Five-Star Collection... Jimmy Raney

Jimmy Raney Quintet

Jimmy Raney Plays

There are a number of guitarists in jazz today who choose good notes, show facility in playing them, and have "that swing" which "it don't mean a thing if you ain't got". Jimmy Raney has all of these qualifications, and with them a thinking content in his playing which sets him at the top of his division as the significant guitarist.

This album is important because it brings Jimmy into the foreground after playing a subordinate role for too long. His two-chorus solos have a unity and clarity to them that represent his best recorded work to date. For faithful reproduction of his sound, this album is also a high-water mark. In addition, he has offered more convincing evidence of his talents as a composer. (...)

The group itself is a corps of the core of jazz, the small unit. (...)

The cover is by David Young, a young painter from Boston whose feeling for jazz enabled him to direct his artistry into an effective delineation of the subject at hand.

*Ira Gitler (from the liner notes)*

The Raney guitar, long a feature on numerous combos' cuttings, gets its own day in the sun at last in this fine LP comprising four double-length performances. Raney is teamed with a tenor man described on the cover as "Sven Coolson", though you will recognize him immediately as Lars Getzberg. Thus the overall result is similar to many of the sides Stan and Jimmy cut together for Roost, except that Jimmy gets the longer solos.

Jimmy wrote the three originals, which have a Tristanoish touch in their charming unison lines. Signal is the most attractive. Jimmy has found a good compromise between the muffled Tal Farlow sound and the "live" tone of the older—Charlie Christian—school. And he swings always.

Rhythm section is excellent, though the solo passages of Hall Overton (who sounds like a classical musician dipping his fingers into bop) and bassist Red Mitchell are the weakest spots of the disc. Midnight, the old Monk tune, is handled in a most relaxed fashion as Raney and Getz weave their way in and out of its still alluring chord structure. Frank Isola’s drumming is effectively discreet throughout both sides. *Down Beat, Chicago, August 26, 1953 [5 stars]*

Side 1

1 - Motion

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Lee

(Jimmy Raney)

Side 2

3 - Signal

(Jimmy Raney)

4 - 'Round About Midnight

(Thelonious Monk)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), Stan Getz as "Sven Coolson" (tenor sax),

Hall Overton (piano), Keith "Red" Mitchell (bass), Frank Isola (drums).

Recorded at WOR Recording Studios, New York City, April 23, 1953

Five-Star Collection... Teddy Charles

Teddy Charles

The Teddy Charles Tentet

Comes a time when you begin to search anew. You've written for and played with almost every conceivable small jazz group instrumentation. You want to "stretch out" for something bigger. But it must be an ensemble consistent with your personal ideas on jazz.

You reject the standard big band formula. That was born of dancing, large ballrooms, and theatrical displays — the bigger the better (?). The ideas of Gil Evans occur to you. Gil introduced tuba and french horn to Claude Thornhill's fine band of '47, later reducing it to the jazz group proportions of the Miles Davis nine piece band of '48-'49. The innovation was a great musical success; big band and small alike haven't been the same since. 

However, you play the vibes, and you want an instrumentation that may utilize the potential of your instrument, melodically, ensemblewise, and percussively. And you want to use to advantage your own experience gained in playing with everything from a vibes-bass duo with Mingus, to the Composer Workshop nine piece group and big bands. 

Finally you approach it this way: what jazzmen would I like to hear blowing in a group, that would comprise an extremely flexible instrumentation adaptable for larger forms, and who in combination would produce a very distinctive sound consistent with my ideas of jazz? 

Fortunately almost everyone you have in mind is available, and interested. You get Peter Urban, who played in your group a year or so ago, a swinging creative trumpeter, with big band lead experience, having a sensitive sound all his own. You think of his confrere, the fresh, lyrical, well-schooled Gigi Gryce for alto. Next, from your current group the swinging J. R. (Eastcoast Jake, NOT Westcoast Jack) Monterose; an authoritative tenor voice. On baritone, a guy who can blow, and play ensemble, from later Composer Workshop groups, George Barrow, and Sol Schlinger (when George left town on a gig) fit both requirements well. Don Butterfield, from the first C.W. was the likely choice for tuba, having a distinctive, smooth sound with a good jazz feel; a virtuoso on his horn. 

Now you have two brass, a top and bottom, and three saxes having lead, bottom, and inner voice possibilities and possessed of more flexibility of articulation than trombones or french horns. For swinging strings, six of them, and one of our most creative jazz men to play them, guitarist Jimmy Raney, an earlier musical associate of mine. And under him, Bird's favorite bassist, Teddy Kotick, who plays a walking, lyrical bass line, currently with my quartet. Piano, probably a necessity for blowing in a group of this weight, would require a keyboard artist, as well as a comper and soloist. Hence, Mal Waldron, another Workshop man with a fine classical background.

Now you need a drummer-percussionist who has the ability to swing a large ensemble, yet who can play with the sensitivity required for small band blowing. Joe Harris swung the great Dizzy Gillespie big band, and we had both played in Chubby Jackson's exciting power house. 

Thus the Tentet! An ensemble of individual jazz artists, all fresh, all playing jazz of today. In fact, the idea suddenly jelled. This is what I really want to present on records. Jazz of today. Not ten, or two, or fifteen years ago. Not even futuristic, experimental stuff. But a representation of many of my favorite jazz performers, using contemporary jazz means, playing in an ensemble organically the aggregate of their individual jazz talents. Fortunately, I'd been associated musically with almost every man in the Tentet in my own group or others.

(...)

Complex technical details of each composition could be given, but anybody understanding the jargon wouldn't need it. Moreover, there's only one instrument of a kind, so solo order is obvious. I think all the performers did a great and sympathetic job. You can listen to this casually, or accept it as a challenging experience in listening to undiluted jazz. Either way, I hope you are moved, as I am, by this jazz of today. *Teddy Charles (liner notes)*

Teddy's Tentet is made up of Peter Urban (Art Farmer), trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto; J. R. Monterose, tenor; George Barrow, baritone; Don Butterfield, tuba; Jimmy Raney, guitar; Mal Waldron, piano; Teddy Kotick, bass; Joe Harris, drums; Sol Schlinger, baritone, for Barrow on sides 1, 3, 7.

The composers-arrangers: Waldron (1); Jimmy Giuffre (2); Charles (3, 4, 5); Gil Evans (6); George Russell (7).

This is one that grows on you. There is so much to hear in the writing, so much going on in the group, so many solo moments of merit that come out at you in short bursts, and so much intensity in the entire performance, that a lot of listenings are just about mandatory. Or perhaps I should say, this collection is going to be listened to often by me.

Charles' intent? Best described in his own excellent liner notes: "This is what I really want to present on records. Jazz of today. Not 10, or 2, or 15 years ago. Not even futuristic, experimental stuff. But a representation of my favorite jazz performers, using contemporary jazz means, playing in an ensemble organically the aggregate of their many individual jazz talents".

They do an excellent job of fulfilling Teddy's aim. This was a well-rehearsed session—not 10 men walking into a studio and playing some difficult music at sight. Charles chose personnel and writers wisely, with his own Green Blues, Giuffre's Quiet Time, and Gil Evans' Go to My Head particularly well adapted to the size and capability of the tentet.

Put this one up on your shelf along with the Miles Davis Capitol sides and the Gerry Mulligan Tentet album. *Jack Tracy (Down Beat, June 27, 1956 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Vibrations

(Mal Waldron)

2 - The Quiet Time

(Jimmy Jiuffre)

3 - The Emperor

(Teddy Charles)

Side 2

4 - Nature Boy

(Eden Ahbez)

5 - Green Blues

(Teddy Charles)

6 - You Go To My Head

(Gillespie, Coots)

7 - Lydian M-1

(George Russell)

Teddy Charles (vibes); Art Farmer [as Peter Urban] (trumpet); Don Butterfield (tuba);

Gigi Gryce (alto sax); J. R. Monterose (tenor sax);

Sol Schlinger [#1, #3, #7], George Barrow [#2, #4, #5, #6] (baritone saxes);

Mal Waldron (piano); Jimmy Raney (guitar); Teddy Kotick (bass); Joe Harris (drums).

Recorded at Coastal Recording Studios, New York City, January 6 (#2, #4),

January 11 (#5, #6) and January 17 (#1, #3, #11), 1956

Leonard Feather Presents… ★1954★

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let's remember them...

Jimmy Raney All Stars

Leonard Feather Presents

Jazz Club U.S.A. In Sweden

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

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

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

Side 1

1 - Invention

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Jumping For Jane

(LeonardFeather)

Side 2

3 - Indian Summer

(Victor Herbert)

4 - Darn That Dream

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Eddie DeLange)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), with

#1, #2:

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

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

#3, #4:

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

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

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 13, 1954

✤✤

Jimmy Raney Quartet

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

Jimmy Raney Visits Paris

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

1 - Stella By Starlight

(Young, Washington)

2 - Pennies From Heaven

(Johnson, Burke)

3 - You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

4 - Yesterdays

(Kern)

05 - There'll Never Be Another You

(Kern)

06 - Body And Soul

(Green)

07 - Once In A While

(Green, Edwards)

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

Recorded in Paris, France, February 6, 1954

Aaron Sachs - Quintet, Sextet And Octet Ensembles

Aaron Sachs (1923-2014) was a native New Yorker who grew up in the Bronx. After studying clarinet with private teachers, in 1941, still in his teens, Sachs landed his first job with Babe Russin, playing clarinet and alto saxophone, the latter through self-training. That same year, he joined vibraphonist Red Norvo's Septet, alongside fellow Bronx musicians Shorty Rogers and Eddie Bert. After a brief period with the Van Alexander orchestra in 1943, Aaron rejoined Norvo in January 1944, solidifying his reputation as a skilled clarinetist and earning the prestigious Esquire "New Star" award in 1945.

Between 1945 and 1946, he performed both instruments with Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, and Charlie Ventura bands. In 1946, Sachs formed his quintet, Aaron Sachs and his Manor Re-bops, establishing himself as the first jazz musician to embrace bebop on the clarinet, preceding Tony Scott and John LaPorta.

In 1948 Aaron married singer Helen Merrill, a union that lasted only a few years, as they divorced in 1956.

His tenure with the Earl Hines sextet from 1952 to 1953 allowed him to develop his talent as a tenor saxophonist. He admitted, "I enjoy playing both instruments, but I am disappointed that the clarinet isn't used more, both in jazz and pop records today." Sachs had Lester Young as his main influence, and that's how he wanted to play both tenor sax and clarinet. Subsequently, Aaron led his own combo at Cafe Society in New York for a period. Later, he worked as a freelancer in commercial recording sessions, primarily playing the tenor saxophone. Sachs cited Lester Young as his main influence for both instruments.

Leonard Feather once remarked, "Aaron has proved that he can bring to both instruments the taste, style, and musicianship that bespeak artistry rather than mere versatility for its own sake."

This CD compilation features three albums recorded by Aaron between 1954 and 1957, showcasing his talent as an instrumentalist and composer alongside some of the finest jazz musicians from the New York scene. The arrangements of these recordings were skillfully crafted to provide a supportive backdrop for either clarinet or tenor saxophone, highlighting Sachs' versatility and artistry. *Jordi Pujol*

There was such a surfeit of great sax players in the 1950s that it’s understandable that many got overlooked. Here’s a chance to see what you’ve been missing with this rich reissue from Fresh Sound Records.

Aaron Sachs is not a household name, but he was with a number of important artists such as Shorty Rogers and Red Norvo. This single disc set finds him with some impressive company, giving his ideas to mostly originals in a sound that has “LA Cool” written all over for it, even though it was all recorded in The Big Apple.

He plays both a Lester Young-Zoot Sims inspired tenor, and a stripped down Buddy DeFranco styled clarinet, in quintet, sextet and octet settings, mixing and matching with Urbie Green/tb, Barry Galbraith-Jimmy Raney-Dick Garcia/g, Aaron Bell-Clyde Lombardi/b, Nat Pierce Hall Overton/p, Joe Roland/vibes and Osie Johnson/dr. Sachs blows like a West Coaster on "One Track" and is gorgeously fluffy on "Aaron’s Blues", fluttering on "Conversations" and sublime on "Why Shouldn’t I?" while digging in on the Basie-ish "Wiggins". His licorice stick is cool for "Kingfish" and flexible for "Gorme Has Her Day" with a nice bounce for "You're My Thrill". Warm and breezy.

*George W. Harris*

1 - One Track

(Sachs, Johnson)

2 - Helen

(Sachs, Johnson)

3 - Kingfish

(Quincy Jones)

4 - Conversation

(Sachs, Galbraith)

5 - The Bullfrog

(Quincy Jones)

6 - If You Are But A dream

(Jaffe, Fulton, Bonx)

7 - Aaron's Blues

(Aaron Sachs)

8 - You're My Thrill

(Gorney, Clare)

9 - Platter Pie

(Aaron Sachs)

10 - Why Shouldn't I?

(Cole Porter)

11 - Ah! The Pain

(Billy Ver Plank)

12 - Rondo Blues

(Phil Sunkel)

13 - Just Sick Blues

(Billy Ver Plank)

14 - Mona's Kimona

(Nat Pierce)

15 - Conversation

(Sachs, Galbraith)

16 - Blue Sophisticate

(Benny Golson)

17 - Countryfied

(Phil Sunkel)

18 - Wiggins

(Billy Ver Plank)

19 - Gorme Has Her Day

(Aaron Sachs)

20 - I Can't Believe

(Aaron Sachs)

21 - Hall's Loft

(Aaron Sachs)

22 - Nancy

(Van Heusen, Silvers)

#1 to #6, from the album Aaron Sachs Sextette (Bethlehem BCP-1008)

Aaron Sachs (clarinet [#3, #6], tenor sax [#1, #2, #4, #5]),

Urbie Green (trombone), Danny Bank (baritone sax),

Barry Galbraith (guitar), Clyde Lombardi (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, November 1954

#7 to #11, from the album Jazzville Vol.3 (Dawn DLP1114)

Aaron Sachs Sextet

Aaron Sachs (clarinet [#8, #19, #11), tenor sax (#7, #9),

Jimmy Cleveland (trombone), Joe Roland (vibes),

Dick Garcia (guitar), Aaron Bell (bass), Osie Johnson (drums)

Recorded in New York City, 1956

#12 to #22, from the album Clarinet and Co. (Rama RLP1004)

#12 to #18: Aaron Sachs Octet

Aaron Sachs (clarinet [#14, #17], tenor sax [#12, #13, #15, #16, #18]),

Phil Sunkel, Bernie Glow (trumpets), Frank Rehak (trombone), Gene Allen (baritone sax),

Nat Pierce (piano), Aaron Bell (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 18 and 21, 1957

#19 to #22: Aaron Sachs Quintet

Aaron Sachs (clarinet [#19-21] & tenor sax [#22]), Hall Overton (piano),

Jimmy Raney (guitar), Aaron Bell (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 4, 1957

Stan Getz And Horace Silver - Pair Of Kings

It is easy to distinguish between hot water and cool water. If you step into a bathtub full of what you think is cool water and it turns out to be boiling hot, it is particularly easy to distinguish the difference.

If, however, you have spent many months or years or even decades listening to hot jazz, on stepping into the less torrid waters provided by music such as you will hear on these sides, the contrast may be far less easy to define. Indeed, few of the jazz experts themselves are in agreement on what constitutes cool jazz, or whether it is an outgrowth of bop, or whether it it an extension or even a synonym for it. 

If the experts themselves can't agree, then how can you, the average listener, possibly know the answer? Well, at least your ears will provide you with certain unmistakable clues. Reacting to many years during which excitement and an aggressive, hard-driving spirit seemed to be essential to a great deal of what was then known as hot jazz, some modern musicians during the middle 1940s rejected this concept in favor of a smoother, subtler approach. The horns, particularly the saxophones, tended toward a softer, gentler tone; the drummers, instead of using the bass drum for regular accents, transferred the bulk of the beat to the cymbal; though syncopation was still in general use, there was more extensive use of even, legato phrasing.

Stan Getz in the archetypical musician of the cool school. Born February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia he lived in New York City from the age of ten. 

After flirting briefly with the bass and bassoon, he took up the saxophone while playing in New York's all-city orchestra. Leaving James Monroe High School in the Bronx, he joined an orchestra led by one Stinky Rogers but was promptly ordered to return to school.

Though the original model of all the "Brothers" was unmistakably Lester Young and their styles at first seemed largely similar, it was Getz who emerged first to form his own combo and establish himself as one of the great individualists of the cool generation.

Horace Silver, a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, born there in 1928. Horace was a tenor saxophonist like Stan when he first played local gigs, but he had switched to piano when Stan Getz heard him one evening in Hartford and was soon invited to join the Getz quintet, with which he remained on tour for a year. It was during this period that six of these titles were recorded. 

Silver's piano style, which is finally receiving the recognition it deserves, is a result not of outward striving towards atonalities and modern classical complexities, but of an inner development and search for deeper "soul" and meaning to the blues roots of jazz. Words like "funk" and "soul" are open to many subjective interpretations, let's suggest that you listen awhile and discover that whatever the word, or the tune, Silver plays real swinging piano. *(Liner notes)*

These recordings, which originally appeared on Roost Records, are all Stan Getz showpieces, some of which were described by Down Beat editor and critic Nat Hentoff as "among the classic products of our contemporary jazz era". Discussing further the special qualities of Stan's playing on these records, Hentoff wrote: "Much has been written about his 'sound' of almost unprecedentedly piercing purity. There is also the Getz way with a melody as he often sculpts a melodic line with the sinuous care of a Martha Graham... Most important from a jazz viewpoint is that he swings. Sometimes vigorously, sometimes exceedingly gentle, he always moves". *Paul Shapler* 

Side 1

1 - Yvette

(Gigi Gryce)

2 - Wild Wood

(Gigi Gryce)

3 - Melody Express

(Gigi Gryce)

4 - Penny

(Horace Silver)

5 - Potter's Luck

(Horace Silver)

6 - Split Kick

(Horace Silver)

Side 2

7 - Rubber Neck

(Frank Rosolino)

8 - Mosquito Knees

(Gigi Gryce)

9 - Sweetie Pie

(John Jacob Loeb)

10 - Hershey Bar

(Johnny Mandel)

11 - Tootsie Roll

(Stan Getz)

12 - For Stompers Only

(Stan Getz)

#1 to #6:

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Horace Silver (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 15 (#1, #2, #3, #5) and March 1 (#4, #6), 1951.

#7 and #8:

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Al Haig (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), Tiny Kahn (drums).

Recorded live at Storyville Club, Boston, October 28, 1951.

#9 and #10:

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Al Haig (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 17, 1950.

#11 and #12:

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Horace Silver (piano), Joe Calloway (bass), Walter Bolden (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 10, 1950.

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.

Roger Guérin - Paris Meetings

At the end of the 1940s, young French jazz musicians started flocking towards the two styles of modern jazz — bebop and cool. Paris was the capital of European jazz, and the talent of the local musicians playing in Parisian clubs was often comparable to that of their American colleagues. In that league, we found mostly French and some Belgian names, such as Bobby Jaspar, Martial Solal, Pierre Michelot, Maurice Vander, Jean-Louis Viale, Benoit Quersin, René Thomas, Barney Wilen, René Urtreger, and several others.

This album is dedicated to one of them in particular: trumpeter Roger Guérin (1926-2010). Despite having very few recordings under his name and spending most of his career as a sideman, Guérin was never underappreciated by jazz fans and critics: after all, he was chosen as the best French jazz trumpeter ten years in a row (1955-65) by the "Jazz-Hot" readers' and critics' poll. In these sessions we find him alongside great American jazzmen like James Moody, Jimmy Raney, Benny Golson and Bobby Timmons, but also in the company of his French comrades, giving his best in every performance.

He was involved in many of the projects that pushed the evolution of modern jazz in France. An arranger of the stature of Billy Byers, who worked in Paris for a while in 1956, described him like this: "There are some very good musicians in France: Roger Guérin is a great jazzman".

*Jordi Pujol* 

Roger Guérin

Le Formidable Roger Guérin

Paris Meetings

Best known for his stint with Quincy Jones' Big Band, Roger Guérin had a formidable career in Paris, being first call to sit in with the likes of Don Byas, Django Reinhardt and James Moody. This collection of sessions from the 50s has him co-leading a hard bop team with Benny Golson, leading his own quartet along with Christian Grros, Pierre Michelot and Martial Solal and fitting in as a sideman for guitarist Jimmy Raney or saxist James Moody.

The sessions with Moody have the Parker disciple  bouncing to "Deep Purple" and swooning on "More Than You Know", and with Raney at the helm the team gets more lithe and open sounding with Guerin and Raney doing winders with "Too Marvelous For Words" and luminescent on "What’s New". Golson's band sounds a lot like an Art Blakey session with Bobby Timmons at the piano, and the quintet does material from the drummer's songbook with muscular reads of "Blues March", "I Remember Clifford" and a hot "Moanin'". Guerin mixes the lyricism of Miles Davis with the gentleness of Chet Baker. You’re gonna like this cat! *George W. Harris*

1 - Deep Purple

(Peter De Rose)

2 - Bootsie

(James Moody)

3 - More Than You Know

(Youmans, Rose, Eliscu)

4 - Too Marvelous For Words

(Whiting, Mercer)

5 - Night And Day

(Cole Porter)

6 - Dinah

(Akst, Lewis, Young)

7 - What's New

(Haggart, Burke)

8 - Night In Tunisia

(Gillespie, Pappareli)

9 - Sweet Feeling

(Pierre Michelot)

10 - Ça Tourne

(Roger Guérin)

11 - Buggy And Soul

(Christian Chevallier)

12 - Vline

(Christian Chevallier)

13 - Chet

(Pierre Michelot)

14 - Mythe

(Pierre Michelot)

15 - Blues March

(Benny Golson)

16 - I Remember Clifford

(Benny Golson)

17 - Stablemates

(Benny Golson)

18 - Moanin'

(Bobby Timmons)

19 - Not Serious

(Roger Guérin)

#1 to #3:

originally issued as part of the album James Moody Quintet (Vogue LD 036)

Roger Guérin (trumpet), James Moody (alto sax), Raymond Fol (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Pierre Lemarchand (drums).

Recorded in Paris, July 27, 1951.

#4 to #7:

originally issued as part of the album Jimmy Raney Visits Paris (Dawn DLP-1120)

Roger Guérin (trumpet), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Maurice Vander (piano), Jean-Marie Ingrand (bass), Jean-Louis Viale (drums).

Recorded in Paris, February 10, 1954.

#8 to #10:

from the álbum Roger Guérin Quartet (Versailles 90 S 128)

Roger Guérin (trumpet), Martial Solal (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Christian Garros (drums), Dave Rivera (conga [#8, #10]).

Recorded in Paris, July 1956.

#11 to #14:

from the album Christian Chevallier Jazz Quartet (Columbia ESDF 1139)

Roger Guérin (trumpet), Christian Chevallier (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Christian Garros (drums).

Recorded in Paris, November 13, 1956.

#15 to #19:

from the album Roger Guérin-Benny Golson with Bobby Timmons (Columbia FP 1117)

#15 to #18:

Roger Guérin (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Christian Garros (drums).

Recorded in Paris, December 12, 1958.

#19:

Roger Guérin (trumpet), Michel Hausser (vibes), Martial Solal (piano), Pierre Michelot (bass), Christian Garros (drums).

Recorded in Paris, December 18, 1958.

Stan Getz - Early recordings for Verve

The December, 1952 sessions that formed the original Stan Getz Plays LP marked the beginning of one of the most prolific and productive relationships between an artist and the same record company in jazz story. For twenty years, from 1952 to 1972, Stan Getz recorded more than 50 albums for Verve, albums that form a body of work as distinguished as any recorded jazz.

The twelve performances that comprise Stan Getz Plays are superb examples of the fluid, swinging and highly melodic approach to standards Getz favored in this period. Jimmy Raney's guitar and Duke Jordan's piano are the perfect complement to Stan's tenor.

A couple of years ago a new jazz star came into prominence in the jazz world. The name of this star: Stan Getz. Of course, the punch line is that Stan Getz is not "new", but has actually been on the jazz scene for over fifteen years, and has played with many of the great bands, among them Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Benny Goodman. He currently leads his own quintet.

Although Stan's approach in many ways is similar to that of Lester Young, he is, nonetheless, one of the most original tenor saxophonists playing today, and his style mirrors Getz' approach to life in general as well as to music; thus, though he is cool, he can be very hot when he wants to. And Getz has so influenced a whole new school of young musicians, that in the years to come it may well be that Getz will be judged one of the original giants in the jazz tradition that he has set today. *Norman Granz (1953)*

Stan Getz

Stan Getz Plays

This is another album by Stan Getz that is entirely overlooked, but then, the man had so many brilliant records coming out within a few years of each other that people are naturally drawn to a personal, if not subversive list of what they think best. In reality, one needs only to listen to one album at a time without considering that one is better than the other, after all, it's all about the pleasure of the music.

Stan Getz Plays is another in a continuing series of standards Getz lends his sax to. If anything is of note, it's that this release, on the original vinyl, sounds sonically far better than say Quartets, so remarkably different that I'm surprised more people weren't drawn to the record for that fact alone. Add that that during these sessions, Stan is entirely more focused and in control, more confident here, and while Stan is as cool and breathy as ever, his line of attack is strong, coming off as visionary and self-assured. Getz does improvise a bit here and there on the album, though not more than necessary, and these remarkable flights are simply elegant and beautifully warm.

There are those who are forever nipping at Getz's heels, dogging the man about his slower paced songs, suggesting that they are nothing more than restricted musical embroidery, yet for this listener, it's within these slower numbers that one gets to meet Stan face to face as he spins his gracious stories. Without a doubt, Stan Getz was a restless artist, mildly changing his stance from album to album, though not much, where he cherishes his lyrically simple jazz standards, concentrating foremost on the melody, though at the same time, weaving countless variations on and within those familiar themes, where even his uptempo numbers possess a lightness, even a delicacy that are purposely designed to be enhanced and supported by a discrete and never intrusive rhythm section that is worth while focusing on in its own right.

Getz was married to Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band at the time of this album's release. The child on the cover is one of the three children they had together.

*rateyourmusic review*

Side 1

1 - Stella By Starlight

(Young, Washington)

2 - Time On My Hands

(Youmans, Adamson, Gordon)

3 - 'Tis Autumn

(Nemo)

4 - The Way You Look Tonight

(Fields, Kern)

5 - Lover Come Back To Me

(Romberg, Hammerstein II)

6 - Body And Soul

(Green, Heyman, Sour, Eyton)

Side 2

7 - Stars Fell On Alabama

(Parish, Perkins)

8 - You Turned The Tables On Me

(Mitchell, Alter)

9 - Thanks For The Memory

(Rainger, Robin)

10 - Hymn Of The Orient

(Gryce)

11 - These Foolish Things

(Strachey, Marvell, Link)

12 - How Deep Is The Ocean

(Irving Berlin)

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Duke Jordan (piano), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Bill Crow (bass), Frank Isola (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 12 (#1 to #8) and December 29 (#9 to #12), 1952.

Note: All of this material had been previously released as two ten inch extended plays by Clef Records: Stan Getz Plays [Clef Records (MGC-137)] and the Side 1 of The Artistry Of Stan Getz [Clef Records (MGC- 143)] from which the cover was taken for this nice 1953 French pressing.

• The Fourmost Guitars •

Jimmy Raney • Chuck Wayne • Joe Puma • Dick Garcia 

The Fourmost Guitars

The Fourmost Guitars, was a 1956, 12-inch release from ABC-Paramount that featured four different top jazz guitarists of the period.

At first glance, I thought it was akin to one of those Savoy samplers featuring a range of different artists who recorded for the label. But on closer inspection and a bit of research, it seems to be a more sophisticated package. Here's how I believe this album came to be:

In 1956, when producer Creed Taylor left Bethlehem to join ABC-Paramount as head producer of the jazz division, he must have been given tape from recording sessions held the previous year. In all likelihood they were recordings from initial sessions to be held over multiple days but never completed. Perhaps they were done for singles or 10-inch LPs just as the record industry was switching to the 12-inch format.

Somewhat puzzling is the timing. Several of these sessions were held prior to ABC-Paramount forming in September 1955. Either way, the material was shelved or put on hold until the artists could be rounded up again to finish what was started.

I'm guessing that when Creed gave a listen, he realized many were quite good. Included in the stack of tape reels were three different sessions led by different guitarists — Jimmy Raney, Chuck Wayne, and Dick Garcia and Joe Puma.

As he listened, Creed probably leaned back in his chair and concluded there were two ways to go. Bring in the different artists to complete enough tracks for three different 12-inch albums, which wouldn't be easy given the schedule of musicians at this level back then. Or simply take the tracks that existed and create a guitar album. Creed chose the latter. The result was The Fourmost Guitars.

The cover featured an image of four guitars ablaze at night on a sandy beach, an eye-catching allegory signaling to the buyer that the guitarists playing inside were red hot. The back cover is telling. For one, while Creed was given credit in the bottom right-hand corner as the album's producer, his famed oversized signature hadn't yet begun to be used.

Also interesting is that the cover design was credited to Fran Scott, who was Tony Scott's wife at the time. She was an ABC-Paramount art director and would work closely with Creed on the covers at the label until 1960, when he founded the Impulse label for ABC.

As for the music, what we have here are fascinating examples of superb mid-1950s jazz guitarists backed by different instrumental configurations.

The swinging guitarists' tasteful chords and lines are impossibly great. I'm always astonished at how many terrific jazz guitarists there were on both coasts in the 1950s. Clearly there was plenty of work to go around. On this album, we have the roundness and lyrical wanderings of Wayne, the plucky determination of Raney and the low-register togetherness of Garcia and Puma, especially on "Time Was". *Marc Myers*

Since approximately the end of World War II, the guitar has increasingly come into its own as a solo instrument of stature in the world of jazz. The late Charlie Christian is credited with opening the way during the Thirties and early 'Forties. The tradition has since been carried on by such people as Billy Bauer, Jimmy Raney, Bill DeArrango, Chuck Wayne, Barney Kessel, and more recently, Tal Farlow, Joe Puma, Sal Salvadore, Herb Ellis, Dick Garcia, etc. Toward this álbum.

The Fourmost Guitars, four of the best practitioners of guitar jazz have contributed.

Jimmy Raney is one of the most widely known and influential of the modern jazz guitarists. Jimmy has played under such leaders as Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Terry Gibbs, Buddy De Franco, Stan Getz and Red Norvo. For the past year or so he has been a member of Jimmy Lyon’s Blue Angel house trio. His guitar can be heard on numerous recordings.

Although he has been employed for the past couple of years as accompanist to singer Tony Bennett, Chuck Wayne can be remembered from the Fifty-Second Street days following World War II. Chuck has played with numerous jazz groups in addition to his own. He is an alumnus of the early George Shearing Quintet and the great Woody Herman band of the late Forties which recorded the "Sequence In Jazz" album.

Joe Puma is thirty years old and a native of The Bronx. A family man (Joe has a wife and two daughters), he has stayed as close to New York as possible. His experience includes tenures with Joe Roland, Artie Shaw, Louis Bellson, Don Elliott and Herbie Mann, among others. In the past couple of years Joe has done considerable recording work and has moved steadily toward wider recognition. 

Dick Garcia is the youngest of the four guitarists in age (he is twenty-five), but by no means the youngest as far as talent is concerned. Dick has played with George Shearing, Tony Scott, Joe Roland, and is currently touring with Ray McKinley’s band. He is a prolific composer and has broad tastes in music (and a particular fondness for Spanish folk music). *Tom Stewart (liner notes)*

The Fourmost Guitars is actually a compilation of three separate groups recorded especially for this Paramount LP from the mid-'50s. The first guitarist, Jimmy Raney, is heard on four tracks with trumpeter John Wilson, pianist Hall Overton, bassist Teddy Kotick, and drummer Nick Stabulas. Raney composed two originals, including the snappy bop vehicles "Two Drams of Soma" and "Scholar's Mate" (the latter referring to being checkmated in chess in just four moves), along with intricate arrangements of the standards "Gone with the Wind" and "Yesterdays". Guitarists Dick Garcia and Joe Puma play together on four tracks with bassist Dante Martucci and drummer Al Levitt. Without a pianist or horn, their collaboration is a more easygoing affair, though no less enjoyable. Finally, Chuck Wayne is accompanied by pianist Dave McKenna, bassist Oscar Pettiford, altoist Dave Schildkraut, and drummer Sonny Igoe on three songs. The interplay between Wayne and Schildkraut is delightful in the uptempo setting of "If I Ever Love Again". Like many Paramount albums, this LP has long been a collectible and seems to be an unlikely candidate for reissue.

*Ken Dryden*

Side 1

1 - Two Dreams Of Soma

(Raney)

2 - I'm Old Fashioned

(Kern, Mercer)

3 - You Stepped Out Of A Dream

(Brown, Kahn)

4 - Time Was

(Prado, Luna)

5 - Scholar's Mate

(Raney)

6 - Easy Living

(Robin, Rainger)

Side 2

7 - Ain't Misbehavin'

(Waller, Brooks)

8 - Gone With The Wind

(Ahlert, Young)

9 - Li'l Basses

(Garcia)

10 - If I Love You Again

(Oakland, Murray)

11 - Yesterdays

(Kern, Harbach)

#1, #5, #8, #11: 

Jimmy Raney Quintet

Jimmy Raney (guitar), John Wilson (trumpet), Hall Overton (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), Nick Stabulas, drums. 

Recorded in New york City, February 23, 1956.

#2, #4, #7, #9:

Joe Puma - Dick Garcia Quartet

Joe Puma, Dick Garcia (guitars), Dante Martucci (bass), Al Levitt (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 18, 1955.

#3, #6, #10:

Chuck Wayne Quintet

Chuck Wayne (guitar), Dave Shildkraut (alto sax), Dave McKenna (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Sonny Igoe (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 17, 1956. 

The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop #5

Hal McKusick

The Jazz Workshop

Hal McKusick is the discerning type of musician who is disturbed when he finds monotony in a jazz set,particulary so if he detects it in his own collections. So, in laying the framework for this Workshop album, he held to variety as a keynote. One way to achieve variety, he felt, would be to give representation to several composers. He chose the six composers whose works he plays on this disc because he believes that they represent inventive thinking in jazz. Furthermore, he was curious to find out what they would do with the eight (or nine) instruments he put at their disposal on six of these selections. This instrumentation (trumpet, trombone, alto sax, baritone sax, one or two guitars, tuba, string bass and drums) is close to the famous Miles Davis Nonet of 1949. Davis, however, added a French horn which changed the ensemble coloring considerably. The particular grouping of instruments that McKusick selected (for reasons of which he is not certain except that he could hear in his mind's ear how they would sound and he liked what he heard) was completely new to all the writers.

One more thing might be noted about this set: It's McKusick's album but there are no compositions by McKusick. Here's Hal's reasoning: "I find it more refreshing and interesting to play other people's stuff. I prefer to do my writing for others". *John S. Wilson (liner notes)*

This is the most important of Victor’s Jazz workshop series thus far and the one that most fits the "workshop" connotation. It also demonstrates the musical necessity for Fred Reynolds to continue the workshop, particularly if future sets can be planned with the thoughtfulness, thoroughness —and time—hat this received.

For this album, McKusick wisely chose six diversified writers who score from their experience within jazz. The writing credits are: Johnny Mandel (track 1); Russell (tracks 2, 5, 7); Jimmy Giuffre (tracks 4, 8, 11); Gil Evans (tracks 3, 10); Manny Albam (track 6), and Al Cohn (track 9). Russell, Giuffre, and Evans have particularly been among the key workers in providing jazzmen more challenging written contexts within which to blow and grow, and Mandel could be.

All the scores allow breathing space for soloists and ensembles while stimulating both the individual and the group via the tension-challenge of fresh, idiomatic structural material that makes the blowing more meaningful by making it part of a more significant, more interrelated, more durable whole.

I was most moved by Russell, Evans, and Giuffre, particularly by Russell’s extraordinarily evocative, functionally dramatic "John Brown" the longest work in the set. And the one apiece by the other writers were also effective.

The musicianship of all the players is excellent. For McKusick, this is the summit of his jazz achievement to this point as an altoist. Farmer, who can make almost any scene, proves how strong a choice he was for this date. Osie and Milt project the strength and flexibility required for their assignments, and Galbraith is magnificent throughout. The others also contribute importantly.

This program is a reason for pride on the part of everyone involved, including Jack Lewis who set it going but who gets not one mention in the notes. John Wilson’s liner is not up to his standard. The personnel is not completely listed nor clearly given (by omitting Barber, for one example, octets turn into septets). More seriously, Wilson failed to recognize the significance of this LP in the context of contemporary jazz concern for more original form and, as a corollary, does not provide enough actual writing details. Don’t miss this one. It’ll be a subject for study —and enjoyment— for a long time. *Nat Hentoff*

1 - Tommy Hawk

(Mandel)

2 - Lydian Lullaby

(Russell)

3 - Blues For Pablo

(Evans)

4 - Just Leave It Alone

(Giuffre)

5 - Miss Clara

(Russell)

6 - Alto Cumulus

(Albam)

7 - The Day John Brown Was Hanged

(Russell)

8 - On Score And Eight Horns Ago

(Giuffre)

9 - Ain't Nothin' But A Memory Now

(Cohn)

10 - Jambangle

(Evans)

11 - The Blues Train

(Giuffre)

#2, #7, #9:

Hal McKusick (alto sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 3, 1956.

#3, #6, #10:

Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone), Hal McKusick (alto sax), Gene Allen (baritone sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Jimmy Raney (rhythm guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Osie Johnson (drums), George Russell (tambourine [#3]).

Recorded in New York City, April 3, 1956.

#1, #5, #8:

Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone), Hal McKusick (alto sax), Sol Schlinger (baritone sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, April 4, 1956.

#4, #11:

Art Farmer (trumpet), Hal McKusick (alto sax), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Teddy Kotick (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 31, 1956.