sunkel)

4 - Old Wives' Tales

(Phil Sunkel)

5 - Every Mornin'

(Phil Sunkel)

Side 2

6 - How Strange

(Prozorowsky, Brent, Stothart, Kahn)

7 - The Animal Man

(Phil Sunkel)

8 - Chomp, Chomp Blues

(Phil Sunkel)

9 - Joe, The Architect

(Phil Sunkel)

10 - T. Blues

(Phil Sunkel)

Phil Sunkel, Al Stewart, Siggy Shatz (trumpets); Gene Hessler (trombone); Dick Meldonian (alto sax); Buddy Arnold (tenor sax); Gene Allen (baritone sax); George Syran (piano); Bob Petersen (bass); Harold Granowsky (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 13, May 29 and June 14, 1956.

***

Gerry Mulligan And Bob Brookmeyer

Play Phil Sunkel's Jazz Concerto Grosso

I have always been fascinated by the acoustical and rhythmic possibilities of three voice writing. My first opportunity to do something professional in this direction came in 1955 when I joined the Stan Getz Sextet. Stan had previously commissioned me to write some things for his quintet and it was from this material that I now drew and enlarged upon to meet the needs of the new group. The instrumentation was valve trombone, cornet, and tenor backed by bass, drums and piano. The soft broad qualities of the valve trombone and cornet blended well with Stan's warm tenor sound and the resulting textures proved ideal for the moody intimate type things I had written.

My intentions were to retain the harmonic framework of these little songs while injecting a linear feeling into each of the individual horn parts. To do this, each voice 

was made to fall naturally and uncontrived and so designed rhythmically as to sustain the pulse and present a completeness within themselves. The bass, drums and 

piano served to underline, punctuate, and reinforce this linear harmonic activity. The further possibilities of using a three voice group superimposed on a similarly conceived orchestral backdrop soon presented itself as an interesting project for future consideration. 

About a year ago I hit upon a theme that seemed to be of a character suitable for this expanded type of treatment. 

The stark simplicity of its obvious construction made it perfect raw material for the compositional presentation I had in mind. Standing alone, this musical fragment had a naked, self-conscious air; but, after being melodically extended and placed in context, it suddenly took on a noble, earthy quality. This was exactly what I was looking for and with this good strong basic material at hand the piece began to shape itself. 

Now that the whole thing was straight in my own mind I presented the idea to the record company. Creed Taylor was immediately enthusiastic and suggested that I sound Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer to appear as soloists. Gerry and Bob liked the idea and their acceptance pushed the work toward its final stages. The members of the band were chosen, the date set, and all that remained was the completion of the score. 

The sketches and fragments that had accumulated over the last year now shaped themselves into a meaningful whole, and we recorded the finished work on October 14, 1957.

*Phil Sunkel (liner notes)*

Although Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer get top billing on this LP, the leader, composer, and arranger of all three compositions is cornetist Phil Sunkel. The full 15-piece band is heard on the nearly 16-minute "Jazz Concerto Grosso", with the full band supporting the solos of Mulligan (baritone sax), Brookmeyer (valve trombone), and the leader. The shorter pieces from the following day's session feature a septet with totally different personnel, except for the three major soloists. All of the music is enjoyable and falls clearly into the cool jazz genre, but it has languished in obscurity like Sunkel, though he was later a member of the acclaimed Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. This long deleted record will be somewhat difficult to locate. *Ken Dryden*

Side 1

1 - Jazz Concerto Grosso

Side 2

2 - Something For The Ladies

3 - Song For Cornet

(All compositions by Phil Sunkel)

#1:

Phil Sunkel (cornet); Nick Travis, Al Stewart, Don Stratton, John Wilson (trumpets); Frank Rehak (trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Eddie Bert (bass trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Dick Meldonian (alto sax); Cliff Hoff, Bill Slapin (tenor saxes); Gerry Mulligan, Gene Allen (baritone saxes); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

#2 and #3:

Phil Sunkel (cornet), John Wilson (fluegelhorn), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone), Jim Reider (tenor sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Wendell Marshal (bass), Harold Granowsky (drums).

Recorded in New York City, October 14 (#1) and October 15 (#2, #3), 1957.

•• Blow Hot | Blow Cool ••

Herbie Fields Sextet & The Melrose Avenue Conservatory Chamber Music Society

Blow Hot | Blow Cool

As the title of this album would indicate, you are in for both some hot and some cool moments. The fact that Herbie Fields and his Sextet have been appointed the group representing the hot side and The Melrose Avenue Conservatory Chamber Music Society has been appointed the cool propounders doesn't necessarily end there because for some happy reason Herbie Fields and his Sextet have some very cool moments, indeed, and the boys from Melrose, as you will notice, leap in a very warm manner.

Be Assured that there is not a battle of the bands planned or to be assumed here. This is no hot versus cool sound dual. Rather, it is more like a formula for getting things to just the right taste. This is one of those dates where you know (even if you don't know) that a lot of hard work has gone before...arranging work, scoring, or to make it sound easier, scratching out a chart, writing a few originals, thinking up new ways of saying old familiar things, selecting musicians with compatible ideas and compassion for one another and then hoping fervently that instruments, studios, musicians and their respective chops will all be in the best possible condition for the date.

Whatever came out of this date came through work and persistance and there were some experiments tried that paid off, as you will hear. The serious student of contemporary music, however, will find no revolutionary upset in the musical concept. But, at the same time, he shouldn't expect to get 'knocked out' or to hear a 'new sound' every time he puts the needle to the groove. It's impossible. But the groups here have assimilated some interesting sounds and provided quite a few pleasurable moments.

That can sometimes be more important than the other. *Al "Jazzbo" Collins (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - No Word Blues

(Herbie Fields, Manny Albam)

2 - The Lady Is A Tramp

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - Baltimore

(Herbie Fields, Manny Albam)

4 - Nutcraker Swing

(Herbie Fields, Manny Albam)

5 - St Louis Blues

(W. C. Handy)

6 - Makin' Whoopie

(Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson)

Side 2

7 - I'm Forever Counting Geigers

(Marty Paich)

8 - Id

(John Graas)

9 - Skip to My Loot

(Jack Montrose)

10 - Speak Easy

(Jack Montrose)

#1 to #4: 

Herbie Fields (clarinet); Billy Byers, Kai Winding, Eddie Bert, Bart Varsalona (trombones); Joe Black (piano); Rudy Cafaro (guitar); Peter Compo (bass); Harvey Lang [a.k.a. Guy Vivdros] (drums); Mercy Lutes [a.k.a.Marcella Galbraith] (vocal).

Recorded in New York City, September 14, 1954.

#5, #6: 

Herbie Fields (tenor sax); Nick Drago (trumpet); Joe Black (piano); Rudy Cafaro (guitar); Harvey Lang, Jr. (bass); Harvey Lang [a.k.a. Guy Vivdros] (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 16, 1955.

#7, #10:

Stu Williamson (trumpet); Herb Geller [a.k.a. Bert Herbert] (alto sax); Jack Montrose, Buddy Collette (tenor saxes); Bob Gordon (baritone sax); Marty Paich (piano); Curtis Counce (bass); Chico Hamilton [a.k.a. Forest Hamilton] (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 17 (#7, #8) and March 18 (#9, #10), 1955.

Elliot Lawrence • Gene Krupa - More Mulligan Arrangements

 

Elliot Lawrence

Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements

Marc Myers: Whose idea was it for you to record a full album of Gerry Mulligan’s arrangements in 1955?

Elliot Lawrence: Sol Zaentz of Fantasy called us because we didn't have a recording contract with a label. He asked if I wanted to record for Fantasy. Those were the arrangements I had bought from Gerry. At the time, he needed money so he offered to write a few new ones for me. I said yes and I bought them from him. The album helped him raise some cash.

*from an interview for JazzWax, February 2016*

Elliot Lawrence, who led a swing-oriented big band after the swing era had already passed its prime, primarily worked in the studios in the 1950s. This reissue from the Original Jazz Classics series (which has not yet surfaced on CD) was one of Lawrence's few jazz dates of the decade. Utilizing a dozen Gerry Mulligan charts (seven of the songs were also composed by Mulligan) and an all-star crew of young modernists (including trumpeter Nick Travis, trombonist Eddie Bert, altoist Hal McKusick, and Al Cohn on tenor), the results are quite pleasing. Although Mulligan himself does not play, his presence is very much felt on songs such as "The Rocker", "Bweebida Bwobbida", "Strike Up the Band", and "Apple Core". Other highlights include tributes to Zoot Sims ("The Swinging Door") and Lester Young ("Mr. President"). *Scott Yanow*

Elliot Lawrence loves jazz. When he was an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania (he won the Thornton Oakley Award, given each year to the undergraduate who has contributed most to the arts, and won only once before in the field of music), he had himself a swinging band, which used to gig around the Eastern seaboard, blowing up quite a jumping storm. After he'd been graduated, he went to radio station WCAU, where he continued his swinging ways, despite the fact that studio bands are supposed to be strictly commercial. It paid off, though, because soon people started noticing his band much more than they did other studio groups, and finally offers became so frequent and attractive that Elliot and men left WCAU, bowed in at the Hotel Statler in New York, and automatically became a name band!

In that early Philadelphia outfit there was a young saxophonist, a redheaded, wide-eyed, enthusiastic youngster named Gerry Mulligan. Even then he was an arranger, and, encouraged by Elliot, who has done a great deal of writing, himself, Gerry began turning out a batch of manuscripts for the band. And when the gang left the studios, Gerry went with it, and he continued to write for it for several years thereafter, even after he’d quit playing baritone so that he could concentrate exclusively on arranging.

These then are the twelve tunes that comprise an LP of truly superior blowing of truly superior arrangements. The playing is by a bunch of modern, musicianly musicians, led by one of the most talented and enthusiastic leaders of big band modern jazz and penned by a composer-arranger whose contributions to the same medium have been tremendous. It's the first collection of several by Elliot Lawrence which Fantasy plans to issue in the months to come, and it's also the first that shows what a surprisingly blowing and exciting band Elliot Lawrence has been keeping under wraps for much too long. *George T. Simon (liner notes)*

1 - The Rocker

(Gerry Mulligan)

2 - Bye Bye Blackbird

(Henderson, Dixon)

3 - Happy Hooligan

(Gerry Mulligan)

4 - Mullennium

(Gerry Mulligan)

5 - My Silent Love

(Suesse, Heyman)

6 - Bweebida Bwobbida

(Gerry Mulligan)

7 - Strike Up The Band

(G. and I. Gershwin)

8 - Apple Core

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Elegy For Two Clarinets

(Gerry Mulligan)

10 - The Swinging Door

(Sims, Mulligan)

11 - But Not For Me

(G. and I. Gershwin)

12 - Mr. President

(Mulligan, Lawrence)

Elliot Lawrence (piano); Bernie Glow, Al De Risi, Dick Sherman, Nick Travis, Stan Fishelson (trumpets); Al Robertson, Eddie Bert, Paul Seldon, Ollie Wilson (trombones); Freddie Schmitt, Tony Miranda (French horns); Al Cohn, Charlie O'Kane , Eddie Wasserman , Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz (saxes); Buddy Jones [#2, #4, #5, #6, #7, #10, #11], Russ Saunders [#1, #3, #8, #9] (basses); Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sounds, New York City, July 1955.

***

Gene Krupa

Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements

Gerry Mulligan joined the Gene Krupa band in February, 1946, and remained about a year. He arranged for the band all that time, played alto for a couple of months and tenor for about two more. The arrangements he did during that year —when he was 19— are both interesting in themselves and illuminating in the context of the way his writing has developed since. He did about 24 altogether.

At the age of 17, Mulligan had already started arranging professionally — for Johnny Warrington's band at the Philadelphia radio station, WCAU; for Tommy Tucker on Gerry's first road trip; and then for Elliot Lawrence, who had taken over the WCAU orchestra.

"The Krupa band, however", Mulligan recalls, "was the most professional band I'd ever written for. They were so professional they sometimes scared the hell out of  me. They had no trouble playing anything I wrote. Having that skilled a unit to write for was a new and a challenging experience". 

Before he heard these versions of the arrangements he'd done for Krupa, Mulligan had feared that twelve years would make them sound much too dated for comfort, but he was hearteningly surprised to hear that they still stand up. "There were a lot of things", he said, "I thought I hadn't tried until I started writing for Claude Thornhill, but now I hear that I'd already been doing them with Gene's band". 

Mulligan feels he learned a great deal from his year with Krupa, not only about writing and playing, but about people. The band traveled throughout the country, and the experience broadened Gerry considerably. He was also fond of Gene personally, and appreciated the fact that Gene let him write as much as he did — and used most of it. Krupa, in turn, liked Mulligan because he always stood up for what he believed, and knew what he wanted to do. 

Adding this album to your Mulligan-Krupa collection should prove to be an instructive pleasure. It gives —in high fidelity— a cross-section of an important year in Mulligan's history; and it also indicates that Krupa had the prescience to keep the 19-year-old with the band, and —up to a point— give him his head. *(Liner notes)*

Gerry Mulligan was only 19 in 1946 when he joined Gene Krupa's band, playing a bit of alto and tenor sax, but primarily serving as an arranger. But the Verve LP Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements wasn't made until 1958, long after Mulligan went out on his own. Although there are solo features built into the framework of each piece, Mulligan was quite confident in his ability to showcase the entire band as well. Mulligan's "Disc Jockey Jump" became a hit for Krupa, though it wasn't recorded until after he left the band. The vague liner notes fail to identify any of the musicians in Krupa's big band, which includes Jimmy Cleveland, Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith, Kai Winding, and Phil Woods, though Woods' alto sax solos are easily identifiable to his fans. Baritone saxophonist Danny Bank is a bit disappointing compared to what Mulligan could have recorded on the instrument, though it would have been unlikely that the composer would have been interested in rejoining Krupa, even for one record date, at the time it was recorded. It's surprising that this excellent LP remained out of print for so long, particularly with the strong resurgence of interest in all aspects of Mulligan's work since his death in 1996. *Ken Dryden*

Gene Krupa and Gerry Mulligan —hardly a pairing that we would have thought of— but one that works surprisingly well here, and which showcases Mulligan's increasing fascination for larger group settings! The album features Gene on drums with a set of players that include Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, and Barry Galbraith – but the real star of the set is Gerry, who's not playing here, but conducting the larger group of jazz players through charts that are all his own, and which display the same love of fluid ensemble horn parts that he used in his own smaller combo work. There's a lot more brass in the mix than you'd usually get from Gerry —which gives the album a bit more of a Krupa kick— and Gene also gets some nice space to show himself on drums. *dustygroove.com*

1 - Bird House

(Mulligan)

2 - Margie

(Conrad, Robinson, Davis)

3 - Mulligan Stew

(Krupa, Mulligan)

4 - Begin The Beguine

(Porter)

5 - Sugar

(Pinkard, Alexander, Mitchell)

6 - The Way Of All Flesh

(Mulligan)

7 - Disk Jockey Jump

(Krupa, Mulligan)

8 - Birds Of A Feather

(Mulligan)

9 - Sometimes I’m Happy

(Youmans, Caesar, Grey)

10 - How High The Moon

(Lewis, Hamilton)

11 - If You Were The Only Girl

(Ayer, Grey)

12 - Yardbird Suite

(Parker)

#1, #2, #3, #12:

Al DeRisi, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen, Al Stewart (trumpets); Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, Billy Byers, Kai Winding (trombones); Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Frank Socolow, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxes); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Hank Jones (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Jimmy Gannon (bass); Gene Krupa (drums). Gerry Mulligan (arranger & conductor).

Recorded at Fine Studio, New York City, October 20, 1958.

#4 to #11:

Al DeRisi, Marky Markowitz, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen, Al Stewart (trumpets); Jimmy Cleveland, Willie Dennis, Urbie Green, Kai Winding (trombones); unknow (tuba); Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Frank Socolow, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxes); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Hank Jones (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Jimmy Gannon (bass); Gene Krupa (drums). Gerry Mulligan (arranger & conductor).

Recorded at Fine Studio, New York City, October 21 and 22, 1958.