Leonard Feather Presents… ★1954★

Jimmy Raney, Sonny Clark and Jazz Club U.S.A.

Jimmy Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 9, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist born in Louisville, Kentucky, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and, during the same time period, with Stan Getz. In 1954 and 1955, he won the Down Beat Critics' Poll for guitar. Raney worked in a variety of jazz mediums, including cool jazz, bebop, post bop, hard bop, and mainstream jazz.

In 1946, he worked for a time as guitarist with the Max Miller Quartet at Elmer's in Chicago, his first paying gig. Raney also worked in the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman for nine months in 1948. He also collaborated and recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig and later on with Bob Brookmeyer. In 1967, alcoholism and other professional difficulties led him to leave New York City and return to his native Louisville. He resurfaced in the 1970s and also did work with his son Doug, who was also a guitarist. His other son Jon is a jazz pianist and maintains a website, The Raney Legacy devoted to Jimmy and Doug Raney.

Raney lived with Ménière's disease for thirty years, a degenerative condition that led to near deafness in both ears, although this did not stop him from playing. He died of heart failure in Louisville on May 10, 1995. His obituary in The New York Times called him "one of the most gifted and influential postwar jazz guitarists in the world".

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh. 

While visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the United States and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.

Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently recorded for Blue Note Records as one of their house musicians, playing as a sideman with many hard bop players.

Clark died in New York City on January 13, 1963 (aged 31). The official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.

Jazz Club U.S.A. was a weekly radio program that aired from 1950 to 1952. Hosted by jazz critic and producer Leonard Feather, it aired on the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America network. Jazz Club U.S.A. did a remarkable job of presenting all forms of jazz, from slave-era spirituals to bebop, from Dixieland to swing, all presented as American music.

In 1954, Feather turned the Jazz Club U.S.A. "brand" into a series of concerts in Europe. One of the featured performers was guitarist Jimmy Raney, then voted "number one guitarist" by the French publication "Jazz Hot".

Raney's presence in Europe was recorded on several recordings. The ones we will present here are Jimmy Raney and Sonny Clark meeting for the first and only time.

Let's remember them...

Jimmy Raney All Stars

Leonard Feather Presents

Jazz Club U.S.A. In Sweden

This 10" album features two Jimmy Raney quintets backed by some of the highlights of the Sweden jazz scene at the time. But what makes these sessions so famous is the appearance of Sonny Clark on Side 1. Clark only has a solo choir on each track, and the overall impression of these sessions is "melancholic, relaxed, mellow chamber jazz music".

Leonard Feather composed "Jumping For Jane". This brightly boppish piece has a neat arrangement in wich the tenor sax of Gösta Theselius sounds spry, and in his opening measures Clark gives surprising acnowledgement to Lennie Tristano. There is also room for a splendid agile guitar solo, beside contributions from Mitchell and Leighton.

Raney's clever and complex "Invention" was, according to Leonard Feather, recorded with very little trouble by a group of musicians who had never seen it before. An intrincate, ingenious line, it is notable for the close rapport between Raney and Theselius and a beautiful pithy piano passage by Sonny whose firm comping is a great foundation for Theselius and Raney. Jimmy is particularly mellow and melodic, showing us the attribute conveyed by the tittle. The flowing fours by Theselius and Raney are an early example of Bebop Esperanto. By 1954 this music was universal. *Mark Gardner*

Side 1

1 - Invention

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Jumping For Jane

(LeonardFeather)

Side 2

3 - Indian Summer

(Victor Herbert)

4 - Darn That Dream

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Eddie DeLange)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), with

#1, #2:

Gösta Theselius (tenor sax), Sonny Clark (piano), Simon Brehm (bass #1),

Red Mitchell (bass #2), Elaine Leighton (drums).

#3, #4:

Putte Wickman (clarinet); Bengt Hallberg [as Bengt Halberg] (piano),

Red Mitchell (bass), Elaine Leighton (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 13, 1954

✤✤

Jimmy Raney Quartet

Leonard Feather's Jazz Club U.S.A. Presents

Jimmy Raney Visits Paris

As part of Leonard Feather's "Jazz Club U.S.A". European tour in early 1954, guitarist Raney is presented in the fine company of pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Bobby White. The music on this date, as well as the recording quality, is superb for its time. Raney and Mitchell had worked together in Red Norvo's trio, while Clark and White were the rhythmic anchors in Buddy DeFranco's group. One can't help but compare the sensitive yet energetic approach that Raney and Clark have toward their respective instruments. Both musicians have a truly artful touch with very clear articulation, never sounding hurried or arbitrary, or getting in the other's way. There are some lovely quartet interpretations of standard tunes, plus a piano trio rendition of "Once In a While". Listen to Red Mitchell's bass take the melody on "You Go to My Head" supported by Clark and Raney's sympathetic comping. *Lee Bloom*

1 - Stella By Starlight

(Young, Washington)

2 - Pennies From Heaven

(Johnson, Burke)

3 - You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

4 - Yesterdays

(Kern)

05 - There'll Never Be Another You

(Kern)

06 - Body And Soul

(Green)

07 - Once In A While

(Green, Edwards)

Sonny Clark (piano), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded in Paris, France, February 6, 1954

Reinhold Svensson - New Sounds from Sweden

Reinhold Svensson Sextet   

New Sounds from Sweden • Volume 8

Reinhold Svensson (December 20, 1919 in Husum – November 23, 1968 in Stockholm) was a Swedish jazz pianist, Hammond organist and composer. Reinhold was blind and learned to play by ear.

Svensson recorded as a solo artist in 1941-1942, then joined the ensemble of violinist Hasse Kahn. In 1948, Putte Wickman took leadership of the group, and Svensson worked with it until 1960 as a performer, arranger, and composer.

Svensson appeared at the Paris Jazz Festival in 1949, worked with Arne Domnerus's orchestra, and played with Charlie Norman in 1950-1951 as a duo under the names Ralph & Bert Berg and the Olson Brothers. He also recorded with his own ensembles (including under the name Ragtime Reinhold); Domnerus, Jack Norén, Simon Brehm, and Thore Jederby were sidemen of his in the late 1940s and early 1950s. *wikipedia.org*

It wasn't long after Jazz was born that America's classical music made its way across the Atlantic to Europe, where perhaps no other country embraced Jazz so passionately and produced as many masterful advocates as Sweden. In the early '50s, when bop reigned supreme both here and abroad, Sweden was second only to the U.S. in the number and quality of musicians following the adventurous trail blazed by Bird, Diz, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and their colleagues It was a time of unparalleled enterprise and creativity, one that marked the emergence of a number of superior improvisers whose deference to America's magisterial boppers did not slacken their creative energy or suppress their resourcefulness. *Jack Bowers (allaboutjazz.com)*

New Sounds from Sweden • Volume 8 is one of a handful of early Prestige Records issues of Swedish modern jazz in the postwar years!  – a set that features Reinhold Svensson on piano, Rolf Berg on guitar, and Bo Kallstrom on vibes! Titles include "Tasty Pastry", "Top O' The Mornin'", "Blue Lou" and "Queen Of Saba" *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Because Of George

(R. Svensson)

2 - Tasty Pastry

(R. Svensson)

3 - Bury Your Worries

(R. Svensson)

4 - Pin-Up

(R. Svensson)

Side 2

5 - Top O' The Mornin'

(R. Svensson)

6 - Blue Lou

(Sampson, Mills)

7 - Stealin' Apples

(Waller, Razaf)

8 - Queen Of Saba

(R. Svensson)

Reinhold Svensson (piano, harpsichord [#8]), Putte Wickman (clarinet),

Bo Kallstrom (vibes), Rolf Berg (guitar), Gunnar Almstedt (bass), Andrew Burman (drums).

Recorded at Radiotjänst (studio 2), Stockholm, Sweden,

September 10, 1952 (#1 and #2) and April 1, 1953 (#3 to #8)

Leonard Feather's Swingin' Swedes - New Sounds From Sweden Vol.1

Almost all recordings in Sweden in the 1950s were issued on EPs, the little 7" 45rpm album. The leading record label was Metronome, which released about 500 albums during the decade, most of them jazz records.

In the 1950s Sweden was kind of the center of European jazz. Lots of gifted musicians had plenty of venues to play, and could make their living on jazz. Jazz was still the young people´s music, and there were huge and interested audiences. There were radio programs, special jazz magazines and also jazz features and reviews in weekly magazines and daily newspapers. And there were an abundance of jazz records.

Many Americans visited the country, played in concerts and clubs and made recordings with the domestic stars. The best Swedish musicians became wellknown over the jazz world.

First time Swedish jazz draw public attention abroad was at the jazz festival in Paris in 1949. A Swedish group with Arne Domnérus and Putte Wickman among others, made great success in several concerts and became one of the French public's favorites, despite competition from stars such as Charle Parker and Miles Davis.

The success led to magazine features and radio programs in both Europe and the United States. In USA, Leonard Feather started playing Swedish jazz records in his program "Jazz at its best", and other stations followed. Records from Metronome reviewed in the American jazz press.

Leonard Feather arranged recordings in Stockhom in 1951 with the young Swedish modernists. They were issued the same year in USA on this 10" LP (Prestige 119). In Sweden the recordings were issued on Cupol 78s. *birkajazz.se*

The eight performances on this record are the product of a trip made to Sweden to investigate the glowing reports I had heard about that country's modern jazz. 

Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Roy Eldridge and many other visitors to Stockholm came home raving about the musicians presented here. 

All but one of the Swingin’ Swedes, by the way, were voted No. 1 on their respective instruments in the first national poll conducted by the Swedish jazz magazine ESTRAD.

Four of the numbers are played by a seven-piece band. This group gets a bigger and cleaner sound than most groups of its kind, thanks to the musicians' fine ensemble interpretation of four arrangements written by the brilliant Gösta Theselius, who won the ESTRAD award as top arranger.

Maybe these eight numbers will give you a pretty clear picture of why more and more people are agreeing that outside the U.S., Sweden is producing the best modern jazz to be heard anywhere. As they would say at Birdland: man, it's a crazy country! *Leonard Feather (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - The Daring Young Swedes (On The Flying Trapeze)

(arr. Gösta Theselius)

2 - Moonlight Saving Time

(Kahal, Richman)

3 - Swedish Butterfly

(GöstaTheselius)

4 - Meet Me Tonight In Birdland

(Williams)

Side 2

5 - Rain On The Roof

(Ann Ronell)

6 - A Handful Of Stars

(Lawrence, Shapiro)

7 - The Swedish Music This Side Of Heaven

(Feather)

8 - September Serenade

(Dizzy Gillespie)

#2, #5:

Putte Wickman (clarinet), Reinhold Svensson (piano), Rolf Berg (guitar), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

#1, #6:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Reinhold Svensson (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28, 1951.

#3:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

#4:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Toots Thielemans (harmonica), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

#7:

Åke Persson (trombone), Carl-Henrik Norin (tenor sax), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

#8:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Åke Persson (trombone), Arne Domnérus (alto sax), Lars Gullin (baritone sax), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Simon Brehm (bass), Jack Norén (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, July 4, 1951.