Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XVIII)

Benny Bailey And The Quincetet

The Music Of Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones wears many hats. He is an arranger of brilliance. He plays trumpet passably. He leads his own large orchestra, a feat that requires more than conducting, in that a leader also has to be father, mother, wife, and psychiatrist to some 16 musicians. But, most of all, he is a composer who writes with delicate melodic sense and rhythmic vigor-

He is a budding Duke Ellington, and there are many who will tell you that his orchestra will be the band of the 1960s.

He already has given impressive indication of the road he intends to take. The recent trip he made with his band revealed to listeners what his first two albums had led them to suspect – that his orchestra is precise, joyously swinging, and interested in exploring arrangements that show thought in their preparation and are written expressly for the musicians in that band, utilizing their individual capabilities.

One of those individuals created a good deal of attention on his own. That would be Benny Bailey, the trumpeter with huge tone and broad attack who went to Europe in 1953 with Lionel Hampton and stayed there until Quincy called Benny back from Sweden to join him.

Bailey's performances herein show you why Jones was so eager to get him on the band. This LP was cut in Sweden last year in the company of another American, drummer Joe Harris, and the light-quick Swedish trombonist Åke Persson, another member of the Jones band. Several combinations of Swedish all-stars make up the backing.

We think you'll find this combination of Quincy Jones' music and the resounding horns of Benny Bailey and Åke Persson to be a stirring mixture and one that points out yet one more facet of Quincy's talent. He has an unerring sense of taste when it comes to picking the right chairs. Quincy Delight Jones is something else! *Al Porch (liner notes)*

An excellent album that's a perfect document of the strong impact that Quincy Jones had in the transatlantic jazz scene of the late 50s and early 60s! The set was recorded in 1960, and features two players that Quincy would leave behind in Europe to have a huge influence on the scene. Trumpeter Benny Bailey is the greatest of these – and his impact on jazz in Germany and Sweden during the 60s and 70s cannot be discounted. The other is drummer Joe Harris, who does excellent work here in a group that includes Arne Domnérus on sax, Åke Persson on trombone, and Gunnar Svensson on piano – all Swedes that Quincy picked up after touring the country heavily during the late 50s. The set grooves with the best of Jones' work on Mercury from the time – and although Quincy's not listed in the credits, it's probably only because of contractual reasons. Titles are all Jones originals – including "Meet Benny Bailey", "Plenty, Plenty Soul", "Fallen Feathers", and "The Midnight Sun Never Sets". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

This album is one of the earliest devoted solely to the compositions of Quincy Jones and emerged from his work in Europe in the late 1950s. A classic session that took place 1959 in Stockholm featuring international stars Joe Harris and Benny Bailey. Together with a troop of legendary Swedish jazzers from this era they recorded this album which in many ways is a tribute to the songwriting skills of master Quincy Jones. Apart from Åke Persson, musicians like Arne Domnérus, Lennart Jansson and a handful of others are making this to a true gem.*paladinvinyl.com*

Side 1

1. The Golden Touch

(Jones, Pettiford)

2. I'm Gone

(Quincy Jones)

3. Jones Beach

(Quincy Jones)

4. The Midnight Sun Never Sets

(Jones , Salvador)

Side 2

5. Meet Benny Bailey

(Quincy Jones)

6. Plenty, Plenty Soul

(Jones, Jackson)

7. Fallen Feathers

(Quincy Jones)

8. Count 'Em

(Jones, Cleveland)

Benny Bailey (trumpet); Åke Persson (trombone); Arne Domnérus (alto sax);

Bjarne Nerem (tenor sax); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax);

Gunnar Svensson [#1], Gösta Theselius [#2 to #8] (piano); Gunnar Johnson (bass);

Anders Burman [#3, #6], Joe Harris [#1, #2, #4, #5, #7, #8] (drums).

Recorded at Millessalen Recording Studios, Stockholm, Sweden, October 8, 1959

Harry Arnolds And His Orchestra - The Jazztone Mystery Band

Arnold was among the finest big-band arrangers and tenor saxophonists in Sweden during the 1950s and '60s. From 1956 to 1965, Arnold led the Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra that featured many of the country's leading Swedish jazz musicians. They recorded quite a few albums, including their first, The Jazztone Mystery Band. It's easily one of the finest big band recordings of 1957. 

*Marc Myers*

An overlooked and now obscure figure in jazz, Harry Arnold led an incredibly tight, talented, and swinging big band in the 1950s. Arnold knocked American critics on their collective ears with what was to become known as The Jazztone Mystery Orchestra named after the record label they were first signed with in the U.S.

Harry Arnold studied clarinet in 1937 and 1938 and started arranging without the benefit of formal study in 1938. He claimed to have learned the technique of arranging through analyzing the works of everyone from Ravel to Basie. Arnold led his own band in Malmo from 1942 to 1949. He then went to Stockholm as a tenor man and arranger with Thor Ehrling's band taking his own outfit back to play weekends in Malmo from 1952 to 1954. In 1956 he organized a 17 piece group to play weekly radio broadcasts (except during the summer) in 1956.

The music of Harry Arnold And His Swedish Radio Studio Orchestra hit the states in the late 1950's. Author George Simon recounted Claes Dahlgren, Sweden's Jazz ambassador, walking into Simon's office and in a very modest and disarming manner leaving some tapes of the band on Simon's desk with a polite, "give a listen if you have the time". Simon and his colleagues were so knocked out by the tapes they played them to others to get second opinions afraid their ears were deceiving them.

Harry Arnold and his big band was subsequently signed to Jazztone. Simon said of the band, "it's brilliant ensembles, it's abundance of exciting modern soloists, it's biting, swinging beat, and it's superb polish – all these things really thrilled us". A few other quotes made by famous jazzmen, upon first hearing the band, having only been told it was the Jazztone "Mystery" Band include; arranger Ernie Wilkins: "This band would be a gasser to write for! What musicianship!" Bandleader Elliot Lawrence: "The band sounds like a modern swinging Tommy Dorsey". Don Cerulli, New York editor of Down Beat magazine: "Actually the band is Elliot Lawrence". Willis Canover from the Voice Of America network: "This is a hell of a swinging band". *swingmusic.net*

Side 1

1 - I Found A New Baby

(Williams, Palmer)

2 - Six-Ten

(Gösta Theselius)

3 - Our Love Is Here To Stay

(G. and I. Gershwin)

4 - This Can't Be Love

(Rodgers, Hart)

5 - This Is Harry

(Harry Arnold)

6 - Crazy Rhythm

(Meyer, Kahn)

Side 2

7 - Blue Lou

(Sampson, Mills)

8 - Little White Lies

(Walter Donaldson)

9 - Cuban Trombones

(Harry Arnold)

10 - Now It Can Be Told

(Irvin Berlin)

11 - Sunday

(Herbert, LeBaron)

12 - Jersey Bounce

(Johnson, Wright)

#1, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #12:

Bengt-Arne Wallin, Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden (trumpets); Arnold Johansson (trumpet, valve trombone); Andreas Skjöld, George Vernon, Gordon Olsson, Åke Persson (trombones); Arne Domnérus, Rolf Lindell (alto saxes); Bjarne Nerem, Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor saxes); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax); Bengt Hallberg (piano); Bengt Högberg (guitar); Simon Brehm (bass); Egil Johansson (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, February 2, 1957.

#2, #4, #9, #10, #11:

Bengt-Arne Wallin, Sixten Eriksson, Weine Renliden (trumpets); Arnold Johansson (trumpet, valve trombone); Andreas Skjöld, George Vernon, Gordon Olsson, Åke Persson (trombones); Arne Domnérus, Rolf Lindell (alto saxes); Bjarne Nerem, Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor saxes); Lennart Jansson (baritone sax); Gösta Theselius (piano); Bengt Högberg (guitar); Simon Brehm (bass); Egil Johansson (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, March 6, 1957.

Gösta Theselius And All Stars - Swedish Jazz

Gösta Theselius born in Stockholm, June 9, 1922. Started musical studies on piano at the age of seventeen, played with a military orchestra, taking up clarinet and tenor saxophone. In 1940, started making orchestrations for dance bands and continued playing sax and clarinet until August, 1955. He is now considered Sweden’s foremost jazz arranger and composer, and has seven motion picture scores to his credit. His favorite composers are Stravinsky and Ravel. *Liner notes*

By remaining neutral during WWII, the Swedes avoided a Nazi occupation and were able to listen to the changes in American jazz. Consequently while their European counterparts were mired in Dixieland in the postwar period, the Swedes were into west coast cool jazz. If I didn't know who the players were, I'd have thought this was a California session. For example, they even manage to capture the Four Brothers sound on Michel LeGrand's "Cool and Cosy." Recorded in Stockholm in 1956, the session features players who went on to be Swedish Jazz Masters such as Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Åke Persson (trombone), George Riedel (bass), Egil Johanssen and Bengt Hallber, piano. Its a fine album worth multiple listenings!!! *Sadie Softshoe (amazon.com)*

Really wonderful work from the postwar side of the Swedish scene — modern jazz from leader Gösta Theselius, recording here with one hell of a great group! Theselius may not be that well known on these shores, but the record features key work from players who are — including Bengt-Arne Wallin on trumpet, Lars Gullin on baritone sax, Arne Domnérus on alto and clarinet, Bengt Hallberg on piano, and Åke Persson on trombone — all the sorts of players who made the Swedish scene one of the most exciting non-American jazz spots in the 50s! Theselius plays a bit of piano, handled arrangements, and also contributed a number of tunes — but the soloists really get the most sparkle in the set, and although the tracks are shortish, they all manage to really do a lot with the space — in ways that are similar to some of the west coast Americans who inspired them at the time. Titles include "Brewin", "Cool And Cosy", "The Swingin Thirds", "Strollin", "Just Like That", "Bugs", "Havana Horn", and "Chips".  *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

01 - Kreta

(Gösta Theselius)

02 - Laugh Or Cry

(Stanley Applebaum)

03 - Chips

(Frank Engelen)

04 - Havana Horn

(Gösta Theselius)

05 - Brewin'

(Gösta Theselius)

06 - Sabbath Blues

(Arne Domnérus)

Side 2

07 - Just Like That

(Ted Sommer)

08 - Just Lonely

(Gösta Theselius)

09 - Bugs

(Lars Gullin)

10 - Strollin'

(Billy Mure)

11 - The Swingin' Thirds

(Walter Yost)

12 - Cool And Cosy

(Michel Legrand)

Gösta Theselius (piano, arranger, conductor); Bengt-Arne Wallin (trumpet); Bjarne Nerem (tenor sax); Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax, flute); Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet); Lars Gullin, Lennart Jansson (baritone saxes); Åke Persson (trombone); Bengt Hallberg (piano); Georg Riedel (bass); Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, April 27 and 28, 1956.

Arne Domnérus And His Group - Swedish Modern Jazz

One of the wonders of the postwar jazz world has been the sudden rise to dominance in European jazz of Sweden, a country which could scarcely have been found on the jazz map before 1946. The first suggestion that Americans had of Sweden’s jazz potential occurred in the late Forties when the Swedish clarinetist Stan Hasselgard came to this country. Here, it seemed, was the first clarinetist who could challenge Benny Goodman’s long rule as top man on that instrument. So good was Hasselgard, in fact, that Goodman hired him and the young Swedish jazzman suddenly found himself in the unique position of being the only other clarinetist that Goodman has ever featured.

Hasselgard’s career was nipped in the bud when he died in a tragic auto accident, but even in the few brief months that Americans heard him, his presence served to turn attention to Sweden as a jazz source. And there proved to be jazz aplenty there. 

Not just jazz in general, either, but a rather special kind of jazz that the Swedes have since made uniquely their own. It is based on the Swing Era of jazz, the first jazz period of which the Swedes were strongly aware. From Swing, the Swedes moved readily to Bop and the later refinements of Bop. No other country is quite so oriented toward modern jazz as is Sweden. 

But it is apparently not in the Swedish nature to abandon anything that is good simply because something new and attractive has come along. So they have clung to swing even while they embraced bop and, in consequence, most Swedish jazz has a swingingly modern quality that is found only occasionally elsewhere. 

When the jazz world’s attention was directed toward Sweden by Hasselgard’s talent, one of the first major figures it encountered was Arne Domnérus who has maintained his position throughout the Fifties as one of thetop three jazzmen in a country brimming with able jazz musicians.

Domnérus began playing alto saxophone when he was a teenager (he was born in Stockholm in 1924) and one of his earliest experiences was in a young amateur band which included Rolf Ericson, a trumpeter who has played with Woody Herman and Charlie Barnet; Simon Brehm, who became a pioneer Swedish bass star; and pianist Gösta Theselius (who arranged the two full band selections in this collection). By the time he was seventeen, Domnérus was leading a band in a restaurant in a small town in Lapland, possibly the most frigid apprenticeship that any potential jazz star has undergone. For the next ten years he was heard in various Swedish bands playing both alto and clarinet.

In these selections, Domnérus is heard on alto saxophone in all but three instances he plays clarinet. In his early days, when the alto was his only instrument, his style was patterned on the smooth, sweeping flow of Benny Carter. Later he fell strongly under the influence of Charlie Parker but now, as these performances show (the first side was made in 1957, the second in 1956), he has evolved an extremely effective fusion of Parker and Carter which is thoroughly in the vein of the general swing-cum-modern feeling of Swedish jazz as a whole. *Liner notes*

Side 1 

1 - Topsy Theme

(Gunnar Svensson)

2 - Relax

(Arne Domnérus)

3 - Frenesi

(A. Dominguez)

4 - For Dave

(Domnérus, Svensson)

5 - Lady Be Good

(George Gershwin)

6 - Round About Midnight

(Monk, Williams, Hanighen)

Side 2

7 - Blue Moon

(Rodgers, Hart)

8 - I Got Rhythm

(George Gershwin)

9 - Don't You Know I Care

(Duke Ellington)

10 - Gone With The Wind

(Allie Wrubel)

11 - Take The ''A'' Train

(Billy Strayhorn)

12 - Creole Love Call

(Duke Ellington)

#1 to #10:

Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet [#2, #5]), Gunnar Svensson (piano), Georg Riedel (bass), Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, March 14, 1956 (#7, #8, #9, #10); March 10 (#1, #2) and March 19 (#3,#4, #5, #6), 1957.

#11, #12:

Bengt-Arne Wallin (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax, clarinet [#12]), Rolf Blomquist (tenor sax), Lennart Jansson (baritone sax), Gunnar Svensson (piano), Georg Riedel (bass), Egil Johansen (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 27, 1956.