Hal Schaefer - Rare And Oscure Jazz Albums

Like Erroll Garner, Hal Schaefer had his own distinctive jazz piano style and transformed every song he played into pure magic. He could turn standards inside out with a swinging fury and, with his right hand, whip up improvised lines that left listeners dazzled.

Born in 1925 in Queens, N.Y., Schaefer began playing professionally as a teen at resorts in the Catskill Mountains a few hours north of New York.

By the mid-1940s, he was playing and recording with Tommy Dorsey and Boyd Raeburn. During this time, he led a trio that played during intermissions at Duke Ellington concerts.

In 1947, he settled in Los Angeles and teamed with vocalist Peggy Lee and her husband, guitarist Dave Barbour, on record dates. He also squeezed in a session with Bob Cooper's band backing vocalist June Christy. In the early 1950s, he made records for MGM with Woody Herman and singer Billy Eckstine.

By early 1953, he was swept by the movie industry and began working as Marilyn Monroe's vocal coach and accompanist, helping her get up to speed for her solo vocal on Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a song he arranged while working closely with film choreographer Jack Cole. He also worked with her on the music and arrangements for "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "River of No Return" in 1954.

Like many men who came into Monroe's orbit, Schaefer was lulled into thinking their relationship was more than it was. According to Schaefer, he became her lover in 1954 and confidant during the nine months she was married to Joe DiMaggio and beyond. Then Schaefer's relationship with the actress began slipping away. In July 1955, he said, he tried to commit suicide over his inability to hold onto her.

During this period of sexual despair, Schaefer recorded two albums for RCA as a leader — Just Too Much, a trio date months before his suicide attempt, and Jazz Workshop with a sextet months after being released from the hospital. Both are glorious recordings. 

On Just Too Much, recorded in late 1954 and early 1955, the album featured Schaefer (p,cel), Joe Mondragon (b) and Alvin Stoller (d). Schaefer sounds spectacular throughout the album, taking on "Thou Swell", "The Song Is You", "It Could Happen to You" and "St. Louis Blues" among others, creating impossibly inventive renditions that became musical catnip for the listener.

On the Jazz Workshop album, recorded over three sessions in the fall of 1955, the tracks on the first date were "Spring Is Here", "Isn't It Romantic", "Real Lee" and "A New Sound". The band Schaefer arranged featured Jimmy Nottingham and Nick Travis (tp), Schaefer (p), Milt Hinton (b), Don Lamond and Ed Shaughnessy (d).

On "Blues Skies", "This One's for Jack", "A Song of Love" and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter", the personnel included Billy Byers, Urbie Green, Fred Ohms and Chauncey Welsch (tb); Tom Mitchell (b-tb); Hal Schaefer (p); Milt Hinton (b) and Osie Johnson (d).

And on "Imagination", "Dancing in the Dark", "Of Things Gone By" and "Let's Have a Cerebration", the musicians were Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz and Phil Woods (as); Hal Schaefer (p); Milt Hinton (b) and Osie Johnson (d).

"This One's for Jack" must have been for Jack Lewis, RCA's head of jazz A&R at the time, when the 12-inch album format was brand new for pop records. Lewis created the Jazz Workshop series to give top artists a chance to lead a recording session of their own conception. The series also let Lewis quickly fill his quota of newly recorded albums for RCA's 12-inch LP pipeline.

Prior to Schaefer's suicide attempt, a jealous Joe DiMaggio with Frank Sinatra and others broke down the door of the wrong apartment at 3 a.m. looking for Monroe and Schaefer. Following this event, the pianist was regularly harassed in the days before trolling and social media. So much so that Schaefer feared his hands would be broken by goons in retribution and left Hollywood in the late 1950s.

In New York, he continued to play and record jazz albums as well as coach star singers such as Barbra Streisand, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno and Julie Wilson. He moved to Florida in the 1990s and died in December 2012. Marilyn Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose in August 1962 that was widely considered a suicide. *Marc Myers *

Hal Schaefer

Rare And Oscure Jazz Albums

Hal Schaefer (1925-2012) was an extremely talented, thoughtful, and polished New York pianist who, by the age of 30, had already immersed himself in many musical circles. From an inauspicious start as a teenager playing with Lee Castle, he went on to join Ina Ray Hutton’s band for two years before settling in Los Angeles in 1943. There, he played with the bands of Benny Carter, Harry James, and Boyd Raeburn, with whom he gained notable recognition.

From the late 1940s onwards he accompanied Peggy Lee and Billy Eckstine before breaking into the world of film as an arranger and rehearsal pianist. His studio work would include the lucrative role of vocal coach to some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, affected by personal problems, Hal decided to leave the movieland scene behind to start a jazz recording career. His debut album as a leader, Just Too Much, came out in 1955 on the RCA Victor label, on which Hal performed in a trio with Joe Mondragon and Alvin Stoller and attracted considerable attention from jazz fans and critics alike.

Hal returned to New York City in 1955, the same year that RCA Victor inaugurated a new series of recordings titled The Jazz Workshop, which was specifically intended to showcase new ideas in jazz orchestration, composition, and instrumentation. His producer Jack Lewis asked Hal to record his second album as part of the series. With the simple title of Hal Schaefer, the music featured Hal’s creative writing as well as his skilled andmindful approach as a soloist. For this project he used piano, bass, and drums, adding different instrumentation in each of the three recording sessions: one with three reeds, one with five trombones, and the last with two trumpets, himself on harpsichord and an extra drummer. There are several stimulating as well as humorous moments in the writing, largely involving the freshly changing textures with especially charming ballads and sparkling new ideas in jazz. *Jordi Pujol*

1 - All The Things You Are

(Kern, Hammerstein II)

2 - I’ll Remember April

(Ray, DePaul, Johnson)

3 - You Are Too Beautiful

(Rodgers, Hart)

4 - Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

(Arlen, Koehler)

5 - I’m Glad There Is You

(Madeira, Dorsey)

6 - The Song Is You

(Kern, Hammerstein II)

7 - Thou Swell

(Rodgers, Hart)

8 - St. Louis Blues

(W.C. Handy)

9 - Yes

(Hal Schaefer)

10 - Have You Met Miss Jones?

(Rodgers, Hart)

11 - You Stepped Out Of A Dream

(Brown, Kahn)

12 - Montevideo

(Hal Schaefer)

13 - Dancing In The Dark

(Dietz, Schwartz)

14 - Imagination

(Van Heusen, Burke)

15 - This One's For Jack

(Hal Schaefer)

16 - A Song Of Love

(Hal Schaefer)

17 - Isn't It Romantic

(Rodgers, Hart)

18 - A New Sound For The Blue

(Hal Schaefer)

19 - Let’s Have A Cerebration

(Hal Schaefer)

20 - Of Things Gone By

(Hal Schaefer)

21 - Blue Skies

(Irving Berlin)

22 - I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter

(Young, Ahlert)

23 - Spring Is Here

(Rodgers, Hart)

24 - Real Lee

(Hal Schaefer)

#1 to #12: from Just Too Much: The Progressive Piano of Hal Schaefer (RCA Victor LPM-1106)

Hal Schaefer (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, December 27, 1954 (#5, #6, #7, #12), January 4, 1955 (#2, #4, #8, #10) and January 10, 1955 (#1, #3, #9, #11).

#13 to #24, from The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop (RCA Victor LPM-1199)

#13, #14, #19, #20:

Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Hal Schaefer (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, November 28, 1955.

#15, #16, #21 , #22: 

Billy Byers, Urbie Green, Freddie Ohms, Chauncey Welsh (trombones); Tommy Mitchell (bass trombone); Hal Schaefer (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, November 9, 1955.

#17, #18, #23, #24: 

Jimmy Nottingham, Nick Travis (trumpets); Hal Schaefer (harpsichord); Milt Hinton (bass); Don Lamond, Ed Shaughnessy (drums).

Recorded in New York City, October 17, 1955.

Elliot Lawrence • Gene Krupa - More Mulligan Arrangements

 

Elliot Lawrence

Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements

Marc Myers: Whose idea was it for you to record a full album of Gerry Mulligan’s arrangements in 1955?

Elliot Lawrence: Sol Zaentz of Fantasy called us because we didn't have a recording contract with a label. He asked if I wanted to record for Fantasy. Those were the arrangements I had bought from Gerry. At the time, he needed money so he offered to write a few new ones for me. I said yes and I bought them from him. The album helped him raise some cash.

*from an interview for JazzWax, February 2016*

Elliot Lawrence, who led a swing-oriented big band after the swing era had already passed its prime, primarily worked in the studios in the 1950s. This reissue from the Original Jazz Classics series (which has not yet surfaced on CD) was one of Lawrence's few jazz dates of the decade. Utilizing a dozen Gerry Mulligan charts (seven of the songs were also composed by Mulligan) and an all-star crew of young modernists (including trumpeter Nick Travis, trombonist Eddie Bert, altoist Hal McKusick, and Al Cohn on tenor), the results are quite pleasing. Although Mulligan himself does not play, his presence is very much felt on songs such as "The Rocker", "Bweebida Bwobbida", "Strike Up the Band", and "Apple Core". Other highlights include tributes to Zoot Sims ("The Swinging Door") and Lester Young ("Mr. President"). *Scott Yanow*

Elliot Lawrence loves jazz. When he was an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania (he won the Thornton Oakley Award, given each year to the undergraduate who has contributed most to the arts, and won only once before in the field of music), he had himself a swinging band, which used to gig around the Eastern seaboard, blowing up quite a jumping storm. After he'd been graduated, he went to radio station WCAU, where he continued his swinging ways, despite the fact that studio bands are supposed to be strictly commercial. It paid off, though, because soon people started noticing his band much more than they did other studio groups, and finally offers became so frequent and attractive that Elliot and men left WCAU, bowed in at the Hotel Statler in New York, and automatically became a name band!

In that early Philadelphia outfit there was a young saxophonist, a redheaded, wide-eyed, enthusiastic youngster named Gerry Mulligan. Even then he was an arranger, and, encouraged by Elliot, who has done a great deal of writing, himself, Gerry began turning out a batch of manuscripts for the band. And when the gang left the studios, Gerry went with it, and he continued to write for it for several years thereafter, even after he’d quit playing baritone so that he could concentrate exclusively on arranging.

These then are the twelve tunes that comprise an LP of truly superior blowing of truly superior arrangements. The playing is by a bunch of modern, musicianly musicians, led by one of the most talented and enthusiastic leaders of big band modern jazz and penned by a composer-arranger whose contributions to the same medium have been tremendous. It's the first collection of several by Elliot Lawrence which Fantasy plans to issue in the months to come, and it's also the first that shows what a surprisingly blowing and exciting band Elliot Lawrence has been keeping under wraps for much too long. *George T. Simon (liner notes)*

1 - The Rocker

(Gerry Mulligan)

2 - Bye Bye Blackbird

(Henderson, Dixon)

3 - Happy Hooligan

(Gerry Mulligan)

4 - Mullennium

(Gerry Mulligan)

5 - My Silent Love

(Suesse, Heyman)

6 - Bweebida Bwobbida

(Gerry Mulligan)

7 - Strike Up The Band

(G. and I. Gershwin)

8 - Apple Core

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Elegy For Two Clarinets

(Gerry Mulligan)

10 - The Swinging Door

(Sims, Mulligan)

11 - But Not For Me

(G. and I. Gershwin)

12 - Mr. President

(Mulligan, Lawrence)

Elliot Lawrence (piano); Bernie Glow, Al De Risi, Dick Sherman, Nick Travis, Stan Fishelson (trumpets); Al Robertson, Eddie Bert, Paul Seldon, Ollie Wilson (trombones); Freddie Schmitt, Tony Miranda (French horns); Al Cohn, Charlie O'Kane , Eddie Wasserman , Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz (saxes); Buddy Jones [#2, #4, #5, #6, #7, #10, #11], Russ Saunders [#1, #3, #8, #9] (basses); Don Lamond (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sounds, New York City, July 1955.

***

Gene Krupa

Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements

Gerry Mulligan joined the Gene Krupa band in February, 1946, and remained about a year. He arranged for the band all that time, played alto for a couple of months and tenor for about two more. The arrangements he did during that year —when he was 19— are both interesting in themselves and illuminating in the context of the way his writing has developed since. He did about 24 altogether.

At the age of 17, Mulligan had already started arranging professionally — for Johnny Warrington's band at the Philadelphia radio station, WCAU; for Tommy Tucker on Gerry's first road trip; and then for Elliot Lawrence, who had taken over the WCAU orchestra.

"The Krupa band, however", Mulligan recalls, "was the most professional band I'd ever written for. They were so professional they sometimes scared the hell out of  me. They had no trouble playing anything I wrote. Having that skilled a unit to write for was a new and a challenging experience". 

Before he heard these versions of the arrangements he'd done for Krupa, Mulligan had feared that twelve years would make them sound much too dated for comfort, but he was hearteningly surprised to hear that they still stand up. "There were a lot of things", he said, "I thought I hadn't tried until I started writing for Claude Thornhill, but now I hear that I'd already been doing them with Gene's band". 

Mulligan feels he learned a great deal from his year with Krupa, not only about writing and playing, but about people. The band traveled throughout the country, and the experience broadened Gerry considerably. He was also fond of Gene personally, and appreciated the fact that Gene let him write as much as he did — and used most of it. Krupa, in turn, liked Mulligan because he always stood up for what he believed, and knew what he wanted to do. 

Adding this album to your Mulligan-Krupa collection should prove to be an instructive pleasure. It gives —in high fidelity— a cross-section of an important year in Mulligan's history; and it also indicates that Krupa had the prescience to keep the 19-year-old with the band, and —up to a point— give him his head. *(Liner notes)*

Gerry Mulligan was only 19 in 1946 when he joined Gene Krupa's band, playing a bit of alto and tenor sax, but primarily serving as an arranger. But the Verve LP Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements wasn't made until 1958, long after Mulligan went out on his own. Although there are solo features built into the framework of each piece, Mulligan was quite confident in his ability to showcase the entire band as well. Mulligan's "Disc Jockey Jump" became a hit for Krupa, though it wasn't recorded until after he left the band. The vague liner notes fail to identify any of the musicians in Krupa's big band, which includes Jimmy Cleveland, Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith, Kai Winding, and Phil Woods, though Woods' alto sax solos are easily identifiable to his fans. Baritone saxophonist Danny Bank is a bit disappointing compared to what Mulligan could have recorded on the instrument, though it would have been unlikely that the composer would have been interested in rejoining Krupa, even for one record date, at the time it was recorded. It's surprising that this excellent LP remained out of print for so long, particularly with the strong resurgence of interest in all aspects of Mulligan's work since his death in 1996. *Ken Dryden*

Gene Krupa and Gerry Mulligan —hardly a pairing that we would have thought of— but one that works surprisingly well here, and which showcases Mulligan's increasing fascination for larger group settings! The album features Gene on drums with a set of players that include Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, and Barry Galbraith – but the real star of the set is Gerry, who's not playing here, but conducting the larger group of jazz players through charts that are all his own, and which display the same love of fluid ensemble horn parts that he used in his own smaller combo work. There's a lot more brass in the mix than you'd usually get from Gerry —which gives the album a bit more of a Krupa kick— and Gene also gets some nice space to show himself on drums. *dustygroove.com*

1 - Bird House

(Mulligan)

2 - Margie

(Conrad, Robinson, Davis)

3 - Mulligan Stew

(Krupa, Mulligan)

4 - Begin The Beguine

(Porter)

5 - Sugar

(Pinkard, Alexander, Mitchell)

6 - The Way Of All Flesh

(Mulligan)

7 - Disk Jockey Jump

(Krupa, Mulligan)

8 - Birds Of A Feather

(Mulligan)

9 - Sometimes I’m Happy

(Youmans, Caesar, Grey)

10 - How High The Moon

(Lewis, Hamilton)

11 - If You Were The Only Girl

(Ayer, Grey)

12 - Yardbird Suite

(Parker)

#1, #2, #3, #12:

Al DeRisi, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen, Al Stewart (trumpets); Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, Billy Byers, Kai Winding (trombones); Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Frank Socolow, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxes); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Hank Jones (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Jimmy Gannon (bass); Gene Krupa (drums). Gerry Mulligan (arranger & conductor).

Recorded at Fine Studio, New York City, October 20, 1958.

#4 to #11:

Al DeRisi, Marky Markowitz, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen, Al Stewart (trumpets); Jimmy Cleveland, Willie Dennis, Urbie Green, Kai Winding (trombones); unknow (tuba); Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods (alto saxes); Frank Socolow, Eddie Wasserman (tenor saxes); Danny Bank (baritone sax); Hank Jones (piano); Barry Galbraith (guitar); Jimmy Gannon (bass); Gene Krupa (drums). Gerry Mulligan (arranger & conductor).

Recorded at Fine Studio, New York City, October 21 and 22, 1958.

The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop #2

Hal Schaefer

The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop

The RCA VICTOR JAZZ WORKSHOP opened its doors recently to the accompaniment of a suitable fanfare by Al Cohn and his chosen trumpets, in an album entitled Four Brass, One Tenor (RCA Victor LPM-1161). 

At that time we indicated that this exciting new series would be a transmission belt for new ideas in jazz orchestration, or sometimes for experiments in instrumentation. The present set by Hal Schaefer claims both these distinctions. Hal's background provided him with all the technical tools essential to a creative craftsman in a jazz workshop. 

On this album, Hal decided (and RCA Victor's Jack Lewis had a major hand in shaping the decision) he would take the opportunity to spread himself. The RCA VICTOR JAZZ WORKSHOP provided the ideal occasion for a fuller display of his talents. 

"In my mind", says Hal, "this was to be predorainantly an arranging and composing album, designed primarily to exhibit my writing rather than my playing. Later on, of course, I'd like to make another piano album, but for this set I really worked hard on getting everything written for maximum effect and maximum sustained interest. Every note had to be pertect; every musician had to understand and enjoy what was intended in the writing".

I'm sure you will agree that as long as it can develop such talents as Hal Schaefer’s, the RCA VICTOR JAZZ WORKSHOP is making an important contribution to the entire course of contemporary jazz. *Leonard Feather (liner notes)*

On this RCA Victor Jazz Workshop production, pianist-writer Schaefer heads three different units. On one, the band was made up of altoist Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz, and Fudd Gumjaw (Phil Woods), with Schaefer, Milt Hinton, and Osie Johnson. The second had trombonists Billy Byers, Urbie Green, Freddie Ohms, Chauncey Welsh, and bass trombonist Tommy Mitchell with the same rhythm section. The last combined trumpeters Jimmy Nottingham and Nick Travis; drummers Don Lamond and Ed Shaughnessy; Hinton on bass; Schaefer on harpsichord, an instrument he plays with unattractive heaviness.

There are several stimulating as well as humorous moments in the writing, largely involving the freshly changing textures, with the ballads especially charming. But too much of the scoring is static, and it would have been better to have developed some of the ideas further rather than squeezing 12 tunes into one set (especially a workshop project). Ingenuity of instrumentation and cleverness of ideas aren’t enough to make for successful, breathing experimentation. A man also must have much to say that is emotionally convincing, and so far Schaefer hasn’t. The musicianship of all involved is excellent. *Nat Hentoff, Down Beat, April 18, 1956*

Hal Schaefer (1925-2012) was an extremely talented, thoughtful, and polished New York pianist who, by the age of 30, had already immersed himself in many musical circles. From an inauspicious start as a teenager playing with Lee Castle, he went on to join Ina Ray Hutton’s band for two years before settling in Los Angeles in 1943. There, he played with the bands of Benny Carter, Harry James, and Boyd Raeburn, with whom he gained notable recognition.

From the late 1940s onwards he accompanied Peggy Lee and Billy Eckstine before breaking into the world of film as an arranger and rehearsal pianist. His studio work would include the lucrative role of vocal coach to some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, affected by personal problems, Hal decided to leave the movieland scene behind to start a jazz recording career. Hal returned to New York City in 1955, the same year that RCA Victor inaugurated a new series of recordings titled "The Jazz Workshop", which was specifically intended to showcase new ideas in jazz orchestration, composition, and instrumentation. His producer Jack Lewis asked Hal to record his second album as part of the series. With the simple title of Hal Schaefer, the music featured Hal’s creative writing as well as his skilled andmindful approach as a soloist. For this project he used piano, bass, and drums, adding different instrumentation in each of the three recording sessions: one with three reeds, one with five trombones, and the last with two trumpets, himself on harpsichord and an extra drummer. There are several stimulating as well as humorous moments in the writing, largely involving the freshly changing textures with especially charming ballads and sparkling new ideas in jazz. *Jordi Pujol*

Side 1

1 - Dancing In The Dark

(Dietz, Schwartz)

2 - Imagination

(Van Heusen, Burke)

3 - This One's For Jack

(Hal Schaefer)

4 - A Song Of Love

(Hal Schaefer)

5 - Isn't It Romantic

(Rodgers, Hart)

6 - A New Sound For The Blues

(Hal Schaefer)

Side 2

7 - Let's Have A Celebration

(Hal Schaefer)

8 - Of Things Gone By

(Hal Schaefer)

9 - Blue Skies

(Irving Berlin)

10 - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter

(Young, Ahlert)

11 - Spring Is Here

(Rodgers, Hart)

12 - Real Lee

(Hal Schaefer)

#1, #2, #7, #8: 

Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz, Phil Woods [a.k.a. Fudd Ganjaw] (alto saxes); Hal Schaefer (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, November 28, 1955.

#3, #4, #9, #10:

Billy Byers, Urbie Green, Chauncey Welsh, Freddie Ohms (trombones); Tommy Mitchell (bass trombone); Hal Schaefer (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, November 9, 1955.

#5, #6, #11, #12:

Jimmy Nottingham, Nick Travis (trumpets); Hal Schaefer (piano, harpsichord); Milt Hinton (bass); Don Lamond, Ed Shaughnessy (drums).

Recorded in New York City, October 17, 1955.