Jazz goes to... Morey Feld

Morey Feld's Straight-Ahead Six

Jazz Goes To B'Way

Swing jazz audiences enjoyed the work of Morey Feld (August 15, 1915 – March 28, 1971) during several different periods of clarinet great Benny Goodman's career. As an elder statesman, Morey Feld was associated with several different George Wein festivals and touring projects. Eventually Feld pitched his tent in the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado and became an important spokesman for jazz among the cowboy hats. He came out of the midwest and its fertile breeding ground of bands in the '30s, playing with Ben Pollack, Joe Haymes and others. He first began playing with Goodman near the end of 1944.

The initial period with Goodman lasted a bit more than a year, followed by the beginning of another of the drummer's important relationships, this one with Eddie Condon. Condon would soon crank open his own venue in New York City, dedicated to styles of jazz that were being left behind. As might be expected, the move provided employment for drummers who played these styles with authority. As the '40s progressed, Feld revealed his mastery of various feels in the band of Buddy Morrow, behind many a guest at the Condon club and on a string of often uncredited free-lance recording sessions.

Goodman brought him back in the '50s, a decade when the drummer also held forth with Billy Butterfield, Joe Bushkin, Bobby Hackett and Peanuts Hucko. From 1955 the drummer was on staff as an ABC session player, emerging a bit more into the spotlight in the '60s when he began leading his own group. Feld's trio was well received at the 1964 New York World's Fair but his leadership activities did not prevent him from continuing the relationships with both Condon and Goodman. While working with the latter artist in 1966, Feld opened his own school of drumming. He toured all over the world with George Wein's Newport All Stars, then began trying out new environs. In 1968 he moved to California but skipped over the mountains shortly thereafter and settled in Denver. By 1969 he was well established with a band Hucko was leading out of Denver, and was also playing in a group that casually referred to itself as The World's Greatest Jazz Band. 

Feld died at age 55 while attempting to fight a fire at his Denver home. *Eugene Chadbourne*

The wedding of musical comedy songs with jazz bands, though seemingly incongruous, has survived for several decades, and, in fact, seems to be showing greater compatability than ever. It makes good common sense too, because show melodies, especially when written by such men as George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter, are melodies with much musical merit, with interesting melodic structures and unusual chord changes. Jazz musicians, who play extemporaneously around the melody and the chords, find more meat in such showtunes than in the usual, stereotyped Tin Pan Alley numbers, and so, quite naturally, they prefer to play them.

All of the ten selections in Jazz Goes To B'Way were written by the composers just mentioned. They represent some of the best material from the legitimate and motion picture musical shows, and if the performances sound more than slightly inspired, you can credit the material just as much as the performers. 

Morey Feld, leader of the Straight-Ahead Six, is so fond of all the songs that he cautioned the musicians before the date not to stray too far away from the melody. Said the former Benny Goodman drummer, a product of Cleveland, Ohio, and now a fixture in the ABC network's New York studios, in explaining the purpose of the recordings: "All we were interested in was making some happy, swinging, sounds. We hope it swings and that it makes some people happy!"

*George T. Simon (liner notes)*

When jazz goes to Broadway it taps a rich and rewarding ore of fine tunes. Sticking to the more familiar show music the boys resound with some capable jazz artistry. Morey Feld's group is particularly effective with Cole Porter's great new standard, "It's All Right With Me". For cooler sounds and a much slower arrangement Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" is a standout. Excellent material and a varied display of jazz tempo could provide successful sales. *Cashbox, January 14, 1956*

Jazz Goes To B'Way, a leader's album by Maury Feld, a drummer who was part of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. An exceptional record. This album features the vibraphone playing of Eddie Costa, the pianist and vibraphonist who died at the age of 31, with a unique improvisational style and a great sense of humor. It would not be an exaggeration to call it Eddie Costa's leader's album. Two years after its release, Eddie was voted Best New Artist in two categories, vibraphone and piano, in Down Beat magazine's international critics' poll. This hidden masterpiece, which predates his first leader's album, Eddie Costa Quintet, recorded with Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Teddy Kotick, and Paul Motian, moves with elegance and a sophisticated sense of white music. The content is a special Broadway collection of masterpieces created by great composers such as George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter. *recordsurplus.stores.jp*

Side 1

1 - Strike Up The Band

(Gershwin)

2 - Yesterdays

(Kern)

3 - I Didn't Know What Time It Was

(Rodgers, Hart)

4 - Lovely To Look At

(Kern)

5 - All Of You

(Porter)

Side 2

6 - It's All Right With Me

(Porter)

7 - Somebody Loves Me

(Gershwin)

8 - Dancing On The Ceiling

(Rodgers, Hart)

9 - Who Cares

(Gershwin)

10 - There's A Small Hotel

(Rodgers, Hart)

Peanuts Hucko (clarinet, tenor sax); Billy Byers (trombone [#3, #5, #8]); 

Billy Bauer [#1, #4, #6], Al Casamenti [#2, #7, #9, #10], Barry Galbraith [#3, #5, #8] (guitars); 

Don Elliot (mellophone [#1, #2, #4, #6, #7, #9, #10]); Eddie Costa (piano, vibes);

Jack Lesberg [#1, #4, #6], Arnold Fishkind [#2, #3, #5, #7 to #10] (basses), Morey Feld (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 1955

Marty Holmes Octette - Art Ford's Party For Marty

Jazz Party, also known as Art Ford's Jazz Party, was a TV series featuring jazz musicians on WNTA-TV in New York City, which aired on Thursdays at 9pm ET from May 8, 1958, to December 25, 1958. It was a music-focused continuation of Art Ford's Greenwich Village Party, arguably the last series to appear on the DuMont Television Network, which ceased operations on August 6, 1956, though only broadcast on WABD as that station was becoming WNEW-TV after the sale of the DuMont-owned stations to Metromedia.

The 90-minute shows hosted by Art Ford (1921–2006), were distributed by the NTA Film Network. The shows also aired on Armed Forces Television. All episodes were filmed in a New Jersey studio, except for the final episode, which was recorded on August 11, 1958, in New Orleans, and aired on December 25.

Musicians who appeared on the series included Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Henry "Red" Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Marty Napoleon, Georgie Auld, Buster Bailey, Vinnie Burke, Roy Eldridge, J. C. Higginbotham, Les Paul, Dick Hyman, Anita O'Day, Connee Boswell, Mae Barnes, Chris Connor, Sylvia Syms, Mary Osborne, Teddy Charles, Harry Sheppard, Maxine Sullivan, Alec Templeton, Abbey Lincoln and many others.

Marty Holmes (1925-2001) was an American saxophonist, arranger and composer.

Holmes learned violin at six, saxophone at 15 and clarinet at 16; He also learned the piano as an autodidact. He began his career in the early 1940s; he played in an army band during World War II. After his discharge from the US Army, he first worked in various swing and dance bands, including as with Jerry Wald, Bobby Byrne, Tommy Reynolds, Neal Hefti and Tito Puente. He also worked as arranger for Larry Elgart, Johnny Long and Tito Puente, for whom he wrote the numbers "The Floozie" and "What Are You Doing, Honey?" wrote. In 1957, Holmes founded his own octet (including trombonists Sonny Russo, Eddie Bert, Robert Ascher and Sam Takvorian), whose LP Art Ford's Party for Marty was released in 1959 on Jubilee Records. His composition "Was There a Call For Me?" was recorded by Bobby Darin.

Holmes was a highly respected teacher of harmony and theory. He was a 40-year member of ASCAP and was recognized in Leonard Feather’s "Encyclopedia of Jazz" (1962 edition). A member of the Local 802 music union since 1942, he served the organization as an officer in Manhattan in the 1990s. Holmes died in September 2001 at the age of 76. In the field of jazz, he was involved in seven recording sessions as a saxophonist and arranger between 1953 and 1994. *wikipedia.org*

Marty Holmes is primarily known for his relationship with Latin bandleader Tito Puente, with whom he served as both a sideman and a composer. In the latter category there are several evocative titles and musical questions, perhaps related to each other in the case of "The Floozie" and "What Are You Doing, Honey?," respectively. Singer Bobby Darin cut Holmes' "Was There a Call for Me?" some eons before the invention of the cell phone. A Brooklyn boy, Holmes dabbled with violin and got into the reed family as a teenager. His picked up piano on his own and by the late '40s had found employment in a series of dance bands. The Holmes surname was a stage name, probably changed from the original Hausman due to public distaste for all things German in this time period. The Puente connection, resulting in at least a dozen albums, came about following Holmes' stints with Neal Hefti and Tommy Reynolds, among others. Much of the Puente catalog featuring this artist was reissued in the '90s. The sole Holmes solo effort was the festive Art Ford's Party for Marty, originally released in 1959. *Eugene Chadbourne*

Marty Holmes Octett

Art Ford's Party For Marty

The Exciting New Sound Of The Marty Holmes Octette

Jazz turns a new corner as Marty Holmes comes into his own.

This amazing young man is the first modern musician to breathe warmth and heart that distinguished the Swing Era into the bright new 1960 music world. The dragon that conquered the big band of the thirties and forties is met square on by Marty Holmes' incisive planning. The big band became too big and transportation and payroll costs forced it to virtually disappear from the scene. The Marty Holmes Octette is small enough to survive and big enough for the full sounds you hear in this album.

In this first exciting set on Jubilee, I believe Marty submits his passport to fame. The sounds are alternately cool, sweet, and hot and yet – to use a term with still describes the goal of every popular musician – it really "swings".

People, and particularly, their own personalities, can create a jazz era. In the thirties, Fletcher Henderson, Don Rodman, Mary Lou Williams and Jimmy Lunceford gave us much of the same spark that made Swing so universally accepted. Marty Holmes' unique capacity to light this flame under today's more intellectual jazz structures is how beautifully in this album. Here for the first time is the proper blend of the emotions and the intelligence of the jazzmen of this era.

We cornered Marty at the session, and he said so simply, "I have believed for a long time that good jazz must be a stimulant; it must convey an invigorating feeling to the listener, and should make him feel happy rather than depressed. It should leave him with a good taste in his soul. It's got to swing!" We agreed and marveled as we listened to what he was able to do with his basic five-horn section. He produces almost any sounds he needs for Holmes-jazz, anything from a trombone choir to a full ensemble.

Marty's hobbies are playing piano, listening to classical music and reading about all breeds of dogs. He has a wire-haired terrier named Duffy for which "Duffy's Dilemma" is named. Possibly the thing about Marty that impresses you most if the utter sincerity about his fight for the dignity of the jazz musician. He said it after the session as we set around listening to the playbacks. "One of the most disgraceful things present today is the stigma attached to the jazz musicians, and his "zero" standing in the community. Too many people forget that the jazz musician is a professional like a lawyer or a doctor; he has spent many years learning his craft; he is trying to protect something that after all is an American heritage; he is one of the few professional men who has any inborn talent; therefor he should not be shunned and looked upon as a 'social mis-fit': he is early that. I believe that a step in the right direction insofar and "PUBLIC  RE-EDUCATION is concerned is good, healthy swinging jazz.

In this great album, Marty says the same thing in music. *Art Ford (liner notes)*

Despite hyperbole in the liner notes, this is an ordinary session in which trumpeter Burt Collins is the only striking soloist.

The leader plays barely adequate jazz tenor, and his arrangements, while unpretentious, are far from uniquely inventive. The medium and up-tempo tracks are the more invigorating. The ballads tend to limp. *N. H. HiFi/Stereo Review, December 1962*

Marty Holmes and his octette, a modern jazz group, turn in good performantes here of group of standard, with Holmes featured on sax. I'ts listenable modern jazz, not too far out or not to far in and the stereo sound is good. Tunes include originals like "Duffy's Dilemma",  and standards including "Someone to Watch Over Me". *Billboard, April 20, 1959*

Side 1

1 - Duffy's Dilemma

(Marty Holmes)

2 - Someone To Watch Over Me

(Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin)

3 - Pepper Pot

(Marty Holmes)

4 - I Get Along Without You Very Well

(Hoagy Carmichael)

5 - Love Walked In

(Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin)

6 - Party For Marty

(Marty Holmes)

Side 2

7 - Moonlight In Vermont

(John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf)

8 - Four Bluesers

(Marty Holmes)

9 - Maybe Soon

(Marty Holmes)

10 - Tales Of Wales

(Marty Holmes)

11 - Was There A Call For Me?

(Woody Harris, Marty Holmes)

12 - Coolus Maximus

(Marty Holmes)

Nick Travis (trumpet); Sonny Russo (trombone); Harvey Estrin (alto sax, clarinet);

Marty Holmes (tenor sax, arranger); Gene Allen (baritone sax, bass clarinet);

Moe Wechsler (piano); Jack Lesberg (bass); Ted Sommer (drums).

Recorded at Regent Sound Studios, New York City, January 1959

Kai Winding - Kai Winding All Stars

It is particularly fitting that this Kai Winding album should appear at this time. Now that bop, as we knew it, has foundered — has drawn what seems to be its last fresh line, it has become necessary to be extra selective in our listening. From this fresh vantage point, it is now evident that only a handful of individuals contributed freshness and vitality to the most violent revolution which jazz has ever been through. And several of those individuals are herein present.

Kai Winding was one of the first of the young modern musicians to take the trouble and the trombone through the experimental stages that the other horns and instruments were exploring. He lent an enviable technique to jazz, best proof of which existed and exists in the fact that his work on valve or slide trombone is nearly interchangeable to even the trained ear.

But technique and speed are only two facets of the Winding talent. As a balladier or a bellower he is equally effective, most distinctive in the latter because of a strident, snarling, rather than growling, sound.

And Kai is surrounded here, happily, with some outstanding talent. The records which include Gerry Mulligan are Mulligan arrangements, early proof, if any is needed, of the Mulligan sounds and skills, and advance notices of similar ideas applied to the Miles Davis group. Brew Moore lends his tenor to all eight sides. Composer-pianist George Wallington gives distinction to the first four sides, pianist Lou Stein to the last four. Curley Russell and Max Roach swing as well on the first four as Jack Lesberg and Don Lamond do on the last. Instrumentally, then, this is practically an all-star group — the tunes and performances do justice to the roll-call of stars.

Throughout these eight sides is much of the best that modern music had or has to offer. Admirably performed, it’s all for the listener's long playing. *Bill Coss (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Wallington's Godchild

(Wallington)

2 - Bop City

(Winding)

3 - Sleepy Bop

(Winding)

4 - Crossing The Channel

(Mulligan)

Side 2

5 - Honey

(Gillespie, Simons, Whiting)

6 - Someone To Watch Over Me

(G. & I. Gershwin)

7 - Harem Buffet

(Winding)

8 - Cheek To Cheek

(Irving Berlin)

#1 to #4:

Kai Winding (trombone), Brew Moore (tenor sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), George Wallington (piano), Curly Russell (bass), Max Roach (drums).

Recorded in New York City, April 10, 1949.

#5 to #8:

Kai Winding (trombone), Brew Moore (tenor sax), Lou Stein (piano), Jack Lesberg (bass), Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded in New York City, July 13, 1951.