Rare And Obscure Argo Recordings (XXII)

Jimmy Woode

The Colorful Strings Of Jimmy Woode

Jimmy Woode played the bass for over 50 years, but he isn’t as well known to American audiences as he should be. The reason is, he spent about 40 of those years as an expatriate in Europe. His stateside career was short in comparison.

The Philadelphia-born Woode arrived in Boston in 1946 following his discharge from the army. He studied first at Boston University’s School of Music, then at the Boston Conservatory. By 1948 he was with Clarence Jackson and His Notes of Rhythm, and in 1949 in a short-lived quartet with Jaki Byard, Ray Perry, and Alan Dawson. (Now that must have been interesting.)

Woode left Boston for a time in 1950–51, on the road with Flip Phillips and Bill Harris, but by late 1951 he was at Storyville as the house bassist. He worked with everybody coming through: Sidney Bechet, Teddy Wilson, Charlie Parker, and singers  Lee Wiley and Billie Holiday. He was also Wein’s bassist of choice for the summer Storyvilles in the early fifties. Two Storyville Records sessions highlight his versatility. One was Jazz at Storyville with the New Orleans master Bechet, the other Serge Chaloff and Boots Mussulli.

In 1954 Woode worked in a duo with Jaki Byard and a trio with Dean Earl, and he continued to accompany the biggest stars in jazz, including Parker again, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis.

In February 1955, Duke Ellington was at Storyville and he needed a substitute bassist right away. Woode got the job, and he remained with Ellington until April 1960. He had memorable moments with the Duke. Everyone remembers that Paul Gonsalves played all those choruses at Newport in 1956, but not everyone remembers it was Woode and Sam Woodyard who laid down the beat for him.

September 2, 1957 found Woode in a Chicago studio recording his only album as a leader, The Colorful Strings of Jimmy Woode, on the Argo label. Woode brought along fellow Ellingtonians Gonsalves, Woodyard, and Clark Terry to the session, and filled out the group with Chicagoans Porter Kilbert on alto, Mike Simpson on flute, and a young Ramsey Lewis on piano. Woode composed all the tunes on Colorful Strings except the standard, “The Way You Look Tonight.”

In 1960, Woode moved to Europe, where he never lacked for work. In 1961, he became a founding member of the big band led by drummer Kenny Clarke and pianist Francy Boland, and he later toured extensively with the Paris Reunion Band. He returned to the States in about 2000.

Jimmy Woode died on April 23, 2005, in what was a very bad week for the art of jazz bass. Niels-Henning Ørsted-Pedersen died on April 20, and Percy Heath died on April 28. Over 150 years of experience were lost in eight days. *richardvacca.com*

An incredible record from bassist Woode – quite possibly his only small group session as a leader, and a super-hip album that bridges his work with Duke Ellington and later sides with the Clarke Boland Big Band! The record's got a groove that's far different than anything Woode cut with Ellington – and in a way, it already points the way towards some of the sounds that would be created by American ex-patriots on the European scene of the 60s. The groove is very light – and features Woode's bass leading a combo with flute from Mike Simpson, tenor from Paul Gonsalves, trumpet from Clark Terry, and piano from Ramsey Lewis – all coming together in unusual timings and phrasings that are a fair bit different than their own work of the time. Simpson's flute is especially great – a really lyrical element that works perfectly with Woode's melodic bass work – and Gonsalves and Terry are working here in their best tonal color mode, really shading things in nicely! All cuts are originals by Woode, and they're done in long takes – with titles that include "Dance Of The Reluctant Drag", "Man From Potter's Crossing", "Falmouth Recollections", and "Foofy For President". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Falmouth Recollections

(J. Woode)

2 - The Way You Look Tonight

(J. Kern, D. Fields)

3 - Foofy For President

(J. Woode)

Side 2

4 - The Man From Potter's Crossing

(J. Woode)

5 - Dance Of The Reluctant Drag

(J. Woode)

6 - Empathy, For Ruth

(J. Woode)

Clark Terry (trumpet), Paul Gonsalves (tenor sax), Porter Kilbert (alto sax), 

Britt Woodman (trombone), Mike Simpson (flute), 

Ramsey Lewis (piano), Jimmy Woode (bass, vocals [#2]), Sam Woodyard (drums).

Recorded in Chicago, Illinois, September 2, 1957

• The Jazz School •

A nice bop compilation featuring three different sessions as below:

Art Mardigan Sextet featuring John Williams on piano: a refreshing bop session with unique sound colour; Paul Gonsalves Sextet featuring Clark Terry: a bit corny, but also a nice mainstream session; and two tracks by Joe Gordon Quintet: Gordon's brilliant trumpet blows so great, and Art Blakey's propulsive rhythm gives the entire mood of this great hard-bop session.

Strictly personal rating (to what extent I could enjoy this album); 8 out of 10.

*Matsubayashi "Shaolin" Kohji [microgroove.jp]*

There are sixteen students in this class of the Jazz School; sixteen young men whose grades are impeccable, whose studies have clearly qualified them for a successful and distinguished career. 

At the head of the class for the first four exercises is a member of the drums Corps, a familiar figure by the name of Arthur Mardigan.

Art is a native Detroiter, born in December, 1923 and a name band musician since the age of nineteen, when he joined Tommy Reynolds. After Army service in 1943-44 he spent a year with Georgie Auld's group, then went home to Detroit for a while before entering the New York scene, where he was a part of many noteworthy 52nd Street combos under the leadership of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Allen Eager and Kai Winding. In addition, Art worked off and on with Woody Herman and Elliot Lawrence. In 1954, when Pete Rugolo came east to form a band for a tour, Art was a cornerstone of that all-star ensemble.

Featured with Art on his four performances here are Don Joseph, a cornetist who's been a familiar figure around New York jazz circles for several years; Milt Gold, a trombonist who has seen service with such name bands as Stan Kenton's and Claude Thornhill's; and Al Cohn, the tenor saxophonist and arranger who has been rising rapidly to jazz eminence in the past year. Heard with Mardigan in the rhythm section are John Williams, the 25-year-old pianist from Windsor, Vermont, best known for his work with Stan Getz; and Teddy Kotick, a 27-year-old bass man who has been prominent on the New York scene with Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, Buddy De Franco and a flock of other combos. 

Class dismissed.

A new group moves in: at the head of this class is Paul Gonsalves, tenor saxophonist from Brockton, Massachusetts. Raised in Pawtucket, R.I., Paul started his musical life as a guitarist at the age of sixteen, in 1936; later, switching to tenor saxophone, he became popular as a featured member of the Sabby Lewis orchestra, a well known Boston group, with which he made his record debut.

A three-year hitch in the Army, from 1942 to '45, was followed by a stint in the Count Basie orchestra, and a brief fling in Dizzy Gillespie's final big band. Then, early in 1951, Paul joined the great Duke Ellington orchestra, of which, except for a few weeks in Tommy Dorsey's band in 1953, he has been a member ever since. 

Paul's colleagues on this, his first record session under his own leadership, include Clark Terry, another great Ellingtonian of several years standing and sitting; Porter Kilbert, baritone saxophonist, who worked briefly on alto with Ellington in 1951; Junior Mance, a gifted 27-year-old pianist from Chicago, best known for the fine work he has done as Dinah Washington's accompanist; Eugene Miller on drums; and the inimitable, poll-winning bassist of erstwhile Woody Herman fame, Greig Stewart "Chubby" Jackson. 

... dismissed...

Time now for graduation exercises. The class is headed by Joseph Henry Gordon, another brilliant New Englander on the modern jazz scene. Born in 1928 in Boston, Joe worked as a sandwich boy on the Boston-Albany railroad as recently as 1947, but later in that same year made his professional bow with his own combo at Boston's Savoy Ballroom, where the above-named Sabby Lewis was a frequent favorite. Joe also worked as a sideman with Sabby, as well as with a variety of other groups, from Georgie Auld to Charlie Mariano, from Charlie Parker to Lionel Hampton.

Heard with Joe on these sides are Charlie Rouse, a tenor man from Washington, D.C., who was with Duke Ellington in 1949-'50; Junior Mance, reappearing on piano; Jimmy Schenck on bass; and the pride of Pittsburgh, winner of the 1953 New Star award in the critics’ poll, Art Blakey on drums.

So these are the men you will meet in the Jazz School. It seems superfluous to point out that every last man of these sixteen students has graduated, as he deserves to, summa cum laude. 

*(from the liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - I've Found A New Baby

(Plamer, Williams)

2 - Moroccan Blues

(Al Cohn)

3 - Old Gold

(Milt Green)

4 - Golden Touch

(Quincy Jones)

5 - Evening Lights

(Joe Gordon)

Side 2

6 - It Don't Mean A Thing

(Mills, Ellington)

7 - Take Nine

(Paul Gonsalves)

8 - Everything Happens To Me

(Adair, Dennis)

9 - Don't Blame Me

(Fields, McHugh)

10 - Body And Soul

(Heyman, Sour, Green, Eyton)

#1 to #4: Art Mardigan Sextet

Don Joseph (cornet), Milt Gold (trombone), Al Cohn (tenor sax), John Williams (piano), Teddy Kotick (bass), Art Mardigan (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 20, 1954.

#6 to #9: Paul Gonsalves Sextet

Clark Terry (trumpet), Porter Kilbert (alto sax), Paul Gonsalves (tenor sax), Junior Mance (piano), Chubby Jackson (bass), Eugene Miller (drums).

Recorded (probably) in Chicago, Illinois, February 6, 1954.

#5 and #10: Joe Gordon Quintet

Joe Gordon (trumpet), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Junior Mance (piano), Jimmy Schenck (bass), Art Blakey (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sound Studio, New York City, September 3 (#10) and 8 (#5), 1954.