Jazz For The Screen ★ André Previn

André Previn

Performing Music From

The Subterraneans

The Subterraneans was originally a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) which, besides being in many ways autobiographical, attempted to portray an element of the new generation called the "beat" movement. Many of the characters in the novel had real life counterparts, much to the chagrin of the affected parties. In fact, Kerouac's publisher convinced him to change the novel's setting from New York (where the real autobiographical facts had taken place) to San Francisco, in order to avoid future legal actions. The Subterraneans is considered to be the first book about the "beat generation", but it was not the only one, and there was a kind of race between Kerouac and his friend John Clellon Holmes to see whose novel would be published first. (Holmes had written his own book about the beat movement, titled Go, in which Kerouac plays a fundamental part and is credited as the inventor of the term "beat".) It must be said, however, that the term "beat generation" was copyrighted by movie producer Albert Zugsmith even before Kerouac tried to do it, and was used in the infamous motion picture "The Beat Generation", in which, ironically, jazz also takes part, as Louis Armstrong and his All Stars play a few numbers surrounded by numerous pop musicians of the period.

Kerouac's response to such an insult was the production of a movie based on his own book, in which the writer himself assumed an acting role. Although the film was made by a top studio and counted many major names in the cast, the result was hardly comparable to the original book. This was largely due to the extreme level of censorship which dominated Hollywood at the time. Many important things in the book had to be changed in order to make it "acceptable". For instance, an interracial relationship had to be omitted and the female African American character was changed to a French white woman played by Leslie Caron. Censorship lasted during most of the beatnik movement's existence, and when it finally disappeared, the beats had been replaced by the hippies. The original beats, and particularly writer and poet Allen Ginsberg, have always denounced the movie because of its obvious concessions to Hollywood's conservative moral standards. However, it was good for Jack Kerouac, who received 15.000 dollars for the rights to his book. He used the money to buy a house in Long Island, the first one he ever owned.

The plot narrated the experiences of a depressed writer (George Peppard), who "goes down" to explore the "subterranean world" of San Francisco's North Beach district in the late fifties, with the hope of finding some kind of soulmate, and falls in love with a French girl (Leslie Caron) who is part of the beatnik movement. Other than the eventual use of beat terms derived from Kerouac's book, little is left from the original novel. Some characters are slightly disguised representations of real people (Frank Carmody is based on William Burroughs, Adam Moorad on Allen Ginsberg, Ariel Lavalerra on Gore Vidal). The dramatic change of the main female character from African American (in the book) to French white (in the movie) has always been the main source of debate. However, not even Kerouac's original literary representation of black culture satisfied African Americans, who felt that it portrayed them in a very superficial manner, without delving into their real culture and social position of that time.

Jazz is central to the novel and, thus, to the movie. The beat movement usually moved around jazz clubs, and its literary grammar owes a lot to jazz's improvisatory language, which is presented as "spontaneous prose". All this grammar is, obviously, absent from the movie, but it survives in the splendid musical soundtrack, which was prepared solely by jazz musicians. Some of them, like Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper and Carmen McRae, also play colorful characters in the movie.

In conclusion, even if we can say The Subterraneans film is today nothing more than a historical curiosity, with little artistic value, the same cannot be said about its music. What we have here is the complete original soundtrack from the film, carefully composed by pianist André Previn, and performed by some of the most important musicians of its time. In addition to the aforementioned Mulligan, Previn, Pepper and McRae, also Bill Perkins, Jack Sheldon, Art Farmer, Russ Freeman, Bob Enevoldsen, Red Mitchell, Buddy Clark, Shelly Manne and Dave Bailey are heard on this amazing score. *Jordan Stewart*

Side 1

1 - Why Are We Afraid?

 (André Previn, Dory Langdon)

2 - Guido's Blackhawk

(André Previn)

3 - Two By Two

(André Previn)

4 - Bread And Wine

(André Previn)

5 - Coffee Time

(Harry Warren, Arthur Freed)

6 - A Rose And The End

(André Previn)

Side 2

7 - Should I

(Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed)

8 - Look Ma, No Clothes

(André Previn)

9 - Things Are Looking Down

(André Previn)

10 - Analyst

(André Previn)

11 - Like Blue

(André Previn)

12 - Raising Caen

(André Previn)

#1, #3, #6, #8, #10

André Previn (piano, arranger, conductor),Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone #1), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Bill Perkins (tenor sax), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

[Unidentified string section, clarinet and oboe]

#4, #9

Art Farmer (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Russ Freeman (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Dave Bailey (drums). 

#2, #5, #7, #11

André Previn (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), Carmen McRae (vocals #5).

#12

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Russ Freeman (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at MGM Studios, Culver City, California,

September 2, 1959 (#2), January 11, 1960 (#5, #7, #8, #9, #11), 

January12, 1960 (#1, #3, #4, #6,#10), and February 3, 1960 (#12)

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection XXVI ★ Richie Kamuca

Richie Kamuca

West Coast to East Coast

Live Recordings 1957-1966

Back in action, Outlet kicks off the second half of the year by resuming its series dedicated to Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars and the live recordings made at the legendary Lighthouse club.

This time, the focus is on saxophonist Richie Kamuca and the quintet he co-led with trumpeter Conte Candoli in 1957. These recordings were previously released by the Xanadu label under the title Bebop Revisited, Volume 5 in 1985.

For this post, we've chosen the recent release from the Barcelona-based label Fresh Sound Records, featuring notes by its owner, Jordi Pujol:

Richie Kamuca (1930–1977) was one of the finest tenor saxophonists of his generation, though never granted the full recognition his artistry deserved. Rising to prominence with Stan Kenton and Woody Herman in the early 1950s, he settled in Los Angeles in 1956 and soon became a leading voice on the West Coast scene, recording and performing with Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Bill Perkins, Conte Candoli, and many others. Equally at home in big bands, studios, and small groups, Kamuca blended the cool lyricism of Lester Young with the fluent drive of Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, ultimately forging a highly personal style.

This collection brings together live performances from the Lighthouse in 1957, from the celebrated Stars of Jazz television show of that same year, and from his New York period in inspired Half Note sessions with the Roy Eldridge Quintet in 1965–66. Warm-toned, inventive, and deeply melodic, Kamuca is heard here at full maturity: an unjustly overlooked master of the tenor saxophone.

After arriving in Los Angeles in the summer of 1956, Richie Kamuca joined Howard Rumsey's All-Stars at the famed Lighthouse club in Hermosa Beach. He spent a month there replacing Bob Cooper, who was vacationing in Hawaii with June Christy at the time.

He soon established a strong association with the West Coast jazz scene, receiving calls from record producers and fellow musicians alike to appear as a sideman on numerous sessions led by artists such as Chet Baker, Johnny Richards, Marty Paich, Bill Perkins, Stan Levey, Gus Mancuso, Mel Lewis, and Bill Holman. He also spent a brief period with the Med Flory–Al Porcino band, rejoined Stan Kenton for the orchestra's 1956 summer European tour, and later joined Maynard Ferguson after Kenton disbanded following a series of Bay Area engagements in November. Ferguson's saxophone section featured Herb Geller on alto, Kamuca and Nino Tempo on tenors, and Willie Maiden on baritone.

In April 1957, Kamuca returned to the Lighthouse to perform with the house band, which included Conte Candoli on trumpet, Dick Shreve on piano, Stan Levey on drums, and Red Mitchell on bass, replacing Howard Rumsey. Mitchell, who had originally played piano, switched to bass while working with Chubby Jackson in 1949. By then he had earned a formidable reputation as a member of pianist Hampton Hawes's outstanding trio, which also included Kenny Burrell on guitar. Earlier, Mitchell had worked with singer Jackie Paris and guitarist Mundell Lowe, and in 1956 he released his first album as a leader.

During the Lighthouse session that opens this CD, the group stretched out on two standout performances, "Allen's Alley" (also known as "Wee"), by Denzil Best, and Candoli's own "Counting", both of which showcased the band's remarkable cohesion and inventiveness. Kamuca displayed a strong Zoot Sims influence, moving confidently and fluently through the changes with his characteristically relaxed tone, while Candoli matched him with assured solos full of wit and imagination, including a quotation from "The Jeep Is Jumpin'". Shreve and Kamuca supplied effective supporting riffs, and Shreve contributed tasteful, economical solos in a Basie-like manner. Red Mitchell proved indispensable throughout, his rock-solid walking bass lines constantly drawing the ear, and he also delivered an outstanding solo that confirmed his place in the lineage of great bassists such as Jimmy Blanton, Oscar Pettiford, and Ray Brown.

The atmosphere remained relaxed yet highly energized, particularly on "Counting", a blues that allowed Kamuca to unfold one of his most fluent statements while Candoli's phrasing reflected his roots in the Dizzy Gillespie tradition. Both performances also highlighted the band's love of rhythmic exchanges, with Kamuca, Candoli, and Levey trading eights, fours, and even altered subdivisions, demonstrating both technical command and a playful sense of swing. These extended performances capture a group thoroughly enjoying itself while operating at a very high musical level. *Jordi Pujol (from the liner notes)*

1 - Allen's Alley

(Denzil Best)

2 - Counting

(Conte Candoli)

3 - Too Close For Comfort

(Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, George David Weiss)

4 - What's New

(Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke)

5 - Just Friends

(John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis)

6 - Sweet Sue

(Will J. Harris, Victor Young)

7 - Comin' Home Baby

(Herbie Mann)

8 - Stompin' At The Savoy

(Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar Sampson)

9 - Hackensack

(Thelonious Monk)

10 - Take The "A" Train

(Billy Strayhorn)

11 - In A Mellotone

(Duke Ellington)

#1 and #2

The Conte Candoli~Richie Kamuca Quintet:

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Richie Kamuca (tenor sax),

Dick Shreve (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded live at the Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, April 17, 1957

#3 #4, #5

The Richie Kamuca~Leroy Vinnegar Quintet:

Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Carl Perkins (piano),

Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Tony Bazley (drums).

Recorded at "Stars of Jazz" TV show,

ABC Studios, Los Angeles, California, October 21, 1957

#6 to #11

Roy Eldridge~Richie Kamuca Quintet:

Roy Eldridge (trumpet); Richie Kamuca (tenor sax); Dick Katz (piano);

Tommy Potter [#10], Don Moore [#11] (basses); Eddie Locke (drums).

Recorded live at the Half Note, New York City,

August 20, 1965 (#6 to #9) and March, 25, 1966 (#10, #11)

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection VIII

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 7

★ Lighthouse At Laguna ★

Laguna Beach is a lovely, relaxed town on the Pacific two hours drive south of Los Angeles. On Monday night, June 20th, 1955, it became the center of modern jazz on the West Coast as Howard Rumsey brought his Lighthouse All Stars, Barney Kessel, and The Hampton Hawes Trio to the Irvine Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, for an impressive concert before an impressed audience.

Rumsey and The All-Stars during 1955 found time to increase their influence by numerous concerts away from home base, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. They played for schools and colleges throughout Southern California and Arizona, and succeeded in winning friends and influencing people wherever they went. Laguna was no exception; for the 1200 who turned out the concert was a highlight of the jazz year.

Jazz concert performances often lack the polish of those in the recording studio, but more often this is offset by a freer, more spontaneous, creative, and swinging feeling, generated in part by the interaction of audience and performers. So while there are defects in these forty-five of the best minutes of the night's music, defects which both the musicians and the recording engineer would have liked to remedy, there are moments of excitement here that cannot be duplicated.

Five of the eight performances in this set are by The All-Stars. During the five years Rumsey has held forth at The Lighthouse his groups have always included the very best musicians, and the present group is no exception. Each man is a prominent recording artist in his own right, and each finishes high in the annual polls conducted by the leading jazz magazines. The concert presentation put each man in the solo spotlight and there are many fine solos by Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino and Claude Williamson. Of course, equally important is the fact they work well together to create a swinging, balanced ensemble sound. (...)

Barney Kessel, one of the greatest of jazz guitarists, was accompanied by The All-Stars for his portion of the program. His sensitive arrangement and performance of Thelonious Monk's modern classic 'Round About Midnight was one of the best received of the evening. In Barney’s hands it became a lovely concerto for guitar and orchestra. (...)

As the weekly Laguna Beach Post reported June 23rd, the Thursday following: "...it was clear that this concert was manned by some of the most knowledgeable and talented musicians in the land and it was a pleasure to be there". *Lester Koenig, December 6, 1955 (from the liner notes)*

A distinguished crowd of West Coast modernists who ordinarily make headquarters at the Los Angeles jazz nitery, The Lighthouse, trekked South to Laguna Beach one night last June for a concert that must have been a real gasser for local fans. As recorded, most time is given to the Lighthouse All-Stars, which at that time consisted of Rumsey, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino, Claude Williamson and Stan Levey. Barney Kessel, the guitarist, took the spotlight for a richly appealing set of his own. The third major attraction was a group by the Hampton Hawes Trio (backing the pianist were Shelly Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass). This is West Coast at its exciting best, and should be a great hit with jazz customers. *Billboard (February 25, 1956)*

A concert recorded at Laguna Beach Calif., last June. Tracks 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 are played by Rumsey's All-Stars with Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino, Claude Williamson, and Stan Levey. Midnight is a Barney Kessel solo backed by the All-Stars, while Lady Jean is a Rosolino excursion on his own tune with All-Stars backing. Walkin' and The Champ are performed by the Hampton Hawes trio with Red Mitchell and Shelly Manne. The playing is proficient throughout with chief kicks from the trio tracks, Kessel's well conceived variations on the Monk melody, Williamson's work on all tracks he appears, and Shank's flute on Witch Doctor. The cover can best be described as the most nonabstract of the year. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, April 4, 1956)*

1 - Witch Doctor N° 2

(Bob Cooper)

2 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams, Hanighen)

3 - Mood For Lighthouse

(Bob Cooper)

4 - Walkin'

(Richard Carpenter)

5 - Blind Man's Bluff

(Claude Williamson)

6 - Lady Jean

(Frank Rosolino)

7 - The Champ

(Dizzy Gillespie)

8 - Casa De Luz

(Shorty Rogers)

#1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #8:

Frank Rosolino (trombone), Bud Shank (alto sax, flute), Bob Cooper (tenor sax),

Barney Kessel (guitar [#2]), Claude Williamson (piano),

Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

#4, #7:

Hampton Hawes (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded live at Irvine Bowl, Laguna Beach, California, June 20, 1955

Five-Star Collection... Hampton Hawes

As a group, the three albums and sixteen selections comprising All Night Session! ["Blues of a Sort" wasn't at first issued as part of the original LPs] represent a most unusual achievement in the annals of jazz recording. The almost two hours of music were recorded at a single, continuous session, in the order in which you hear the numbers, and without editing of any kind. This seems like an impossible feat. Playing steadily for several hours is a taxing physical experience at best, but improvising continually for that length of time is an exhausting one, mentally and emotionally. Yet the later selections in All Night Session! reveal no flagging of vitality, spontaneity, or inventiveness. "The feeling wasn't like recording", Hampton Hawes has said in commenting on the session. "We felt like we went somewhere to play for our own pleasure. After we got started, I didn't even think I was making records. In fact, we didn't even listen to playbacks. We didn't tighten up as musicians often do in recording studios — we just played because we love to play". Considering the buoyant beat, skillful pacing, variety of material, spontaneous jazz feeling and the richness of invention, All Night Session! is a testimonial of the highest order to the musicianship of jazzman Hawes and his associates.

As a pianist, Hawes possesses a remarkably robust and vigorous style. The sixteen selections in All Night Session! teem with a pulsating energy and are marked by a seemingly inexhaustible stream of ideas. Although he can create chord patterns of great beauty as in I’ll Remember April and April in Paris, and he can command a singing, lyrical tone, he is more attracted at this stage of his career to expressions of a dynamic character. His touch is firm and authoritative and he possesses a split second sense of timing. His technical mastery is so great that there is not a single blurred run, tangled triplet or ragged arpeggio, no matter how fast the tempo.

Included among the sixteen selections are four original compositions by Hawes. They are of interest for two reasons. In the first instance, it is to be noted that they were composed at the record date itself and not written down beforehand. This gives them a spontaneous, ebullient quality, which is in a sense, their strongest characteristic. I was interested to learn that virtually all of Hawes' originals have been composed in this way. Instead of being written down, they are transcribed from his live performance, emphasizing the fact that his creative activity is the result of his role of an improviser. The second fact to be noted is that all four selections are blues — fast, vigorous blues, but blues nonetheless. Like Charlie Parker, whom Hampton credits with being the strongest influence on his playing, Hawes believes that blues are the basic foundation of jazz and that all jazzmen, modern as well as traditional, must begin by mastering the blues.

*Arnold Shaw (from the liner notes for the three albums [March 26, 1958])*

Here, at last, is the definitive Hamp Hawes. Spread out over three 12 inch LP's as is this collection, there is ample opportunity fully to assess the sometime disputed prowess of the 29-year-old west coast pianist.

As the album title indicates, these sides were recorded in one all night record date on November 12, 1956. The four musicians began recording and, as the groove wore smoother, just kept right on going.

All four were in optimum playing spirit. Hawes has never sounded so good on record and now emerges as one of the foremost jazz piano talents of our generation. His roots undeniably lie anchored in the blues and he seldom strays very far from that influence. As a modern blues pianist he remains superb. His ballad interpretations (I Should Care is a good example) tend still to show a little too much extraneous embellishment.

Hall's playing throughout is sheer, funky joy. Both as soloist and comper he fully rounds out the group, adding necessary variety of feeling and color to the trio context in which Hawes previously chose to express himself. As for Mitchell, he always is a paragon of jazz bass playing. Freeman's drums swing unrestrainedly all the way. *John A. Tynan (Down Beat, August 21, 1958 [5 satars])*

Hampton Hawes

All Night Session! • Volume 1

In the night of November 12 and into the morning of November 13, 1956, a quartet led by pianist Hampton Hawes recorded enough material to fill three long-playing phonograph record albums. This studio session contained many elements associated with a live gig: the work took place during regular nightclub performing hours, the improvisations were mostly extended, and there were no alternate takes. A remarkable freshness and spontaneity prevailed throughout the session. Although controversy continues regarding the original sequence of titles, Duke Jordan's "Jordu" and Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High" are superb openers for this first of three volumes. In addition to an invigorating run down "Broadway," Hawes improvised two original themes: "Takin' Care" and a bluesy walk entitled "Hampton's Pulpit" that stretched out for more than 11 minutes, making it the longest track of the entire all-night session. Collaborating with the pianist on this historic date were guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Red Mitchell, and drummer Eldridge "Bruz" Freeman. The interplay between these four men is marvelous, particularly when heard with headphones or through a sound system allowing for a full appreciation of the stereophonic balance achieved by the recording engineers. *arwulf arwulf (www.allmusic.com)*

1 - Jordu

(Duke Jordan)

2 - Groovin' High

(Dizzy Gillespie)

3 - Takin' Care

(Hampton Hawes)

4 - Broadway

(Woode, McRae, Bird)

5 - Hampton's Pulpit

(Hampton Hawes)

Hampton Hawes (piano), Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bruz Freeman (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California,

the night of November 12, 1956

✳✳✳

Hampton Hawes

All Night Session! • Volume 2

This is the second of three albums that came about as the result of an all-night recording session that took place in Los Angeles on November 12 and 13, 1956. Although Hampton Hawes spontaneously created five original tunes at this extraordinarily inspired date, everything on Vol. 2 comes directly out of the standard bop musician's working repertoire. The quartet, with bassist Red Mitchell, guitarist Jim Hall, and drummer Eldridge "Bruz" Freeman, collectively improvise their way through four attractive standards ("I Should Care" turned out to be the only slow ballad of the entire session) and three of Dizzy Gillespie's most refreshing creations. In 1958 Hawes was quoted as saying "It's hard to put into words how good it feels to play jazz when it's really swinging...I've reached a point where the music fills you up so much emotionally that you feel like shouting hallelujah -- like people do in church when they're converted to God. That's the way I was feeling the night we recorded All Night Session!" *arwulf arwulf (www.allmusic.com)*

1 - I'll Remember April

(Raye, dePaul, Johnston)

2 - I Should Care

(Stordahl, Weston, Cahn)

3 - Woody'n You

(Dizzy Gillespie)

4 - Two Bass Hit

(Gillespie, Lewis)

5 - Will You Still Be Mine

(Dennis, Adair)

6 - April In Paris

(Duke, Harburg)

7 - Blue 'N' Boogie

(Gillespie, Paparelli)

Hampton Hawes (piano), Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bruz Freeman (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California,

the night of November 12 and morning of November 13, 1956

✳✳✳

Hampton Hawes

All Night Session! • Volume 3

Vol. 3 of the Hampton Hawes Quartet's All Night Session contains three spontaneously improvised variations on the blues, one very cool extended rendition of Duke Ellington's "Do Nothin' 'Till You Hear from Me" and a strikingly handsome treatment of Harold Arlen's "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." The briskly paced "Blues #4" is especially progressive and exciting. Apparently "Blues of a Sort" was a warm-up performance, as voices are audible (discussing a football game!) in the background during the bass solo. For this one-take marathon late-night session of November 12 and 13, 1956, Hawes chose to share the studio with guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Eldridge "Bruz" Freeman, who had replaced Chuck Thompson following that musician's sudden inability to continue touring with the group earlier that year. "We gave Chuck what money we could and left him sitting on a hospital cot in a white bathrobe." This grim image, like much of Hawes' autobiography Raise Up Off Me, paints a stark picture of the narcotics epidemic among jazz musicians during the '50s. Although this was the first peak of his career, Hawes later admitted that "during the fall of 1956 I was messing up consistently -- showing late on gigs or missing them altogether." He had lots of offers for work, including the possibility of providing music for a film soundtrack: "Wanted to do it, would have paid good, but at the time I didn't even have the bread to get high enough to get to the studio to see what they had in mind." One of the great incongruities of bop is the fact that Charlie Parker and the musicians who were most directly influenced by him were able to be so creative and prolific while grappling with addictions that confounded, immobilized, and eventually slew them. All of these insights quietly swarm beneath the surface of what added up to more than two hours of exceptionally fine quartet jazz. *arwulf arwulf (www.allmusic.com)*

1 - Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me

(Ellington, Russell)

2 - Blues #3

(Hampton Hawes)

3 - Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

(Arlen, Koehler)

4 - Blues #4

(Hampton Hawes)

5 - Blues Of A Sort

(Hampton Hawes)

Hampton Hawes (piano), Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bruz Freeman (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California,

the morning of November 13, 1956

Five-Star Collection... The Modest Jazz Trio

The Modest Jazz Trio

Good Friday Blues

INTUITION: The power of knowing, or the knowledge obtained, without recourse to inference or reasoning; innate or instinctive knowledge — Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.

Gerry Mulligan had a way of expressing this phenomenon: "I know, don't know how". His statement contains a qualification which is tantamount to an admission that this is purely instinctive knowledge. He doesn't know how, but does know. To know collectively is a phenomenon which occurs with a fair degree of regularity among jazz musicians whose empathy towards each other is highly developed.

Here are three men, each a distinct talent, none, under ordinary circumstances interdependent upon the others for inspiration; playing together on a level of emotional and mental cohesion that is born of collective intuition. They know with such intensity, what the others are doing or are about to do, that the collective result is a marvelous example of form, of continuity of thought, and of completeness. *Woody Woodward (from the liner notes)*

In this day of trends and fads, where the jazz we hear is contrived in many instances, this is a revelation. Perhaps it is all the more warming because it is accomplished within the context of a trio. The piano-bass-drums trio often seems to be a vehicle for slickness and all other similar faults attributable to the conscious attempt to "sell".

Here the music just flows out a stream of genuine emotion from three artists who obviously enjoy playing for the sake of playing. They are grooving themselves but not in a way that excludes the audience. This surrounds the album with a feeling that defies rating by stars. It exemplifies the best kind of honest jazz expression. Hall, Mitchell, and Kelly are en rapport all the way. The "fours" between guitar and piano on Bill, Not Phil and, especially, I Remember You build beautifully as they unfold.

This is the first time Hall has really stretched out on record, and it is his best work to date. He gets a pure, natural sound that has none of the drawbacks of an amplified instrument.

On Good Friday and Willow he is appropriately more earthy but not so much as to distort his basic personality. You may find a similarity between Hall and Jimmy Raney on Mitchell's lovely When I Have You. In the main, however, his spinning out of singing, single lines shows him off as an individual and one of the important jazz guitarists.

Mitchell is one of the great bassists. He is also a very fine piano player, who not only thinks melodically but economically. Knowing when and when not to play is a Mitchell attribute. His rhythmic sense, and the way he incorporates his personal touch with this accenting, leads to a unique swing.

Kelly has the strength of a benevolent genie. He does everything asked of him as rhythmic complement and contributes some good solos, too.

The Modest Jazz Trio is an apt name for these three. When you play this, the music does all the talking that is necessary and then some. *Ira Gitler (Down Beat, February 16, 1961 [5 stars])*

1 - Good Friday Blues

(Red Mitchell)

2 - Willow Weep For Me

(Ann Ronell)

3 - I Remember You

(Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger)

4 - Bill Not Phil

(Bill Harris)

5 - When I Have You

(Red Mitchell)

6 - I Was Doing All Right

(George and Ira Gershwin)

Jim Hall (guitar), Red Mitchell (piano), Red Kelly (bass).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, April 8, 1960

Five-Star Collection... Jimmy Raney

Jimmy Raney Quintet

Jimmy Raney Plays

There are a number of guitarists in jazz today who choose good notes, show facility in playing them, and have "that swing" which "it don't mean a thing if you ain't got". Jimmy Raney has all of these qualifications, and with them a thinking content in his playing which sets him at the top of his division as the significant guitarist.

This album is important because it brings Jimmy into the foreground after playing a subordinate role for too long. His two-chorus solos have a unity and clarity to them that represent his best recorded work to date. For faithful reproduction of his sound, this album is also a high-water mark. In addition, he has offered more convincing evidence of his talents as a composer. (...)

The group itself is a corps of the core of jazz, the small unit. (...)

The cover is by David Young, a young painter from Boston whose feeling for jazz enabled him to direct his artistry into an effective delineation of the subject at hand.

*Ira Gitler (from the liner notes)*

The Raney guitar, long a feature on numerous combos' cuttings, gets its own day in the sun at last in this fine LP comprising four double-length performances. Raney is teamed with a tenor man described on the cover as "Sven Coolson", though you will recognize him immediately as Lars Getzberg. Thus the overall result is similar to many of the sides Stan and Jimmy cut together for Roost, except that Jimmy gets the longer solos.

Jimmy wrote the three originals, which have a Tristanoish touch in their charming unison lines. Signal is the most attractive. Jimmy has found a good compromise between the muffled Tal Farlow sound and the "live" tone of the older—Charlie Christian—school. And he swings always.

Rhythm section is excellent, though the solo passages of Hall Overton (who sounds like a classical musician dipping his fingers into bop) and bassist Red Mitchell are the weakest spots of the disc. Midnight, the old Monk tune, is handled in a most relaxed fashion as Raney and Getz weave their way in and out of its still alluring chord structure. Frank Isola’s drumming is effectively discreet throughout both sides. *Down Beat, Chicago, August 26, 1953 [5 stars]*

Side 1

1 - Motion

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Lee

(Jimmy Raney)

Side 2

3 - Signal

(Jimmy Raney)

4 - 'Round About Midnight

(Thelonious Monk)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), Stan Getz as "Sven Coolson" (tenor sax),

Hall Overton (piano), Keith "Red" Mitchell (bass), Frank Isola (drums).

Recorded at WOR Recording Studios, New York City, April 23, 1953

Five-Star Collection... Many Albam

Manny Albam

Manny Albam And The Jazz Greats Of Our Time • Vol.1

Considering the fact that much of the essential character of jazz is derived from the spontaneity and excitement of improvisation, it would certainly seem that the most definitive jazz writing should be in compatible relation with, and emphasize the role of, the soloist. In essence, a marriage between the improvisation and the writing: the writer providing a pithy framework that is thought-provoking and impetus to the soloist, and in turn, the soloist, given the necessary latitude, investing life, individuality and substance to the story intimated in the writing.

There are some critics and musicians who subscribe to the polar aspects of this subject: some stand for improvisation in the complete sense —spontaneous, intuitive—without framework or guideposts; others line up for composition to the point of shutting off the soloist by writing everything, or giving him only a limited role. And then, there are variations on both. However, the middle ground, in its equivalent relation between writing and blowing, gives evidence of being the best approach.

We must enlarge for clarity... In their own way, some of these polar ventures have been successful, but whether they are jazz or not, is a matter for discussion. On the other hand, going toward the middle ground, definitions become clear, and the performance becomes jazz in the more accepted sense, retaining the idiom’s identifiable markings.

In truth, tradition is most accessible from the vantage point of the middle ground, and if anything were to define the writing of Manny Albam, it would be its great respect and reflection of tradition:

"I cannot divorce myself from tradition, for it's where we all come from, and it should be a base from which we operate in jazz. If writing is to be JAZZ WRITING, it should fuse the elements particular to its own tradition — the beat, improvisation within a disciplinary frame, and its own unique feeling.

"On this CORAL set, the first of a series, I had the blowers, the guys who dig deeply, and endow writing with the necessary richness of improvisational content. This is just what I wanted, for I feel that an inter-relation, inter-dependence between writing and blowing in jazz composition is imperative."*Burt Korall (from the liner notes)* 

This makes it. Manny Albam, an arranger sensitive to the blowing as well as the writing scene, assembled a good cross-section of eastern mainstream hornmen, supplied them with three-quarters of the New York Rhythm Section, and gave them some material on which to embroider, ranging from sparkling to merely fine.

Oddly enough, or perhaps justly enough, I found the Albam originals to be more fertile in terms of the results shown here. The two non-Albam tracks, Sweetie and Duke's All Too Soon, don't compare with the consistency and wealth of solos with which Blues for Neither Coast is endowed.

In fact, the only other track I found as richly rewarding as Neither Coast was Dr. Millmoss, and in this, Albam scores by using a simple device: Mulligan and Cohn playing the bass line on baritones as a binding factor in the composition.

Brookmeyer emerges as the most constantly challenging soloist. His appearances on the first three tracks, particularly on Blues, are glistening. His solo on Minor Matters is excellent, and his second solo on All Too Soon is moving and powerful.

Art Farmer's opening solo on Neither Coast is among his best recorded work. Zoot is unusually subdued throughout, except on Sweetie, where he boots along like the freewheeling tenor man we have come to know. Woods is stabbing and often terse. His playing of late has been brimming with tension. Travis is fine, particularly tasty in his muted work. Mulligan is good, but he has been more declarative as a soloist in his own group. As a supporting voice, he is excellent. Cohn is smooth and flowing, as expected. And Hank Jones remains one of the most tasteful of pianists.

Although I raise an eyebrow at the album title, I realize that other contractual commitments would of necessity exclude such vital voices as Miles, Monk, Diz, Hawk, J. J., Max Roach, and Pettiford, among other greats.

Burt Korall's liner notes are a valuable guidepost to the team lines followed by the participants. Manny has a West Coast collection due for release to complement this East Coast cross section. *Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, November 28, 1957 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Blues From Neither Coast

(Manny Albam)

2 - Latined Fracture

(Manny Albam)

3 - Poor Dr. Millmoss

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

4 - Minor Matters

(Manny Albam)

5 - My Sweetie Went Away

(Roy Turk, Lou Handman)

6 - All Too Soon

(Duke Ellington, Carl Sigman)

7 - See Here, Miss Bromley

(Manny Albam)

Art Farmer, Nick Travis (trumpets); Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Phil Woods (alto sax);

Zoot Sims (tenor sax); AI Cohn (tenor sax, baritone sax); Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums); Manny Albam (arranger, conductor).

Recorded in New York City, April 2 [#5], April 3 [#3, #6, #7] and April 4 [#1, #2, #4], 1957

✳✳✳

Manny Albam

Manny Albam And The Jazz Greats Of Our Time • Vol. 2

By design, the writing for this set is spare. Though engaging in its own right, jazz composer-arranger MANNY ALBAM aimed for functionality, writing catalytic frameworks for his soloists. Like the writer of plays, he provided provocative material, but left it to his players to breathe life and immediacy into his story.

Says Manny Albam — "Regardless of what is said to the contrary, jazz is, and always has been a player’s art. When the jazz composer-arranger realizes this, adjusts his working perspective accordingly, giving due consideration and space to the soloist, only then can jazz composition become the community of expression it is at its best... I feel that an inter-relation, inter-dependence between writing and blowing in jazz composition is imperative."

If anything were to truly define the writing of Manny Albam, it would be its great respect and reflection of tradition.

Following traditional procedure: incorporation of elements particular to the jazz tradition — the beat, improvisation within a disciplinary frame, and jazz's own unique feeling — has become increasingly important to him.

Awareness of the past, or shall we say, the whole of jazz, is likely to make one's work all the more meaningful. Having functioned as a writer in a wide range of jazz situations (scoring big bands — Auld, Barnet, Kenton, Herman, etc., jazz backgrounds for vocalists, small bands) helped him to this realization.

For this set, recorded in Hollywood, Manny employed 'blowers'; men equipped to fill his frameworks with the necessary improvisational nutrition. Once again, proof is accessible that players of substance are players of substance regardless of geographical boundaries.

*Burt Korall (from the liner notes)*

This set is a perfect companion piece to Albam’s Jazz Greats, Vol. 1, and some of the comments on that LP apply to this one. For instance, I still find Albam's originals far more interesting throughout than the standards. Possible exception here is De-Lovely, and again I find it's more Manny’s arrangement than the tune itself which makes it.

At any rate, I'll wager there hasn't been a moodier, lovelier ballad original than Afterthoughts (Benny Golson and his remarkable ballad compositions are not included in this bet). Kamuca and Candoli combine on Afterthoughts to create a stunningly somber mood, with the rest of the ensemble pitched low behind them. You can almost feel the rain.

Interwoven is interesting structurally, with sharp Mariano and Geller, and some pungent interchanges between Candoli and Sweets, the latter identified as Trumpeter X because of contractual ties.

Sweets has most of Sweet's-Bread to himself, and blows some compelling trumpet with the ensemble cast in a Basie vein. Harry stays in that groove, blowing relaxed muted trumpet on his and Basie's Jive at Five, and manages a witty phrase variation in the closing statement of the theme.

Thunder-Burt, similar in conception and main theme to Blues for Neither Coast in Vol. 1, is a good comparison track for buffs wishing to carry the East Coast–West Coast discussion into late spring. Solos here, perhaps because of the overall feel of the piece, are funkier, particularly Mariano’s baritone, Williamson's trombone, and Candoli (dig his trace of Eldridge at the end of his second chorus), and to a lesser extent, Flory and Kamuca.

De-Lovely is freshly arranged and smartly played all around. How Long, a muted, shadowy ballad, has some rough spots in Sheldon's solo and at the close of Levy's fine piano spot (with some interesting things going on behind him by Shelly).

If, after listening to both coasts on the two volumes, you can draw any conclusion, it will have to include that each swings, although the westerners seem to find their kicks in a Countish vein. You might also note that this is the third Coral LP in recent months by Albam, which has been in every way a superior effort. He seems to have crystallized that knack of writing brightly without lapsing into pretentiousness, and can score for plenty of solo blowing without just arranging a head and a tail and letting the soloists construct the rest of the skeleton as well as fleshing it out.

*Dom Cerulli (Down Beat, February 20, 1958 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Intervowen

(Manny Albam)

2 - Afterthoughts

(Manny Albam)

3 - Sweet's-Bread

(Manny Albam)

Side 2

4 - Jive At Five

(Harry Edison, Count Basie)

5 - Thurnder Burt

(Manny Albam)

6 - How Long Has This Been Going On?

(George and Ira Gershwin)

7 - It's De-Lovely

(Cole Porter)

Conte Candoli, Jack Sheldon [#2, #5, #6],

Harry Edison as "Trumpeter X" [#1, #3, #4, #7] (trumpets); Stu Williamson (valve trombone);

Herb Geller (alto sax); Richie Kamuca, Med Flory [#2, #5, #6] (tenor saxes);

Bill Holman [#1, #3, #4, #7] (tenor sax, baritone sax);

Charlie Mariano (alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax); 

Lou Levy (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Shelly Manne (drums); Manny Albam (arranger, conductor). 

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, August 4 [#2, #5, #6],

August 15 [#3, #4, #7] and August 16 [#1], 1957

Five-Star Collection... Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Paris Concert

Few bands have shot to the top and won the unanimous acclaim of jazz fans as quickly as has the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

It was with some apprehension, therefore, that we looked forward to their appearance at the Salle Pleyel on June 1, 1954, as part of the Third Paris Jazz Festival, for we had been disappointed more than once by famous soloists or big name bands from America.

Having heard only records, and knowing what marvelous results modern recording techniques can produce, weren't we going to be disappointed by a personal appearance? Would such a reduced combo be able to project beyond the footlights in as large and cold a hall as the Salle Pleyel? Wouldn't the balance of the Quartet suffer from having Chet Baker's trumpet replaced by the trombone of Bob Brookmeyer, who was completely unknown here? And last of all, how could this simple little quartet of white musicians compete with the memories left by the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, or by Louis Armstrong's dynamic Hot Five which we had previously heard in this same Salle Pleyel?

All these fears melted away as if by magic the moment the Gerry Mulligan Quartet launched into the first bars of "Come Out Wherever You Are," with which they opened the first set of the Jazz Festival that memorable evening of June 1, 1954.

Something very unusual happened — for a jazz concert: the audience was seized at once by a sort of rapt fervor, and a real communion was established between the public and the band. It was as if the audience had suddenly put aside its customary boisterousness to give complete attention to a really special musical treat.  *Charles Dalaunay (from the liner notes)*

A record of a Paris Concert, specifically a June 1, 1954, event at Paris' Salle Pleyel, part of the Third Paris Jazz Festival. Drummer is Frank Isola, with Red Mitchell on bass and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone. So far as I know, this is the only recording available of the quartet with Brookmeyer as the complementary horn (although Bob and Gerry have recorded together in other contexts).

Although Gerry has since wisely gone on beyond the limitations inherent in this kind of quartet, it's valuable to have a record of the quartet at its height in that Brookmeyer is a more creative, thinking musician than were any of his predecessors in the unit. As a result, Mulligan is also extended, and the playing of the two throughout is a stimulating, sinewy set of superior examples of the art of modern collective linear improvisation. Both are also creative soloists with guts and jazz-roots. (Dig the more vigorous than heretofore quartet version of Moonlight and those moving Shoes).

Mitchell is excellent (he also has a fine solo on Love Me). Isola could flow more, but he's a steady drummer. The set includes the whole scene with the applause and even with some of Gerry's well-intentioned French. Generally good recorded sound. Notes are by Charles Delaunay, head of France's Jazz-Hot. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 21, 1956 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Come Out Wherever You Are

(J. Styne, S. Cahn)

2 - Five Brothers

(Gerry Mulligan)

3 - Laura

(D. Raksin, J. Mercer)

4 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(W. Donaldson, G. Kahn)

5 - Utter Chaos (Mulligan closing theme)

(Gerry Mulligan)

Side 2

6 - Bernie's Tune

(B. Miller)

7 - Walkin' Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

8 - Moonlight In Vermont

(K. Suessdorf, J. Blackburn)

9 - The Lady Is A Tramp

(R. Rodgers, L. Hart)

10 - Utter Chaos (Mulligan closing theme)

(Gerry Mulligan)

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone),

Red Mitchell (bass), Frank Isola (drums).

Recorded live at Salle Pleyel, Paris, France, June 1, 1954

Five-Star Collection... John Graas (I)

John Graas

Jazz Studio #3

For some time, JOHN GRAAS, winner of the 1954 Metronome Poll, has been building a reputation as one of the most important modern jazz instrumentalists, and he has been doing it with an instrument usually found in the hallowed precincts of the symphony hall: the French Horn. For this he is to be congratulated, because he is welding one more link in the chain which binds all modern music, and helping to destroy the prejudices which have served no good purpose but to divide where there should be no division.

"JAZZ STUDIO 3: JOHN GRAAS" offers the listener the opportunity of witnessing the growth of the artist in other fields: those of composition and arranging. 

Since making his arranging debut in "JAZZ STUDIO 2", John's newly discovered writing talents have been much in demand. Many jazz soloists and recording companies 

have sought his product, but even more important, he has been commissioned, as a direct result of his work in "JAZZ STUDIO 2", to compose a Jazz Symphony. Portions 

of this work will appear here. "JAZZ STUDIO 3" is glad to show-case Graas' writing talent in a stage of its development which will be all the more apparent to those who 

were first impressed by his flair for contrapuntal invention as illustrated by "GRAAS POINT", considered by many the high point of "STUDIO 2". *Tom Mack (liner notes)*

Decca's third Jazz Studio set is devoted to the composition and arrangements of French horn expert John Graas. The selections are played by a septet, quartet, and ninetet. The overall personnel comprises Graas, Gerry Mulligan, Don Fagerquist, Red Mitchell, Larry Bunker, Marty Paich, Howard Roberts, Charlie Mariano, Conte Candoli, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre, Andre Previn, and Curtis Counce. The material covers a refreshingly wide range beginning with a briskly swinging tribute to Mulligan. My Buddy is resurrected from the land of bathos and turns up in a lyrically imaginative quartet arrangement marked by some excellent interlinear play by Mulligan and Graas. The 6/4 framework comes off jumping and the Charleston shakes off its age under Graas' deftly hip hand to end the first side.

Rogeresque is another bright and effective tribute. From Graas' forthcoming Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony, nine men play the sonata allegro and the atonal scherzo. I don’t know whether this will sound as free and idiomatic when scored for full symphony orchestra and jazz soloists, but as of the way it comes through here, these two sections indicate that Graas is constructing a largely fresh, vital work — one that, though somewhat eclectic, already carries much more individualized conviction than the overrated Liebermann Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra. The set closes with an incisive modernization of 12th Street Rag.

The playing by everyone on the date is excellent, and Graas gets the full rating because of the scope of his imagination and his ability to write modern jazz frameworks that, for the most part, challenge the soloists rather than constrict them. Not everything comes off wholly here, but so much of worth and individuality is going on that the set deserves a wide audience.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, June 1, 1955 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Mullinganesque

(John Graas)

2 - My Buddy

(Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson)

3 - 6/4 And Even

(John Graas)

4 - Charleston

(Cecil Mack, Jimmy Johnson)

Side 2

5 - Rogeresque

(John Graas)

Jazz Sections From Symphony No.1 in F Minor

6 - a) Sonata Allegro

7 - b) Scherzo

(John Graas)

8 - 12th Street Rag

(Andy Razaf, Euday L. Bowman)

#1, #3:

John Graas (french horn), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Don Fagerquist (trumpet),

Marty Paich (piano), Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

#2:

John Graas (french horn), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Red Mitchell (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

#4, #6, #7:

John Graas (french horn), Conte Candoli (trumpet), Charlie Mariano (alto sax),

Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax), André Previn (piano),

Howard Roberts (guitar), Curtis Counce (bass), Larry Bunker (drums). 

#5, #8:

John Graas (french horn), Conte Candoli (trumpet), Charlie Mariano (alto sax),

Marty Paich (piano), Howard Roberts (guitar), Curtis Counce (bass), Larry Bunker (drums). 

Recorded at Decca's Studio 55, Los Angeles, California,

December 16 (#1, #2, #3), 1954; January 6 (#4, #6, #7) and January 8 (#5, #8), 1955

Jack Montrose and Bob Gordon: A perfect pair

Jack Montrose with Bob Gordon

Arranged/Played/Composed By Jack Montrose

The talent of Jack Montrose (1928-2006) was an exceptional one. He proved to be a prolific writer and a lucid player of his own music, as well as of that of others. But two can play the game of jazz, and one recalls most fondly that Jacks main artery of expression was in the recordings in which he joined soul and sound with his friend Bob Gordon. So inextricable was their relationship of minds, horns, being, that death alone could break it. It did, on a tragic Sunday of August 1955, when Bob met eternity head-on in an automobile. For Jack the shock was intense. He later said Bob was more than just an inspiration, he was my other half and together we formed a musical whole.

*Jordi Pujol*

This was Jack Montrose's first album under his own leadership, recorded for Atlantic in 1955. 

If you have been looking for a recording of West Coast jazz that personifies its high point this just could be it. Tenor saxophonist, arranger, composer, Jack Montrose and baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon represent all the best that West Coast jazz had to offer in 1955. Originally released by Atlantic, this Koch recording is a must particularly for any West Coast jazz enthusiast. Jack Montrose was better known as a superb arranger with an affinity for counterpoint and intelligent orchestration. He has never sounded better on tenor or, more at ease than on this recording. Bob Gordon, a veteran baritone saxophonist and gifted soloist with an original voice tragically was killed in an auto acident shortly before this recording was released. Listening to this session you become aware of the affinity between the two horns which is comparable in my opinion, to some of the best created by Mulligan & Baker, Cohn & Sims, Brubeck & Desmond or, Brookmeyer and Terry. Montrose and Gordon were not only musical partners but, the closest of friends. One can only speculate as to the music they might otherwise have gone on to create together. Gordon most certainly was an artist that would have seriously challanged Gerry Mulligan as the dominant voice on the big horn during the period and, perhaps beyond. Recordings by Gordon are few so, this is a welcome re-issue. The ideal rhythm section comprised of pianist, Paul Moer, bassist, Red Mitchell and, drummer, Shelly Manne were a working unit at the legendary Hermosa Beach, CA club, "The Lighthouse" home of the Sunday Jazz sessions hosted by bassist, Howard Rumsey featuring Shorty Rogers; "Giants".

The sound quality is excellent and original detailed liner notes by Montrose are included. I repeat, this recording is a prime example of some of the best West Coast jazz to be heard in 1955. It is still valid today. *amazon.com*

I like to write in a "chamber group" style because of the intimacy. All the parts are transparent. There is nothing superfluous in chamber music, and there can be nothing 

superfluous. 

Just because a group has four or five instruments, that doesn't make it a chamber group. The thing that brings it about is the feeling of the players and the approach to the music. It's a definite feel that grows from learning to love string quartets. A chamber group supplies me with the essential extremes of dynamics, with the necessary mobility and maneuverability. When I was writing for this album, I was definitely thinking in terms of a chamber group. Not one of the instruments was neglected. My object was to utilize each instrument in its own way. By dynamics, I mean the ability to make a decided contrast; the ability to play fast and soft at the same time, for instance. Nothing is covered up.

A lot of the music in this album is, of course, completely improvised. The purpose of the compositions-arrangements was to establish a mood and organize it. The written parts constitute a framework like an organizational skeleton, within which the improvisation takes place. There should be a strong relation between the two. In the writing, I take special precautions to make a soloist play in a certain mood. I'll take measures to see that the soloist plays in this mood, like backgrounds that force the soloist to remain in that mood. In this album I felt that the soloists were always in the mood of the composition. 

lf it's going to be jazz; there has got to be toom for improvisation. It's not a jazz number if there's no improvisation: jazz is improvisation. When I write something, it isn't jazz in itself, it's merely a composition in the jazz idiom. Jazz is jazz because it's completely unpredictable.

For me, form is dominated by content. When I begin working, my materials at hand — melody, beat — begin to dictate a form. I let them develop logically and develop 

their own form.

The players on this album are the players of my choice. They possess the great individuality required to play a continuous solo line, and the necessary insight which allows 

them to play these lines in relation to the other voices and the entire composition. 

Such a player is Paul Moer, whose ability to accompany is equalled by his talent for interpretation and improvisation.

Such a player is Red Mitchell, who by some caprice of fate has chosen to express his melodic conception through the medium of an instrument whose function is basically 

rhythmic.

Such a player is Shelly Manne — Shelly the melodic, Shelly the musical, Shelly the inventive, Shelly the epitome of good taste.

And such a player was Bob Gordon. His feeling was contagious, his sound indomitable, his time impeccable, the beauty and logic of his thought inexplicable. I learned to write through playing, and it was largely through Bob's influence that I learned how to play.

*Jack Montrose (from the liner notes)*

1 - A Little Duet

(Jack Montrose)

2 - April's Fool

(Jack Montrose)

3 - Dot's Groovy

(Jack Montrose)

4 - I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town

(Frank Weldon, Andy Razaf)

5 - Cecilia

(Harry Ruby, Dave Dreyer)

6 - The News And The Weather

(Jack Montrose)

7 - When You Wish Upon A Star

(Ned Washington, Leigh Harline)

8 - Have You Met Miss Jones

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

9 - Paradox

(Jack Montrose)

Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, May 11, 1955

Liberty Records • Jazz in Hollywood Series (VIII)

Bobby Enevoldsen

Smorgasbord

✤Liberty LJH 6008✤

Smorgasbord is a delightful album. The title is so intriguing because it is so descriptive and applicable. According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, "Smorgasbord" is a Scandinavian word meaning "a variety of appetizers served before the main meal". Mr. Enevoldsen is Scandinavian (Danish to be exact), and this is his album, but that's only the first parallel. The arrangements, also Mr. Enevoldsen's, are interestingly varied; and the songs run the gamut from the old to the new, from the soulful beauty of the ballad, "My Ideal", to the almost raucous blues of "Bob's Boy", and, then to the up-tempoed "You're In Love". The musicians themselves offer even more variety to the sum total, because four of them double and triple on instruments: Red Mitchell on bass and piano; Marty Paich on piano, organ and accordion; Larry Bunker on drums, vibes and piano; and Bob, himself, on tenor saxophone, valve trombone, and bass. So you see, it's really a smorgasbord of jazz. And it's all very stimulating. In too many jazz albums today there's a regrettable lack of judgement and care. You listen and know that the entire twelve sides were conceived, arranged, and recorded within a two or three day period. This is an excellent method for a company to release six or seven albums every month; but it's also an excellent method of not taking advantage of talent and good musicianship. Smorgasbord, fortunately, is not this kind of album. Each composition was obviously carefully arranged and rehearsed. And the end result is more than worth the time and effort consumed in getting the desired sound. *Bobby Troup (liner notes)* 

Back in the early 1950s, jazz musicians were impossibly gifted. A good number not only could play their primary instrument with enormous skill and flair, they often could play quite a few others. This was particularly true on the West Coast, where studio work was abundant but your share depended largely on how many axes you could grind. If you played only the tenor sax, your odds of being called consistently for a job were slim given the competition. But if you played three or more instruments, you could find yourself recording on several sessions a day. One of these highly versatile West Coast jazz musicians was Bob Enevoldsen, who played valve trombone, tenor sax and upright bass.

Born in Montana, Enevoldsen studied music in Montana, served in the army, taught music in Salt Lake City, and moved to Los Angeles in 1951. There, he played valve trombone and tenor saxophone with Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne and Marty Paich. Soon after he arrived, he learned the bass, perhaps as a way to play with the Harry Babasin Quartet and free up bassist Babasin to play the jazz cello.

Enevoldsen also played bass in pianist and singer Bobby Troup's groups from 1954 onward. In 1959, Enevoldsen began working in Las Vegas show bands, and became a staff and studio musician for Steve Allen's TV show from 1962-64. In the decades that followed Enevoldsen remained a steady session and freelance musician on the West Coast.

Among Enevoldsen's key recordings of the 1950s are dates with the Gerry Mulligan Tentet , Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank , Bill Holman, Russ Garcia, Marty Paich and Art Pepper. From 1960 onward, Enevoldsen worked on movie soundtracks and TV show themes, and recorded jazz sessions up until his death in 2005.

Perhaps Enevoldsen's finest leadership date from the mid-1950s is Smorgasbord. The album demonstrates his versatility and humor as well as his spirited arranging skills. In addition to being a highly swinging session, it's notable for the musicians who were there and the instruments they played. The recording features Enevoldsen on valve trombone and tenor sax; Marty Paich on piano, organ and accordion; Larry Bunker on vibes and drums; Howard Roberts on guitar; Red Mitchell on bass and piano; and Don Heath on drums.

Besides the terrific small-group charts by Enevoldsen, you get to hear Paich play the squeezebox, and he does quite a fabulous job ("Swinging on a Star", for example). Also spectacular is Larry Bunker on vibes and guitarist Howard Roberts, who too often is overlooked among the crowd of jazz session guitarists in California during this period.

As one of jazz's early valve-trombonists, Enevoldsen cannot be compared with Bob Brookmeyer. Bob was and continues to be spectacular, and the two artists weren't in the same league. But Enevoldsen was a solid player and arranger who found steady work playing three different instruments. And he played them with ease and grace. *Marc Myers*

Side 1

1 - Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead

(Arlen, Harburg)

2 - Swingin' On A Star

(Van Heusen, Burke)

3 - Swinger's Dream

(MacDougald)

4 - My Ideal

(Robin, Whiting, Chase)

5 - How Low The Tune

(Troup, Enevoldsen)

6 - John's Jumble

(Enevoldsen)

Side 2

7 - You're In Love

(Bobby Troup)

8 - Thinking Of You

(Kalmar, Ruby)

9 - No Time For Love

(Davidson)

10 - Mr. Know-It-All

(Bobby Troup)

11 - Oh! Look At Me Now

(John DeVries)

12 - Bob's Boy

(Bob Gordon)

#1:

Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax), Marty Paich (piano), Larry Bunker (vibes),

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#2:

Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax), Marty Paich (accordion), Larry Bunker (vibes),

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#3:

Marty Paich (organ), Red Mitchell (piano), 

Larry Bunker (vibes), Bob Enevoldsen (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#4:

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Marty Paich (accordion), Larry Bunker (vibes),

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#5:

Marty Paich (accordion); Larry Bunker (vibes); Howard Roberts (guitar);

Red Mitchell, Bob Enevoldsen (basses); Don Heath (drums).

#6:

Marty Paich (piano), Bob Enevoldsen (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

#7:

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Marty Paich (piano),Larry Bunker (vibes), 

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#8:

Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax), Marty Paich (piano),Larry Bunker (vibes), 

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#9:

Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax), Marty Paich (accordion), Larry Bunker (piano),

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#10:

Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax), Marty Paich (organ),

Larry Bunker (vibes), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#11:

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Marty Paich (piano), Larry Bunker (vibes), 

Howard Roberts (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Don Heath (drums).

#12:

Marty Paich, Larry Bunker, Red Mitchell (pianos); Howard Roberts (guitar);

Bob Enevoldsen (bass); Don Heath (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, November 25 and 29, 1955