Five-Star Collection... Porgy And Bess

Miles Davis

Porgy And Bess

The inherent pensiveness of Gil Evans' writing and the introversion of Miles Davis' playing produces something akin to a gas flame turned as low as it can be without going out. Its heat is quiet, but very intense.

What is it possible to say now about Gil Evans? This man has genius. He is one of the few living composers whose magic passes all the technical tests for stature without dying in the process. He has taken what he wanted and needed from the classical tradition, and yet remained a jazz writer, safely evading the lure of contemporary classical music, which has written itself up a blind alley. In His control and reserve (notice Summertime) he can put you in mind of Sibelius, who may have been the last classical composer to express himself naturally and without calculation of effects and because he felt it that way. Yet Evans is unique, and his development has been quite personal. His debts are to himself: there are things in this album that hark back to his days of writing for Claude Thornhill.

The Porgy songs submerged in this album, soaked up by the personalities  — or rather, the joint personality — of Evans and Davis. You forget the underlying structures and, since the music used is not in the standard AABA pop song form to begin with, the album becomes a remarkable jazz experience, both for the musicians and the listener, who will be forcibly reminded of the great seriousness and the greatness in jazz, the universality in it that Andre Hodeir is always talking about.

Some of the best of Miles is to be heard in this album — along with some of the sloppiest. There are cracked and fuzzed notes and other things that just shouldn't have been let go. (Strawberry may make all but the most uncritical Davis fans squirm.) Why these things were let pass is anybody's guess. Maybe Miles didn’t care. Maybe they were let pass in accordance with the dubious faith that even mistakes are part of the whole and therefore to be admired in jazz. Maybe it is because the executives-in-charge think that Miles' stature is such that these considerations are small in comparison — which, as a matter of fact, is true.

In any case, the Davis-Evans relationship has again produced superb music. In the jazz albums of Porgy, this one is in a class by itself. Which figures: it named its own terms.

*Down Beat, July 23, 1959 (5 stars)*

1 - The Buzzard Song

2 - Bess, You Is My Woman Now

3 - Gone

4 - Gone, Gone, Gone

5 - Summertime

6 - Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess

7 - Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus)

8 - Fishermen, Strawberry And Devil Crab

9 - My Man's Gone Now

10 - It Ain't Necessarily So

11 - Here Come De Honey Man

12 - I Loves You Porgy

13 - There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York

(All compositions by George Gershwin)

Miles Davis (trumpet, flugelhorn);

Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci (trumpets);

Dick Hixon, Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Joe Bennett (trombones);

Willie Ruff, Julius Watkins, Gunther Schuller (french horns); Bill Barber (tuba);

Phil Bodner, Jerome Richardson, Romeo Penque (flutes, alto flutes, clarinets)

Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), Danny Bank (alto flute, bass flute, bass clarinet);

Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones [#1, #3 to #7, #9, #12, #13],

Jimmy Cobb [#2, #8, #10, #11] (drums). Gil Evans (arranger, conductor)

Recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio, New York City, July 22 [#3, #4, #9], 

July 29 [#2, #8, #10, #11], August 4 [#1, #5, #6, #7, #13], August 18 [#12], 1958

✳✳✳

The Bill Potts Big Band

The Jazz Soul Of Porgy And Bess

An immediate and obvious comparison will arise between this album and the Miles Davis Porgy album. It should be dismissed. All they have in common is that they are the two outstanding instrumental Porgy performances in the rash of recent releases of discs inspired by the movie. Otherwise, they are dissimilar. Their purposes are different, and so are their final effects.

This LP, in which United Artists is taking thoroughly justified pride, is actually truer to the spirit of the Gershwin music than the Miles-Gil album was or was meant to be. And it establishes Washingtonian Potts as a major arranger. This is a man to be watched.

The instrumentation he has used is what might be termed augmented conventional. Potts finds his colors — and rich ones they are — in the instruments considered normal to jazz. But by the careful (and brilliant) use of the highly individual soloists at his disposal, he has created a tapestry of rich variety.

All the men are given blowing room, and Sims, Cohn, Brookmeyer, Farmer, and Edison turn in individual statements that are up to the standards we have come to expect of them. Indeed, there isn't a poor solo in the lot, and some are superb. Evans plays with a harder jazz feeling than has usually been thought to be within his scope. Markowitz, not too known to the public as a jazzman, invests My Man's Gone Now with all the warmth and feeling it can hold.

Of course, there can be a danger in having so many gifted soloists playing section. But in the ensemble passages, all of them submerge themselves in the task at hand, and the result is a cohesiveness and power rarely found in studio-band playing.

This project was the coddled baby of UA's Jazz A&R man, Jack Lewis. The coddling was worth it, and he is to be congratulated. This is a beautiful, beautiful album.

*Down Beat, September 3, 1959 (5 stars)*

1 - Summertime

2 - A Woman Is A Sometime Thing

3 - My Man's Gone Now

4 - It Takes A Long Pull To Get There

5 - I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'

6 - Bess You Is My Woman

7 - It Ain't Necessarily So

8 - Medley: Prayer, Strawberries, Honey Man, Crab Man

9 - I Loves You Porgy

10 - Clara, Clara

11- There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York

12 - Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess

13 - Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way

(All compositions by George Gershwin)

Art Farmer, Harry Edison, Bernie Glow, Markie Markowitz, Charlie Shavers (trumpets);

Bob Brookmeyer, Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Earl Swope, Rod Levitt (trombones);

Phil Woods, Gene Quill (alto saxes); Zoot Sims, Al Cohn (tenor saxes);

Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Bill Evans (piano); George Duvivier (bass);

Herbie Powell (guitar); Charley Persip (drums); Bill Potts (arranger, conductor).

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, January 13, 14 and 15, 1959

Gigi Gryce: Jazz with Purpose

Gigi Gryce

Orchestra And Quartet

There are few musicians as well qualified from both the standpoints of academic training and "gigging" in jazz who also are as intensely dedicated as Gigi Gryce. He is a warm, human person whose writing and playing have the love, happiness, sadness and pain which any jazzman with a heart and soul will impart to his listeners. Gigi has paid dues to the union called life. 

Although Gigi has participated in a number of LP recordings both writing and playing, this is the first one under his own name where he is carrying out his own ideas in a manner which he most desired. 

Today, with the 12 inch LP the dominant vehicle for the recorded presentation of jazz, much more space is available to the musician. Unfortunately there are too many 10 inch LPs being stretched beyond the satiation point to appease a merchandising trend. In this LP Gigi has used his talent together with the knowledge of how to utilize it. There is a definite purpose achieved in the contrast and pacing; the two different groups, different in size and spirit with the flexibility and blowing freedom of the quartet on one side, and the synthesis of writing, blowing and singing on the band side. 

The orchestra's personnel will remind those of you who are perceptive of the short lived Miles Davis group of 1949 which made such a deep impression on the jazz of the Fifties but which was never physically used again. Gigi felt that this instrumentation should not be neglected because of its tremendous possibilities of different tonal colors, dynamics, ranges and voicings. He wanted to get away from the brassy sound of the usual jazz band of this size. Gigi was consciously striving for something that every type of listener could enjoy, something that would not all fall into any one category. 

Gigi describes (the quartet sessions) as one of the most relaxed recording sessions in which he has ever played. After setting up the themes, everything was spontaneous even to the length of the solos. There is much to be gleaned, as always, from Monk's originals and the one which Gigi contributed is up to his usual high standard. 

The interplay between Gigi and Monk creates much excitement. In many instances, they take turns at carrying the harmony.Monk's presence alone was inspiring to Gigi. They first met in Boston in 1949 when they played together at the Hi Hat. Since then they have stayed in touch musically and socially. *Ira  Gitler (from the liner notes)*

On the first six, Gigi heads a unit consisting of Art Farmer, trumpet; Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, trombones; Danny Bank, Cecil Payne, baritones; Gunther Schuller, Julius Watkins, French horns; Bill Barber, tuba; Horace Silver, piano; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, drums; and on two, Ernestine Anderson, vocalist. The only weak band is Gigi's ballad, "The One I Love". It's rather routine melodic profile and surprisingly cliche-filled lyrics don't belong in this set although the attractively sounding Miss Anderson does the best she can. She is better served by Gigi's "Social Call", to which Jon Hendricks had added apt lyrics.

The remainder of the side is marked by the freshness of Gigi’s writing (and of the one Horace Silver original), the quality of the solos, and the swinging ensemble empathy of all concerned. (Listen to the band especially on "Smoke Signal").

The differently exciting second side consists of a quartet date with Gigi, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey. The first three characteristic originals are by Monk while the last is Gigi's. On both sides, Gigi blows some of his best alto on record. He has learned to discipline his improvising imagination while retaining his swinging passion. Monk is in fine, relaxed, incisive form. Heath is excellent and Blakey constantly cooks (and solos well in "Nica's Tempo").

As is Signal’s custom, the album is very well recorded, lucidly annotated (by Ira Gitler), and faced with a distinguished cover (by Harold Feinstein). Strongly recommended.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 7, 1956)*

Side 1

The Gigi Gryce Orchestra

1 - Speculation

(Horace Silver)

2 - In A Meditating Mood

(Gigi Gryce)

3 - Social Call

(G. Gryce, J. Hendricks)

4 - Smoke Signal

(Gigi Gryce)

5 - (You'll Always Be) The One I Love

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - Kerry Dance

(J. Molloy)

Side 2

The Gigi Gryce Quartet

7 - Shuffle Boil

(Thelonious Monk)

8 - Brake's Sake

(Thelonious Monk)

9 - Gallop's Gallop

(Thelonious Monk)

10 - Nica's Tempo

(Gigi Gryce)

#1, #2, #4, #6:

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Jimmy Cleveland [as "James Van Dyke"] (trombone),

Gunther Schuller (french horn), Bill Barber (tuba), Danny Bank (baritone sax),

Horace Silver (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).

#3, #5: 

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Eddie Bert (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Bill Barber (tuba), Cecil Payne (baritone sax),

Horace Silver (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Art Blakey (drums), Ernestine Anderson (vocals).

#7 to #10: 

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Thelonious Monk (piano), Percy Heath (bass), Art Blakey (batería).

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey,

October 15 (#7 to #10) and October 22 (#1 to #6), 1955.

Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd's Laboratory

One of the finest groups of the late 50s, the Jazz Lab was co-led by the inimitable horn players Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd. Although the group worked extensively from February to September of 1957 it broke up shortly after. However, all of their albums together have become jazz classics. 

Some of the group's creation and history can be read in the chapter "In the laboratory" of the book Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce, co-authored by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald:

By the measure of recording activity, at least, Gryce's jazz career peaked in 1957. This would be his most productive period nor only as a leader, but as a sideman and writer on several recording sessions of high quality and great importance. It was at this time also that he would solidify his group conception of jazz, utilizing as a unifying element his series of recordings as co-leader of a quintet with Donald Byrd. And having entered the elite group of New York musicians capable of filling roles in a variety of settings, he was now getting sufficient work to ensure financial security.

A very important event occurred in early 1957 when Gryce and Donald Byrd decided to join forces and co-lead the Jazz Lab ensemble. Seven years Gryce's junior, Byrd (1932-2013) relocated from his native Detroit to New York permanently in 1955, and soon thereafter was ensconced in the jazz scene, working and recording with nearly all of the hard bop stalwarts including Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, George Wallington, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver. He shared with Gryce a formal musical training, having received a Bachelor of Music degree from Wayne State University in 1954. Byrd also studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1963) and later became an educator, obtaining advanced degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. At the time of his death [2013] he was teaching at Delaware State University as a distinguished artist-in-residence.

Fluent and lyrical, Byrd's style, like that of Art Farmer before him, fit beautifully with the conception of Gryce, spinning long, graceful lines in his solos. His facility at very fast tempi was notable, and in general his approach was somewhat more aggressive than that of Farmer, but not to the extent that it conflicted with or overshadowed that of Gryce. Furthermore, Byrd had an interest in writing and would contribute both originals and arrangements of standard tunes to the group's repertoire.

The name "Jazz Lab" might suggest an esoteric or academic approach to ensemble performance, but in reality the music the band offered was most accessible. It consisted of original compositions (many taken from Gryce's publishing company) and cleverly reworked standards. Blues were an important component of the repertoire. Gryce, who appeared to be the more dominant musical force of the two co-leaders, summed up the philosophy the band espoused: The Modern Jazz Quartet will come to a club or concert and play very soft subtle music, and then Blakey will come around like thunder. We're trying to do both, and a few other things he-sides. Insofar as I can generalize, our originals and arrangements concentrate on imaginative use of dynamics and very strong rhythmic and melodic lines. We try to both give the listener something of substance that he can feel and understand and also indicate to the oriented that we're trying to work in more challenging musical forms and to expand the language in other ways.

One advantage, we hope, of the varied nature of our library, which is now over a hundred originals and arrangements, is that in the course of a set, almost any listener can become fulfilled. If he doesn't dig one, he may well dig the next because it will often be considerably different. Several people write for us in addition to Donald Byrd, myself, and others within the group. We have scores by Benny Golson, Ray Bryant, and several more.

A point I'm eager to emphasize is that the title, Jazz Lab, isn't meant to connote that we're entirely experimental in direction. We try to explore-all aspects of modern jazz—standards, originals, blues, hard swing, anything that can be filled and transmuted with jazz feeling. Even our experimentations are quite practical; they're not exercises for their own sake. They have to communicate feeling. For example, if we use devices like counterpoint, we utilize them from inside jazz. We don't go into Bach, pick up an invention or an idea for one, and then come back into jazz. It all stays within jazz in feeling and rhythmic flow and syncopation. In any of our work in form, you don't get the feeling of a classical piece. This is one of the lessons I absorbed from Charlie Parker. I believe that one of the best — and still fresh — examples of jazz counterpoint is what Charlie did on "Chasing the Bird".

We want to show how deep the language is; in addition to working with new forms, we want to go back into the language, show the different ways the older material can be formed and re-formed. We want to have everything covered. My two favorite musicians among the younger players may give a further idea of what I believe. Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson are not playing the cliches, and they play as if they have listened with feeling and respect to the older men like Herschel Evans, Chu Berry, and Coleman Hawkins. They're not just hip, flashy moderns.

In its brief existence of barely a year, the Jazz Lab quintet utilized some of the finest rhythm section accompanists available: pianists Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Hank Jones, and the underappreciated Wade Legge (1934-1963), a great talent who passed away at the age of only 29; bassists Wendell Marshall and Paul Chambers; and drummers Art Taylor and Osie Johnson. During this period, the Jazz Lab recorded for no fewer than five different labels, at thirteen sessions, producing a total of six LPs, all of which helped to establish a high standard for ensemble performance within the hard bop genre.

Donald Byrd • Gigi Gryce

The Complete Jazz Lab Sessions

This four-disc collection contains all of the recordings of one of the most interesting jazz groups from the late ‘50s, the Jazz Lab, compiled here for the first time ever on one release. Co-led by Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd, this set comprises the group’s five original studio albums (including all existing supplementary tunes and alternate takes from the sessions), presented here in their entirety and in chronological order. This edition also includes the Jazz Lab’s only known live performance, taped at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. As a bonus, a complete Oscar Pettiford LP, which constitutes the only other small group collaboration of Gryce and Byrd, and is a precursor to the Jazz Lab sound, as well as a rare 1955 Gigi Gryce quartet session (with Pettiford on bass) in its entirety, which despite having no real relation to the later Gryce-Byrd formation, was issued under the title of Jazz Laboratory Series (probably Gryce chose the group’s name based on that previous release!). *jazzmessengers.com*

Two front line horns plus a three-piece rhythm section were to hard bop what three guitars and drums were to rock ’n’ roll. The main obstacle for both has always been precisely how to set oneself apart from hordes of similar practitioners. An imaginative composer/arranger as well as a fiery alto sax player, Gigi Gryce put all his energies into setting himself apart from his contemporaries with his Jazz Lab enterprise, sharing top billing with Donald Byrd. Though a major player during the mid-1950s via his work with Brownie, Monk, Lee Morgan and Benny Golson, today Gryce is seldom mentioned in dispatches despite the fact that The Jazz Lab recorded prolifically during an eight-month period. Yet it was to be financial considerations (and lack of regular gigs) opposed to the quality of the product that caused the project to fold prematurely while their closest contemporaries such as The Jazz Messengers and Horace Silver’s Quintet valiantly soldiered on. The Jazz Lab came is all shapes and sizes. The 1957 nonet that taped "Nica’s Tempo", "I Remember Clifford" and "Little Niles"’ among others offers more than just a passing nod and a wink in the direction of both Miles’ Birth Of The Cool and Shorty Rogers’ Giants. However, it’s the five-handed line-up that featured either Hank Jones or Wynton Kelly that wins the day. *jazzwise.com*

This wonderful and well produced compilation is everything this little short lived band recorded. The band was only in existence in 1957 and should be recognized for it's importance to Jazz mainstream of the time. Byrd and Gryce were very distinctive players and Gryce's writing enhances the band's output.

All Music Guide's critic Arwulf Arwulf resumes the Jazz Lab Sessions with the following words:

All this group's music should be studied and sabores over long periods of time, even across decades spanning entire lifetimes. These recordings have matured remarkably well and should endure to be cherished by post-post-post-postmodern jazz heads of the distant future.

*CD  1*

1 - Nica's Tempo

(Gigi Gryce)

2 - Smoke Signal

(Gigi Gryce)

3 - Speculation

(Horace Silver)

4 - Over The Rainbow

(Harod Arlen, E. Y. Harburg)

5 - Sans Souci

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - I Remember Clifford

(Benny Golson)

7 - Little Niles

(Randy Weston)

8 - Blue Concept

(Gigi Gryce)

9 - Love For Sale

(Cole Porter)

10 - Geraldine

(Wade Legge)

11 - Minority

(Gigi Gryce)

12 - Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart

(James F. Hanley)

*CD 2*

1 - Straight Ahead

(Lee Sears)

2 - Wake Up!

(Lee Sears)

3 - Exhibit A

(Lee Sears)

4 - Ergo The Blues (take 2)

(Hank Jones)

5 - Ergo The Blues (take 3)

(Hank Jones)

6 - Capri

(Gigi Gryce)

7 - Splittin' (a.k.a. Ray's Way)

(Ray Bryant)

8 - Passade

(Hank Jones)

9 - Byrd In Hand

(Donald Byrd)

10 - Blue Lights

(Gigi Gryce)

11 - Onion Head

(Donald Byrd)

12 - Isn’t It Romantic?

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

*CD 3*

1 - Batland

(Gigi Gryce, Lee Sears)

2 - Bangoon

(Hank Jones)

3 - Imagination

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)

4 - X-Tacy

(Donald Byrd)

5 - Satellite

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - An Evening In Casablanca

(Gigi Gryce)

7 - Social Call

(Gigi Gryce)

8 - Stablemates

(Benny Golson)

9 - Steppin' Out

(Gigi Gryce)

10 - Medley: Early Morning Blues / Now, Don't You Know

(Cy Coleman, Joe McCarthy)/(Lee Sears)

11 - Early Bird

(Donald Byrd)

12 - Elgy

(Donald Byrd)

13 - Oh Yeah!

(Duke Jordan)

*CD 4*

1 - Splittin' (a.k.a. Ray's Way)

(Ray Bryant)

2 - Batland

(Gigi Gryce, Lee Sears)

3 - Love For Sale

(Cole Porter)

4 - Kamman's A'Comin'

(Oscar Pettiford)

5  Minor 7th Heaven

(Osie Johnson)

6 - Stardust

(Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish)

7 - Bohemia After Dark

(Oscar Pettiford)

8 - Oscalypso

(Oscar Pettiford)

9 - Scorpio

(Mary Lou Williams)

10 - Titoro

(Billy Taylor)

11 - Don’t Squawk

(Oscar Pettiford)

12 - Another One

(Quincy Jones)

13 - Sometimes I'm Happy

(Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar)

14 - Embraceable You

(George and Ira Gershhwin)

15 - Jordu

(Duke Jordan)

#1 to #8 (CD1): from the album

Jazz Lab (Columbia CL998)

#1, #2, #3

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Benny Powell (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Tommy Flanagan (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 4, 1957

#4, #5

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Tommy Flanagan (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 5, 1957

#6, #7, #8

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Benny Powell or Jimmy Cleveland [depending on the source] (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 13, 1957

#9 to #12 (CD1), and #1, #2 (CD2): from the album

Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet (Riverside 12-229)

#9 to #11 (CD1)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 27, 1957

#12 (CD1), #1, #2 (CD2)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 7, 1957

#3 to #9 (CD2): from the album

New Formulas from the Jazz Lab (RCA-Victor Jap RCA6015)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

(Hank Jones (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, July 30 (#3, #4, #5), July 31 (#6, #7) and August 1 (#8, #9), 1957

#10 to #12 (CD2) and #1 to #4 (CD3):

from the album Jazz Lab (Jubilee JLP1059)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

(Hank Jones (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 9, 1957

#5 to #12 (CD3): from the album

Modern Jazz Perspective (Columbia CL1058)

#5, #6, #7

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 30, 1957

#8, #9

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, September 5, 1957

#10, #11, #12

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Wynton Kelly (piano),

Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums), Jackie Paris (vocal, banjo).

Recorded in New York City, September 3, 1957

#1 to #3 (CD4): from the album

Jazz Laboratory at Newport (Verve MGV8238)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Hank Jones (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival,

Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island, July 5, 1957

*Bonus Albums*

#4 to #12 (CD4): from the album

Oscar Pettiford (Bethlehem BCP33)

Donald Byrd, Ernie Royal (trumpets); Gigi Gryce (alto sax);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Jerome Richardson (flute, tenor sax);

Don Abney (piano); Oscar Pettiford (bass, cello); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 12, 1955

#13 (CD3) and #13 to #15 (CD4): from the album

The Jazz Laboratory Series: Do It Yourself Jazz Vol.1 (Signal S101/Savoy MG12145)

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Duke Jordan (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums):

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, March 7, 1955

Charlie Rouse, Julius Watkins And The Jazz Modes

The Jazz Modes was a jazz group with a truly distinctive sound, which was only active between 1956 and 1959. The group's sound was built on its unusual instrumentation. Despite a typical jazz rhythm section of piano, bass and drums, the front line blended the sounds of the French horn and tenor saxophone. The band was formed by French horn player Julius Watkins and tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse.

Julius Watkins was virtually the father of the jazz French horn. He started playing French horn at the age of nine, although he worked with the Ernie Fields orchestra on trumpet (1943-1946). In the late ’40s, he took some French horn solos on records by Kenny Clarke and Babs Gonzales, and spent 1949 as a member of the Milt Buckner big band. After three years of study at the Manhattan School of Music, Watkins started appearing on small-group dates including a pair of notable sessions led by Thelonious Monk in 1953-1954.

Possessor of a distinctive tone and a fluid bop-oriented style, Charlie Rouse was in Thelonious Monk's Quartet for over a decade (1959-1970) and, although somewhat taken for granted, was an important ingredient in Monk’s music. Rouse was always a modern player and he worked with Billy Eckstine's orchestra (1944) and the first Dizzy Gillespie big band (1945), making his recording debut with Tadd Dameron in 1947. Rouse popped up in a lot of important groups including Duke Ellington's Orchestra (1949-1950), Count Basie's octet (1950), on sessions with Clifford Brown in 1953, and with Oscar Pettiford's sextet (1955). 

After the Jazz Modes experience, Watkins toured with Quincy Jones' big band (1959-1961); did plenty of studio work (including the Miles Davis-Gil Evans collaborations); and recorded with Charles Mingus (in 1965 and 1971), Freddie Hubbard, John Coltrane (the Africa sessions), and the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, among many others.

For his part, Rouse joined Thelonious Monk for a decade of extensive touring and recordings. In the 1970s he recorded a few albums as a leader, and in 1979 he became a member of Sphere. Charlie Rouse’s unique sound began to finally get some recognition during the 1980s. He participated on Carmen McRae’s classic Carmen Sings Monk album and his last recording was at a Monk tribute concert.

With slight personnel variations, The Jazz Modes recorded a total of five albums, most of which are now very hard to find. All of these LPs are included in the following collection in their entirety and in chronological order.

As a bonus, we have included three further complete albums, all of which were originally issued as 10" LPs. Oscar Pettiford’s Oscar Rides Again is the only other existing album, outside of the Jazz Modes body of work, to feature both Rouse and Watkins in the front line. The two volumes by the Julius Watkins Sextet, on the other hand, present Watkins in the company of other celebrated tenor saxophonists: Frank Foster and Hank Mobley.

Charlie Rouse And Julius Watkins

The Complete Jazz Modes Sessions

The three discs in this set collect all the work by this short lived group, The Jazz Modes. Of particular interest are the two albums under Julius Watkins' name he recorded for the Blue Note label-now available on CD, or used if you can find them. Talking about these two albums, the personnel consists of Watkins-French horn, Hank Mobley-tenor sax, Duke Jordan-piano, the great Oscar Pettiford-bass, and Art Blakey-drums, with Perry Lopez-guitar.

The remaining albums have slightly differing personnel, but the core players are Watkins (who played with Coltrane, Mingus, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and many others), Charlie Rouse (who played with Monk for years)-tenor sax, and Gildo Mahones-piano. Other players throughout consist of Art Taylor, Kenny Clarke, Paul Chambers, and Sahib Shibab. There's a few others showing up on bass and drums, along with Eileen Gilbert-on mostly wordless soprano vocals, Janet Putnam-harp (on 2 tracks only), and Chino Pozo-congas. This release is closer to 3 1/2 "stars" — the half for experimenting with the soprano voice in a jazz setting. Otherwise this is straight 1950's jazz-before the great changes began to happen in the 1960's.

The 30 page booklet contains an essay on the group as a whole, the primary players, original liner notes, (then) contemporary reviews, and a number of photos and reproductions of the album covers. Also included is song information, dates and who plays on which album. Again, some of this music is perhaps 3 or 3 1/2 "stars". But overall you have to give the principle players much credit for trying something new and different-especially during the relatively button-downed 1950's. A word about the vocals. To present day ears Eileen Gilbert's vocals will come as a bit of a shock. While her voice is a fine soprano, the juxtaposition within a jazz setting is hard to get into. Remember, this was the late 50's, and Rouse and Watkins (especially) were experimenting with a different approach to jazz. Some may like the combination, some will not. But underneath the vocals is some well arranged jazz. So you've been warned.

Don't let the French horn scare you away. This is some fine/very fine straight ahead jazz as they played it in the late 50's. The rhythm section(s) keep everything moving along on the up tempo tunes, and are suitably restrained on the ballads. All three of the principle players get room to solo throughout these albums. Rouse's big sound is right at home on these tunes, and Watkins' horn-sounding like a French horn-is used in much the same manner as any more conventional horn in jazz. Mahone's piano is straight out of the be-bop style of jazz, and fits in very well.

Songs are a combination of standards or (mostly) Watkins' compositions. But no matter which tune, this very fine, unique group plays each song as if it were their own. Straight ahead 1950's jazz/Watkins/Rouse fans need to hear this collection. This was experimental jazz in the 50's-the French horn, the impressionistic vocals, all were an attempt to find something new and different. But even if their music didn't catch on, it's still some good yet different, small group jazz. Period jazz fans may want to check this out-and having all the albums by this group in one collection is very handy, along with a useful booklet. It's definitely of it's era-certainly different than music of the present. A interesting sometimes good side street off the main boulevard of jazz.

*Stuart Jefferson (amazon.com)*

*CD 1*

1 - Dancing On The Ceiling

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

2 - Legend

(Gildo Mahones)

3 - Temptation

(Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown)

4 - Episode

(Julius Watkins)

5 - Dancing In The Dark

(Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz)

6 - Goodbye

(Gordon Jenkins)

7 - Town And Country

(Varon)

8 - When The Blues Comes On

(Alvin G. Cohn, Charles Isaiah Darwin)

9 - Blue Modes

(Julius Watkins)

10 - You Are Too Beautiful

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

11 - So Far

(Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)

12 - Idle Evening [Jazz Garden Suite, part I]

(Julius Watkins)

13 - Garden Delights [Jazz Garden Suite, part II]

(Julius Watkins)

14 - Strange Tale [Jazz Garden Suite, part III]

(Julius Watkins)

15 - Two Songs [Jazz Garden Suite, part IV]

(Julius Watkins)

16 - Stallion

(Gildo Mahones)

17 - Baubles, Bangles And Beads

(Alexander Borodin, George Forrest, Robert Wright)

18 - Autumn Leaves

(Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer, Joseph Kosma)

19 - The Golden Chariot

(Gildo Mahones)

20 - Let's Try

(Charlees Isaiah Darwin, Paulette Girard)

21 - Bohemia

(Ed Smollett, Charles E. Shirley, Mynell Allen)

22 - Cath Her

(Julius Watkins)

*CD 2*

1 - Hoo Tai

(Julius Watkins)

2 - Mood In Scarlet

(Julius Watkins)

3 - Linda Delia

(Julius Watkins, George Butcher)

4 - I've Got You Under My Skin

(Cole Porter)

5 - We Can Talk It Over

(Julius Watkins)

6 - Standing On The Corner

(Frank Loesser)

7 - Joey, Joey, Joey

(Frank Loesser)

8 - Warm All Over

(Frank Loesser)

9 - Happy To Make Your Acquaintance

(Frank Loesser)

10 - My Heart Is So Full Of You

(Frank Loesser)

11 - The Most Happy Fella

(Frank Loesser)

12 - Don't Cry

(Frank Loesser)

13 - Like A Woman

(Frank Loesser)

14 - Somebody Somewhere

(Frank Loesser)

15 - The Oblong

(Julius Watkins)

16 - 1-2-3-4-0 In Syncopation

(Julius Watkins, Princess Orelia Benskina)

17 - Blue Flame

(Julius Watkins)

18 - Mood In Motion

(Julius Watkins)

*CD 3*

1 - Knittin

(Charlie Rouse)

2 - This 'N That

(Charlie Rouse)

3 - Glad That I Found You

(Julius Watkins)

4 - Princess

(Julius Watkins, Princess Orelia Benskina)

5 - Sextette

(Gerry Mulligan)

6 - The Golden Touch

(Quincy Jones)

7 - Cable Car

(Oscar Pettiford, Sonny Clark)

8 - Trictrotism

(Oscar Pettiford)

9 - Edge Of Love

(Charles Ables, Goode, Baker)

10 - Oscar Rides Again

(Oscar Pettiford)

11  - Linda Delia

(Julius Watkins, George Butcher)

12 - Perpetuation

(Julius Watkins)

13 - I Have Known

(Julius Watkins, Gene Morgan)

14 - Leete

(Julius Watkins)

15 - Garden Delights

(Julius Watkins)

16 - Julie Ann

(Julius Watkins, Gene Morgan)

17 - Sparkling Burgundy

(Julius Watkins)

18 - B And D

(Bennie Harris)

19 - Jordu

(Duke Jordan)

*CD 1*

#1 to #6 from the album Jazzville '56, Vol.1 (Dawn DLP1101):

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Paul West (bass), Art Taylor (drums). 

Recorded in New York City, June 1956. 

[Despite its short duration, this album was a 12" LP, although Side B featured a Gene Quill-Dick Sherman Quintet.]

#7 to #16 from the album Les Jazz Modes (Dawn DLP1108)

 [reissued in 1960 as Smart Jazz for the Smart Set (Seeco CELP466).]:

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Paul Chambers (bass),

Oscar Pettiford (bass, replaces Chambers on #11, #12 and #14 only),

Janet Putnam (harp on #8 and #10 only), Ron Jefferson (drums),

Eileen Gilbert (soprano vocals on #8, #12 and #14 only). 

Recorded in New York City, June 12, 1956.

#17 to #22 from the album Mood in Scarlet (Dawn LP1117):

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Martin Rivera (bass), 

Ron Jefferson (drums), Chino Pozo (bongos on #20 and #21). 

Reorded in New York City, December 4, 1956.

*CD 2*

#1 to #5 from the album Mood in Scarlet (Dawn LP1117):

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Martin Rivera (bass),

Ron Jefferson (drums), Eileen Gilbert (soprano vocals on #1 and #2).

Recorded in New York City, December 4, 1956.

#6 to #14 from the album The Most Happy Fella (Atlantic LP1280):

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Martin Rivera (bass),

Ron Jefferson (drums), Chino Pozo (conga, bongos),

Eileen Gilbert (soprano vocals on #10 only).

Recorded in New York City, November 7, 1957.

#15 to #18 from the album The Jazz Modes (Atlantic LP1306):

#15, #16, #18: 

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Sahib Shihab (baritone sax), Gildo Mahones (piano),

Martin Rivera (bass), Jimmy Wormworth (drums).

Recorded in New York City, 1959.

#17:

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Martin Rivera (bass),

Ron Jefferson (drums), Chino Pozo (congas, bongos),

Eileen Gilbert (soprano vocals).

Recorded in New York City, October 28, 1959.

*CD 3*

#1 to #4 from the album The Jazz Modes (Atlantic LP1306):

#1, #3, #4:

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Gildo Mahones (piano), Martin Rivera (bass),

Ron Jefferson (drums), Chino Pozo (congas, bongos),

Eileen Gilbert (soprano vocals).

Recorded in New York City, October 28, 1959.

#2:

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn),

Sahib Shihab (baritone sax), Gildo Mahones (piano),

Martin Rivera (bass), Jimmy Wormworth (drums).

Recorded in New York City, 1959.

#5 to #10: from the album Oscar Rides Again (Bethlehem 10” LP BCP1003),

 [reissued on Bass (Bethlehem 12” LP BCP-6]:

Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Julius Watkins (French horn), Duke Jordan (piano),

Oscar Pettiford (bass, cello on #6, #9,#10), Ron Jefferson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, September 1954.

#11 to #14: from the album Julius Watkins Sextet,

[a.k.a New Faces, New Sounds (Blue Note BLP5053)]:

Julius Watkins (French horn), Frank Foster (tenor sax),

George Butcher (piano), Perry Lopez (guitar),

Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, August 8, 1954.

#15 to #19: from the album Julius Watkins Sextet, Volume Two (Blue Note BLP5064):

Julius Watkins (French horn), Hank Mobley (tenor sax),

Duke Jordan (piano), Perry Lopez (guitar),

Oscar Pettiford (bass), Art Blakey (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, March 20, 1955.