Five-Star Collection... Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

JIMMY GIUFFRE is a quiet and intense young man with a singular creative touch. He has written and played for Woody Herman, Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Rich, Jerry Gray, Stan Kenton, and many more of the nation's leading bandsmen, and now — for the first time — he's on his own, in this album of seven Giuffre gems.

Jimmy has been playing clarinet and tenor sax since he was a lad in Texas, and he approaches composition most naturally as a performer. His work is generally melodic and “linear” in character. "This style of writing", he says, "gives the players the feeling of individuality that’s so important to jazz. Besides, I think it gives the listener more variety. I also use less rhythm section than is usual because I believe that this, too, provides more clarity and less monotony".

Like Jimmy, the performers he has joined together in this album of "chamber jazz" all belong to the vigorous and imaginative West Coast group of topflight modernists that has created such a stir in music circles. The tunes they play here, with the exception of the familiar I Only Have Eyes for You, are all Giuffre originals, one in particular — Four Brothers — having achieved a good deal of success in big-band arrangement.

Among the others are new and carefully fashioned numbers whose free flow and variety of instrumental combinations give them a wonderful improvised sound — though all of >Sultana<, for example, and half of Nutty Pine, are written out. Wrought of Iron is an exciting eight-bar theme and variations, an unusual form featuring ad lib solos by every member of the group.

An odd back-beat rhythm introduces the swinging tempo of Do It! and its fine improvisations on tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, and piano. All For You is in a brooding ballad style, with trumpet playing gently about the tenor sax melody line. The one "standard" — Eyes — displays Giuffre's instrumental inventiveness at its best in an ad lib baritone sax cadenza, with masterful drum accompaniment, that highlights the six minute production number.

In all, this Jimmy Giuffre album debut shows fine versatility, and is a stimulating contribution to first-rate modern jazz literature. There's fascinating listening enjoyment here for quite a while to come. *(from the liner notes)*

Jimmy's first LP to himself is an absorbing success on which Jimmy scores both as performer (tenor, clarinet, and baritone) and as writer (all six originals are his). As a writer, Jimmy strikes this listener as the most freshly inventive and maturely daring (but unpretentious) of all the writers on the coast. For one thing, several of his works have the melodic strength (Nutty Pine and All for You, for example) to become part of the repertoire of any swinging modern jazz group.

And almost all of his original lines on this and on other albums are really original and fresh. They are not (as so often happens with Shorty Rogers, Bill Holman, and many other writers of "originals") just quick routines that can be enlivened only by the ad lib solos within them but can't stand up for themselves.

Even the more involved Giuffre numbers (like the completely written-out Sultana) are constantly challenging to the ear even if they don't entirely come alive yet. Fine work on the first four by Bud Shank, Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (fluegel horn), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass) and Shelly Manne. The last three have the excellent aid of Sheldon, Manne, Russ Freeman, and Curtis Counce. Cover credit should have been given the fine engineering of John Palladino and to whoever wrote the helpful notes. But the man who rates the full bows and the encores is Giuffre, a major modern jazz talent.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 15, 1954 [5 stars])*

1 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Sultana

(Jimmy Giuffre)

3 - Nutty Pine

(Jimmy Giuffre)

4 - Wrought Of Iron

(Jimmy Giuffre)

5 - Do It!

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - All For You

(Jimmy Giuffre)

7 - I Only Have Eyes For You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

#1 to #4:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Bud Shank (alto sax),

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn), 

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, California, April 15, 1954

#5 to #7:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Jack Sheldon (trumpet), 

Russ Freeman (piano), Curtis Counce (bass),  Shelly Manne (dums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, February 19, 1954

Five-Star Collection... Art Pepper

Art Pepper

Art Pepper + Eleven

A Treasury Of Modern Jazz Classics

In a period when the qualifications for having one's own jazz album remains nebulous, it's been all the more astonishing that Art Pepper has been in charge of so few. Pepper has grown remarkably in imagination and emotional depth in the past few years as was hotly clear in Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary 3532, Stereo 7018). In this new, uniquely integrated set, Pepper receives a differently challenging framework from Marty Paich than he — or most other soloists — has yet received on records. And Art responds with consistent brilliance.

What Paich has done has been to provide more than just accompaniment for Art. He has integrated the resilient band backgrounds with Art's playing in a way that stimulates Pepper but doesn't obstruct the improvisatory flow of his ideas. Paich was able to accomplish this fusion because he knows Pepper's style well through several years of association, including dates on which Marty was pianist for Art. (...)

The programmatic concept of the album is also challenging to both Pepper and Paich. These are twelve established modern jazz standards — music directly out of the jazz experience, written by jazzmen. They're part of that growing body of thoroughly indigenous jazz material to which player-writers like Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, Duke Ellington, and in more recent years, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, John Lewis and others have contributed.

Pepper and Paich collaborated on selecting these twelve songs. "We treated them with a great deal of respect", Paich emphasizes. "The tune itself is there all the time. Unlike, for example, doing jazz versions of Broadway shows, with these jazz standards you don't have to alter and extend the chords and make other changes for jazz purposes". (...)

In essence, Art Pepper + Eleven demonstrates, first of all, how mature a soloist Art Pepper has become. It also reemphasizes how much of their own material jazzmen have to work with, and helps considerably in making known Marty Paich's qualifications as a particularly knowledgeable and sensitive jazz arranger. *Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

This is a highly satisfactory album for which Marty Paich, who conducts and did the arranging, deserves a full measure of credit.

The tunes read like a jazz hit parade of the '40s and '50s, and Paich has treated them with the reverence and seriousness they deserve while still retaining wit and a freshness of view. Pepper, in the context of this group, turns out one of his best performances on record. As an altoist, he immediately assumes his place again in the front rank with the added virtue of successfully escaping the tyranny of Charlie Parker’s spirit and still keeping that full-blown swing. He is surprisingly sensitive and moving on clarinet (Anthropology of all things!), and if he ever gets seriously down to work on that instrument as his major, there's room to believe he might be the one to bring it up to the point of development of the other solo horns.

On tenor he is a solidly swinging, tough-minded soloist, but it is on alto, still, that he shines. The whole album is in excellent taste, the solos by Freeman here and there are a gas, too, and Lewis provides a fine, swinging foundation. 

*Ralph J. Gleason (Down Beat, February 18, 1960 [5 stars])*

1 - Move

(Denzil Best)

2 - Groovin' High

(Dizzy Gillespie)

3 - Opus de Funk

(Horace Silver)

4 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams)

5 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - Shaw Nuff

(Gillespie, Parker)

7 - Bernie's Tune

(Leiber, Stoller, Miller)

8 - Walkin' Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Anthropology

(Gillespie, Parker)

10 - Airegin

(Sonny Rollins)

11 - Walkin' (original take)

(Richard Carpenter)

12 - Walkin' (alternate take 1)

(Richard Carpenter)

13 - Walkin' (alternate take 2)

 (Richard Carpenter)

14 - Donna Lee (original take)

(Charlie Parker)

15 - Donna Lee (alternate take)

(Charlie Parker)

Art Pepper (alto sax, tenor sax [#1, #5, #11], clarinet [#9, #12, #13]) with:

Pete Candoli [#3, #4, #8, #10], Jack Sheldon, Al Porcino [#1, #2, #5 to #7, #9, #11 to #15] (trumpets);

Herb Geller [#3, #4, #8, #10], Bud Shank [#2, #6, #9, #14, #15], Charlie Kennedy [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (alto saxes);

Dick Nash (trombone); Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax, valve trombone); Vincent DeRosa (French horn);

Bill Perkins [#2, #3, #4, #6, #8 to #10, #14, #15], Richie Kamuca [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (tenor saxes);

Med Flory (baritone sax); Russ Freeman (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California, March 14 (#3, #4, #8, #10),

March 28 (#2, #6, #9, #14, #15) and May 12 (#1, #5, #7, #11, #12, #13), 1959.

Five-Star Collection... Bill Holman

Bill Holman

Big Band In A Jazz Orbit

Bill Holman's compositions and arrangements are both experimental and basic at the same time; they never for one moment cease swinging, and yet their rhythmic complexities are brilliant. His harmonic sense is quite daring at times, and still his changes are comfortable and logical to play on. All his pieces have form and definite orderliness; they have strength and an underlying feeling of "There's something left in reserve, this isn't the climax yet". His voices are for the most part linear and his sections play a good deal in unison; however, the interweaving of the lines is so assured and musically sophisticated as to create a bigger harmonic sound than the thickest of chordal arranging. He builds his arrangements carefully and soundly and rarely succumbs to the screaming flag-waver ending so popular with many big bands. He has limited himself to the orthodox jazz instrumentation; trumpets, trombones, saxes and rhythm, but his knowledge of their possibilities is enormous. Being a highly talented instrumentalist himself, his arrangements are relatively easy to play. Everything lies well in the horns, a fact for which Bill is looked upon with gratitude by the playing musicians. He is very fond of the use of canonic imitation in his writing, and uses it to great advantage throughout this album. From a composer-arranger's point of view, he has already arrived at an enviable position: namely that his style is totally distinctive, recognizable, and personal; it is possible to say "That's Bill Holman" after listening to 8 bars of his music, and that is a very major accomplishment for a creative musician.

Bill Holman most assuredly is a first-rate saxophonist, but this true instrument is the orchestra, and he plays it with musicianship, honesty and brilliance. *André Previn (from the liner notes)*

While this, the second Holman big band set to be released in a year, lacks the compositional stature lent the first LP by his monumental work, The Big Street, it stands as an excellent album of modern big band jazz writing.

Thanks to the powerful rhythm section and the well-drilled ensemble, there is no dearth of rhythmic excitement. But the essence of musical interest lies in the imaginative quality of Holman's writing. One particularly interesting aspect of this set is the obvious Ellington-Strayhorn influence in certain portions of the ensemble work. This is evident — to this reviewer, anyway — in the saxes on No Heat and the massed brass effects on Kissin' Bug. It must be stressed, however, that these voicings are used not in imitation, but rather for effect where the overall character of the arrangement demanded them.

The composer ranges from utilizing an almost small band effect (on The Man I Love) to sheer powerhouse ensemble sound (as on Aura, for example) . Yet, for all the complexity of the arrangements, there is ample room for solo blowing and the various horn men use it well. Fontana solos only twice in the entire album, on The Man I Love and After You've Gone. Sheldon plays all the jazz trumpet, from fast glittering open horn lines to moody, muted statements blown right into the mike in the Davis manner. Holman has most of the tenor solos, although Kamuca is heard in relaxed statements on The Man I Love and Aura.

Space does not permit extended discussion of the playing of all soloists, unfortunately, but there is very little disappointment in the individual performances.

It is becoming increasingly evident to these ears that Holman and Gil Evans now emerge as the only two arranger-composers to come to prominence in recent years who have reached a point of maturity wherein their work is so completely individual that it becomes immediately recognizable. Each speaks with his own voice and, as the music on this album attests, Holman’s is eloquent indeed. Highly recommended. Also available on stereodisc.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, March 19, 1959 [5 stars])*

1 - Kissin' Bug

(Billy Strayhorn, Rex Stewart, Joya Sherrill)

2 - The Man I Love

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

3 - Goodbye

(Gordon Jenkins)

4 - You Go To My Head

(Jay Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)

5 - After You've Gone

(Henry Creamer, Turner Layton)

6 - Far Down Below

(Bill Holman)

7 - No Heat

(Bill Holman)

8 - Theme & Variations #2

(Bill Holman)

9 - Aura

(Bill Holman)

Conte Candoli, Ed Leddy, Al Porcino,

Jack Sheldon [replaced by Stu Williamson on #3, #4, #9] (trumpets);

Carl Fontana, Frank Rosolino, Ray Sims (trombones); Herb Geller, Charlie Mariano (alto saxes);

Bill Holman (tenor sax); Richie Kamuca, Charlie Kennedy (tenor saxes);

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California,

February 11(#1, #2, #6), 12 (#5, #7, #8) and 13 (#3, #4, #9) 1958.

Five-Star Collection... Many Albam

Manny Albam

Manny Albam And The Jazz Greats Of Our Time • Vol.1

Considering the fact that much of the essential character of jazz is derived from the spontaneity and excitement of improvisation, it would certainly seem that the most definitive jazz writing should be in compatible relation with, and emphasize the role of, the soloist. In essence, a marriage between the improvisation and the writing: the writer providing a pithy framework that is thought-provoking and impetus to the soloist, and in turn, the soloist, given the necessary latitude, investing life, individuality and substance to the story intimated in the writing.

There are some critics and musicians who subscribe to the polar aspects of this subject: some stand for improvisation in the complete sense —spontaneous, intuitive—without framework or guideposts; others line up for composition to the point of shutting off the soloist by writing everything, or giving him only a limited role. And then, there are variations on both. However, the middle ground, in its equivalent relation between writing and blowing, gives evidence of being the best approach.

We must enlarge for clarity... In their own way, some of these polar ventures have been successful, but whether they are jazz or not, is a matter for discussion. On the other hand, going toward the middle ground, definitions become clear, and the performance becomes jazz in the more accepted sense, retaining the idiom’s identifiable markings.

In truth, tradition is most accessible from the vantage point of the middle ground, and if anything were to define the writing of Manny Albam, it would be its great respect and reflection of tradition:

"I cannot divorce myself from tradition, for it's where we all come from, and it should be a base from which we operate in jazz. If writing is to be JAZZ WRITING, it should fuse the elements particular to its own tradition — the beat, improvisation within a disciplinary frame, and its own unique feeling.

"On this CORAL set, the first of a series, I had the blowers, the guys who dig deeply, and endow writing with the necessary richness of improvisational content. This is just what I wanted, for I feel that an inter-relation, inter-dependence between writing and blowing in jazz composition is imperative."*Burt Korall (from the liner notes)* 

This makes it. Manny Albam, an arranger sensitive to the blowing as well as the writing scene, assembled a good cross-section of eastern mainstream hornmen, supplied them with three-quarters of the New York Rhythm Section, and gave them some material on which to embroider, ranging from sparkling to merely fine.

Oddly enough, or perhaps justly enough, I found the Albam originals to be more fertile in terms of the results shown here. The two non-Albam tracks, Sweetie and Duke's All Too Soon, don't compare with the consistency and wealth of solos with which Blues for Neither Coast is endowed.

In fact, the only other track I found as richly rewarding as Neither Coast was Dr. Millmoss, and in this, Albam scores by using a simple device: Mulligan and Cohn playing the bass line on baritones as a binding factor in the composition.

Brookmeyer emerges as the most constantly challenging soloist. His appearances on the first three tracks, particularly on Blues, are glistening. His solo on Minor Matters is excellent, and his second solo on All Too Soon is moving and powerful.

Art Farmer's opening solo on Neither Coast is among his best recorded work. Zoot is unusually subdued throughout, except on Sweetie, where he boots along like the freewheeling tenor man we have come to know. Woods is stabbing and often terse. His playing of late has been brimming with tension. Travis is fine, particularly tasty in his muted work. Mulligan is good, but he has been more declarative as a soloist in his own group. As a supporting voice, he is excellent. Cohn is smooth and flowing, as expected. And Hank Jones remains one of the most tasteful of pianists.

Although I raise an eyebrow at the album title, I realize that other contractual commitments would of necessity exclude such vital voices as Miles, Monk, Diz, Hawk, J. J., Max Roach, and Pettiford, among other greats.

Burt Korall's liner notes are a valuable guidepost to the team lines followed by the participants. Manny has a West Coast collection due for release to complement this East Coast cross section. *Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, November 28, 1957 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Blues From Neither Coast

(Manny Albam)

2 - Latined Fracture

(Manny Albam)

3 - Poor Dr. Millmoss

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

4 - Minor Matters

(Manny Albam)

5 - My Sweetie Went Away

(Roy Turk, Lou Handman)

6 - All Too Soon

(Duke Ellington, Carl Sigman)

7 - See Here, Miss Bromley

(Manny Albam)

Art Farmer, Nick Travis (trumpets); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Phil Woods (alto sax);

Zoot Sims (tenor sax); AI Cohn (tenor sax, baritone sax); Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums); Manny Albam (arranger, conductor).

Recorded in New York City, April 2 [#5], April 3 [#3, #6, #7] and April 4 [#1, #2, #4], 1957

✳✳✳

Manny Albam

Manny Albam And The Jazz Greats Of Our Time • Vol. 2

By design, the writing for this set is spare. Though engaging in its own right, jazz composer-arranger MANNY ALBAM aimed for functionality, writing catalytic frameworks for his soloists. Like the writer of plays, he provided provocative material, but left it to his players to breathe life and immediacy into his story.

Says Manny Albam — "Regardless of what is said to the contrary, jazz is, and always has been a player’s art. When the jazz composer-arranger realizes this, adjusts his working perspective accordingly, giving due consideration and space to the soloist, only then can jazz composition become the community of expression it is at its best... I feel that an inter-relation, inter-dependence between writing and blowing in jazz composition is imperative."

If anything were to truly define the writing of Manny Albam, it would be its great respect and reflection of tradition.

Following traditional procedure: incorporation of elements particular to the jazz tradition — the beat, improvisation within a disciplinary frame, and jazz's own unique feeling — has become increasingly important to him.

Awareness of the past, or shall we say, the whole of jazz, is likely to make one's work all the more meaningful. Having functioned as a writer in a wide range of jazz situations (scoring big bands — Auld, Barnet, Kenton, Herman, etc., jazz backgrounds for vocalists, small bands) helped him to this realization.

For this set, recorded in Hollywood, Manny employed 'blowers'; men equipped to fill his frameworks with the necessary improvisational nutrition. Once again, proof is accessible that players of substance are players of substance regardless of geographical boundaries.

*Burt Korall (from the liner notes)*

This set is a perfect companion piece to Albam’s Jazz Greats, Vol. 1, and some of the comments on that LP apply to this one. For instance, I still find Albam's originals far more interesting throughout than the standards. Possible exception here is De-Lovely, and again I find it's more Manny’s arrangement than the tune itself which makes it.

At any rate, I'll wager there hasn't been a moodier, lovelier ballad original than Afterthoughts (Benny Golson and his remarkable ballad compositions are not included in this bet). Kamuca and Candoli combine on Afterthoughts to create a stunningly somber mood, with the rest of the ensemble pitched low behind them. You can almost feel the rain.

Interwoven is interesting structurally, with sharp Mariano and Geller, and some pungent interchanges between Candoli and Sweets, the latter identified as Trumpeter X because of contractual ties.

Sweets has most of Sweet's-Bread to himself, and blows some compelling trumpet with the ensemble cast in a Basie vein. Harry stays in that groove, blowing relaxed muted trumpet on his and Basie's Jive at Five, and manages a witty phrase variation in the closing statement of the theme.

Thunder-Burt, similar in conception and main theme to Blues for Neither Coast in Vol. 1, is a good comparison track for buffs wishing to carry the East Coast–West Coast discussion into late spring. Solos here, perhaps because of the overall feel of the piece, are funkier, particularly Mariano’s baritone, Williamson's trombone, and Candoli (dig his trace of Eldridge at the end of his second chorus), and to a lesser extent, Flory and Kamuca.

De-Lovely is freshly arranged and smartly played all around. How Long, a muted, shadowy ballad, has some rough spots in Sheldon's solo and at the close of Levy's fine piano spot (with some interesting things going on behind him by Shelly).

If, after listening to both coasts on the two volumes, you can draw any conclusion, it will have to include that each swings, although the westerners seem to find their kicks in a Countish vein. You might also note that this is the third Coral LP in recent months by Albam, which has been in every way a superior effort. He seems to have crystallized that knack of writing brightly without lapsing into pretentiousness, and can score for plenty of solo blowing without just arranging a head and a tail and letting the soloists construct the rest of the skeleton as well as fleshing it out.

*Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, February 20, 1958 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Intervowen

(Manny Albam)

2 - Afterthoughts

(Manny Albam)

3 - Sweet's-Bread

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

4 - Jive At Five

(Harry Edison, Count Basie)

5 - Thurnder Burt

(Manny Albam)

6 - How Long Has This Been Going On?

(George and Ira Gershwin)

7 - It's De-Lovely

(Cole Porter)

Conte Candoli, Jack Sheldon [#2, #5, #6],

Harry Edison as "Trumpeter X" [#1, #3, #4, #7] (trumpets); Stu Williamson (valve trombone);

Herb Geller (alto sax); Richie Kamuca, Med Flory [#2, #5, #6] (tenor saxes);

Bill Holman [#1, #3, #4, #7] (tenor sax, baritone sax);

Charlie Mariano (alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax); 

Lou Levy (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Shelly Manne (drums); Manny Albam (arranger, conductor). 

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, August 4 [#2, #5, #6],

August 15 [#3, #4, #7] and August 16 [#1], 1957

Jazz goes to... The Dave Pell Octet

Shortly after it was formed in 1953, the Dave Pell Octet won best new combo of the year in polls conducted by Americas Daily News and Mirror newspapers. Six of its eight members were included in Down Beat magazines 1953 poll of the top musicians in the country. Pell and his group flipped fans everywhere they appeared, specializing in Proms and School Dances, and becoming the first name jazz group ever to play for dancing at one of the top Sunset Strip clubs, The Crescendo, and also the Hollywood Palladium.Its jazz was described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive, happy, and a complete show and concert rolled into one. One successful Octet approach was to have the crowd gather around the bandstand to watch it play a fast jive number featuring the bands excellent soloists.An essential contributing factor in the Octets success was that Pell hired the West Coasts finest arrangers to write the beguilingly melodic and always attractive, danceable band charts; people of the calibre of Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Jack Montrose, Med Flory, John T. Williams. And it was this canny combination of quality and accessibility that really made the Octets name and gave the music its enduring flavour. In Dave's own words: Heres hoping you enjoy our combined dance-and-jazz Campus Hop! *Jordi Pujol*

Dave Pell was a saxophonist who worked in Les Brown's band on the American West Coast from 1947 to 1955. In 1953 he formed his octet, which included some musicians who had played for Les Brown, such as Don Fagerquist and Ray Sims. Dave Pell won considerable popularity by playing in colleges and for high school proms, concentrating on jazz which was suitable for dancing. The music was of high quality, thanks especially to the talented arrangers that Pell employed, including Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Jack Montrose.

The Octet made two LPs called Jazz Goes Dancing, the first in 1956 sub-titled Prom to Prom and the second in 1957 subtitled Campus Hop. They consist of tight, disciplined arrangements which make the most of the eight musicians. Each track contains a good deal of ensemble writing, leaving limited room for jazz solos. What solos there are seldom last for more than 16 bars. Only four of the dozen tracks on the first LP last for longer than three minutes.

One danger of such short, clean arrangements is that they can seem soulless, but that tendency is kept at bay with interesting treatments of the tunes. For instance, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is taken at an unusually slow tempo, and "Forty-second Street" is updated from its old-fashioned mood to sound like a cool modern arrangement.

Dave Pell himself had a clipped style on the tenor sax, without much vibrato - somewhat similar to the style of altoist Lee Konitz. The trumpeters on both LPs are excellent, with Jack Sheldon particularly notable on "We're in the Money" and "Would You Like to Take a Walk". Med Flory's solos on baritone sax are well worth hearing.

These albums is certainly well-suited to dancing but also to listening, as it is full of musical subtleties. *Tony Augarde (musicweb-international.com)*

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Prom To Prom

The Dave Pell Octet, which made its first recordings in 1953, came out of the Les Brown big band and was the epitome of a swinging, cool-toned, West Coast-style jazz group. Pell's ensemble at the time consisted of the leader on tenor, trumpeter Don Fagerquist (an underrated great), trombonist Ray Sims, baritonist Marty Berman, pianist Arnold Ross, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates and drummer Irv Kluger. In order to increase his audience, Pell went out of his way to play for dancing audiences without altering his music much. This long-out-of-print LP is an excellent example of Dave Pell's music of the era, with a dozen songs (two originals and ten vintage standards) whose titles have something to do with college-age people or dancing. Examples include "Young and Healthy", "The Continental", "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home". Worth exploring. *Scott Yanow*

In the space of practically no time at all, the Dave Pell Octet has come to hold an extremely high reputation in the jazz world and, most recently, in the collegiate and high school orbit of dancing. Its jazz has been described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive and happy. Be that as it may, there is a feeling of rapport here that is missing in so many other groups, and Pell's Octet always keeps everything swinging, whether lightly or from the heels. The cohesion engendered by the Octet is a natural thing indeed, in that three of its members — tenor saxophonist Dave Pell, trumpeter Don Fagerquist and trombonist Ray Sims — for years were stellar members of the fine Les Brown band. The other little Pells — baritone saxophonist Marty Berman, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates, pianist Arnold Ross and drummer Irving Kluger — each has his particular claim to fame, especially Rizzi, who is now on Dinah Shore's TV show; Ross, who was at one time Lena Horne's 

accompanist; and Bates, who was a member of the original Dave Brubeck quartet.

As for Dave Pell himself, he has all the qualities necessary for success in the music business. He's both handsome and personable; he has a complete knowledge of his instrument and knows exactly the manner in which he wants his Octet to play and to perform; he's by way of being a nifty guy with a wonderful sense of humor. On top of all this, he also maintains in Hollywood a thriving photography and publicity business. Our Mr. Pell is one for the record!

*Radio Corporation of America (liner notes)*

1 - Look Who's Dancing

(Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields)

2 - East Of The Sun

(Brooks Bowman)

3 - You

(Walter Donaldson, Harold Adamson)

4 - Young And Healthy

(Warren, Dubin)

5 - The Continental

(Herb Magidson, Con Conrad)

6 - Dance For Daddy

(Dave Pell)

7 - When I Take My Sugar To Tea

(Fain, Kahal, Pierre)

8 - If I Had You

(Shapiro, Campbell, Connelly)

9 - Cheek To Cheek

(Irving Berlin)

10 - Let's Face The Music And Dance

(Irving Berlin)

11 - Prom To Prom

(Dave Pell)

12 - Walkin' My Baby Back Home

(Turk, Ahlert)

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Marty Berman (baritone sax),

Arnold Ross (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Bob Bates (bass), Irving Kluger (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, May 28 (#1, #4, #10, #12), 

May 31(#2, #5, #7, #8) and June 4 (#3, #6, #9, #11), 1956

✳✳✳

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Campus Hop

Subtitled "Jazz Goes Dancing" (which was the name of an earlier album), this LP (which was last reissued by the Spanish Fresh Sound label) features the Dave Pell Octet playing a dozen songs written by Harry Warren. The danceable music swings and features fine short solos from the members of the octet, which at the time were trumpeter Jack Sheldon, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, Pell on tenor, baritonist Med Flory, pianist Paul Moer, guitarist Tom Tedesco, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis. The West Coast all-stars perform arrangements by Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Flory and John Williams to such songs as "You're My Everything", "Forty-Second Street", "Lulu's Back In Town" and "I'll String Along With You".

*Scott Yanow*

Listening to the Dave Pell Octet is like hearing music played all over again for the first time. The joyful abandon of the arrangements and the carefree style of the musicians make this a delightful album.

I have heard my music played by the Memphis Five in the beginning of the jazz era and, continuing through the years, by all the great bands up to the present day. Truthfully, I thought that I had heard about everything and that the end had been reached, but Dave Pell proves there is no end. 

I could go on and on singing the praises of these wonderful musicians and orchestrators, but if you just lend an ear you'll see why I heartily recommend this album to the young and the young in heart. *Harry Warren (liner notes)*

1 - Java Junction

(Harry Warren)

2 - You're My Everything

(Warren, Young, Dixon)

3 - Forty-Second Street

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin) 

4 - By The River Saint Marie

(Harry Warren, Edgar Leslie) 

5 - I Know Why And So Do You

(Harry Warren, Mack Gordon)

6 - We're In The Money

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

7 - Cheerful Little Earful

(Warren, Gershwin, Rose)

8 - Would You Like To Take A Walk

(Warren, Rose, Dixon)

9 - Lulu's Back In Town

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

10 - I'll String Along With You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

11 - Remember Me

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

12 - Summer Night

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Med Flory (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums). .

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, November 12 (#4, #5, #6, #7),

November 14 (#2, #3, #11, #12) and November 27 (#1, #8, #9, #10), 1957

Dave Pell: From Dixie to Cool

Dave Pell Octet

The Old South Wails

In a considerably cooler climate than is usually found below the Mason-Dixon Line, the Dave Pell Octet swings solidly through the South with their smooth, danceable stylings of Dixieland favorites. Bringing a new, modern sound to this fine collection of Dixie chestnuts is the inventive writing of no less than six different arrangers, who have up-dated such two-beat classics as "Ballin' The Jack" and "Sugar Foot Strut" to suit the "soft-swing" style that characterizes the music of Dave Pell. Many of the tunes begin in traditional Dixieland fashion, then make a subtle switch from hot to cool, as in "Jazz Me Blues" and Bill Holman's swinging, uptempo arrangement of "Oh, Didn't He Ramble" which opens with a slow and stately intro that's reminiscent of a solemn Bourbon Street processional. Still another highlight is the famous jazz spiritual "When The Saints Go Marching In", which is treated to a brilliant modern arrangement by Marty Paich, a Dave Pell colleague of long standing. Here Dave is featured on tenor sax, along with Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Harry Betts, trombone; Med Flory, baritone. Marty Paich and Johnny Williams share piano duties, heading a rhythm section that includes Lyle Ritz, bass; Tommy Tedesco, guitar; and Frankie Capp on drums.

*(From the liner notes)*

The final recording by the Dave Pell Octet until 1984 is a bit of a departure, for the 12 numbers are mostly Dixieland standards, including "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble", "Ballin' the Jack", "Jazz Me Blues", and even "The Saints". The arrangements (by Med Flory, Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Harry Betts, Bob Florence and John Williams), however, are more modern, very much in the 1950s West Coast jazz style championed by Pell. The Octet (which includes Pell on tenor, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Harry Betts, baritonist Flory, Paich or Williams on piano, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, bassist Lyle Ritz and drummer Frankie Capp) plays the charts well, swinging lightly, and the key musicians take plenty of short solos. Although there are hints of Dixieland in spots, this is mostly a cool jazz session and serves as the swan song for the fine group. It is a pity that so few of Dave Pell's recordings (including this one) have yet to be reissued on CD. *Scott Yanow*

This is a great example of the Dave Pell group. The jazz improv here is of the "brief" variety and the arrangements do interesting things...each one has its own eccentricities, and they all change around constantly. The style would probably qualify as "cool jazz", since the octet format has a number of different sound colors and the approach is not strictly bebop, but rather modern jazz as it was done in LA around the late fifties and early sixties.

This album takes tunes that would have been known in colleges and especially in the South, and sticks them into the jazz octet world of Dave Pell. All the tunes give plenty of soloing time, assuming you are not insistent upon extended form soloing like that of Miles and Trane.

If you are already familiar with the Jazz at the Lighthouse or the Shelly Manne and his friends style of jazz, then you will seriously dig this album.

I especially enjoyed hearing trombonist Harry Betts. Harry is also a great, great arranger and he plays great bone. Since I am a trombone player, I like to hear him.

*Christopher Tune (Amazon customer)*

Side 1

1 - Shi-Me-Sha-Wabble

(Spencer Williams)

2 - When The Saints Go Marching In

(Traditional, Arr. by Marty Paich)

3 - Sugar Foot Strut

(Pierce, Schwab, Myers)

4 - Ballin' The Jack

(Chris Smith, Jim Burris)

5 - There'll Be Some Changes Made

(Higgins, Overstreet)

6 - Paper Doll

(Johnny S. Black)

Side 2

7 - Jazz Me Blues

(Tom Delaney)

8 - Oh, Didn't He Ramble

(Handy, Arr. by Bill Holman)

9 - Blues (My Naughty Sweety Gives To Me)

(Swanstone, McCarron, Morgan)

10 - Manhattan

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

11 - Ida! Sweet As Apple Cider

(Leonard, Munson, Arr. by Mary Paich)

12 - Tishomingo Blues

(Spencer Williams)

Dave Pell (tenor sax); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); Harry Betts (trombone);

Med Flory (baritone sax); John Williams, Marty Paich (piano);

Lyle Ritz (bass); Tommy Tedesco (guitar); Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1961

Quincy Jones - Go West, Man!

In Southern California the evenings are cool, as many an Easterner has found out to his discomfort. But periodically the sequence of chilly dusks is broken by a hot, dry, sometimes rather nervous wind, that sweeps from the interior and changes the entire atmosphere of the area. Then you see the retired Idaho farmers sitting on their verandahs rocking back and forth and watching the traffic. 

They call this wind a Santa Ana. This album is NOT called a Santa Ana, but it does bring a warm, almost hot breeze to Southern California, or West Coast, jazz which shows that it need not always be cool. 

And it’s time some real effort was made to demonstrate to the world that everything recorded in the Hollywood studios is not more Brooks Brothers tan Madison Avenue and not more emotionally restrained than a London native in a room full of Americans. As Betty Roche wroje to Jimmy Lyons, whose nightly KNBC, San Francisco eee has been a breath of warmth in what has sometimes seemed a wilderness of cool sounds, "it's good to hear the swingers". 

Quincy Jones, who produced this album, selected the personnel, picked the instrumentation and arrangers, is a West Coast product himself — he’s from Chicago originally but settled in Seattle when he was 10 and was raised there. For that matter, most of the so-called West Coast musicians are originally from the East, or at least not the West, and they don't always play in that tight little style that has become known as West Coast. They can get pretty funky, especially, as Shelly Manne says, "if they’ve eaten enough in those all-night hamburger joints". 

In ten years of writing on jazz for Down Beat and in the San Francisco Chronicle, I have never known what "West Coast" was, really, except in terms of individuals and only then for a specific time and a specific performance. This album will do considerable good if it makes people realize, as I hope it does, that all winds do not blow cool on the Pacific Coast. Sometimes they blow hot, too. *Ralph J. Gleason (liner notes)*

There is a bit of mis-information surrounding this album, and I’ve seen more than one inaccurate review, so to clear up a few things first, Go West Man! is not a big band album and the arrangements on here are not by Quincy Jones. Although there is some good music on here, in some ways, this second album in Quincy Jones’ young career is somewhat of a disappointment. Jones’ first album was a great success and revealed a young big band arranger with some fresh new sounds, so I would imagine his new fans were disappointed to find out that Jones only served as a conductor and producer, not arranger, on his follow-up LP. There are three different mid-sized groups that Jones works with on here, including two groups led by saxophone summits and one group led by a trumpet quartet. All three groups have a piano, bass and drums rhythm section. Each of the three groups is given three songs which leads to nine songs total on the album if you are keeping score at home.

All three of these groups are very talented, but possible top honors goes to an all-star sax five-some that includes Art Pepper and Charlie Mariano. The west coast sax players are known for their silky smooth ensemble work, and this group is a good example. The liner notes claim the other sax group is made up of three tenors, but there is quite clearly a fourth man on baritone, and one of the supposed tenors sounds suspiciously high. The arrangements for the nine tracks were provided by Jimmy Giuffre, Lennie Niehaus and Charlie Mariano. “London Derriere”, with its striking sounds made up of trumpets with Harmon mutes, is the arrangement that sounds the most like Quincy. This album is recommended for fans of west coast jazz, there so much great saxophone playing on here, both in ensemble and in solos, but Quincy Jones fans may be disappointed by the somewhat misleading presentation and slap together nature of this album. *jazzmusicarchives.com*

Quincy turns his soul jazz arranging style to a band filled with West Coast players, and he gets them to groove a lot more than you'd expect! Players include Herb Geller, Art Pepper, Charlie Mariano, Bill Perkins, and Walter Benton. The tracks are short, with tight solo space, and most of them were written and arranged by West Coasters like Jimmy Giuffre, Lennie Niehaus, and Johnny Mandel. Titles include "Be My Guest", "London Derriere", "Kings Road Blues", "The Oom Is Blues", and "Bright Moon".  *dustygroove.com*

1 - Dancin' Pants

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Blues Day

(Jimmy Giuffre)

3. Bright Moon

(Jimmy Giuffre)

4 - No Bones At All

(Johnny Mandell)

5 - The Oom Is Blues

(Charlie Mariano)

6. Be My Guest

(Lennie Niehaus)

7 - Medley: 

•What's New?

(Haggart, Burke)

•We'll Be Together Again 

(Fischer, Laine)

•Time On My Hands

(Adamson, Youmans, Gordon)

•You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

•Laura

(Mercer, Raksin)

8 - London Derriere

(Johnny Mandel)

9 - Kings Road Blues

(Lennie Niehaus)

Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jack Sheldon (trumpets [#2, #4, #8]); Benny Carter, Herb Geller, Charlie Mariano, Art Pepper (alto saxes [#1, #6, #9]); Pepper Adams (baritone sax [#3, #5, #7]); Walter Benton, Buddy Collette, Bill Perkins (tenor saxes [#3, #5, #7]); Lou Levy [#1, #6, #9], Carl Perkins [#2 to #5, #7, #8] (pianos); Red Mitchell [#1, #6, #9], Leroy Vinnegar [#2 to #5, #7, #8] (basses); Shelly Manne [#1, #3, #5, #6, #7, #9], Mel Lewis [#2, #4, #8] (drums).

Jimmy Giuffre, Johnny Mandel, Charlie Mariano, Lennie Niehaus (arrangements); Quincy Jones (conductor).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, February 25, 1957.

Curtis Counce - Carl's Blues

While it lasted, The Curtis Counce Group was one of the most exciting ever organized in Los Angeles. Counce picked four men who almost immediately achieved a togetherness only long-established bands seem to have. Today, Carl Perkins is dead, and the members of the group have gone off in different directions — Harold Land to form his own group, Jack Sheldon to the trumpet section of the Kenton orchestra, and Frank Butler to gigging around Los Angeles. It would be difficult under the best of conditions to recapture the feeling of the 1957 quintet. Without Perkins, whose unique piano style was basic to the group’s special sound, it is impossible. 

Contemporary recorded a third Counce album just before Perkins died — the last we shall have of this great jazz group, and one of the most gifted modern jazz pianists. Listening to the forty minutes of pure jazz in the set, it is a source of wonder and regret that the group did not succeed. Lack of work, indifference of the critics, and personal problems within the group helped destroy it. But their music in this, and their previous albums, stands. The evidence is all there — on the record. *(Liner notes)*

Some of my happiest moments were working with these talented musicians. The freedom of each member to express himself fully was the foundation of the group, and our secret was the ability of each to communicate with one another, spontaneously and with good taste.

This album is dedicated to the memory of Carl Perkins. His music will always live in the hearts of those who knew him. As was his music, so was he. *Curtis Counce*

Side 1

1 - Pink Lady

(Jack Sheldon)

2 - I Can't Get Started

(Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin)

3 - Nica's Dream

(Horace Silver)

Side 2

4 - Love Walked In

(George & Ira Gershwin)

5 - Larue

(Clifford Brown)

6 - The Butler Did It

(Frank Butler)

7 - Carl's Blues

(Carl Perkins)

Gerald Wilson, Jack Sheldon [#3] (trumpets); Harold Land (tenor sax); Carl Perkins (piano); Curtis Counce (bass); Frank Butler (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary Records’, Los Angeles, April 22 [#1, #4], August 29 [#3] 1957 and January 6 [#2, #5, #6, #7] 1958.