Five-Star Collection... John Mehegan

John Mehegan

The First Mehegan

In this album Savoy is proud to present to the Jazz listening audience, another recital by one of the finest of contemporary pianists, Johnny Mehegan. This is volume one of what we respectfully title "The First Mehegan", also noting that Johnny is a teacher of improvisation at Juilliard Conservatory in New York City where he has taught the ageless beauty of classical music and the new vitality of Jazz. As the expressive medium in this session, we choose the trio and quartet, presenting other modern Jazz giants to support Johnny's ideas. The quartet sides feature Chuck Wayne, an extremely swinging and authoritative guitarist, and Vinnie Burke on bass, plus the new drum star Joe Morello. Trio-wise we have Charles Mingus, a great bassist and personality in modern Jazz, and also a legitimate composer in his own right, plus Kenny Clarke, the "daddy" of modern drummers. Throughout, they all support the mood and add a swinging presence to the performance.

(...)

I feel that the outstanding characteristic of Mehegan's musical invention is in its simplicity, and in the exhaustive depth and subtlety of his expression. However, by simplicity, this is definitely not the connotation of "easy" or "uninspired", rather, as an artist friend has expressed, "his is a studied simplicity". That is the application of artistic restraint, wherein the musician selects with delicate skill the concise figure, offering the light stroke as opposed to the grandiose flourish or the contrived statement. (...) It has been my pleasure to know Johnny but a few months, but in that time he has earned a professional and personal respect of no small import. I suggest a similar realization of his magnitude and scope would surely benefit our Jazz-art.  *Jack McKinney (from the liner notes)*

Here is a real talent, one who has a gleaming jazz future. There is confidence in Mehegan's attack, and knowledge in his notes, and he swings. John has absorbed many influences, from Teddy Wilson and Nat Cole to Bud Powell and Lennie Tristano, but he has welded them all into an expression of his own beliefs and personality. He has a message.

First four sides have Charlie Mingus on bass and Kenny Clarke, drums. Last four spot guitarist Chuck Wayne, bassist Vinnie Burke, and drummer Joe Morello.

Aside from Mehegan, who plays superbly on all the bands, you may be as impressed as I was by Mingus on Thou Swell, Chuck Wayne on Stella, on which he and Mehegan play like Siamese twins, and by the drumming of both Clarke and Morello — always pulsating, always helpful, always tasteful.

This one Savoy calls The First Mehegan. The second is already being eagerly awaited by at least one person. *Jack Tracy (Down Beat, August 10, 1955 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Cherokee

(Noble, Shapiro)

2 - The Boy Next Door

 (Martin, Blane)

3 - Blue's Too Much

(David)

4 - Thou Swell

(Rodgers, Hart)

Side 2

5 - Taking A Chance On Love

(Duke, Fetter, Latouche)

6 - Uncus

(Mehegan)

7 - Sirod

(Mehegan, Miles)

8 - Stella By Starlight

(Washington, Young) 

#1 to #4:

John "Johnny" Mehegan (piano), Charles Mingus (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, January 30, 1955

#5 to #8:

John "Johnny" Mehegan (piano), Chuck Wayne (guitar),

Vinnie Burke (bass), Joe Morello (drums).

Recorded in New York City, June 10, 1954

Paul Severson And Chuz Alfred

 

Paul Severson (1928-2007) was a well-schooled musician with symphony, studio, and traveling band experience. He began studying piano at the age of 5, in his home in Fargo, ND. At the age of 13, he switched to the trombone and never looked back. In 1951 he got a master's degree from Northwestern, and entered the world of big band sounds. He spent two years as first trombone with Ralph Marterie's band, followed by a stint with Hal McIntyre and a Stan Kenton concert tour in the fall of 1953. During the 1953-1954 season he was also first trombonist with the Chicago Civic symphony orchestra. For over two years he was a staff musician for CBS in Chicago. In 1956, he was assigned to record Midwest Jazz, the first in a series of Midwestern jazz albums for Chicago's Academy label. The session clearly captured the creativity of the group Paul put together with Kenny Soderbloom on tenor, Mel Schmidt on bass, and drummer Bob Tilles. Throughout these gently flowing tunes, Severson proved to be a warm, fluent trombonist, his writing was loose and conducive to swinging, and most of his compositions are engaging.

A native of Lancaster, Ohio, "Chuz" Alfred (1932-2018) came of a musical family entourage. Chuz became interested in music around sixth grade, when he began studying the clarinet. While studying at Ohio State University in August 1954, he organized his first professional group, called the Chuz Alfred Quartet. Even though he always considered himself a jazz man, because of the greater demand for the tenor sax in club work, he switched to tenor, and roughly seventy-five percent of his repertoire was in the Rhythm and Blues and Rock 'n' Roll fields. A year later they became a Quintet with Chuz on tenor; Ola Hanson, trombone; Chuck Lee, piano; and two younger newcomers to the group, Paul Holt, bass; and Jim Markham, drums. When Ozzie Cadena from Savoy Records asked Chuz to make a jazz album, Paul and Jim sat it out, figuring they'd better get more experience, and Cadena replaced them with two masters of their respective instruments, bassist Vinnie Burke, and drummer Kenny Clarke. In September 27, 1955, they recorded a long-playing album in a single session that was released early in 1956 under the title Jazz Young Blood and has become a true collector's item.

Paul Severson And Chuz Alfred

Rare And Obscure Jazz Albums

Spain-based label Fresh Sound Records shows that there are periods of Western Civilization when art is at a peak, and other times at a nadir. The mid 50s had such a surfeit of great sounds and bands that it was impossible to keep up with all of them. Thankfully, we have the chance to finally catch up with what really happened musically during the Eisenhower years on these pair of discs, each holding this rewarding yet obscure albums.

First up is a 1956 unit by trombonist Paul Severson with Kenny Soderbloom/tenor sax-baritone sax, Mel Schmidt/bass and Bob Tilles/drums. The team is California Cool with Soderbloom's tenor in vintage Stan Getz fashion on the easy swing of "Too Much" and Mulligan misty for his baritone work on "Gone With The Wind". Severson's brash glows on the warm "I Could Write A Book" and creates rich harmonies on the fun "One More Mambo", getting hipper than Dumbo on "I Only Have Eyes For You".

Tenorist Chuz Alfred sounds like a mix of Lester Young and Dexter Gordon on his quintet with proto bopping drummer Kenny Clarke, Ola Hanson/trombone, Chuck Lee/piano and Vinnie Burke/bass on a slick 1955 session. Alfred is long and tall as he saunters on "A Message From Home" and blueses up "Manta Wray". Alfred is in a Prez mood for a foggy "I Can't Get Started" and is nimble with Clark on "Chuz Duz". How did we miss these guys?

Both albums have wonderful liner notes giving lots of background information. You'll get started on a treasure hunt for more of the same by these guys. *George W. Harris*

1 - Too Much

(Paul Severson)

2 - Whee

(Paul Severson)

3 - Gone With The Wind

(Wrubel, Magidson)

4 - 11th Heaven

(Paul Severson)

5 - I Could Write A Book

(Rodgers, Hart)

6 - After You

(Paul Severson)

7 - One More Mambo

(Paul Severson)

8 - I Only Have Eyes For You

(Warren, Dubin)

9 - Who, Me?

(Paul Severson)

10 - Out Of Nowhere

(Johnny Green)

11 - Short Story

(Paul Severson)

12 - Robbin's Nest

(Jacquet, Thompson)

13 - Just Loafin'

(Paul Severson)

14 - Aren't You Glad You're You

(Van Heusen, Burke)

15 - A Message From Home

(P.D.)

16 - Manta Wray

(Chuz Alfred)

17 - I Can't Get Started

(Duke, Gershwin)

18 - Harlequin

(Alfred C. Lee)

19 - Love Comes To Mehitabel Brown

(Chuz Alfred)

20 - Chuz Duz

(Richard Cone)

#1 to #14: from the album Midwest Jazz (Academy MWJ-1)

Paul Severson (trombone), Kenny Soderbloom (tenor sax, baritone sax),

Mel Schmidt (bass), Bob Tilles (drums).

Recorded in Chicago, June 1956

#15 to #20: from album Jazz Young Blood (Savoy MG-12030)

Chuz Alfred (tenor sax), Ola Hanson (trombone),

Chuck Lee (piano), Vinnie Burke (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums).

Recorded in Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, September 27, 1955

George Handy - "X" Sessions

George Handy (born George Joseph Hendleman in January 1920) was an American jazz arranger, composer and pianist whose musical beginnings were fostered under the tutelage of composer Aaron Copland. While he had an impressive career as a pianist, he is best known in retrospect for his bebop arrangements.

Born in New York City, Handy first worked professionally as a swing pianist for Michael Loring in 1938, but soon was drafted into the United States Army in 1940. From 1944 to 1946 he became a member of the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra, composing and performing on piano. This was during a time when many big bands were transforming their musical tendencies toward bebop. He did leave the orchestra briefly to do work for Paramount Studios, but returned to Raeburn quickly. During this period he entered one of his most creative periods, doing arrangements of older standards with a distinctly bebop quality. Just as he was entering his prime, however, he had a falling out with Raeburn and left the group. While he continued to arrange for other musicians in his later career, it is that 1944–1946 period for which he is remembered most. AllMusic noted that "He was pianist with Zoot Sims' combo during 1956–1957 but mostly worked outside of jazz during his last four decades, although he did spend some time as a Down Beat critic during the latter half of the 60s.

Handy died in Harris, New York, in January 1997 at the age of 76, from heart disease. *wikipedia.org*

***

One of the most advanced arrangers of the mid-1940s, George Handy's radical charts gave the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra its musical personality while also probably making it impossible for the big band to work steadily. He originally learned piano from his mother but later studied at Julliard, New York University, and with Aaron Copland. Handy played with Raymond Scott in 1941 but made his reputation with Raeburn (1944-1946), whose orchestra he turned from a dance band into an ensemble more advanced in its own way than Stan Kenton's. "Tonsillectomy" and "Dalvatore Sally" were two of Handy's more notable (or infamous) originals but even his arrangements of standards (such as "Body and Soul" and "Temptation") that featured singers David Allyn and Ginnie Powell were quite dissonant and full of surprising explosions. Unfortunately, a personality conflict resulted in Handy only being with Raeburn for a little less than two years. Although he wrote for other bands (including those of Alvino Rey, Ina Ray Hutton, and Herbie Fields) and spent time working in the studios, Handy ended up being quite obscure. He was pianist with Zoot Sims' combo during 1956-1957 but mostly worked outside of jazz during his last four decades, although he did spend some time as a Down Beat critic during the latter half of the '60s. As a leader, George Handy was captured privately on six numbers with a quartet in 1945 (released by Onyx), made two studio sides with the Vivien Garry Trio (for Studio & Art in 1945), recorded a specially commissioned piece for Norman Granz in 1946 ("The Bloos"), and headed two little-known albums during 1954-1955 for the RCA subsidiary "X". *Scott Yanow*

George Handy

Handyland U.S.A.

[originally Handyland U.S.A. - "X" (LXA 1004)]

June 13, 1954, saw the return of George Handy to the musical world. He promptly began writing anew with unabashed fury, love and stoic realism. To those of us Handy-ites who had always felt that George was THE Giant of this decade it was anthralling news. Now, at last, a potencial that was virtually untapped was ready to yield a musical geyser.

Ed Kissack of label "X" and myself conceived the idea of recording George Handy running the gamut of jazz expressions. Hence the first of his musical feelings, basic jazz, is clearly attested to in this album. This, of course, is only the start of a free slowing musical flotsam, the Handy current, that will eventually culminate in a ocean of startling sharps and flats.

Thus it was avid interest that inner sanct of the musical realm looked forward to...

August 16, 1954, a hot, sultry evening in Manhattan. The site, Webster Hall, a large meeting place usually used for weddings and social functions. Its hallowed walls encompass acoustical quality second to none.

Assembled were some of the top musicians in the world. This was a hand-picked aggregation, men who had carved their niche in the immortal archives of swingdom.

Because of other commitments no rehearsal was possible. At about a quarter of ten at the night we started. We finished at six thirty that dawn. Needless to say there were interim periods of complete fatigue, high spirits, moroseness, verbosity, and Gemütlichkeit. Therefore, in spite of the unusual procedure of this recording session, it does reflect a complete stratum of feeling, both by the musicians and the composer; the only unwavering high quality was in the recordings.

Since most record dates are done in sterile surroundings, we decided to change matters. We invited a group of friends and music aficionados who we knew would lend a natural feeling to the recording. Of course they beame quite weary after a while and, since the next day was a work day, had to leave for the most part by one or two A.M., and after that quiet reigned as you'll notice in the recordings. *H. J. Morrison (liner notes)*

1 - Recoil

2 - A Tight Hat

3 - Noshin'

4 - Sprong

5 - Rainbow

6 - Pegasus

7 - Lean To

8 - Blinuet

9 - Case-Ace

10 - Crazy Lady

11 - Zonkin'

12 - Footnotes

(All compositions by George Handy)

Ernie Royal (trumpet), Kai Winding (trombone), Dave Schildkraut (alto sax), Allen Eager (tenor sax), Danny Banks (baritone sax), George Handy (piano), Vinnie Burke (bass), Art Mardigan (drums).

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, August 16 and 17, 1954.

***

George Handy

Pensive

[originally By George - "X" (LXA-1032)]

George Handy who became known as one of the most adventurous arrangers in progressive jazz between 1944 and 1948, before disappearing from the scene, returned to the music field in the summer of 1954.

Handys most remarkable early works were mainly big band arrangements that he did mostly for the Boyd Raeburn and Alvino Rey orchestras. However, in this new stage of his career, he focused more on his work as a leader of his own small band, recording two 12 albums. This is the second and, by far, the rarest one, reissued now for the first time since its 1955 release.

The band here plays a whole library of Handy originals, which he introduces as tone poems. The intricately woven orchestrations reflect many classical influences in the arranged passages, and some moments suggest Bartók and Stravinsky. But improvisation is never discarded, and there are three frequently featured soloists — Sherman, Rehak or Byers, and Schildkraut — whose warm contributions prevent the whole enterprise from losing contact with jazz.

Despite the tempo changes and a great deal of complexity in the writing, the music often swings. The violin is ingeniously used, usually playing a theme while one or two other lines are juxtaposed against it contrapuntally. *Jordi Pujol*

1 - Heavy Hands

2 - Pulse

3 - Tender Touch

4 - Foolish Little Boy

5 - The Sleepwalker

6 - A Wooden Sail In A Wooden Wind

7 - Maretet

8 - Pensive

9 - Of Gossamer Sheen

10 - Stream Of Consciousness

11 - The Flatterer

12 - Knobby Knees

(All compositions by George Handy)

#1 to #8:

Dick Sherman (trumpet), Gene Orloff (trumpet, violin), Frank Rehak (trombone), Dave Schildkraut (alto sax), Ray Beckenstein (flute, alto sax), Tommy Mace (oboe, tenor sax), Danny Bank (baritone sax), Tony Aless (piano), Buddy Jones (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, April 13 (#1 to #5) and April 14 (#6 to #8), 1955.

#9 to #12: 

Charle Panelli (trumpet), Gene Orloff (trumpet, violin), Billy Beyers (trombone), Dave Schildkraut (alto sax), Ray Beckenstein (flute, alto sax), Tommy Mace (oboe, tenor sax), Danny Bank (baritone sax), Tony Aless (piano), Buddy Jones (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, April 22, 1955.