Rare And Obscure Criteria Jazz Recordings (IV)

The Modern Jazz Orchestra

featuring Kenny Drew

This is the fourth of several VSOP releases of Criteria recordings. Criteria was a small jazz label founded by Mack Emerman that showcased Miami jazz musicians of the late 1950's. All Criteria LPs are extremely rare and highly sought after. The music on this CD is primarily written, orchestrated and directed by Don Vincent. Don who studied at Carnegie Mellon and under Nikolai Lapatnikoff later went on to lead the orchestra at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and currently runs a recording studio in Los Angeles. The band is made up of Miami's all stars of the day. It is a fine jazz orchestra. Highly recommended. *magnebit.xeran.com*

The Modern Jazz Orchestra was a stage band that worked a little bit in Florida before breaking up. Its one recording, from 1960, comprises this reissue. Don Vincent contributed five of the eight selections and wrote all the arrangements for the 16-piece ensemble. The only well-known musician on this set is pianist Kenny Drew, although the musicianship is excellent. Despite its potentially forbidding name, the music is essentially bop to hard bop, including versions of "Blue Monk," "A Night in Tunisia," and Miles Davis' "Flamenco Sketches." It is very nice to have this obscurity (originally from the tiny Criteria label) back in print again. *Scott Yanow*

When Billy Ladley (drummer), Joe Galovan (conductor), and Don Vincent (composer and arranger) asked me to write the liner notes for this album I was very pleased to do so. 

The "hanger" came when I started delving into the story behind the album and found, among other things, that the story was actually an epic. For if it wasn't for Billy Ladley's knowledge that such a band could be in Miami or Don Vincent's creative talent giving the band material it needed, or Joe Galovan's dogged insistence upon the formation of such a band, it would have never been realized. But a band without the benefit of the wonderful facilities that Criteria Records offers would have been for naught.

It all started with Joe Galovan. It seems to me that Joe Galovan was born to be a catharsis. At Least that's his function with the MJO.

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 The “Band Idea” hit him in March of 1959, while he was recovering from a year and a half on the road with his friend, Don Vincent.

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Joe asked Don to write some arrangements for a band similar to the MJO. Don wrote them and together they recorded a demonstration album which Joe took to New York. New York received it with mild interest. The recording companies asked where the band was playing, and the clubs asked if the band had recorded. Joe came back to Miami in August and he and Don revamped the band through August and September. But they were met with Miami’s own special brand of apathy, and by December they were ready to throw in the towel or the baton, or just about anything. They had had it. They felt they couldn't get top notch players, and the interest Miami had exemplified was close to a minus point.

In March, Bill Ladley returned to Miami from Las Vegas, and administered a kick in the pants to the two. He showed them that since December, good musicians had been drifting into Miami, and were available for a record date. New plans were made, and in April, Don started building a straight Jazz book. In May they recorded. The men in the band were so enthused that they played their best, and subsequently, most of the cuts are first or second takes.

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As for the band, it's a great first album, and with your help, it will be followed by a second that is greater. Shall we put our collective shoulders to the wheel! *Pat O'Neil (liner notes)*

1 - Black Pits Of Luna

(Don Vincent)

2 - Flamenco Sketches  (or All Blues?)

(Miles Davis)

3 - Eulogy

(Don Vincent)

4 - Waltz For Stephen

(Don Vincent)

5 - Off The Grate

(Don Vincent)

6 - Blue Monk

(Thelonious Monk)

7 - Don's Idea

(Don Vincent)

8 - Night In Tunisia

(Dizzy Gillespie)

Gene Goe, John Georgini, Duke Schuster, Bill Robbins (trumpets); Berry Polger (alto sax, flute); 

Gus Mas, Billy Miller, Jerry Brockman , Jimmy Casals, Kirby Campbell (saxophones);

Lon Norman (trombone); Loren Reichert (french horn); Jim Lawrence (tuba);

Kenny Drew (piano); Bill Christ (bass); Bill Ladley (drums).

Recorded at Criteria Recording Co., Miami, Florida, May 1960 

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[Note: I couldn't find any reference or correction in any review that points out a curiosity: track #2 identified as "Flamenco Sketches" is, in fact, "All Blues". Both compositions are from Miles Davis' iconic Kind Of Blue which (another curiosity) on some vinyl reissues, the label switched the order for the two tracks on side two, "All Blues" and "Flamenco Sketches". *blbs*]

Rare And Obscure Criteria Jazz Recordings (III)

The Lon Norman Sextet

Gold Coast Jazz

(Volume 2)

This is the third of several VSOP releases of Criteria recordings. This 1957 recording exemplifies the high caliber of jazz that made it onto this label. In addition to Miami's finest, this recording features Johnny Williams and Vinnie Tanno.   Lon Norman had started with the U.S Army Field Band in Washington, D.C., and joined the Willis Conover-Joe Timer aggregation, "The Orchestra", for which he wrote charts and filled in on trombone.  He left D.C. in 1957 with Herbie Fields Sextet and settled in with their stady gig at the Fountainbleau Hotel. Later he worked on the Jackie Gleason show and on H.B. Barnum's T.V. show in the 1970s.

This recording is the second of two that Lon Norman led, the first one being "The Octet" Criteria 1.  At various times, Vinnie Tanno takes over this session with his extroverted style. Lon Norman, not to be outdone, provides some very fine trombone and outstanding charts, demonstrating that he is definitely deserving of significant recognition. A fine CD. *magnebit.xeran.com*

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". This "truism" applies not only to the world of physics but to the world of music as well. How so? Well, music has its own fascinating physical laws. For example, when more than one musical tone is sounded simultaneously, the blending of overtones of the fundamental sounds creates an extra-dimensional voice. This acoustical phenomenon may be called the blend of sound, and its nature is directly related to the volumen, pitch, and general proportion of the basic tones. Once this "new voice" is created, it takes an active part in shaping and blending the basic tones, working its complex acoustical properties on the original tones. It will enhance one tone and darken another, becoming the master painter in the musical picture. This is scientific fact.

Less scientific, perhaps, but widely-held, is the belief that just as there is a blending of musica tones, so is there a blending of personality overtones among the musicians who créate these sounds -- nad taht this blending of personalities also adds an extra-dimensional ingredient to the music.

Does this happy blend of musical personalities always accur? By no means. A recording sesión, for example, can be a tedious and exasperating experience. Jazz music, after all, is largely a matter of individual interpretation, for even the written note serves only as a general guide to the way the music is to be played. Thus, two men could hold widely divergent opinions on the way a passage should be phrased, and neither one could be accused of being wrong. What happens, then, when musicians of equal skill and reputation disagree violently on the interpretation of an arrangement? Such a dilemma frequently calls for hours of pleanding, cajoling, arbitration and compromiso before a solution is reached that satisfies all "egos" involved. It is probably unnecessary to point out thet a recording waxed under such strained circumstances usually emerges cold, stilted and sterile.

No such catastrophe marred the creation of this album. As a matter of fact, the psychological compass was pointed in exactly the opposite direction. The minds of the individual musicians were in such a state of complete harmony that the harmónica blend of the music itself reflects the presence of this happy extradimension, for the Sextet swings along through Lon Norman's intrincate arrangements as though all the sidemen had been fused into a single vibrant personality. The resulting musical porridge that is served up, hot, contains a savory blend of elements that will please the particular palate of the jazz gourmet. *Val Machen (liner notes)*

1 - Fu-Dunk

(Lon Norman)

2 - Evelina

(Harold Arlen)

3 - I Remember You

(Schertzinger, Marcus)

4 - Lons-On-Ya

(Lon Norman)

5 - How Deep Is The Ocean

(Irving Berlin)

6 - Star Eyes

(De Paul, Raye)

7 - Everything Happens To Me

(Adair, Dennis)

8 - Pu-Dah

(Lon Norman)

Lon Norman (trombone), Vinnie Tanno (trumpet), Gus Moss (tenor sax),

John Williams (piano),  Al Simi (bass), Bill Ladley (drums).

Recorded at Criteria-Reela Studios, Miami, Florida, August 1957

Rare And Obscure Criteria Jazz Recordings (I)

 

Recording engineer and producer Mack Emerman formed Criteria Records in Miami, Florida, in 1957.  He had just moved to Miami, himself and having been a jazz trumpeter he wanted to work with jazz musicians.  He was impressed with the work of Rudy Van Gelder and sought to achieve a similar sound.  He formed Criteria Studios the following year.   Criteria Records released five titles by 1960, when the label folded.  However, Criteria Studios went on to become the most successful studio in Miami, recording over 250 gold or platinum hit records by such aritsts as  Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Bee Gees, Crosby Stills and Nash, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago and many many more.  Today it is The Hit Factory at 1755 NE 149th Street.

V.S.O.P. Records has released the only four jazz recordings that came out on Criteria Records and OUTLET JAZZ will present them in the next four posts...

The Lon Norman Octet

"The Octet"

Gold Coast Jazz

(Volume 1)

This is the first recording released on Criteria and the fourth of several VSOP releases of Criteria recordings. Criteria was a small jazz label by Mack Emerman that showcased Miami jazz musicians of the late 1950's. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and producers.

All Criteria LPs are extremely rare and highly sought after. This 1957 recording exemplifies the high caliber of jazz that made it onto this label. The Octet played straight ahead West Coast style jazz in the Shorty Rogers, Marty Paich manner. The arrangements by Lon Norman are excellent. The solos by Berry Poger, Marvin Marvin, Eddie Gralka and Jerry Marshall are top notch. This is very fine music, and compares most favorably with Hollywood sessions of the day. *magnebit.xeran.com*

This was the first recording released on the Criteria label in 1957. While The Octet was modeled on the Dave Pell Octet, Lon Norman's arrangements were totally original. This stereo recording puts on display Miami's finest musicians of the time, including Bill Ladley, Jerry Marshall, Eddie Gralka, Marvin Marvin, Berry Poger, Paul Sarmento, Joe Black & Frank DeFabio. Criteria founder Mac Emerman, who produced and engineered this date, went on to become a legendary recording engineer and studio owner. This session sounds and feels like it was recorded in Hollywood. The musicians are no slouches and the charts are excellent. *ccmusic.com*

When you blend two ingredients such as Lon Norman's drive to create new dimensions in ensemble sound, and Mack Emerman's imaginative organizational skills, the result could well illustrate the heights to which modern jazz music can be carried. And this is Mack Emerman's dream: to harness the skill and talent of Miami music on Criteria records, and to weld these creative elements into a powerful musical force. Perhaps the lush fertility of tropical Florida combined with Yankee-style skill and inventiveness, can provide the seeds for a new modern sound that must be reckoned with by the jazz — the Gold Coast Sound. 

One point we should like to strongly make, if we haven't made it so far, is the fact that the Octet and this album are truly a cooperative effort. We must pay tribute to the following wonderful guys who are part of all this. They are LON NORMAN, of course, who is the cohesive force behind all of this, for it is Lon's arranging, his musical directorship, his fine trombone playing that are the true highlights of this album. *Val Machen (liner notes)*

1 - Saturday Comes 'Round

(Lon Norman)

2 - Don't Blame Me

(Jimmy Mchugh)

3 - Potsdam

(Lon Norman)

4 - Blue Moon

(Rodgers, Hart)

5 - If I Should Lose You

(Rainger, Robin)

6 - Dark Horse

(Lon Norman)

7 - Scott Free

(Lon Norman) 

Lon Norman (trombone); Jerry Marshall (trumpet); Berry Poger (alto sax, tenor sax, flute);

Eddie Gralka (baritone sax, tenor sax); Marvin Marvin (tenor sax);

Joe Black [#1, #2, #3, #6, #7], Frank DeFabio [#4, #5] (pianos);

Paul Sarmento (bass); Bill Ladley (drums).

Recorded at Criteria-Reela Studios, Miami, Florida, August 1957