Five-Star Collection... The Down Beat Five-Star History (Part I)

Before this year's final post, it may be helpful to take a brief look at the history of how Down Beat has judged music over the years and how it eventually arrived at its classic five-star system, which we have used so far for the series we came up with to pay tribute to the publication's celebrated reviewers.

Throughout its long history, Down Beat not only chronicled the evolution of jazz— it also refined the very tools it used to evaluate recordings. Between 1946 and 1952, the magazine tried three different rating systems, each one formally announced to readers in its pages.

What follows is the first part (of three) of that sequence, along with the original texts that introduced each change.

✤ 1946 ✤ 

How Down Beat First Retooled Its Rating Method:

The 1946 Note-Symbol System

When Down Beat entered the postwar era, it sought a clearer, more flexible way to judge the rapidly growing stream of new releases. In early 1946, the magazine abandoned its older, loosely defined evaluation practices and introduced a system based on musical note symbols—a concise visual code meant to give readers an immediate sense of a record’s merit.

What follows is a simple presentation of that first experiment, along with the original editorial text that announced the change.

The first attempt at a consistent rating system appeared in the May 20, 1946 issue, in Michael Levin's section "Diggin' the Discs with MIX".

Down Beat introduced a simple visual code based on eighth notes, giving readers a quick sense of the reviewer's verdict. The scale ran as follows:

♪♪♪♪ — Tops

♪♪♪ — Tasty

♪♪ — Pleasing

♪ — Boring

The magazine presented the new system with this note of caution to readers:

"For the first time, Down Beat is using symbols to tell you at a glance something about each record reviewed by 'Mix', who, of course, is Michael Levin. One word of caution about their use: review symbols are as bad as B's used to be on grammar school report cards; namely, drawing the fine lines between a fair and a good record is a difficult process. A 4 note rating one week might draw only 3 notes if issued the following week, solely because the whole group of releases the next week might be better on an average. No critic can carry comparative ratings from week to week, save in an approximate fashion".

The system was short–lived, but it marked Down Beat's first effort to formalize its critical criteria.

Which was the first artist reviewed who received the highest score?

Coleman Hawkins!

Coleman Hawkins All-American Four

♪♪♪ Make Believe

♪♪♪♪ Just One of Those Things

First chorus here is a sample of liquid, lovely Coleman with no squawking or reaching for high ones. Same goes for the Wilson chorus that follows. Hawk comes on again and can’t top himself. It’s a topnotch side. Flipover has that fantastically crystalline left hand of Theodore Wilson at a fast bounce tempo, with Hawk's following chorus getting a trifle tangled in the middle; though the way Wilson plays on this side would be enough to scare anybody—everything and not an ounce extra is there (Keynote 1317).

*Michael Levine (Down Beat, May 20, 1946)*

The restored version of these tracks was included on one of the CDs in The Chronogical Classics series.

Coleman Hawkins

The Chronogical • 1944

It is one of the lucky coincidences in jazz history that Coleman Hawkins was in truly stupendous 1944/45, and that at the same time many small, new record-companies entered business, managing to entice the saxophonist into recordings so frequently — and almost always music of everlasting quality.

This volume of the recordings of Coleman Hawkins, presented in chronological order, opens with a fine set for the Keynote label. Hawk's perfect combination of virtuosity and swing is evident on the fast "Flame Thrower" and "Cattin'", his combination of elegance and finesse on the ballads. The boppish "Disorder" is followed by another one of the saxophonist's intricate compositions, plus "Rainbow Mist" a rather free improvisation of "Body And Soul". Less familiar but equally thrilling, the "Saxtet" session pairs Hawk with Georgie Auld and Ben Webster for some hot blowing. On "Pick Up Boys", a simple yet effective riff, Charlie Shavers first launches an unusually gruff Ben Webster, then Georgie Auld and Hawkins, into some sizzling solo work. The next four recordings, by the "Sax Ensemble", offer magnificent solos by Hawkins, Byas and Harry Carney. Tab Smith's efforts, on the other hand, are rather strange, his bizarre playing culminating in a curious run at the end of "Sunny Side". He later recorded a similar version of this same number under his own name. The CD ends with a set of unusually relaxed performances by Hawkins, backed by Teddy Wilson, John Kirby and Sid Catlett. Although recorded a bit off-microphone, Wilson's elegant playing has rarely been more impressive, his work on "Don't Blame me" rivaling his unforgettable 1937 solo version of this same song. *Anatol Schenker, July 1995 (from the liner notes)*

During the mid-'40s Coleman Hawkins was hitting another peak, seasoned by many years in big bands both in the States and Europe. He wasn't out of fashion during those early bop years, either, as he often played with the music's young Turks; their sound was a mix of the big band era's refined combo swing and bop's new, angular energy. This Classics disc captures some of the tenor great's best sides from the period, including an early bop milestone featuring Dizzy Gillespie and Don Byas ("Disorder at the Border") and tracks with Ben Webster and a variety of small bands graced by the likes of Byas, Teddy Wilson, Harry Carney, and Cozy Cole. Essential listening.

*Stephen Cook (allmusic.com)*

1 - Flame Thrower

(Hawkins)

2 - Imagination

(Burke, Van Heusen)

3 - Night And Day

(Porter)

4 - Cattin' At Keynote

(Lim)

5 - Disorder At The Border

(Hawkins)

6 - Feeling Zero

(Hawkins)

7 - Rainbow Mist

(Hawkins)

8 - Pick-Up-Boys

(Feather)

9 - Porgy

(Fields, McHugh)

10 - Uptown Lullaby

(Feather)

11 - Salt Peanuts

(Gillespie, Clarke)

12 - On the Sunny Side Of The Street

(Fields, McHugh)

13 - Three Little Words

(Ruby, Kalmer)

14 - Battle Of The Saxes

(Hawkins)

15 - Louise

(Whiting, Robin)

16 - Make Believe

(Kern, Hammerstein II)

17 - Don't Blame Me

(McHugh, Fields)

18 - Just One Of Those Things

(Porter)

19 - Hallelujah

(Robin, Grey, Youmans)

Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax) with:

#1 to #4:

Teddy Wilson (piano), Israel Crosby (bass), Cozy Cole (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 17, 1944

#5 to #7:

Leo Parker, Leonard Lowry (alto saxes); Don Byas, Ray Abrams (tenor saxes);

Budd Johnson (baritone sax); Clyde Hart (piano); Oscar Pettiford (bass); Max Roach (drums)

Recorded in New York City,  February 22, 1944

#8 to #11:

Charlie Shavers (trumpet), Georgie Auld (alto sax, tenor sax),

Ben Webster (tenor sax), Hy White (guitar),

Bill Rowland (piano), Israel Crosby (bass), Specs Powell (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 17, 1944

#12 to #15:

Tab Smith (alto sax), Don Byas (tenor sax),Harry Carney (baritone sax),

Johnny Guarnieri (piano),  Al Lucas (bass),  Sidney Catlett (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 24, 1944

#16 to #19:

Teddy Wilson (piano), John Kirby (bass), Sidney Catlett (drums).

Recorded in New York City, May 29, 1944

Five-Star Collection... Lester Young

Lester Young

The Jazz Giants '56

Imitation, as a wise man once put it, is never competition. Accordingly, imitation with neither understanding nor technique can bring woeful results to the young musician. To put the theory to test, no other saxophonist has had quite so strong an influence on modern-day tenor saxophonists than Lester Young, otherwise known as the "President". For many saxophonists, however, the influence has not necessarily been a good one, simply because the limitations have been merely surface.

To play a saxophone in the Lester Young manner requires — well, it requires a Lester Young, which is to say an artist with his roots immersed deeply in the mainstream of jazz. Or that failing, a musician with at least a feeling for jazz' muscular, swinging tradition. An error committed so frequently as to become commonplace finds the imitator concerned more with sound than substance.

The Lester Young sound is a very special thing, certainly, and with it is associated a kind of languor, a sophistication that often belies its basic blues foundation. But the guts of the blues — and its purposeful vigor — is also a vital part of the Young style. And without it, without this strength that is suggested rather than expressed boldly, the would-be Lester Youngs create little more than hollow, superficial and often quite banal mimicry.

The imitators could learn considerable from this album, entitled with justification The Jazz Giants '56. For in this one, Lester illustrates more graphically than ever just where the "Lester Young school" has been errant. By no means is this, as they say in the television commercials, a "new" Lester Young, but it is a Lester Young with a stronger approach than has been his very recent custom. The tone remains, lean and cool (in the best sense), but the vigor is unmistakable and the jazz ideas are, as always, fresh and imaginative. *(from the liner notes)*

The Jazz Giants '56 comprise Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson, Vic Dickenson, Jo Jones, Freddie Green, and Gene Ramey, and a better-knit assemblage would indeed be hard to conceive. As the notes point out, this is the first time Pres and Roy have recorded together, and for some 20 years, someone has been goofing.

This is one of the records of this or any other year, and it is difficult to imagine a group playing much better than this one gets on You Can Depend on Me. All the good qualities which we usually ascribe to jazz — vitality, swing, ingenuity, rhythmic variety, and impeccable improvisation — are present here. Rest of the tracks are not far below this remarkable level, and it is really unfair to pout out high spots, although the unvarying consistency of Roy and Pres should be mentioned. Especially note Young's opening statement on This Year's Kisses — it contains all the loveliness and feeling for music one could wish. Suffice it to say that this collection belong in any and every library.

The notes err, by the way in stating that Pres and Dickenson never have recorded together before — they appeared on some Philo sides under Pres' leadership a decade ago.

*Jack Tracy (Down Beat, May 30, 1956 [5 stars])*

1 - I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan

(Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz)

2 - I Didn't Know What Time It Was

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - Gigantic Blues

(Lester Young)

4 - This Year's Kisses

(Irving Berlin)

5 - You Can Depend On Me

(Charles Carpenter, Louis Dunlap, Earl Hines)

Lester Young (tenor sax), Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Vic Dickenson (trombone),

Teddy Wilson (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Gene Ramey (bass), Jo Jones (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sound, New York City, January 12, 1956