Five-Star Collection... Art Pepper

Art Pepper

Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section

One of the great advantages of the disc or tape recording is the special performance by jazzmen who ordinarily could not be heard together. And as one of the most absorbing aspects of jazz itself is individual expression, it can be fascinating to hear the impact of personality upon personality, and to capture permanently, by recording, the result of the impact. That happened Saturday afternoon, January 19, 1957, when altoist Art Pepper met pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, hereinafter (as the lawyers say) referred to as The Rhythm Section.

Pepper, one of the most exciting jazzmen of the 1950s, was known only in what might, for want of a better term, be called a "West Coast context". And The Rhythm Section, Easterners all, had been playing together for the past year and a half with the Miles Davis group. It seemed a provocative and challenging project to bring the two elements together. After the first chorus of the first rehearsal of You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, there was no doubt in anyone's mind the interaction was going to result in some unusually exciting jazz. Things happened fast after that, with everyone coming up with ideas, two new tunes (Waltz Me Blues and Red Pepper Blues) composed and worked out on the spot, and just five hours later this album had been recorded. It is a one shot, unique jazz experience, giving the jazz fan and critic a ringside seat at a completely spontaneous and uninhibited blowing session. (...)

The session itself started off in the worst possible way. Art didn't know about it until the morning of the date. Arrangements were made by Art's wife, Diane, who didn't want him to become tense worrying about it. He hadn't been playing for a couple of weeks; his horn was dried out and the cork in the neck was broken; and he had no idea of what he'd record. To top it all, everyone had been up late the night before and were late in getting started. but after the first rehearsal of You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, everything jelled. As Art says, "I was so inspired by the rhythm section, I forgot the 'adverse' conditions. I'd never played most of the tunes before, and I fell back on the time I spent before the war on the Avenue playing by ear. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to make it".

About his own playing, Art feels, "In some spots I may sound rough, like I'm squawking, but I finally realized that in playing I've got to play exactly as I feel it. I want the emotion to come out rather than try to make everything perfect. You can’t express your emotions in that way. I believe I'm coming closer to that kind of honest emotion in this album. It's hard to drop all the inhibitions built up over the years, but I’m gradually beginning to free myself".

*Lester Koenig,  April 2, 1957 (from the liner notes)*

At time of writing, this album is exactly one year in release. Why it has not been reviewed until now is quite unfathomable, for it certainly was one of the best jazz albums of last year and probably Pepper's most mature recording to date. The session was held Jan 19, 1957, when Lester Koenig availed himself of the Miles Davis rhythm section, then in Hollywood with the trumpeter to play a local night club.

The altoist and rhythm section are indeed well met in this balanced set of eight tunes ranging from a purely played Imagination to some intriguing three-quarter jazz in Waltz Me. The solos of all concerned are of consistent interest, with Pepper at times reaching heights he’s seldom attained even under most congenial conditions in a club. In Red Pepper, a down-homey blues, Art's Lester Young-like phrasing in his opening chorus clearly shows where the roots lie.

As soloist and comper, Garland is authoritative and original. He can be alternatively strong and delicate, sparely laconic, and rippingly virtuosic. The bass-drums team here is peerless, with Chambers getting off some well-conceived pizzicato and arco solos. Jones' brush chorus in Waltz Me bears endless replaying for its taste and humor.

This memorable meeting deserves a favored place in anybody's collection.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, June 12, 1958 [5 stars])*

1 - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

(Cole Porter)

2 - Red Pepper Blues

(Red Garland)

3 - Imagination

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

4 - Waltz Me Blues

(Art Pepper, Paul Chambers)

5 - Straight Life

(Art Pepper)

6 - Jazz Me Blues

(Tom Delaney)

7 - Tin Tin Deo

(Chano Pozo)

8 - Star Eyes

(Gene De Paul, Don Raye)

9 - Birks Works

(Dizzy Gillespie)

10 - The Man I Love

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

Art Pepper (alto sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studios, Los Angeles, California, January 19, 1957

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

Chet Baker - In New York

A uniformly brilliant effort from cool-toned trumpeter Chet Baker in his first ever appearance as a leader for the New York based label Riverside Records, In New York is the epitome of West Coast cool meets East Coast sensibility. Teaming up with pianist Al Haig, tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, Baker's laid-back mastery is on full display throughout this historic session.

Marked by an uncanny group unity, which gives rise to many outstanding supporting solos, the tracks captured on Chet Baker In New York alternatingly effervesce with a California cool introspection and percolate with driving intensity. An excellent survey of Baker's style and prowess as a leader, Chet Baker In New York is highly recommended as THE album to own for anyone curious about diving in to his illustrious catalog. *elusivedisc.com*

Chet Baker's West Coast cool comes to the Big Apple on Chet Baker in New York. The project would be Baker's first – in a four album deal – with the Big Apple-based Riverside Records. The bicoastal artist incorporates his decidedly undernourished sound and laid-back phrasing into the styling of Al Haig (piano), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). The results are uniformly brilliant as Baker's cool-toned solos fly and bop with authority around the equally impressive supporting soloists. Conversely, the same cohesive unity continues on the introspective numbers that are more akin to Baker's California cool. Undoubtedly one of the charms of this collection is the distinct choice of material. Running the gamut from the relaxed and soothing "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and equally serene "Blue Thoughts" at one end of the spectrum to the percolating and driving intensity of "Hotel 49" on the other. This track features each quintet member taking extended solos corralling together at the head and again at the coda for some intense bop interaction. Especially ferocious is Philly Joe Jones, who could easily be mistaken for Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, or even Gene Krupa with his cacophonous solo that never strays from the beat or loses its sense of swing. Perhaps the best meshing of styles can be heard on the Miles Davis composition "Solar." This "best-of" candidate refers to both Chambers' and Jones' concurrent involvement with Davis. The churning backbeat likewise propels the melody and ultimately the performers into reaching beyond their individual expertise and into an area of mutual brilliance. Chet Baker in New York is a highly recommended entry into Baker's catalog. *Lindsay Planer*

Side 1

1 - Fair Weather

(Benny Golson)

2 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

3 - Hotel 49

(Owen Marshall)

Side 2

4 - Solar

(Miles Davis)

05 - Blue Thoughts

(Benny Golson)

6 - When Lights Are Low

(Benny Carter, Spencer Williamson)

Chet Baker (trumpet), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax #1, #3, #5),

Al Haig (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York City, September 1958.

 

Miles Davis - Collectors' Items

Collectors' Items is a 1956 studio album by Miles Davis. There are two sessions collected on the album with largely different musicians. The first 1953 session is "Compulsion", "The Serpent's Tooth" (two takes) and "'Round About Midnight". The second 1956 session is "In Your Own Sweet Way", "Vierd Blues" and "No Line". The personnel for the first session were Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker (credited under the pseudonym "Charlie Chan" due to contractual obligations) on tenor sax, Walter Bishop on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. For the second session, the tenor sax was Rollins alone, the piano was Tommy Flanagan, the bass Paul Chambers and Art Taylor on drums.

According to Ira Gitler's liner notes, the 1953 session was only the second time Parker had recorded on tenor saxophone. The CD edition's liner notes indicate the session was the only time Parker and Rollins recorded together.

Davis describes the session with Parker in his autobiography as having been very chaotic. It was Davis' first session of 1953 and his heroin habit had become very bad. Parker had quit his own heroin habit following the arrest of his trumpet player Red Rodney, instead drinking enormous quantities of alcohol. He consumed a quart of vodka at the rehearsal, then spoke condescendingly to Davis as if it were his session and Davis an employee or a child. After arguing, Parker fell asleep and Davis was so mad he played poorly, which in turn angered Gitler who was producing.

The 1953 session remained unreleased for several years, during which Parker died (in March 1955) and Davis left Prestige Records for Columbia Records (in 1956). Part of Davis' contractual obligation to Prestige was to record a second session to pair with the 1953 session that would give Prestige enough material for a full album. For the second session, only Rollins returned, and Davis's band included two relative newcomers to the New York jazz scene. Pianist Tommy Flanagan had just moved to New York City a few weeks prior to the Davis recording session, which was his third recording date in the city. Bassist Paul Chambers had moved to the city in 1955 and first recorded in New York in June at a session for Prestige led by trombonist Bennie Green. Chambers first recorded with Davis in October of 1955 for Columbia as part of Davis' regular performing group of the time, which included John Coltrane, Red Garland, and Philly Joe Jones. The Collectors' Items session was his third with Davis, and followed the November 1955 session for Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet. *wikipedia.org*

The term "collectors item" seems to have died weeping on the grave of the 78 rpm record. No longer do legions of record hunters haunt musty shops on Saturday afternoons in hope of finding Pres playing clarinet on  Texas  Shuffle, Bird with McShann, old Louies or Beiderbeckes. They are all on LP.

It is true that many collectors lived up to the specific meaning of the word. It was the label and master number which interested them far beyond the music. To them records were like coins or postage stamps and this type of collector does not concern me. It is the other fellow who used to find a Jay Jay Johnson solo on a Savannah Churchill record, Milt Jackson with Dinah Washington, Lester Young with Glen Hardman or Wardell Gray with Earl Hines and rejoice in the little gems of music that he had found; he is the jazz lover who will want this LP.

As I said before, many of the old out of  print items have been re-issued on LP. Now we "collect" LPs. In addition to bringing back the obsolete 78s, the LP has enabled us to hear, for instance, many of Charlie Parker's great passages through the issuance of his rejected takes which, because of their abbreviated nature, never would have found their way on to a 78 rpm disc.

The sessions that went into the make-up of this LP were taped three years apart and in a way the second has a lot to do with the first being issued. 

I appreciate a well integrated performance but will always prefer moments of sincere-emotion jazz with mistakes to the slick product which is too often palmed off  as jazz today. Whether it be old jazz or new, I guess I'm kind of a purist. *Ira Gitler (liner notes)*

Collectors' Items is in two parts. The first side was cut in January 1953, and is released for the first time. It's the session with Charlie Parker on tenor that Sonny Rollins talked about in the November 28, 1956, DownBeat. Sonny is also present on tenor with a cooking rhythm section of Philly Joe Jones, Walter Bishop and Percy Heath. The most arresting track is the mournful "'Round About Midnight", which has Bird’s best tenor and Miles' best trumpet of the date.

For the rest, his tenor work is inevitably intriguing and forceful, and I wish there had been more recorded examples of his work on the horn after he had been playing it for some months (on this date, he has a new tenor that was christened on the date). Sonny also plays with heat. Miles is in good if not outstanding form, and Philly Joe is somewhat too loud in places. Bird is called Charlie Chan on the envelope.

The newer session (the last three tracks) has better Miles, considerably improved Rollins (with fuller, warmer tone and more cohesive idea structuring), and a superior rhythm section of Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. Flanagan also solos with flowing distinction. Miles wrote the first two, and the third is Dave Brubeck's. The improvement in Prestige's recorded sound in three years, incidentally, is illuminating.

"Vierd Blues" is a fine demonstration of the continuing, freshening, earthy validity of the blues in modern jazz, with Sonny blowing one of his most eloquent choruses on record. This track has superb Miles and another excellent Flanagan solo. Miles treats the Brubeck ballad with sensitive intentness. Sonny is less lyrical, but his solo is built interestingly. And Flanagan, one of the few younger pianists with a quality of touch and lyricism akin to Hank Jones, speaks briefly. An important record.

*Nat Hentoff (Downbeat, December 26, 1956)*

1 - The Serpent's Tooth (take 1)

(Miles Davis)

2 - The Serpent's Tooth (take 2)

(Miles Davis)

3 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams, Hanighen)

4 - Compulsion

(Miles Davis)

5 - No Line

(Miles Davis)

6 - Vierd Blues

(Miles Davis)

7 - In Your Own Sweet Way

(Dave Brubeck)

#1 to #4:

Miles Davis (trumpet); Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker [as "Charlie Chan"] (tenor saxes); Walter Bishop (piano); Percy Heath (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City, January 30, 1953.

#5 to #7:

Miles Davis (trumpet), Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, March 16, 1956. 

Herbie Mann - Flute Mann • Salute To The Flute

The flute, an honorable pastoral spirit in the classical orchestra and chamber groups, is only beginning to be more than glancingly accepted by jazz critics. The jazz musicians, always more hospitable and curious than the critics, have, with rare exceptions, not objected to its increasing inclusion in jazz record sessions and regular combos and orchestra. There have been, however, several dourly skeptical writers, most notably in England, who feel the flute is not capable of projecting all the heat and urgency of elemental jazz. 

It is absurd (it seems instantly axiomatic to me) to proscribe any instrument as being inherently alien to jazz. It is the player, after all, who is transmitting the message; the instrument is his means, and if his message is heated and urgent, it will get through. In any case, an increasing number of jazz musicians, especially within the past four and five years, have become intrigued with and soon assured on the instrument; and it is not at all outré to bring a flute to a jam session on an average gig. 

A majority of the jazz flutists, however, utilize the instrument secondarily. Frank Wess of the Basie and Jerome Richardson, for example, are primarily tenors although their transformation of the flute into a vessel afire may eventually make the flute their first instrument. Buddy Collette distributes his calm skills about equally among the clarinet, alto, tenor and flute. Bud Shank is still an altoist first and Sam Most continues to concentrate on the clarinet although both have become flute-facile too. Bobby Jaspar of the J. J. Johnson quintet is regarded by his colleagues as a tenor who, on the side, plays warm, singing flute.

Mann, on the other hand, although a professional tenor saxophonist and clarinetist, can be considered the first of the younger jazzmen to regard the flute as his major instrument. Born in Brooklyn on March 16, 1930, he gained experience during three years with an Army band in Trieste and first became known on the jazz scene through his work with the Mat Mathews combo in 1953 and 1954. He started playing flute as well as other reeds with Mat, and as he explains the context at the time, "it was impossible for me to be influenced by any other flute player then, because there were hardly any. I had that advantage. I had heard and been impressed by Harry Klee's flute on a Mary Ann McCall album in the early '50's, but it has been a trumpet player, Miles Davis, who has actually been my one major influence on flute". *Nat Hentoff (liner notes)*

This Columbia LP (a 1981 reissue of an Epic album titled Salute to the Flute) found flutist Herbie Mann accompanied for the first time by a big band on five of the nine selections. Prior to 1959, virtually all of Mann's recordings were bop-oriented, and this one is no exception. Whether it be "Little Niles", "When Lights Are Low", "Beautiful Love" or even "Old Honky Tonk Piano Roll Blues", Mann proves to be an excellent bop soloist; other important players on this date include trumpeter Joe Wilder, altoist Anthony Ortega, pianist Hank Jones, guitarist Joe Puma and bassist Oscar Pettiford. This LP will be a difficult one to find. *Scott Yanow*

The best of the plethora of Mann sets that have hit the market recently. With the aid of excellent musicians, in example, Hank Jones, Anthony Ortega, Joe Puma, Oscar Pettiford, Joe Wilder, Urbie Green, etc., and arrangements by A. K. Salim and Gigi Gryce, the flutist is heard in big, medium-sized and small band contexts, and the music is at once pleasant, interesting, and provides adequate blowing space. Set should be appealing to jazz coterie, and those not so heavily oriented as well. Try "Little Niles" and "A Ritual" as demo bands. *Billboard, October 28, 1957*

Side 1

1 - When The Lights Are Low

(Benny Carter)

2 - Little Niles

(Randy Weston)

3 - Old Honkie Tonk Piano Roll Blues

(Herbie Mann)

4 - Pretty Baby

(A. K. Salim)

Side 2

5 - Beautiful Love

(Victor Young, Wayne King, Egbert Van Alstyne)

6 - Hip Scotch

(Joe Puma)

7 - Song For Ruth

(Herbie Mann)

8 - Noga's Nuggets

(Oscar Pettiford)

9 - A Ritual

(Herbie Mann)

Herbie Mann (flute, alto flute); Bernie Glow, Don Stratton, Joe Wilder (trumpets); Urbie Green, Chauncey Welsch (trombones); Anthony Ortega (alto sax); Dick Hafer (alto and tenor sax); Dave Kurtzer (tenor sax); Sol Schlinger (baritone sax); Joe Puma (guitar); Hank Jones (piano); Oscar Pettiford (bass); Gus Johnson [#1, #3, #5, #6, #8, #9]), Philly Joe Jones [#2, #4, #7] (drums).

Recorded in New York City, April 18 (#2, #4, #7) and April 29 (#1, #3, #5, #6, #8, #9), 1957. 

Serge Chaloff - Blue Serge

Today, when Chaloff is remembered (if he is remembered at all), it is as a soloist in Woody Herman's Second Herd. Chaloff's extravagant antics (he was a junkie) drove Herman crazy, but he recognised that there had never been such a complete soloist on his instrument (the baritone saxophone) in jazz, something that still holds good today. Chaloff did not want for a musical education, his father was a pianist and composer and member of the Boston Symphony, while his mother, known as Madame Chaloff, was a renowned piano teacher whose long list of students included Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett. Ironically, Serge was self-taught on baritone saxophone; "Who could teach me?" he once said in an interview with Leonard Feather. Indeed, who could? He was a formidably gifted young musician who, by the time he joined Herman in 1947, had already absorbed the lessons of Charlie Parker and bop into his style. By the time he came to record Blue Serge he had rehabilitated himself from addiction, and was at the peak of his abilities, reflected in what is generally accepted as one of the great jazz albums of all time.

Today, it seems remarkable that Chaloff picked a rhythm section with whom he had never played before (other than Jones, with whom he briefly jammed eight years previously). He simply told everyone to show up at Capitol Towers, no rehearsals, no tunes set, and play. Chaloff's astonishing virtuosity is captured in perfect fidelity, from the softest sub-tone whisper ("I’ve Got the World on a String"), the perfectly weighted middle register tone ("Stairway to the Stars") to the muscular sound of the lower register ("Susie's Blues"). Chaloff not only demonstrates total mastery of his instrument from a technical perspective ("All the Things You Are"), but key is the way he uses that technique in service of melodic invention. Nothing is gratuitous or done for effect, every note seems aesthetically placed to enhance the overall structure of his improvisations. His improvised lines are given a sense of drama through expressively manipulating the tonal properties of the instrument, while his sheer rhythmic drive (his time is perfect) lends a sense of compelling drama to his solos. He deliberately chose tunes that neither he, or his accompanists, were familiar: "We wanted it that way, fresh ideas you see".

Yet despite these challenges, the cohesion of Chaloff's accompanists is flawless – it's almost as if they knew Chaloff was creating something for the ages and they were there to support him – every inch of way. *Stuart Nicholson*

A true lost classic of jazz; heart-stopping baritone saxophone playing. Chaloff's masterpiece is both vigorous and moving... "Thanks For The Memory" is overpoweringly beautiful as Chaloff creates a series of melodic variations which match the improviser’s ideal of fashioning an entirely new song. "Stairway To The Stars" is almost as fine... This important session has retained all its power.

*The Penguin Guide To Jazz*

A real classic in the canon of American postwar jazz – one of the few albums ever cut as a leader by Boston baritone player Serge Chaloff – one of a handful of musicians who really helped move the instrument forward in jazz, and help it take a rightful place next to the expressiveness of the tenor and alto sax! Even though he hardly got a chance to record, Serge was a hell of a player, and one who has both the rich tone of the instrument completely in hand, while also able to move with the fluidity of a much leaner horn – a quality that's augmented here by the fantastic rhythm work from Sonny Clark on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The set's a treasure through and through – from the cool cover image, to the great music within – served up on tunes that include "How About You", "Handful Of Stars", "The Goof And I", "Susie's Blues", and "All The Things You Are". *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

1 - A Handful Of Stars

(Jack Lawrence, Ted Shapiro)

2 - The Goof And I

(Al Cohn)

3 - Thanks For The Memory

(Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin)

4 - All The Things You Are

(Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)

Side 2

5 - I've Got The World On A String

(Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)

6 - Susie's Blues

(Serge Chaloff)

7 - Stairway To The Stars

(Matty Malneck, Mitchell Parish, Frank Signorelli)

Serge Chaloff (baritone sax), Sonny Clark (piano), Leroy Vinegar (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studio, Los Angeles, California, March 14 (#1, #2, #3, #5, #6) and 16 (#4, #7), 1956.

Miles Davis - The Musings Of Miles

This Miles set, from four years earlier than Kind of Blue, unquestionably seems peripheral by comparison. The historical fascination, however, is that this quartet (with pianist Red Garland, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) was formed at the time when the trumpeter had just got off heroin, and shortly before his legendary "comeback" performance at the Newport Jazz festival and the formation of his great 1950s quintet, including Garland, Jones and John Coltrane. Garland's bright, jangly piano sound and percussively chordal approach is a major strength after the trumpeter's nimble, though occasionally rather impassive, improvisations. But Pettiford, normally a powerhouse, sounds ponderous, and even the explosive Jones seems subdued, despite an inviting classic like A Night in Tunisia. It's a completist's item only. *Juan Fordham *

Miles' first 12" LP for Prestige Records enlists the aid of bassist Oscar Pettiford, Philadelphia pianist Red Garland, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The two originals, both sparely built but intriguing, are by Miles. Pettiford is solid; Jones has a lot of fire along with taste and works very well behind Miles; Garland is good but has a frequently idle left hand on middle and up tempos that thereby takes a dimension away from most of his choruses. Miles is fine, and plays with so much heart and intelligently original conception that he's consistently cooking. Dig, for example, his simple lyrically effective muted work on "I See Your Face Before Me", the way he renews "A Night In Tunisia", and the blues-deep warmth of his horn in "Green Haze". *Down Beat, November 2, 1955 [5 stars]*

Miles Davis was in the process of forming his first classic quintet when he recorded this date. The trumpeter is featured on a quartet outing with pianist Red Garland, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, playing four standards plus a blues ("Green Haze") and "I Didn't", his answer to Thelonious Monk's "Well, You Needn't". Garland and Jones would soon be in Miles' group, although the fiery Pettiford proved too difficult for the trumpeter to handle and was quickly succeeded by Paul Chambers. The interpretations are generally lyrical and melodic; even "A Night in Tunisia" sounds a bit mellow. Likable if not essential music. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Will You Still Be Mine?

(Dennis)

2 - I See Your Face Before Me

(Dietz, Schwartz)

3 - I Didn't

(Davis)

Side 2

4 - A Gal In Calico

(Robin, Schwartz)

5 - A Night In Tunisia

(Gillespie, Paparelli)

6 - Green Haze

(Davis)

Miles Davis (trumpet), Red Garland (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).

Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, June 7, 1955.