Five-Star Collection... The Concert Jazz Band (II)

Gerry Mulligan And The Concert Jazz Band

At The Village Vanguard

This is the first "live" recording of the Gerry Mulligan big band, and was taped at the Village Vanguard in New York in December, 1960. Although several nights of music were recorded, Mulligan decided to select the album's final takes from one Sunday afternoon in order to maintain a consistency of mood. Mulligan's decision to record on location was taken with full realization of the hazards as well as the advantages of "in person" recording. "There are times", he explains, "when a few things may go wrong in such a performance but when conditions are right, the band can achieve more vivid presence and can create more spontaneous excitement than in a studio. In that extended piano blues, for example, that closes the second side, we did many things on the spur of the moment that we'll never do again in quite that way. We fell into a rocking, romping 'head' arrangement that we all enjoyed enormously, and that feeling is captured here".

"Working in front of an audience", Mulligan continues, "has a markedly different effect on a band. It can—as it has with us—result in a confidence as a unit that's a marvel to see, hear and feel".

Mulligan feels that his band is enjoying a steadily growing realization of its own identity. In this regard, Mulligan was asked his reaction to comments that this writer has made in magazine articles which questioned whether the band's arrangements were "adventurous" enough. "First of all", Mulligan answered, "I want the band to find itself, to find its own meaning within existing forms. Many of the guys looking for 'new forms' don’t understand the old ones. Secondly, my conception of a band is that of a group which can communicate an emotion that comes from the interaction between its members as a unit. A band can do that only if it enjoys what it's playing. And we do. We have fun as we work, and when things are really going well, we get a spirit going like 'let the good times roll'. That is what I want".

"Too many 'avant-garde' composers", Mulligan went on, "write for each other, not for the players. By contrast, I want material which the men take pleasure in playing. This band is developing both as a framework for soloists and as a vehicle for writers, but not 'far out' writers. So far as my own participation is concerned, my stamp is on the band and I'm the featured soloist, but up to now I've been more of a supervisor of the writing than a very active contributor. But all of what we do is based on my conviction that music is to be enjoyed, by the player as well as the listener". (...)

Drummer Mel Lewis—a musician of consistent taste who propels the Mulligan ensemble with a rare combination of lightness and strength—has summarized the reason the musicians in this band are so enthusiastic about the Mulligan orchestra. "Every time we play something", says Lewis, "it's different from the last time we've played the number. That's the way it's supposed to be. This is a real jazz band".

And so it is. Its virtues are much more apparent in this second album, partly because of the stimulation provided by the audience and also because by this point the band had been together for some time and had, in Mulligan’s phrase, been finding its own identity.

*Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

The star system of rating records has both advantages and disadvantages, the former tending to outweigh the latter, and the most important advantage being, to my mind, that the decision on the number of Stars to assign tends to clarify the writer’s own thinking, minimizing the possibility of a noncommittal review.

But it can be frustrating. The Mulligan band's first LP was given five stars late last year. And it fully deserved them. Only... this is a better record than that first one!

It was recorded "live" at New York's Village Vanguard. (Of the several locations where I've heard the band, the Vanguard is the best for sound.) The disc has the vitality and fervor that one expects in a live performance, yet is free of that thin, unbalanced sound that non-studio sessions so often produce. I have never heard an on-the-spot recording with sound equal to this. It is excellent.

Musically, the disc has everything, including superb ensemble playing and solos of consistently high quality. Most solos are by Mulligan, Brookmeyer, and Terry.

I sometimes think that taste is a function of wit. An artist needs the wit to keep his work always in perspective. Brookmeyer's solos are almost invariably humorous, as if he could not take his ability quite seriously. Even in conversation, he seems incapable (except perhaps among his most intimate friends) of considering his talent with anything but levity. Yet at the writing table, safely out of the public gaze, his full sensitivity comes to the fore, and it is in his writing that he consistently demonstrates that he is one of the most lyrical musicians in jazz today.

This was evident in the Django’s Castle track in the first Mulligan band album; here it is manifest in his lovely arrangement of Body and Soul, with its delicate, breathy blends and rich sonorities. Nor is there ever danger of Brookmeyer's slipping over the edge from pathos into bathos. Like Paul Desmond, Miles Davis, Lorenz Hart, and many others, he has his sense of irony to tell him when he has gone just far enough. A beautiful, beautiful writer, Brookmeyer.

Mulligan also is blessed with a great lyrical sense—and great humor. He and Brookmeyer, in their solos, contribute majorly to the sense of fun that makes this album so infectious, though Terry makes the most potent single contribution to that spirit. On the opening track, Blueport, Terry and Mulligan mix it up in fours and eights, the high, singing, pixieish quality of Terry's trumpet a perfect foil and companion to Mulligan's amused, lumbering baritone. On the last track, People, Terry does a marvelous long solo that is obviously knocking the band out. They respond with a powerful though simple riff in unison reeds—evidently extemporaneously—and Terry and the band build together until, when he sits down to let the band have it all, everything is shouting. All things considered, this is probably the best track in an excellent album.

Reider has the unenviable task of replacing Zoot Sims in the tenor solos. But, with a sound much like Sims', he does well indeed. I was moved to overt chuckling by his Middle Eastern bit in his solo on Blueport.

Bassist Crow more than adequately replaces Buddy Clark, who left the band a while back to return to California. Lewis, who also has returned to California, was perfect for this band. He is a kick all through the disc, both to the band and to the listener. He has a rivet cymbal that has just about the most sizzling sound you ever heard, and he rides it with the assurance of a master. Like everyone else on the disc, Lewis has excellent taste.

The essences of this LP are vitality, humor, and, at times, an affecting beauty. It’s very much worth not missing. *Gene Lees (Down Beat, August 17, 1961 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Blueport

(Art Farmer)

2 - Body And Soul

(Johnny Green, Frank Eyton, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour)

3 - Black Nightgown

(Johnny Mandel)

Side 2

4 - Come Rain Or Come Shine

(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)

5 - Lady Chatterley's Mother

(Al Cohn)

6 - Let My People Be

(Gerry Mulligan)

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax, piano [#6]); Don Ferrara, Clark Terry, Nick Travis, (trumpets);

Willie Dennis (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone);

Bob Donovan (alto sax); Gene Quill (alto sax, clarinet); Jim Reider (tenor sax);

Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Bill Crow (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded live at the Village Vanguard, New York City, December 11, 1960

Five-Star Collection... The Concert Jazz Band (I)

In late 1960, Gerry Mulligan shaped one of the most ambitious projects of his career: the Concert Jazz Band, an orchestra that, in the midst of the economic decline of big bands, openly defied the market conditions of the jazz scene at the time. Far from any retrospective gesture, the ensemble proposed a reformulation of modern orchestral language, transferring to the expanded format the principles of textural clarity, counterpoint, and interaction that Mulligan had developed in his pianeless formations since the early 1950s.

The initial support of the project was made possible thanks to an agreement with Norman Granz, producer of Verve Records, who guaranteed the financial backing necessary to keep an orchestra of these characteristics active. Within this framework, and in a remarkably brief span of time —between May 1960 and December 1961—, the Concert Jazz Band established the complete core of its discographic production.

In chronological order, this corpus can be reconstructed from five titles that are considered the main body of work of the orchestra:

The Concert Jazz Band — sessions from May and July 1960 in New York, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band on Tour — recordings from the October–November 1960 tour in the United States and Europe, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band at the Village Vanguard — recorded on December 11, 1960 in New York, Gerry Mulligan Presents a Concert in Jazz — sessions from July 1961 at Webster Hall, and Gerry Mulligan '63 — recorded in December 1962.

Viewed in this way, the project appears as a complete arc that coordinates studio, tour, and live documentation, allowing one to follow the evolution of the ensemble from its initial formulation to its point of maximum elaboration.

This artistic development, however, was abruptly interrupted by non-musical factors. Granz's sale of Verve to MGM put an end to the financing scheme that made the orchestra viable, forcing its dissolution shortly after the 1961 sessions, at the very moment when the group had reached its highest degree of cohesion and aesthetic definition.

Contemporary critical reception not only accompanied this process, but also consecrated it. In the pages of DownBeat magazine, three of these recordings obtained the maximum rating of five stars: the debut album The Concert Jazz Band, reviewed by Don DeMicheal in the December 8, 1960 issue; the live recording at the Village Vanguard; and Gerry Mulligan '63, whose assessment underscores the level of integration achieved by the orchestra in its final stage. Read together, these reviews trace a sort of critical arc that accompanies the trajectory of the group: from the initial affirmation of its viability, through the confirmation of its effectiveness live, to its consecration as one of the most accomplished orchestral achievements of modern jazz.

In that sense, the Concert Jazz Band asserts itself as one of the most unique orchestral formulations of its time, and one of the last great reformulations of the big band language in 20th-century jazz; although its existence was brief, the recordings it left behind still allow us today to perceive, with remarkable clarity, the creative impulse that gave it birth.

Without prejudice to focusing later on the two remaining productions that complete this corpus, let us dedicate the next three entries to examining the albums from this pentalogy that were honored by DownBeat magazine with its highest rating...

Gerry Mulligan

The Concert Jazz Band

In deciding on the instrumentation for the new band that makes its album debut here, Gerry Mulligan says: "I wanted the same clarity of sound and interplay of lines that I had in the smaller groups. 

"We have a clarinet in the reed section, not primarily for a clarinet-lead effect but for a sound contributing to the ensemble in general. As for the soloists, I wanted to use just a few men for the bulk of the solo work, so that they would be heard enough for the audience to become familiar to their styles."

What he has built, says Gerry, is essentially a concert band —a jazz band for listening— and it was on this premise that the band's first tour was arranged by Norman Granz for the fall of 1960. 

Further words are unnecessary. The album delivers its own exciting message: that this is the best new jazz orchestra of the year. *Leonard Feather (from the liner notes)*

Big bands in jazz have generally been of two sorts. The first reflects the thinking of such men as Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman, that of three sections –brass, reeds, rhythm –working as individual units within the whole, sometimes together, other times in opposition or in response to each other. While this concept is definitely tied to early jazz, it has stronger affiliations with brass bands and European music; and while there is room for individual contributions in the form of solos, the main emphasis is on group cohesion. The arranger is the controller. The major function of such bands is to provide dance music.

The other big-band concept stems from the thinking of Duke Ellington. The three sections are present as in the other, and the arranger is still important. But the individual members are not subservient to either section or pen. The part must fit the man, not vice versa. The spirit is that of a small jazz group, although the context is that of a big band. The brilliance and colors of numerous instruments can be achieved when desired, but –and this is the crucial difference between the two concepts –the creativity, freedom, and interaction of individuals found in small groups is retained. Such bands produce music the primary function of which is to stimulate the listener's ear, not his feet.

The Mulligan band is firmly in the Ellington camp. It is not an Ellington imitation, though Sweet and Low is a deep bow in Duke's direction, but reflects the feel, the spirit of Ellington –the feel, the spirit of small group jazz.

More specifically, it is an extension and expansion of Mulligan's concept as we've come to know it through his quartet and sextet: the combination of extremes –simplicity with complexity, cool intellectualism with hot-blooded emotion, sophistication with guts.

Because of these many facets and of the variety of emotional experience the band offers, I feel this is the most important big band in jazz today. (In person the impact of the band is even greater than on this album. It is unfortunate that Mulligan intends to disband, but the band is scheduled to reorganize later in 1961.)

It is not a blasting band; in many ways it is reminiscent of the Claude Thornhill Band when Gil Evans was writing for it. Attention is paid to blend, control, and dynamics. By using another baritone in the sax section, Mulligan retains fulness behind his solos. The brass is usually voiced close, giving it a subdued, almost muffled sound. Even in the shout choruses the brass keeps it head and depth.

Lewis and Clark, the rhythm section on all but one track and the one that toured with the band, are superlative. The rhythm is always firm yet never too tight. These two are the source of the band's relaxation. They push the whole band but do it unobtrusively. What Lewis plays fits so well and logically that at times the listener might miss his contribution, but on careful listening, you realize he's kicking everybody. Lewis is the Dave Tough of his time –a drummer felt more than heard.

The main soloists on the record are Mulligan, Brookmeyer, and Sims.

Mulligan builds his solos with more care than he has in some time. Each phrase relates to the next; each solo is like a story. He plays well on all tracks, but his most touching work is on Valentine and the lovely Django Reinhardt ballad Manoir de Mes Reves.

Brookmeyer's playing is the best I've heard him do. He seems to have found his true element in this band. Wit and melodiousness he always had, but here there's a fire that wasn't burning so brightly in the past. He has a gusty, burry, wonderful solo on his own arrangement of Advantage; in one place his fill over the saxes is nothing but a breathy slur –no brass sound, just breath.

Sims hasn't as much blowing room on the record as he has in person –he doesn't play in the section but is featured on a couple of tunes each set –but he has a meaty solo on Bweebida Bobbida.

This is one of the best records of 1960.

*Don DeMicheal (Down Beat, December 8, 1960 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Sweet And Low

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

2 - Bweebida Bobbida

(Gerry Mulligan)

3 - Manoir De Mes Rêves (Django's Castle)

(Django Reinhardt)

4 - You Took Advantage Of Me

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

Side 2

5 - Out Of This World

(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)

6 - My Funny Valentine

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

7 - Broadway

(Henry Woode, Teddy McRae, Bill Bird)

8 - I'm Gonna Go Fishin'

(Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee)

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax); Don Ferrara, Conte Candoli, Nick Travis (trumpets [#1 to #7]);

Don Ferrara, Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel (trumpets [#8];

Wayne Andre (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Dick Meldonian (alto sax); Gene Quill (alto sax, clarinet);

Zoot Sims[#1 to #7], Jim Reider [#8] (tenor saxes); Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet); 

Buddy Clark [#1 to #7], Bill Tackus [#8] (basses):

Mel Lewis [#1 to #7], Dave Bailey [#8] (drums).

Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, May 21 [#8],

July 25 [#1 to #4] and July 27 [#5 to #7], 1960

✤✤✤✤

For those who prefer the digital version of the Concert Jazz Band's debut album, there are several options. One of them is the one presented by the Poll Winners Records label titled The Concert Jazz Band • The First Album.

This edition brings together the complete original Gerry Mulligan LP, The Concert Jazz Band (Verve V6-8388), which marked the discographic debut of this extraordinary big band formation. Its tracks feature the presence of stellar figures such as Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill, Mel Lewis, and, of course, Mulligan himself. As a bonus, the disc incorporates all surviving tunes from the band’s second studio session —recorded in between the three sessions that made up the original LP—, as well as three tracks recorded live in Milan, four months after completing the album.

Gerry Mulligan

The Concert Jazz Band

The First Album

1 - Sweet And Low

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

2 - Bweebida Bobbida

(Gerry Mulligan)

3 - Manoir De Mes Rêves (Django's Castle)

(Django Reinhardt)

4 - You Took Advantage Of Me

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

5 - Out Of This World

(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)

6 - My Funny Valentine

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

7 - Broadway

(Henry Woode, Teddy McRae, Bill Bird)

8 - I'm Gonna Go Fishin'

(Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee)

9 - I Know, Don't Know How

(Gerry Mulligan)

10 - Barbara's Theme

(Johnny Mandel)

11 - Sweet And Slow (first version)

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

12 - Out Of This World (first version)

(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)

13 - Go Home (live in Milan, 1960)

(Ben Webster)

14 - Apple Core (live in Milan, 1960)

(Gerry Mulligan)

15 - Barbara's Theme (live in Milan, 1960)

(Johnny Mandel)

#1 to #8:

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax); Don Ferrara, Conte Candoli, Nick Travis (trumpets [#1 to #7]);

Don Ferrara, Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel (trumpets [#8]);

Wayne Andre (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Dick Meldonian (alto sax); Gene Quill (alto sax, clarinet);

Zoot Sims[#1 to #7], Jim Reider [#8] (tenor saxes); Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet); 

Buddy Clark [#1 to #7], Bill Tackus [#8] (basses):

Mel Lewis [#1 to #7], Dave Bailey [#8] (drums).

Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, May 21 [#8],

July 25 [#1 to #4] and July 27 [#5 to #7], 1960

#9, #10, #11, #12:

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax); Don Ferrara, Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel (trumpets);

Wayne Andre (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone);

Dick Meldonian (alto sax); Gene Quill (alto sax, clarinet); Jim Reider (tenor sax);

Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Bill Tackus (bass); Dave Bailey (drums).

Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, June 1, 2 and 3, 1960

#13, #14, #15:

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax); Don Ferrara, Conte Candoli, Nick Travis (trumpets);

Wayne Andre (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone);

Bob Donovan (alto sax); Gene Quill (alto sax, clarinet); Zoot Sims, Jim Reider (tenor saxes);

Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Buddy Clark (bass): Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded live at Teatro Lirico, Milan, Italy, November 14, 1960

Jazz goes to... Elliot Lawrence

Elliot Lawrence

Jazz Goes Broadway

Elliot Lawrence was born Elliot Lawrence Broza on February 14, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents, Stan Lee Broza and Esther Broza, were radio and television pioneers. In 1927, they created and produced the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, which ran on WCAU radio from 1927 to 1958 and concurrently on television from 1948 to 1958.

Lawrence grew up in this show business environment and began studying piano at the age of three. His first public performance was at age four conducting the orchestra on the Children's Hour stage show. At the age of six he wrote his first composition, "Falling Down Stairs", and was stricken with polio. Lawrence suffered from the illness for six months, after which he recovered. By the age of 12, Elliot had formed his first band, a 15-piece unit called The Band Busters, and had already begun doing club dates on the weekends. Elliot finished high school at age 16 and entered the University of Pennsylvania. During his junior year his band, now named The Elliot Broza Orchestra, began playing college proms around Pennsylvania. 

Elliot took the name Elliot Lawrence to distinguish himself from his family name when he became the music director of WCAU'S House Band in 1945. The band premiered on the radio on January 18, 1945, as The Elliot Lawrence Orchestra in a weekly half-hour broadcast "Listen to Lawrence". The Elliot Lawrence Band, of which he was the piano player and leader, soon incorporated classical instruments like oboe, French horn, English horn and bassoon.

From 1946 to 1954, Lawrence's Band toured, performing at dances, concerts, college proms, and headline gigs around the United States year round, while recording albums for Decca, Columbia, RCA, Fantasy, and Vik records. In 1949, the band performed a three-week stint with the Nat King Cole Trio at the Paramount Theater in New York City, during which time it recorded Gerry Mulligan's "Elevation", later named "one of the top 50 best jazz recordings of the 20th century" by the Smithsonian Institution. The Elliot Lawrence Band performed in Philadelphia at the World Series in 1950, playing his original song "The Fightin' Phils". By this time, however, the band had become known for their "sweet" commercial sound. From 1947 to 1949 the band was the "campus choice" in Billboard's most promising new orchestra polls. Elliot was also voted one of America's "most eligible bachelors" by Look magazine in 1949.

After 1960, Lawrence gave up jazz and began composing and arranging for television, film, and stage. He won the Tony Award for his second show, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1962. This led to a 16-year career as a Broadway Conductor and musical director and later to his almost 50-year career as the "go to" conductor for big television events and specials.

Elliot Lawrence died on July 2, 2021, at the age of 96 in Manhattan. *(from wikipedia.org)*

If New York's jazz studio scene had a high point, it's probably 1956 and '57, just as the 12-inch LP became popular and just before stereo intruded with its odd sonics. During those two years, labels set high LP production quotas and producers were dispatched to line up numerous recording dates. With the pressure on, many producers took chances on artists who might not have been heard otherwise and concepts that hadn't been tried previously. They also began using Broadway songs as a way to build inventory.

One of the earliest examples was Elliot Lawrence's Jazz Goes Broadway, which had a distinctly East Coast sound. The difference between the East Coast and West Coast studio sound rested in its main influences. On the West Coast, arrangements and playing tended to be splashier and more swayed by television, fast cars and the movies. On the East Coast, the playing was jazzier and the arrangements tended to be bluesy, instrumentally denser and less commercial sounding.

Recorded over two sessions in May 1957, Jazz Goes Broadway featured two different sets of first-call studio musicians. The arrangements were by AlCohn, Elliot Lawrence and Manny Albam. What's more, each song showcases a different artist.

On Jazz Goes Broadway, we hear the artful use of show tunes without sacrificing jazz or swing. *Marc Myers*

Although he mostly worked in radio, television, and the studios in the 1950s, pianist/arranger Elliot Lawrence also led a series of fine swing-oriented jazz dates. Most of his sessions were at the head of big bands, but, for this CD Lawrence leads a pair of overlapping octets. Such soloists as Art Farmer or Nick Travis on trumpet, Jimmy Cleveland or Urbie Green on trombone, altoist Gene Quill, clarinetist Hal McKusick, tenorman Zoot Sims and Al Cohn (switching to baritone), the groups perform ten songs taken from Broadway shows. Four ("Just in Time", "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", "On the Street Where You Live", and "Mack the Knife") became standards while the other six sank into obscurity. The jazz all-stars (which also include bassist Chubby Jackson and drummer Don Lamond) uplift all of the tunes, with arrangements provided by Lawrence, Cohn, and Manny Albam. *Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)*

1 - Jubilation T. Cornepone

(Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul)

2 - Just In Time

(B. Comden, A. Green, J. Styne)

3 - Big D

(Frank Loesser)

4 - I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face

(Alan J. Lerner, Frederick Loewe)

5 - On The Street Where You Live

(Alan J. Lerner, Frederick Loewe)

6 - Mack The Knife

(Kurt Weill)

7 - Joey, Joey, Joey

(Frank Loesser)

8 - If'n

(Matt Dubey, Harold Karr)

9 - Look At 'Er

(Bob Merrill)

10 - Standing On The Corner

(Frank Loesser)

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

Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone), Gene Quill (alto sax),

 Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Al Cohn (baritone sax), Elliot Lawrence (piano),

Chubby Jackson (bass), Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall, RCA Victor Studios, New York City, May 7, 1957

#2, #4, #5, #7, #9, #10:

Nick Travis (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Hal McKusick (clarinet),

Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Al Cohn (baritone sax), Elliot Lawrence (piano),

Chubby Jackson (bass), Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall, RCA Victor Studios, New York City, May 8, 1957

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

John "Johnny" Carisi - His Music And His Orchestras

John Carisi born in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, February 23, 1922, died New York, October 8, 1992. Studied trumpet and theory in high school, composition with Stephan Wolpe (1948-1950), trumpet with Carmine Caruso (1953-1954). Played in his youth with Babe Russin, George Handy, Herbie Fields and joined Glenn Miller's army band in 1943. Played with Skitch Henderson, Claude Thornhill and Charlie Barnet. Aside of that also active in the classical field, writing compositions for chamber groups and also composed a jazz piece called "Israel" that was recorded by Miles Davis. In the 60's he continued to write compositions for jazz as well as classical performers. Three of his compositions were recorded on Impulse with an orchestra under direction of Gil Evans. Carisi himself played on this recording some of the trumpet parts. *Walter Bruyninckx*

Johnny Carisi is destined to be chiefly remembered for composing "Israel," a complex blues that was recorded by Miles Davis' Birth Of The Cool nonet. Otherwise his career was primarily spent in obscurity. Carisi, who was mostly self-taught on trumpet, played early on with little-known groups although he had a stint in 1943 with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. Starting in the mid-40's, Carisi's writing was sophisticated and advanced enough for him to contribute arrangements to the books of Ray McKinley, Charlie Barnet and Claude Thornhill. Never a major soloist, Carisi played trumpet with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra a bit during 1949-1950. Although he worked fairly steadily as a writer, Johnny Carisi recorded only a few albums under his own name. He had an opportunity to remake "Israel" in 1956 for a Bluebird set not released until the CD era, and he utilized a "Guitar Choir" in an unusual reworking of the music from Showboat (playing trumpet on "Nobody Else But Me"). In 1961 Carisi shared an Impulse LP (Into The Hot) with Cecil Taylor and in 1968 he wrote the arrangements for trumpeter Marvin Stamm's Machinations album. Otherwise Johnny Carisi wrote for the studios, was involved part-time with classical music and was a music educator. *Scott Yanow*

Johnny Carisi

The Music Of Johnny Carisi

Israel

One of the most important movements in the late 40s and early 50s jazz, was the conscious effort of well-schooled, classically informed, creative jazz musicians to reflect not only their training but also a greater sense of structure and order in the jazz music they played and improvised on. It was a movement led by writers like Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Ralph Burns, Tiny Kahn and Johnny Carisi, among others. Some, like Mulligan and Kahn, were also celebrated instrumentalists, but they all embraced both large and small group music.

Trumpeter Johnny Carisi (1922-1992), whose name endures as a notable one in this groundbreaking general movement, worked originally for bands such as Ray McKinley's and, more significantly, Claude Thornhill's, in which he also played at a period when the band was famed for its contemporary, boppish book written by Evans and Mulligan.

Appropriately, this compilation contains Carisi's own 1956 recordings as a leader, as well some of his most celebrated compositions and arrangements played by other great groups, all fine examples of his contribution to this development in jazz. But, apart from his extensive and varied background as both player and writer, the one composition that made him a jazz legend is Israel, one of Miles Davis' loveliest record arrangements, and for which Johnny Carisi will always be remembered. *Jordi Pujol*

Johnny Carisi name will always be associated with Israel — his highly original take on the 12-bar form premiered by the ground-breaking Miles Davis nonet in 1949. He revisits it here with his own Jazz Workshop as well as on a chart for Gerry Mulligans CJB. Miles original solo has been transcribed for both ensembles. A few years ago Ray Passman added a lyric which has been recorded by the delightful Meredith d'Ambrosio among others under the title Its Your Dance.

The opening tracks have plenty of Eddie Wassermans fine Prez-inspired tenor especially on "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Lestorian Mode". The latter was also recorded by Brew Moore, Mulligan and Kai Winding in 1949 but it has yet to be reissued on CD. That doyen of the New York recording scene Barry Galbraith shows on "Barry's Tune" just why Mulligan once described him as an altogether beautiful musician. "Springsville" (misspelt on the sleeve) was recorded by the composer a year before Miles Davis and Gil Evans gave it their seal of approval on Miles Ahead. There are also two of Carisis dramatic excursions into 12-tone territory - "Moon Taj" and "Angkor Wat". As a trumpet soloist he has some notable Phil Sunkel-like statements especially on "How About You?" and "Hips".

This comprehensive retrospective of Johnny Carisi — one of the most unsung people in the history of music according to Bob Brookmeyer — is most welcome. It should help focus attention on a vital but sometimes overlooked contributor to the celebrated Birth Of The Cool project. *Gordon Jack*

1 - Israel

(Johnny Carisi)

2 - Honeysuckle Rose

(Razaf, Waller)

3 - Lestorian Mode

(Johnny Carisi)

4 - Barry's Tune

(Johnny Carisi)

5 - How About You?

(Freed, Lane)

6 - Hips

(Johnny Carisi)

7 - Springville

(Johnny Carisi)

8 - Breakfast With Joe

(Johnny Carisi)

9 - Walkin' On Air

(Johnny Carisi)

10 - Little John

(Johnny Carisi)

11 - Springville

(Johnny Carisi)

12 - Plain Bill From Bluesville

(Johnny Carisi)

13 - Israel

(Johnny Carisi)

14 - Angkor Wat

(Johnny Carisi)

15 - Barry's Tune

(Johnny Carisi)

16 - Moon Taj

(Johnny Carisi)

17 - Israel

(Johnny Carisi)

#1 to #7 were recorded for the album RCA Victor Jazz Workshop Johnny Carisi that was scheduled as LPM 1371 but never released.

#1:

Johnny Carisi (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Ray Beckenstein (clarinet, alto sax), Eddie Wasserman (tenor sax), Danny Bank (baritone sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Russ Saunders (bass), Herb Wasserman (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall Studio, New York City, April 21, 1956

#2 to #7:

Johnny Carisi (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Ray Beckenstein (clarinet, alto sax), Eddie Wasserman (tenor sax), Sol Schlinger (baritone sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall Studio, New York City, May 5 (#2 to #4) and May 11 (#5 to #7), 1956.

#8: Al Cohn Octet, from the album Al Cohn - Mr. Music (RCA Victor LJM1024)

Joe Newman (trumpet); Billy Byers (trombone); Gene Quill (alto sax); Al Cohn, Sol Schlinger (tenor saxes); Sanford Gold (piano); Buddy Jones (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall Studio, New York City, December 23, 1954.

#9: Tony Scott Tentet, from the album The Touch of Tony Scott (RCA Victor LPM 1353)

Johnny Carisi, Joe Wilder (trumpets); Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green (trombones); Tony Scott (clarinet); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Bill Evans (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall Studio, New York City, July 5, 1956.

#10 to #12, from the album All About Urbie Green and His Big Band (ABC-Paramount ABC137)

#10:

Johnny Carisi, Nick Travis, Joe Wilder (trumpets); Urbie Green, Jack Green, Chauncey Welsch (trombones); Bill Barber (tuba); Ray Beckenstein, Hal McKusick (alto saxes); Al Cohn (tenor sax); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Dave McKenna (piano); Jack Lesberg (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Beltone Studios, New York City, August 5, 1956.

#11, #12:

Doc Severinsen, Phil Sunkel, Johnny Carisi (trumpets); Urbie Green, Lou McGarity, Rex Peer (trombones); Bill Barber (tuba); Ray Beckenstein, Hal McKusick (alto saxes); Al Cohn (tenor sax); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Dave McKenna (piano); Vinnie Burke (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Beltone Studios, New York City, August 23, 1956.

#13: Gerry Mulligan And The Concert Jazz Band, from the album A Concert in Jazz (Verve V6-8415)

Don Ferrara, Nick Travis, Doc Severinsen (trumpets); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Willie Dennis (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone); Gene Quill, Bob Donovan (alto saxes); Gerry Mulligan, Gene Allen (baritone saxes); Bill Crow (bass); Mel Lewis (drums); John Carisi (arranger).

Recorded at Webster Hall Studio, New York City, July 10, 1961.

#14 to 16: Johnny Carisi And His Orchestra, from the Gil Evans' album Into the Hot (Impulse AS-9)

[Note: Though Gil Evans's Out Of The Cool for Impulse in late 1960 was well-received by critics, he decided to leave the new label when Impulse founder Creed Taylor left to head Verve. In addition, Evans didn't have enough material for a followup, so he turned over his remaining Impulse recording dates to Carisi and Cecil Taylor. Here are Carisi's three beautiful compositions that he arranged and conducted for the album, which came out under Gil Evans's name anyway in 1962.]

#14:

Johnny Carisi, Johnny Glasel, Doc Severinsen (trumpets); Urbie Green (trombone); Jimmy Buffington (French horn); Harvey Phillips (tuba); Phil Woods, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Eddie Costa (piano, vibes); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Beltone Studios, New York City, September 14, 1961.

#15:

Johnny Carisi, Johnny Glasel, Clark Terry (trumpets); Urbie Green (trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Harvey Phillips (tuba); Phil Woods, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Eddie Costa (piano, vibes); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Art Davis (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Beltone Studios, New York City, October 1, 1961

#16: 

Johnny Carisi, Johnny Glasel, Joe Wilder (trumpets); Urbie Green (trombone); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Harvey Phillips (tuba); Phil Woods, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Eddie Costa (piano, vibes); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Art Davis (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded at Beltone Studios, New York City, October 31, 1961.

#17: from the 78 rpm disc Miles Davis And His Orchestra (Capitol 57-60011)

Miles Davis (trumpet), J.J. Johnson (trombone), Sandford Siegelstein (French horn), Bill Barber (tuba), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), John Lewis (piano), Nelson Boyd (bass), Kenny Clarke [aka L.A. Salaam] (drums).

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, April 22, 1949.

***

John Carisi

The New Jazz Sound Of Show Boat

Carisi's sole album recorded under his name that gave us a glimpse of his inventive arranging skills and trumpet playing was The New Jazz Sound Of "Show Boat". Recorded for Columbia over three sessions in September 1959, the album featured Carisi arranging, conducting and playing trumpet. What's remarkable about the album is how orchestral it sounds with relatively few instruments featured. At first, too few.

The September 8th recording date was something of a washout. Only one track out of four was accepted by producer Teo Macero —"Nobody Else But Me". The personnel featured Carisi (tp,arr,cond), Barry Galbraith, Jimmy Raney, Billy Bauer, Howard Collins and Allan Hanlon on guitars; Milt Hinton on bass; and Osie Johnson on drums.

Upon hearing the playback, Macero likely felt the album needed a couple of additional horns to give the album greater variety, either because Carisi wasn't a big enough name to drive jazz-album sales or because Carisi's trumpet wasn't flashy enough.

So on September 18, the same group assembled in the studio with the addition of alto saxophonist Phil Woods as the soloist. The tracks were Make Believe, Why Do I Love You? and I Have the Room Above Her. Woods sat out on two of the tracks — "It Still Suits Me" and "Bill".

Then on September 24, the same core group returned but this time valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer replaced Woods on "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "I Might Fall Back On You". Brookmeyer sat out on "Life Upon the Wicked Stage".

The three tracks handed over to Carisi by Woods and Brookmeyer gave him three solo trumpet tracks he lost when Macero rejected the three from September 8.

The resulting album is a masterpiece of arranging and among only a handful of jazz interpretations of Broadway musicals that elevated the original scores to something way more interesting.

*Marc Myers*

Side 1

1 - Make Believe

2 - Nobody Else But Me

3 - I Might Fall Back On You

4 - I Have The Room Above Her

5 - Bill

Side 2

6 - Can't Help Lovin' That Man

7 - Life Upon The Wicked Stage

8 - Ol' Man River

9 - Why Do I Love You?

10 - I Still Suits Me

(All compositions by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern)

John Carisi And The Guitar Choir:

John "Johnny" Carisi (trumpet, conductor); Phil Woods (alto sax [#1, #4,  #9]); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone [#3, #6, #8]); Jimmy Raney, Tommy Kay, Barry Galbraith, Billy Bauer, Howard Collins [#1, #2, #4, #5, #9, #10], Allen Hanlon [#3, #6, #7, #8] (guitars); Milt Hinton [#1, #2, #4, #5, #9, #10], Teddy Kotick [#3, #6, #7, #8] (basses); Osie Johnson [#1, #2, #4, #5, #9, #10],  Mousey Alexander [#3, #6, #7, #8] drums).

Recorded at Columbia Studios, 30th St., New York City, September 8 (#2, #5), September 18 (#1, #4, #9, #10) and September 24 (#3, #6, #7, #8), 1959.

Bob Prince And... Saxes, Inc.

Thirteen of the country's top sax men in a musicians' —and listeners'— holiday.

This album is a tribute to many things; the saxophone itself, the great musicians of its brief history, some of the repertoire which has been associated with this peculiary jazz-suited instrument, the specific musicians who made these recordings, and most of all to the arranger whose interpretation of this unique idea is an extraordinary example of the creativity and technique that consistently mark his work. Bob Prince faced a difficult challenge in accepting the assignment of a "Saxophones, Inc." album, and made it still more challenging by resolving to use a great deal of material which has been associated with the instrument and its past masters. His conception of what and how to write for a saxophone ensemble has been brilliantly executed.

Prince did not start work until he had set the personnel for each session. He drew his primary inspiration from the virtuosity of each member of the ensemble; he wrote specifically for the individuals who made this recording. *George Avakian (liner notes)*

Saxes Inc. — a unique sax-heavy session done by Warner Brothers, and a blaring batch of tracks played by an all-star all-sax group that includes Herb Geller, Phil Woods, Gene Quill, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Seldon Powell, Hal McKusick, and Georgie Auld! Bob Prince arranged and conducted, and the approach is surprisingly modernist, with the saxes carrying the bulk of the rhythm and melody, as well as the solos —a really great approach that makes for plenty of unique moments— all handled with a sound that's a lot more fluid than you might expect! Titles include "Four Brothers" (of course!), "The Gypsy", "Night In Tunisia", "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", and "Axmobile".

*Jordi Pujol*

1 - Fugue For Tinhorns

(Frank Loesser)

2 - Broadway

(Woode, McRae, Bird)

3 - The Gypsy

(Billy Reid)

4 - Night In Tunisia

(Gillespie, Paparelli)

5 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - Sometimes I'm Happy

(Caesar, Youmans)

7 - Tickle-Toe

(Lester Young)

8 - Sweet And Lovely

(Arnheim, Tobias, Lemare)

9 - Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

(Lester Young)

10 - Early Autumn

(Mercer, Burns, Herman)

11 - Axmobile

(Robert Prince)

Al Cohn, Coleman Hawkins, Georgie Auld, Morty Lewis, Seldon Powell, Zoot Sims (tenor saxes); Gene Quill, Herb Geller, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Al Epstein, Gene Allen, Sol Schlinger (baritone saxes); Hal McKusick (soprano sax); Shelly Gold (bass sax); Dick Katz (piano); George Duvivier (bass); Osie Johnson (drums). 

Arranged and directed by Bob Prince.

Recorded in New York City, July and August, 1959.

Al Cohn And The Sax Section

If one had to define the most striking quality of the sax section in the dance or jazz orchestra, it would be variety of sound. Though saxophones have a relatively small range and uniform tone, the woodwinds (piccolo, flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet and English horn) have more extensive ranges and are used in varying ways to make the reed section the flexible unit it is... The numerous instrumental combinations that are possible give this section wide scope. Challenging arrangements permit full exploitation of the sound spectrum. 

The evolution of the sax section is the result of the various changes in conception of dance and jazz music, and the maturation of arranging procedures.

In this period of temporary stability before the next possible big change in the sax section, Epic thought the time ripe to record a contemporary sax section. In order to fully exploit its many possibilities an arranger was selected who was completely oriented in jazz and dance music and nationally recognized for his unique scoring talent... Al Cohn. 

Because he was scoring merely for reeds and rhythm, Al felt it necessary to take special care in making the arrangements for this LP. Without the brass instruments to enhance or balance things, the saxes —woodwinds had to be utilized in a most stimulating fashion— rhythmically and harmonically to hold interest. Even a section as colorful as the reeds will suffer from the limitation of sameness, if not provocatively scored for. Al Cohn's handling of the section leaves little to be desired. *Burt Korall (liner notes)*

Al Cohn's writing for small groups is always appealing, and this set is no exception. Leading three separate groups consisting of various reeds (and no brass) plus a rhythm section, Cohn obtains marvelous results from his groups of all-stars and veteran session musicians. The first session concentrates on saxophones, including Cohn and Eddie Wasserman on tenor saxes, Sam Marowitz and Gene Quill on alto saxes, with Sol Schlinger on the baritone sax. Cohn's swinging "Shazam" brings the swing era to mind, while "Tears by Me Out the Heart" is a warm ballad. The second meeting is more of a mixed bag, with Boomie Richman, Peanuts Hucko, Romeo Penque, Phil Bodner, Charlie O'Kane, and the leader switching out between various reed instruments from one track to the next. Particularly effective is Cohn's exotic arrangement of "While My Lady Sleeps," featuring two flutes in the lead, backed by oboe, clarinet, and bass clarinet. The final date matches three tenor saxophonists (Zoot Sims and Eddie Wasserman joining the leader) and Sol Schlinger again on baritone. The feeling throughout these tracks touches on the work of the big bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Woody Herman, always swinging, with plenty of hot solos and tight ensembles. This long-unavailable record is worth acquiring. *Ken Dryden* 

This CD contains sides made by three different groupings of reedmen and rhythm section. The usual big band section, as featured in group one, gets a fine sound and offers Al Cohn and Gene Quill a framework for some excellent soloing. John Williams is heard from, too, with his solidly swinging piano style. 

The second grouping, with a woodwind instrumentation lends a different coloration to the section. Peanuts Hucko is featured on clarinet, Phil Bodner plays good flute, and Boomie Richman sounds great on bass clarinet.

The third set has three tenors and a baritone. A "Four Brothers" sound with Al and Zoot soloing and Hank Jones playing really lovely piano —tasty, clean, and swinging— behind them and on his own solos. As an experiment in the various shapes a sax section can be drawn in, this was a very successful project. *Jordi Pujol* 

1 - Shazam

(Al Cohn)

2 - The Mellow Side

(Al Cohn)

3 - Shutout

(Al Cohn)

4 - Double Fracture

(Al Cohn)

5 - While My Lady Sleeps

(Kahn, Kaper)

6 - Shorty George

(Gibson, Basie)

7 - The Return Of The Redhead

(Al Cohn)

8 - Villa Rowboats

(Al Cohn)

9 - Solsville

(Al Cohn)

10 - Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me

(Koehler, Bloom)

11 - Blues for the High Brow

(Al Cohn)

12 - Tears By Me Out The Heart

(Al Cohn)

#1, #4, #9, #12:

Sam Marowitz, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Al Cohn, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxes); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Johnny Williams (piano); Milt Hinton (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 24, 1956.

#3, #5, #8, #10:

Romeo Penque (clarinet, alto sax, oboe, English horn), Phil Bodner (flute, clarinet), Peanuts Hucko (clarinet), Boomie Richman (bass clarinet), Charlie O’Kane (flute, bass clarinet), Johnny Williams (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 5, 1956.

#2, #6, #7, #11:

Al Cohn, Eddie Wasserman, Zoot Sims (tenor saxes); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 28, 1956. 

Phil Woods • Gene Quill Sextet - Phil And Quill

 

In all of the awed recognition of the overwhelming influence that Charlie (Bird) Parker has had on the way jazz has developed during the past decade, it is only occasionally that one comes face to face with the problems that follow in the wake of so pervasive an influence. These problems are most noticeable in the area of Parker's own instrument, the alto saxophone.

If Parker pointed the way for jazz as a whole, he did much more for the alto sax. He set a pattern that has seemed so definitive that every alto man who has come after him, almost without exception, has taken to his pattern as though any deviation would be unthinkable heresy. This, of course, is the natural way for a jazz musician to start—there is always someone who is the inspiration and the guide.

But before Parker, no one —not even Louis Armstrong— had established an approach that was so universally accepted by the contemporary jazz generation.

As a consequence Parker, as a model, has been a trap —an inviting and exciting trap, to be sure— but nonetheless a trap for many young altoists who managed to acquire the surface qualities of Parker but, having done that, found they had no place to go but around and around the same repetitive and uncreative circle.

Neither Phil Woods nor Gene Quill were exceptions to the mode of the times when they started out on alto. Bird was the influence and they took to it with passion.

But, having used this convenient stepping stone to launch themselves in jazz, they both had the individuality and personal creativeness to realize that they had to avoid being suffocated by this influence. Building on the foundation they inherited, they have each moved in directions that are distinctly their own, and as time goes by the sound of their original inspiration has become steadily dimmer as their own musical personalities assert themselves.

Of the two. Woods has possibly developed the most completely individual attack at this point strong, assertive and gustily swinging. But Quill, who burst from the cocoon a Itit later than Woods, has recently been moving with startling and satisfying speed toward his own jazz fate.

The idea of teaming up has been stewing in the two altoists' minds for a couple of years, ever since they met at the apartment of pianist John Williams and started playing together in various groups. They found that they felt comfortable in each other's musical company and that more flexibility and variety were possible in the sound of two altos than in pairings of most other instruments.

The close musical and personal ties that bind Gene and Phil were made even tighter after they launched their own group (two altos and rhythm).

In the sextet heard in these performances, a "bottom" is provided for the two alto saxes by Sol Schlinger's baritone saxophone. The rhythm section is made up of the brilliant, swinging pianist, Dave McKenna; bassist Buddy Jones; and drummer Shadow Wilson, a widely experienced big-band veteran (Hampton, Hines, Basie, Herman).

The arrangements come from the pens of Woods; Neal Hefli and Nat Pierce, both quondam bandleaders; Bill Potts, who made his mark as a writer with Willis Conover's Washington band; and Gene Orloff, a violinist who is in great demand as concertmaster on jazz sessions when strings are used. *John S. Wilson (liner notes)*

The meetings of alto saxophonist Phil Woods and Gene Quill, such as this 1956 sextet date for RCA, are always enjoyable. In addition to baritone saxophonist Sol Schlinger, Woods and Quill are joined by pianist Dave McKenna, bassist Buddy Jones, and drummer Shadow Wilson. The focus is on the two altoists, but there is occasionally blowing room for Schlinger and McKenna, too. Gene Orloff's snappy "Sax Fifth Avenue" and Woods' brisk "Four Flights Up" are the highlights of the date, along with several works by Bill Potts. This is a typically solid effort by Phil Woods and Gene Quill.

*Ken Dryden*

Side 1

1 - Sax Fith Avenue

(Gene Orloff)

2 - Ready Rudy

(Neal Hefti)

3 - Cabeza

(Nat Pierce)

4 - Twin Funkies

(Phil Woods)

5 - Rib Roast

(Nat Pierce)

6 - High Stepping Bizzies

(Bill Potts)

Side 2

7 - Four Flights Up

(Phil Woods)

8 - Dig You P's And Q's

(Nat Pierce)

9 - Dry Chops In The Moonlight

(Bill Potts)

10 - Una Momento

(Phil Woods)

11 - Pottsville, U.S.A.

(Bill Potts)

12 - Frank The Barber

(Bill Potts)

Phil Woods, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Dave McKenna (piano); Buddy Jones (bass); Shadow Wilson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 15, 1956.

Joe Newman - Swinging Octets

Joe Newman Octet

All I Wanna Do Is Swing

The band Joe has assembled here is remarkable not merely for its cohesive unity, but for the individual brilliance wich each one of its members demostrates in his solo work —solo work wich is, happily, given to them at frecuent intervals.

Arrangements for this session are the work of Manny Albam, Al Cohn and Ernie Wilkins, all of whom have turned out scores in a great variety of tempos wich serve to showcase the multitudinous talents of Joe and each one of his colleagues.

Whether on mute or open horn, Joe's work is a delight to the ears —not merely because it is sane jazz in the midst of much that today is either overwritten or vacuous, but because it is always swinging, always blown from the top-drawer of inspirations. And it is remarkable tribute to all involved that this session, which ran from midnight to 10 A.M., produced jazz of this highly infectious sort. But in reality, it is undoubtedly true that regardless of the time of day or night, these men, in the midst of such telling arrangements, could not but blow wonderfully —and in these recordings, led and sparked by Joe Newman, they have all obviously engraved some of their most sincere, and jazzdom's most sparkling, efforts. *Jack Lewis and Bill Zeitung (liner notes)*

Newman is an excellent lyrical trumpeter with Count Basie band, and this set shows him off in a comfortable, Basie-inspired setting. The arramgements, by Mannie Albam, Al Cohn and Ernie Wilkins, are all in the Basie idiom — relaxed and swinging. Basie-ites Wilkins and Greene are present, along with bassist Milt Hinton, Cohn on tenor and Nat pierce —a Basie follower— on piano. The style is modern, not "progressive", swing. Solos are extremely tastly all around, and the ensembles are very smooth, and very easy on the ears. Should do okay if demonstrated.

*Billboard, July 30, 1955*

Side 1

1 - Soon

(George and Ira Gershwin)

2 - Limehouse Blues

(Braham, Furber)

3 - Dream A Little Dream Of Me

(Andre, Kahn, Schwandt)

4 - Corner Pocket

(Freddie Green)

5 - If I Could Be With You

(James P. Johnson, Henry Creamer)

6 - It's A Thing Of The Past

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

7 - Pretty Skinny Bunny

(Ernie Wilkins)

8 - Leonice

(Joe Newman)

9 - Jack's Wax

(Al Cohn)

10 - Topsy

(Eddie Durham, Edgar William Battle)

11 - Captain Spaulding

(Al Cohn)

12 - I Could Have Told You

(Arthur Williams, Carl Sigman)

Joe Newman (trumpet), Frank Rehak (trombone), Ernie Wilkins (alto sax), Al Cohn (tenor sax), Nat Pierce (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Shadow Wilson (drums). 

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, February 8, 1955.

⁂

Joe Newman Octet

I'm Still Swinging

A compelling octet recording – with arrangements by Ernie Wilkins, Al Cohn, and Manny Albam – with a lineup that includes Cohn on tenor, Gene Quill on alto, Urbie Green on trombone, and Freddie Green on guitar! Nice Andy Warhol cover, too! Titles include "Top Hat, White Tie, And Tails", "You Can Depend On Me", "We'll Be Together Again", "It's Bad For Me", "Daughter Of Miss Thing", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Sweethearts On Parade", and "Slats". *dustygroove.com* 

A label or a catch phrase can be a convenient thing, but it rarely tells a rounded story. In the Thirties, in the Swing Era, Benny Goodman was called "King of Swing". As pat labels go, this one was pretty accurate, for it was Goodman who brought on the Swing Era and it was Goodman who, to the general public, was the pre-eminent figure of that era. But Goodman, at that time, was a mover and shaker, not a polisher. It was Count Basie's band, riding onto the scene in the wake of Goodman (and with Goodman's ardent support), which became the epitome of the swing band and turned out ro be the most influential band of the period.

The strength of Basie's influence, after two decades, is widely evident in the playing of numerous small groups today, particularly in recording-groups which have access to genuine, Grade A Basie sidemen. One reason —and a rather basic reason— for the continuing appeal of the Basie manner was aptly summed up by Joe Newman when he was considering the approach to be taken on these numbers.

"I want them to have a swing to them", he said, "to be easy, to be good listening. I want to try to reach the mass of people, and I think the way to do it is with things I'd want to listen to if I were a listener".

There can be little question of what Joe Newman would listen to if he were a listener. For many years he has been an outstanding member of Count Basie's band. He is steeped in the Basie tradition and so are most of the men in his octet.

Freddie Green, a member of the original Basie band who was of enormous importance in creating what has come to be recognized as the typical Basie attack, is generally considered the greatest rhythm guitarist working today. Shadow Wilson has served two stints as Basic's drummer, while Eddie Jones is Basic's current bassist. Al Cohn, though a man of parts of the jazz world, has never achieved Basiedom, but his approach to the tenor sax is patterned to a large degree on that of Basie's Lester Young.

The octet's recruits from the non-Basie world are Urbie Green, a trombonist of such versatility that he has played successfully with Frankie Carle, Jan Savitt and, most notably, Woody Herman; Gene Quill, a rising young alto star who has worked with Claude Thornhill and Charlie Barnet; and Dick Katz, a pianist closely associated with Tony Scott, who effects a remarkable adaptation of his normal, sharply modern style to fit the mood of these performances.

There are other influences besides that of Basie at work here. Joe Newman has a pungent personality of his own which constantly makes itself felt. There are lines reaching out to Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Mildred Bailey. There is even, as we shall see, a badly shredded skein attached to S. J. Perelman. *John S. Wilson (liner notes)*

Side 1

01 - Top Hat, White Tie, And Tails

(Irving Berlin)

02 - You Can Depend On Me

(Hines, Carpenter, Dunlap)

03 - We'll Be Together Again

(Laine, Fisher)

04 - It's Bad For Me

(Cole Porter)

05 - Exactly Like You

(McHugh, Fields)

06 - Shameful Roger

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

07 - The Daughter Of Miss Thing

(Wilkins)

08 - Sometimes I'm Happy

(Youmans, Caesar, Grey)

09 - Sweethearts On Parade

(Newman, Lombardo)

10 - Slats

(Joe Newman, Ernie Wilkins)

11 - Lament For A Lost Love

(Ellington, Bigard, Mills)

12 - Perfidia

(Dominguez, Leeds)

Joe Newman (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Gene Quill (alto sax), Al Cohn (tenor sax), Dick Katz (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Eddie Jones (bass), Shadow Wilson (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, October 3 (#1, #2, #6, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12), and 4 (#3, #4, #5, #7), 1955.