Gene Estes - The Greatest Stereo Vibraphone In Recording History

 Carlton Record Corporation was a label founded by former RCA Victor A&R executive Joe Carlton in October, 1957. The label also introduced a series of instructional LP's under the "Hear How" and "Carlton Impact Sound" series title. The label ceased production around 1964.

A November 14, 1960 Billboard article announces Carlton Records plans for new album series:

An innovation to the Carlton line due to debut around the same time will be the "Carlton Virtuoso Series", which will feature performances by seldom heard and new artists in the pop and jazz fields. George Fields, harmonic soloist, and Gene Estes, a young jazz vibes player from the West Coast, will be the first artists presented.

A curious particularity announced:

The "Virtuoso Series" is being issued for the "sound" market, but will sell at $3,98 (mono) and $4,98 ("provocative" stereo).

The Estes album was loudly titled as "The Greatest Stereo Vibraphone In Recording History". So it would seem foolish to press monaural copies... but that's how it happened.

Although I don't know the stereo version, a specialized Discogs customer reviewed it as follows:

Despite the jacket hype, the stereo separation is not really "provocative", although spread out with the vibes placed noticeably on the left. This is also probably not the "greatest stereo vibraphone in recording history", but it is a pleasant and unassuming jazz set.

This is the monaural "cheap versión":

Estes on vibes is a jazz must. He enjoys a "musicians’ musician" reputation as a leading virtuoso of the vibraphone although with less publicity than the Lionel Hamptons or Red Norvos... or among the modern set, Milt Jackson. Vibe solos by Estes are reproduced in this album with fidelity never attained before this modern stereo age. From low bass to top treble registers, the instrument's sound is perfectly reproduced in this "stereoriented" album. The audiophile will delight in the balanced separation and "presence" while reveling in the composition value. The jazz buff will delight in the subtle Estes line progressions while "digging" the technical stereo-sound quality. *(Liner notes)*

The mallet work of Gene Estes has the backing of guitar, bass, drums, piano and bass clarinet. Estes romps through bouncy arrangements of "Lady Be Good", "Gettin' Sentimental", "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Crazy Rhythm". He also shows he can change feeling with his moody approach to his own original "Califa". There's no doubt that Estes is a powerhouse on the vibes. He's been given excellent sound reproduction, and the result is a good all-around product.

*Billboard, January 30, 1961*

Don't be scared off the ballyhoo of the subtittle "The Greatest Stereo Vibraphone in Recording History".

Estes is a virtuoso who brings taste as well as skill to his own solos and who not only gives his talented sidemen (particulary John Bainbridge on bass clarinet) ample opportunities to shine but also infuses the whole ensemble with a group spirit.

The music itself has exceptionally jaunty chamber-jazz attractives — especially imaginative in Estes own "Califa", "Imitation Silver" and "Wind Up"; dashing yet always lilting in the fast "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Crazy Rhythm". Except for occasional hardness in the too closely miked vibraphone tones, the recording admirably captures both the glitter of these sparkling performances and their stereogenic antiphonies. *R. D. Darrell, High Fidelity Magazine, April, 1961*

Side 1

1 - Lady Be Good

(G. Gershwin)

2 - Give Me The Simple Life

(Bloom, Ruby)

3 - Califa

(G. Estes)

4 - Gettin' Sentimental

(Malneck, Kahn)

5 - Imitation Silver

(G. Estes)

6 - It's Monday Every Day

(S. Robin)

Side 2

7 - Deed I Do

(Rode, Hirsh)

8 - Fascinating Rhythm

(G. and I. Gershwin)

9 - Stompin' At The Savoy

(Sampson, Webb, Goodman, Razaf)

10 - Crazy Rhythm

(Meyer, Kahn, Caesar)

11 - Angel

(Robin, Rogers)

12 - Wind Up

(G. Estes)

Gene Estes (vibes); John Bambridge (bass clarinet); John Pisano (guitar); Joyce Collins (piano); Bob Bertaux, Mel Pollan (basses); Jerry Williams (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, early 1960.

Billy Usselton Sextet - Complete Recordings

Billy Usselton (1926-1994), was a modern, controlled, articulate, swinging tenor man, full of fresh ideas and surprises and rhythm and good taste. These recordings are the only ones he did as featured soloist of his own group.

George T. Simon wrote: This is jazz of pure sound and free spirit. The arrangements are bright and imaginative. They make elegant use of counterpoint and of the unusual sound afforded by the addition of bass clarinet to the leading tenor sax and trombone and by the piano, too. *Jordi Pujol*

This artist, proficient on enough reed instruments to fill the trunk of a midsize car, appeared on nearly 100 different recording sessions between 1946 and 1978, including every Coral or Capitol record cut by Les Brown's bands since 1954. Usselton went professional while still in high school, after lightweight bandleader Bubbles Becker heard the young man blowing at a local nightclub jam session. Following his stint with the Becker band, Usselton played with Sonny Dunham for several years, then joined trumpeter Ray Anthony for a pair of two-year stretches from 1948 through 1949 and 1951 through 1952. In between, Usselton brought his tenor, clarinet, and oboe chops to the Tommy Dorsey band to close out the '40s.

In the early '50s, Usselton and the fine trombonist Bill Harris started their own band, based out of Florida. Usselton would eventually record only one album under his own name, quite accurately entitled His First Album and released in 1957 on the jazz-savvy Kapp imprint. In 1954 he joined Brown, with whom he was affiliated for most of the balance of his career, with the Brown band's busy schedule including tours of Europe, Africa, and the Far East. The group's vocalist, Lauri Johnson, became Usselton's bride in 1958, obviously ignoring the potential for dementia in even a part-time oboe player. In his younger years with Anthony, the reed player's features included numbers such as "Idaho". Although the later years with Brown could hardly be considered rich in jazz content, Usselton remained a swinger to the end with a particular fondness for the playing of Stan Getz. If this ever became a problem with Brown, he never indicated it; there are no reports of the bandleader ordering Usselton to "Getz out of here". *Eugene Chadbourne*

Billy Usselton Sextet

Complete Recordings

1 - Tangerine

(V. Schertzinger, J. Mercer)

2 - Delilah

(Horatio Nicholls)

3 - Sweet Sue

(W. J. Harris, V. Young)

4 - Dinah

(S. M. Lewis, J.Young, H. Akst)

5 - Coquette

(G. Kahn, J. Green, C. Lombardo)

6 - Georgia On My Mind

(H. Carmichael, S. Gorrell)

7 - Miss Annabelle Lee

(S. Clare, L. Pollack)

8 - Liza

(G. and I. Gerswin, G. Kahn)

9 - Cleone

(Alyson Skypp Hoyland)

10 - Jill

(Billy Usselton)

11 - Margot

(R. Webb, R. Carter)

12 - Smokey

(M. Flory, B. Usselton)

13 - There Will Never Be Another You

(H. Warren, M. Gordon)

14 - Blooz

(Paul Moer)

15 - Angel

(S. Rogers, S. Robbins)

16 - In From Somewhere

(Wes Hensel)

#1 to #12:

(Originally "His First Album" [Kapp (KL-1051)])

#1 to #4:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Mel Pollan (bass), Lloyd Morales (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, June 22, 1956.

#5 to #8:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, July 13, 1956.

#9 to #12:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, July 17, 1956.

#13 to #16:

(Originally as part of "Modern Jazz Gallery" [Kapp (KXL 5001)])

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, October 17, 1956.