Leonard Feather Presents… ★1954★

Jimmy Raney, Sonny Clark and Jazz Club U.S.A.

Jimmy Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 9, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist born in Louisville, Kentucky, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and, during the same time period, with Stan Getz. In 1954 and 1955, he won the Down Beat Critics' Poll for guitar. Raney worked in a variety of jazz mediums, including cool jazz, bebop, post bop, hard bop, and mainstream jazz.

In 1946, he worked for a time as guitarist with the Max Miller Quartet at Elmer's in Chicago, his first paying gig. Raney also worked in the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman for nine months in 1948. He also collaborated and recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig and later on with Bob Brookmeyer. In 1967, alcoholism and other professional difficulties led him to leave New York City and return to his native Louisville. He resurfaced in the 1970s and also did work with his son Doug, who was also a guitarist. His other son Jon is a jazz pianist and maintains a website, The Raney Legacy devoted to Jimmy and Doug Raney.

Raney lived with Ménière's disease for thirty years, a degenerative condition that led to near deafness in both ears, although this did not stop him from playing. He died of heart failure in Louisville on May 10, 1995. His obituary in The New York Times called him "one of the most gifted and influential postwar jazz guitarists in the world".

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh. 

While visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the United States and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.

Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently recorded for Blue Note Records as one of their house musicians, playing as a sideman with many hard bop players.

Clark died in New York City on January 13, 1963 (aged 31). The official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.

Jazz Club U.S.A. was a weekly radio program that aired from 1950 to 1952. Hosted by jazz critic and producer Leonard Feather, it aired on the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America network. Jazz Club U.S.A. did a remarkable job of presenting all forms of jazz, from slave-era spirituals to bebop, from Dixieland to swing, all presented as American music.

In 1954, Feather turned the Jazz Club U.S.A. "brand" into a series of concerts in Europe. One of the featured performers was guitarist Jimmy Raney, then voted "number one guitarist" by the French publication "Jazz Hot".

Raney's presence in Europe was recorded on several recordings. The ones we will present here are Jimmy Raney and Sonny Clark meeting for the first and only time.

Let's remember them...

Jimmy Raney All Stars

Leonard Feather Presents

Jazz Club U.S.A. In Sweden

This 10" album features two Jimmy Raney quintets backed by some of the highlights of the Sweden jazz scene at the time. But what makes these sessions so famous is the appearance of Sonny Clark on Side 1. Clark only has a solo choir on each track, and the overall impression of these sessions is "melancholic, relaxed, mellow chamber jazz music".

Leonard Feather composed "Jumping For Jane". This brightly boppish piece has a neat arrangement in wich the tenor sax of Gösta Theselius sounds spry, and in his opening measures Clark gives surprising acnowledgement to Lennie Tristano. There is also room for a splendid agile guitar solo, beside contributions from Mitchell and Leighton.

Raney's clever and complex "Invention" was, according to Leonard Feather, recorded with very little trouble by a group of musicians who had never seen it before. An intrincate, ingenious line, it is notable for the close rapport between Raney and Theselius and a beautiful pithy piano passage by Sonny whose firm comping is a great foundation for Theselius and Raney. Jimmy is particularly mellow and melodic, showing us the attribute conveyed by the tittle. The flowing fours by Theselius and Raney are an early example of Bebop Esperanto. By 1954 this music was universal. *Mark Gardner*

Side 1

1 - Invention

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Jumping For Jane

(LeonardFeather)

Side 2

3 - Indian Summer

(Victor Herbert)

4 - Darn That Dream

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Eddie DeLange)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), with

#1, #2:

Gösta Theselius (tenor sax), Sonny Clark (piano), Simon Brehm (bass #1),

Red Mitchell (bass #2), Elaine Leighton (drums).

#3, #4:

Putte Wickman (clarinet); Bengt Hallberg [as Bengt Halberg] (piano),

Red Mitchell (bass), Elaine Leighton (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 13, 1954

✤✤

Jimmy Raney Quartet

Leonard Feather's Jazz Club U.S.A. Presents

Jimmy Raney Visits Paris

As part of Leonard Feather's "Jazz Club U.S.A". European tour in early 1954, guitarist Raney is presented in the fine company of pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Bobby White. The music on this date, as well as the recording quality, is superb for its time. Raney and Mitchell had worked together in Red Norvo's trio, while Clark and White were the rhythmic anchors in Buddy DeFranco's group. One can't help but compare the sensitive yet energetic approach that Raney and Clark have toward their respective instruments. Both musicians have a truly artful touch with very clear articulation, never sounding hurried or arbitrary, or getting in the other's way. There are some lovely quartet interpretations of standard tunes, plus a piano trio rendition of "Once In a While". Listen to Red Mitchell's bass take the melody on "You Go to My Head" supported by Clark and Raney's sympathetic comping. *Lee Bloom*

1 - Stella By Starlight

(Young, Washington)

2 - Pennies From Heaven

(Johnson, Burke)

3 - You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

4 - Yesterdays

(Kern)

05 - There'll Never Be Another You

(Kern)

06 - Body And Soul

(Green)

07 - Once In A While

(Green, Edwards)

Sonny Clark (piano), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded in Paris, France, February 6, 1954

Rolf Ericson And His Swingin' Swedes

Rolf Ericson

Swedish Pastry

One of Sweden's finest trumpeters, Rolf Ericson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 29, 1922. He moved to New York City in 1947 and, in 1949, joined Charlie Barnet's big band and then with Woody Herman in 1950. Later, he worked with Paul Gonsalves, Charlie Parker, and Charles Mingus.

Returning to Sweden in 1950, he recorded as a leader and with Arne Domnérus, as well as for Leonard Feather's Swinging Swedes and Lars Gullin. He returned to the U.S. during 1953–1956, and played with the big bands of Charlie Spivak, Harry James, the Dorsey Brothers, and Les Brown, and was with the Lighthouse All-Stars. In 1956, he toured Sweden and played with Ernestine Anderson and Lars Gullin.

From 1956 to 1965, he was back in the U.S., working with Dexter Gordon, Harold Land, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Dan Terry, Max Roach and Charles Mingus, among others. He was with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1963 until 1971. In the early 1960s, he made three recordings as a member of the Rod Levitt orchestra (octet). Ericson played with the Al Porcino Big Band in Berlin in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His warm tone and creative yet melodic style were always considered an asset.

Rolf died in Stockholm, on June 16, 1997.

When American fans first became aware of the existence of a modern jazz cult in Sweden, one of the first musicians to spread the good word around was Rolf Ericson, the Stockholm-born trumpet player, who had emigrated to America in 1947, and played with Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet, Elliot Lawrence, Benny Carter and other name bands. 

Rolf's pride in the accomplishments of his fellow-Scandinavians was concerned not only with the individual solo talents of the Swedes, but also in their ability to weld themselves into clean-playing, neatly-arranged jazz units. 

Most of these men ...(who accompany Rolf in this album)..., at one time or another, have won the annual poll conducted by Sweden's ESTRAD magazine. When you hear these performances you'll undoubtedly agree with the Scandinavian jazz fans who voted for them.

*Leonard Feather (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Miles Away

(Ericson)

2 - How High The Moon

(Morgan, Lewis)

3 - Conservation

(Theselius)

4 - Perdido

(Tizol)

Side 2

5 - Strike Up The Band

(Gershwin)

6 - The Nearness Of You

(Carmichael)

7 - Lullaby In Rhythm

(Profit, Sampson)

8 - Git Straight

(Ericson)

#1 to #4:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Georg Vernon (trombone), Arne Domnérus (clarinet, tenor sax),

Gösta Theselius (tenor sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax),

Reinhold Svensson (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Sven Bollhém (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, September 19, 1950

#5 to #8:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax),

Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax),

Gunnar Svensson (piano), Yngve Åkerberg (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 10, 1951

Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XVIII)

Benny Bailey And The Quincetet

The Music Of Quincy Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Side 1

1. The Golden Touch

(Jones, Pettiford)

2. I'm Gone

(Quincy Jones)

3. Jones Beach

(Quincy Jones)

4. The Midnight Sun Never Sets

(Jones , Salvador)

Side 2

5. Meet Benny Bailey

(Quincy Jones)

6. Plenty, Plenty Soul

(Jones, Jackson)

7. Fallen Feathers

(Quincy Jones)

8. Count 'Em

(Jones, Cleveland)

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

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

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

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

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

Harry Arnolds And His Orchestra - The Jazztone Mystery Band

Arnold was among the finest big-band arrangers and tenor saxophonists in Sweden during the 1950s and '60s. From 1956 to 1965, Arnold led the Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra that featured many of the country's leading Swedish jazz musicians. They recorded quite a few albums, including their first, The Jazztone Mystery Band. It's easily one of the finest big band recordings of 1957. 

*Marc Myers*

An overlooked and now obscure figure in jazz, Harry Arnold led an incredibly tight, talented, and swinging big band in the 1950s. Arnold knocked American critics on their collective ears with what was to become known as The Jazztone Mystery Orchestra named after the record label they were first signed with in the U.S.

Harry Arnold studied clarinet in 1937 and 1938 and started arranging without the benefit of formal study in 1938. He claimed to have learned the technique of arranging through analyzing the works of everyone from Ravel to Basie. Arnold led his own band in Malmo from 1942 to 1949. He then went to Stockholm as a tenor man and arranger with Thor Ehrling's band taking his own outfit back to play weekends in Malmo from 1952 to 1954. In 1956 he organized a 17 piece group to play weekly radio broadcasts (except during the summer) in 1956.

The music of Harry Arnold And His Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra hit the states in the late 1950's. Author George Simon recounted Claes Dahlgren, Sweden's Jazz ambassador, walking into Simon's office and in a very modest and disarming manner leaving some tapes of the band on Simon's desk with a polite, "give a listen if you have the time". Simon and his colleagues were so knocked out by the tapes they played them to others to get second opinions afraid their ears were deceiving them.

Harry Arnold and his big band was subsequently signed to Jazztone. Simon said of the band, "it's brilliant ensembles, it's abundance of exciting modern soloists, it's biting, swinging beat, and it's superb polish – all these things really thrilled us". A few other quotes made by famous jazzmen, upon first hearing the band, having only been told it was the Jazztone "Mystery" Band include; arranger Ernie Wilkins: "This band would be a gasser to write for! What musicianship!" Bandleader Elliot Lawrence: "The band sounds like a modern swinging Tommy Dorsey". Don Cerulli, New York editor of Down Beat magazine: "Actually the band is Elliot Lawrence". Willis Canover from the Voice Of America network: "This is a hell of a swinging band". *swingmusic.net*

Side 1

1 - I Found A New Baby

(Williams, Palmer)

2 - Six-Ten

(Gösta Theselius)

3 - Our Love Is Here To Stay

(G. and I. Gershwin)

4 - This Can't Be Love

(Rodgers, Hart)

5 - This Is Harry

(Harry Arnold)

6 - Crazy Rhythm

(Meyer, Kahn)

Side 2

7 - Blue Lou

(Sampson, Mills)

8 - Little White Lies

(Walter Donaldson)

9 - Cuban Trombones

(Harry Arnold)

10 - Now It Can Be Told

(Irvin Berlin)

11 - Sunday

(Herbert, LeBaron)

12 - Jersey Bounce

(Johnson, Wright)

#1, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #12:

Bengt-Arne Wallin, Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden (trumpets); Arnold Johansson (trumpet, valve trombone); Andreas Skjöld, George Vernon, Gordon Olsson, Åke Persson (trombones); Arne Domnérus, Rolf Lindell (alto saxes); Bjarne Nerem, Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor saxes); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax); Bengt Hallberg (piano); Bengt Högberg (guitar); Simon Brehm (bass); Egil Johansson (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, February 2, 1957.

#2, #4, #9, #10, #11:

Bengt-Arne Wallin, Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden (trumpets); Arnold Johansson (trumpet, valve trombone); Andreas Skjöld, George Vernon, Gordon Olsson, Åke Persson (trombones); Arne Domnérus, Rolf Lindell (alto saxes); Bjarne Nerem, Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor saxes); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax); Gösta Theselius (piano); Bengt Högberg (guitar); Simon Brehm (bass); Egil Johansson (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, March 6, 1957.

Gösta Theselius And All Stars - Swedish Jazz

Gösta Theselius born in Stockholm, June 9, 1922. Started musical studies on piano at the age of seventeen, played with a military orchestra, taking up clarinet and tenor saxophone. In 1940, started making orchestrations for dance bands and continued playing sax and clarinet until August, 1955. He is now considered Sweden’s foremost jazz arranger and composer, and has seven motion picture scores to his credit. His favorite composers are Stravinsky and Ravel. *Liner notes*

By remaining neutral during WWII, the Swedes avoided a Nazi occupation and were able to listen to the changes in American jazz. Consequently while their European counterparts were mired in Dixieland in the postwar period, the Swedes were into west coast cool jazz. If I didn't know who the players were, I'd have thought this was a California session. For example, they even manage to capture the Four Brothers sound on Michel LeGrand's "Cool and Cosy." Recorded in Stockholm in 1956, the session features players who went on to be Swedish Jazz Masters such as Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Åke Persson (trombone), George Riedel (bass), Egil Johanssen and Bengt Hallber, piano. Its a fine album worth multiple listenings!!! *Sadie Softshoe (amazon.com)*

Really wonderful work from the postwar side of the Swedish scene — modern jazz from leader Gösta Theselius, recording here with one hell of a great group! Theselius may not be that well known on these shores, but the record features key work from players who are — including Bengt-Arne Wallin on trumpet, Lars Gullin on baritone sax, Arne Domnérus on alto and clarinet, Bengt Hallberg on piano, and Åke Persson on trombone — all the sorts of players who made the Swedish scene one of the most exciting non-American jazz spots in the 50s! Theselius plays a bit of piano, handled arrangements, and also contributed a number of tunes — but the soloists really get the most sparkle in the set, and although the tracks are shortish, they all manage to really do a lot with the space — in ways that are similar to some of the west coast Americans who inspired them at the time. Titles include "Brewin", "Cool And Cosy", "The Swingin Thirds", "Strollin", "Just Like That", "Bugs", "Havana Horn", and "Chips".  *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

01 - Kreta

(Gösta Theselius)

02 - Laugh Or Cry

(Stanley Applebaum)

03 - Chips

(Frank Engelen)

04 - Havana Horn

(Gösta Theselius)

05 - Brewin'

(Gösta Theselius)

06 - Sabbath Blues

(Arne Domnérus)

Side 2

07 - Just Like That

(Ted Sommer)

08 - Just Lonely

(Gösta Theselius)

09 - Bugs

(Lars Gullin)

10 - Strollin'

(Billy Mure)

11 - The Swingin' Thirds

(Walter Yost)

12 - Cool And Cosy

(Michel Legrand)

Gösta Theselius (piano, arranger, conductor); Bengt-Arne Wallin (trumpet); Bjarne Nerem (tenor sax); Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax, flute); Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet); Lars Gullin, Lennart Jansson (baritone saxes); Åke Persson (trombone); Bengt Hallberg (piano); Georg Riedel (bass); Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, April 27 and 28, 1956.