Five-Star Collection... Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

JIMMY GIUFFRE is a quiet and intense young man with a singular creative touch. He has written and played for Woody Herman, Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Rich, Jerry Gray, Stan Kenton, and many more of the nation's leading bandsmen, and now — for the first time — he's on his own, in this album of seven Giuffre gems.

Jimmy has been playing clarinet and tenor sax since he was a lad in Texas, and he approaches composition most naturally as a performer. His work is generally melodic and “linear” in character. "This style of writing", he says, "gives the players the feeling of individuality that’s so important to jazz. Besides, I think it gives the listener more variety. I also use less rhythm section than is usual because I believe that this, too, provides more clarity and less monotony".

Like Jimmy, the performers he has joined together in this album of "chamber jazz" all belong to the vigorous and imaginative West Coast group of topflight modernists that has created such a stir in music circles. The tunes they play here, with the exception of the familiar I Only Have Eyes for You, are all Giuffre originals, one in particular — Four Brothers — having achieved a good deal of success in big-band arrangement.

Among the others are new and carefully fashioned numbers whose free flow and variety of instrumental combinations give them a wonderful improvised sound — though all of >Sultana<, for example, and half of Nutty Pine, are written out. Wrought of Iron is an exciting eight-bar theme and variations, an unusual form featuring ad lib solos by every member of the group.

An odd back-beat rhythm introduces the swinging tempo of Do It! and its fine improvisations on tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, and piano. All For You is in a brooding ballad style, with trumpet playing gently about the tenor sax melody line. The one "standard" — Eyes — displays Giuffre's instrumental inventiveness at its best in an ad lib baritone sax cadenza, with masterful drum accompaniment, that highlights the six minute production number.

In all, this Jimmy Giuffre album debut shows fine versatility, and is a stimulating contribution to first-rate modern jazz literature. There's fascinating listening enjoyment here for quite a while to come. *(from the liner notes)*

Jimmy's first LP to himself is an absorbing success on which Jimmy scores both as performer (tenor, clarinet, and baritone) and as writer (all six originals are his). As a writer, Jimmy strikes this listener as the most freshly inventive and maturely daring (but unpretentious) of all the writers on the coast. For one thing, several of his works have the melodic strength (Nutty Pine and All for You, for example) to become part of the repertoire of any swinging modern jazz group.

And almost all of his original lines on this and on other albums are really original and fresh. They are not (as so often happens with Shorty Rogers, Bill Holman, and many other writers of "originals") just quick routines that can be enlivened only by the ad lib solos within them but can't stand up for themselves.

Even the more involved Giuffre numbers (like the completely written-out Sultana) are constantly challenging to the ear even if they don't entirely come alive yet. Fine work on the first four by Bud Shank, Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (fluegel horn), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass) and Shelly Manne. The last three have the excellent aid of Sheldon, Manne, Russ Freeman, and Curtis Counce. Cover credit should have been given the fine engineering of John Palladino and to whoever wrote the helpful notes. But the man who rates the full bows and the encores is Giuffre, a major modern jazz talent.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 15, 1954 [5 stars])*

1 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Sultana

(Jimmy Giuffre)

3 - Nutty Pine

(Jimmy Giuffre)

4 - Wrought Of Iron

(Jimmy Giuffre)

5 - Do It!

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - All For You

(Jimmy Giuffre)

7 - I Only Have Eyes For You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

#1 to #4:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Bud Shank (alto sax),

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn), 

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, California, April 15, 1954

#5 to #7:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Jack Sheldon (trumpet), 

Russ Freeman (piano), Curtis Counce (bass),  Shelly Manne (dums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, February 19, 1954

Zoot Sims on Prestige (III)

Let's do a little history to understand why "Zoot Sims on Prestige" shows a "Zoot Sims on Status":

The Prestige story began with Bob Weinstock, a young entrepreneur who was running the Jazz Record Corner — a record shop catering to devotees of jazz. It was there in 1948 that Bob conceived of the idea of traveling overseas during or before the recording ban that year to obtain new jazz recordings to bring to the United States. Bob contracted for at least four singles. These were released on his own Jazz Corner label —– the first of his record labels.

As 1949 began, Weinstock sought to expand his record pressing outlet beyond the local level. As he supervised the recording of new music, he was in the process of securing distribution arrangements. In July he rolled out the New Jazz label. Within a little over a year, New Jazz had become Prestige Records.

Prestige received its legendary status as a record label in part because of Weinstock’s demand for an “authentic” and fresh jazz sound and in part because of engineer Rudy Van Gelder.

By the end of 1963, with many of his artist signings having moved on and up to majors, Weinstock turned his attention to the re-issue of older New Jazz and Prestige titles of those now big names, through the short-lived Status label. Status picked up the New Jazz catalogue numbering system at 8300, but with the prefix ST. The same numbers but with the prefix NJLP was used for completely different recordings. Surplus stocks of New Jazz covers would be given a Status sticker, and the recording issued with a Status label.

Zoot Sims' recordings appeared under three labels: Prestige, New Jazz and Status, as is the case with the following album:

Zoot Sims

Good Old Zoot

A 60s compilation of some of Zoot's great work during the 10" days at Prestige (Chubby Jackson & His All Stars Band Plays and Zoot Sims In Hollywood — back when he was playing with a bit more fire than in some of his later work. Half the tracks are cut with a small group that includes Kenny Drew and Stu Williamson — and the other half are cut with a larger group led by Chubby Jackson, and featuring Howard McGhee, JJ Johnson, Georgie Auld, and Gerry Mulligan. Tracks include "So What", "Toot No 2", "Howdy Podner", "Flyin The Coop", and "Hot Dog".  *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

About Chubby Jackson & His All Stars Band Plays:

The style of Chubby's big band would be echoed throughout the 50's and 60's in the bands of Woody Herman, Elliot Lawrence, Gene Krupa, Count Basie and Gerry Mulligan. The actual recording, the first big band date recorded by Prestige was done in the old Cinemart studios in New York City. The studio was so small that the trumpet section had to face the wall to make for a better balance. At the time of the session, Georgie Auld owned a bar and jazz club called Tin Pan Alley in the basement of a hotel on 49th Street. The club was a favorite oasis for Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan and J.J. Johnson among others and everybody would come by to jam. 

At the date Mulligan remarked how loose he felt when working with Zoot. Certainly the loose feeling permeated the entire session as Auld, Jackson and Don Lamond fooled around with one of those fake nose and glasses disguises and Chubby kicked off the time in his stocking feet! 

The date was the second recording of J. J. Johnson and Kay Winding in tandem, the first being a Metronome All-Star session in January 1949. The Tiny Kahn charts were a constant topic of conversation and the band which Jackson had led in early 1949 had played most of them, some under different titles, at Bop City and The Royal Roost.

It is interesting to note that on this LP, Chubby Jackson does not do much solo playing. This is unusual but again it emphasizes Jackson's role as an organizer. He had musical talent as well as the ability to get good men into good places. Valuable contributions to the American Art Form and contributions that both listeners and historians alike can be grateful for. *Ernie Edwards, Jr. (February 1969)*

[Note: The album Chubby Jackson & His All Stars Band Plays contains more songs than those presented in this compilation. We will include them in future posts in this series, dedicated to Zoot Sims' presence on Prestige as a sideman.]

About Zoot Sims In Hollywood:

Like most young tenormen of the post-war period, Zoot Sims was largely affected by the Lester Young influence. Everybody who was anybody sounded like Lester or tried to. With Zoot it was even more so; he sounded exactly like Pres. Almost ten years have passed since then and a great number of Young imitators have come and gone with Little or no fanfare; most came to the inevitable end of the musically unoriginal. But with Zoot it was different; he had a lot more than a superficial grasp of Lester approach. Zoot was able to absorb the Great Influence without subverting his own individuality. Today Zoot is a highly original artist well steeped in the heritage that Lester Young contributed to the modern jazz musician. Zoot's conception stands firm and mature; the importance of the basic time feeling… above all else… it must swing! And with Zoot it always does. Emotion and the jazz beat are never sacrificed. The musical voice of Zoot Sims is so vibrant and brilliant that he must eventually be acknowledged as the great tenor influence of the fifties for he is the successful extention of the most forceful influence modern jazz has been: The Lester Young Conception.

Featured here with Zoot, is ex-Kenton and Herman sideman, Stu Williamson. For the first time on record Stu is heard playing both trumpet and valve trombone. The facility with which he handles these instruments well compliments Zoot work. At the keyboard is one of them all — Kenny Drew. No les effective as a soloist, his main function here is that of sparking the group. Kenny gained national prominence several years ago as a member of the great Buddy De Franco Quartet. Ever since he's been a highly sought after pianist for any group desiring a savagely swingin' beat. Rounding out the rhythm section is drummer Jimmy Pratt and bassit Ralph Pinia. Jimmy was a member of the Zoot Sims–Johny Mandel Group that delighted Coast jazz fans last winter during their successful stay at the Haig. Ralph's excellent choice of notes and pulsating time hold the group firmly in the groove.

Here is a group composed of five compatible jazz musicians and recorded under very favorable conditions at one of the finest rocording studios available, Hollywood's Radio Recorders. The engineer was Val Valentine, who records a great percentage of the better jazz eminating from Southern California. The entire precedings, from rehersal to final take, was supervised and directed by Dick Bock: His reputation is well known. It seems impossible to conceive of a better combinations of elements. The only thing left is how it turned out; take a listen and draw your own conclusions. You won't be disappointed. *Woody Woodward (original liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Howdy Podner

(Bill Holman)

2 - Indian Summer

(Al Dubin, Victor Herbert)

3 - Leavin' Town

(Jarvis, Meissner)

4 - Flyin' The Coop

(Kahn)

Side 2

5 - Toot No. 2

(Bill Holman)

6 - What's New

(Johnny Burke, Bob Haggart)

7 -Hot Dog

(Zoot Sims)

8 - So What

(Gerry Mulligan)

#1, #2, #5, #8:

from Zoot Sims In Hollywood [New Jazz (NJLP-1102)]

Stu Williamson (trumpet, valve trombone), Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Kenny Drew (piano), 

Ralph Pena [as Ralph Penna or Ralph Pinia in liner notes] (bass), Jimmy Pratt (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, July 16, 1954

#3,#4, #7, #8:

from Chubby Jackson & His All Stars Band Plays [New Jazz / Prestige (NJLP 105)]

Don Ferrara, Howard McGhee, Al Porcino (trumpets); J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding (trombones);

Charlie Kennedy (alto sax); Georgie Auld, Zoot Sims (tenor saxes); Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax);

Tony Aless (piano); Chubby Jackson (bass); Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded at Cinemart Studios, New York City, March 15, 1950

Jack Montrose - Jack Montrose Sextet

There have lately been a good many bosomy sermons —now that the apologists have done their work— within and without the music about jazz, the art. Few of these hosannas, however, ever point out this fact: Jazz is alwaysan art form; but it is only an art when it recreates, in whatever mode, its chosen materials into fresh, higher superstructures that give the listener a kind of surprised emotional elevation, sustenance, and release-akin, in a sense, to the purge and exhilaration of Greek tragedy. The jazz artist who achieves this connection with his listener must, perforce, be more than just a professional. And as an artist he must, of course, also be an individualist,even an iconiclast —great jazz being, it would seem, a remarkable working union of iconoclasts— or else he would simply be a skillful reshader or copyist.

Modern jazz, however, has, in addition to a general lack of oomph, few individualists among its members. Individuality, like the tortoise, takes time and courage. But there has recently appeared in the modern jazz world a powerful and almost Victorian workship of "progress" as a virtue in itself. Thus a competent musician, to be "progressive", often handily copies what seems progressive in the work of a slightly more mature musician. This is easy, and at the same time, stylish. Real progress in jazz, though, can take place only when a musician has full knowlwdge of who and what have come before in his medium and has decided, beneath his own sun, that he is ready to try and forge a new branch on his tree-a condition of patience and work that few modern jazzmen have the endurane and imagination for.

One modern jazzman who is worth quietly watching and studying, is Jack Montrose, a serious, single-minded and unhurried twenty-six-year-old composer, arranger, and tenor saxophonist. Montrose is representative of the new school of West Coast modern jazzmen —the shiny silver fish od contemporary jazz— in that he combines these capacities to a professional and perhaps even higher degree.

One of the balancing weights on Montrose, The instrumentalist, has been his close association in the past few years with the late Bob Gordon (Bob was killed in a automobile accident Sunday, August 28, 1955, in Los angeles), who handles the baritone saxophone here, and who is also twenty-six. Gordon is a hot, heady baritone saxophonist, a quality which has probably watered down Montrose's tendency toward over-intellectualization in his playing.

Montrose has arranged all of the eight tunes here, five of which are his originals. Listen for the brightness and humor of "Listen, Hear" and "Some Good Fun Blues", where, with "Credo" there are excellent demostrations of Montrose's fluid, ensemble work. Listen for de solos on "Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered" by Gordon and Candoli, and the touching, hard-pressing tenor saxophone statement by Montrose on "Pretty". Here is individuality, skill, and honesty. Because few jazz students have yet learned how to listen to modern jazz, there is little successful modern jazz. This album, then, is a chance for as much earnest study and awareness from the listener as Montrose has put into it. *Whitney Balliett (liner notes)*

Improvisation is of prime importance. Everything I write is a framework for jazz. In my compositions, I want the jazz musician to improvise within the framework that I have constructed for him. In order to do this successfully, I have to write a complete structure conceived of from beggining to end with these musicians in mind; the way they play, the way they sound. I take all this into consideration when I write a jazz composition. My objective is to create a complete structure that enables the jazz musician to play compatibly with my composition. My object as composer is to organiza the perceptions of the jazz musicians involved.

Bob Gordon was an inspiration to every jazz musician or aspirant who ever heard him play or was, perhaps, fortunate enough to share the bandstand with him; fortunate enough to partake of the fire that roared and the sparks that flew and the proclamations of the Gods that sounded when he put his big horn to his lips and made the world abound with life and zest and unbounded love. For the world was a better place to live in when he played and perhaps this singular ability to make it so was in itself his greatest gift.

For me Bob Gordon was more than just as inspiration he was my other half and together we formed a musical whole. Our partnership has not ended, however, for his part is indelibly stamped upon my soul and then task is mine to carry on. For we understood one another and agreed completely. I am fortunate to have loved and been loved in return by one such Bob Gordon. I also realize that the companionship and artistic rapport which we enjoyed were of such a nature as is not commonly experienced. I am fortunate and a better man for having known and loved Bob Gordon.

*Jack Montrose (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Listen, Hear

(Jack Montrose)

2 - Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - Some Good Fun Blues

(Jack Montrose)

4 - Fools Rush In

(Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer)

Side 2

5 - Speakeasy

(Jack Montrose)

6 - Credo

(Jack Montrose)

7 - Pretty

(Jack Montrose)

8 - That Old Feeling

(Sammy Fain, Lew Brown)

Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Gordon (baritone sax), Paul Moer (piano), Ralph Pena (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, June 24 (#1, #2, #6, #7) and July 6 (#3, #4, #5, #8), 1955.

Shorty Rogers Quintet - Wherever The Five Winds Blow

In no sense whatsoever has Milton "Shorty" Rogers ever been known heretofore as a windy fellow. He blows trumpet (flugelhorn sometimes) with finesse, taste and feeling rather than with any effort to shatter glass windows; his mannerisms are gentle and exceedingly mellow, while his conversation is soft and generally as lazy as the Mississippi. “Shorty” may well be the only truly southern gentleman from Great Barrington, Massachusetts. 

For this album, however, "Shorty" Rogers quite deliberately turned meteorologist. And he did it without changing his style of anything. 

The Bible will tell you: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth". Until comparatively recent times that was quite true — the movement of air was a mystery. Now, however, while we know a great deal about winds and what they do, we are still not able to predict faithfully what they will do next. 

Such is the nature of the winds, and this, in effect, is "Shorty" Rogers’ adventure into the atmosphere — a stunning musical salute to everywhere that the five winds blow. *Roy Morse (liner notes)*

Clever title serves as a peg on wich Rogers hangs the titles of his five originals compositions that make up the set: "Hurricane Carol", "Breezin' Along In The Trades", "Marooned In A Monsoon", etc. The blowing is not all of that earth-shaking; in fact, with Jimmy Giuffre alternating on tenor sax and clarinet, Rogers sticks pretty close to the "Cooler" side of the West Coast idiom. However, there is a flock of young people who gobble up this kind of package, and they must be accommodated. Terrific cover. *Billboard, March 16, 1957*

Side 1

1 - Hurricane Carol (North Wind)

2 - Breezin' Along In The Trades (South Wind)

3 - Marooned In A Monsoon (East Wind)

Side 2

4 - The Chinook That Melted My Heart (West Wind)

5 - Prevailing On The Westerlies (Fifth Wind)

(All compositions by Shorty Rogers)

Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax), Lou Levy (piano), Ralph Pena (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, July 2, 1956.