Stan Kenton Presents Gabe Baltazar

 

Stan Kenton Presents Gabe Baltazar

Stan Kenton Presents

Gabe Baltazar

Producer: Wayne Dunstan

Assistant Producer: Bill Cole

Mastering: Dave Ellsworth

Engineer: Hugh Davies

Cover Photograph: Courtney Harrington

Special thanks to Hy Lesnick, contractor

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California, January 9, 10, 11, 1979

Creative World Records CW 3005

1979

TRUMPETS - John Audino, Ray Triscari, Conte Condoli, John Madrid
TROMBONES - Lloyd Ulyate, Tommy Shepard, Gil Falco, George Roberts 

REEDS - Bud Shank, Bill Green, Jack Nimitz, Bob Cooper, Bill Perkins, Phil Ayling
FRENCH HORNS - Vince DeRosa, Richard Perissi, Art Maebe, George Price
PIANO - Pete Jolly
BASS - Chuck Domonico
GUITAR - Tommy Tedesco
PERCUSSION - Dale Anderson
DRUMS -  Steve Schaeffer, John Guerin, Earl Palmer
VIOLINS - Jimmy Getzoff, Concertmaster; Sid Sharp, Murray Adler, Alfred Lustgarten, Josef Schoenbrun, Bonnie Douglas, Jack Goodkin, Henry Roth
CELLOS - Ray Kelley, Igor Horoshevsky
VIOLAS - Virginia Majewski, Barbara Simons
HARP - Dorothy Remsen

From the back cover: To say a musician is "legendary" is to compound a cliche. But ask any jazz musician about Gabe Baltazar. He is a legend, partly because he is not heard very widely these days, partly because he is one of the finest alto saxophone players in the world. He is elusive, spending almost all his time in Hawaii, seldom touring, seldom recording. If you want to hear Gabe, provided you know of his estimable reputation through the jazz underground, you've got to go to the Islands.

Gabe was a joy to me all the years he was a member of my band. He is a master of his instrument, a great guy and a great artist. I am so proud to present him on the Creative World label.

Listen, and you'll see why it's all right to use the word "legendary" once in a while. – Stan Kenton

Gabe Baltazar – From his early years in picturesque Hilo, his birthplace, to his triumphal return following four years as lead alto with the Stan Kenton orchestra, Gabe Baltazar has personified jazz in the Hawaiian Islands. No Island musician nor few anywhere – has reached the International stature nor garnered the critical praise of this genius of the reeds.

But entertainment tastes change, and pure jazz artistry was somehow never accorded its due in Hawaii. Gabe was never really away from music he was Deputy Director of the world-famed Royal Hawaiian band, and his nights were devoted to jazz and working the big shows that came through Hawaii (Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Liza Minelli, Glen Campbell, Marlene Dietrich) but only recently has his enormous talent re-emerged publicly.

When the Cavalier Restaurant in Waikiki decided to experiment with "new jazz", the Gabe Baltazar Quartet was booked for a two-week engagement. The group is now in its second year of a sizzling, standing-room-only-run. Jazz is finally "in" in Hawaii. And Gabe Baltazar, who had recorded a dozen albums with the Kenton band, who had appeared at the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals, who had performed both live and at recording sessions with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Don Ellis, Cannonball Adderly and the greats of the past quarter century, is back.

This is Gabe's first solo album.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Traditional) - Arranged by Don Menza

What's New (Composed by Haggart- Burke) - Arranged by Bill Holman

Gabe - Composed and Arranged by Angel Pena

A Time For Love (Composed by Mandel- Webster) Arranged by Angel Pena - String Arrangement by Chuck Hoover

Take The "A" Train (Composed by Billy Strayhorn) Arranged by Don Menza - Soloists: Conte Condoli & Bob Cooper

Love Song (Composed and Arranged by Don Menza

Spanish Boots - Composed and Arranged by Don Menza

Passionate Paris In Ping Pong Percussion - Santiago

 

Allez-Vous En

Passionate Paris In Ping Pong Percussion

Santiago and His Silver Strings

Chief Engineer: Preston Ford

Coronet Records CX-142

A Division of Premier Albums Inc.

1961

So... there is not a single instance of "ping pong percussion" effects to be heard on this Ping Pong Percussion set...

I Love Paris

Reverie

C'est Magnifique

Musetta's Waltz (La Boheme)

Can Can

Paris In The Spring

The Last Time I Saw Paris

I Don't Understand The Parisiennes 

Allez-Vous En

Clair de Lune

In The Brazilian Bag - Sergio Mendes

 

One Note Samba

In The Brazilian Bag

The Sergio Mendes Trio

Plus the voice of Wanda de Sah

The Guitar of Rosinha de Valenca

The Alto Sax and Flute of special North American Guest Artist Bud Shank (appears through the courtesy of World Pacific Records

Tower ST 5052

1968

From the back cover: Mendes Trio plus friends by name – not only make the kind of music that tops the U.S. popularity polls but also is the natural rage of such jet-set spas as Rome, Tokyo, and their hometown Rio.

Want to analyze this great appeal? First of all, it's a fresh, contemporary sound that employs the new melodies and samba-like rhythms of Brazil's finest young composers. In a very subtle way you might call it a jazz sound; and in a very definite way you know for sure it's a bright, happy, youthful sound. It is reminiscent of the best bossa nova music heard in the U.S. in the past years and of the popular Carnival Theme (Manhã de Carnaval) from the film "Black Orpheus." Yet it's a sound that's lighter, fresher, happier than these. Its haunting quality seems to build a sort of momentum that moves listeners until they are caught in its spirit. And what a wonderful spirit it is! What's more, the people are just as wonderful:

Sergio Mendes is the pianist and leader of the Trio. He is well-known in Brazil, not only as one of the foremost jazz pianists, but as a talented composer and arranger. He comes from Rio, where he, his wife and baby son have a beautiful home overlooking the bay. His sidemen are bassist Sebastião Neto, formerly a player with João Gilberto's famed group, and a drummer who goes by the name of Chico Batera, or, translated into English, Chico "The Drummer."

Wanda de Sah is the young singer whose name is on everyone's lips today in Brazil. She is literally the girl from Ipanema, a few miles from the famous Copacabana beach in Rio. Originally a guitar teacher, Wanda began singing to her own accompaniments just to entertain her friends. Today her admiring friends are numbered in the thousands.

Rosinha de Valença is possibly the finest woman guitarist in all the world, and certainly one of the most popular musicians in Brazil.

Side One

SO NICE (Samba de Verão). As timely as today, this is a brand new song by the young Brazilian composer Marcus Valle, with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel, sung beautifully in English by Wanda.

FAVELA, by Antonio Carlos Jobim, begins with a bouncy bass motif followed by a superimposed drum figure setting the stage for the piano which states the melody over constantly shifting harmonies.

BERIMBAU. This word refers to an ancient stringed instrument from the state of Bahia used for a ritual dance in which two men fought for the affections of a woman. What Wanda sings (in Portuguese) is a song that has evolved, representing the actual chant of the old ceremonial instrument.

TRISTEZA EM MIM. Literally "sadness is mine," but musically, Rosinha's lively guitar solo reveals a rather optimistic concept of sadness.

AQUARIUS. The derivation of this title is strictly extra-musical. The composer, João Donato, dedicated the work to his wife, whose zodiac sign happens to be Aquarius.

ONE NOTE SAMBA is probably the best known tune in the al- bum, written by one of the best known exponents of bossa nova – Antonio Carlos Jobim. The highly accented melody affords Wanda an ideal outlet for her vocalizing.

Side Two

SHE'S A CARIOCA. In Brazil the slang label for a native of Rio is "Carioca." With this soothing bit of instrumental introspection, composer Jobim has captured the innermost thoughts of a young man who is studying a young female Carioca. The graceful, undulating lines of the music reveal enough thoughts to fill her diary.

MUITO A VONTADE. Another thought-provoking instrumental - written by João Donato – this is a study in complacency, or, to translate the title loosely, to be at an advantage over life. There is a monosyllable in our current vernacular that explains this relaxed frame of mind: "cool."

LET ME (Deixa). Wanda's treatment turns a plaintive plea into a haunting ballad. The song is Baden Powell's; Norman Gimbel added the English lyrics.

CONSOLAÇÃO. Music for the purpose of consoling becomes a showcase for the unamplified magic of Rosinha's guitar, as she shows equal skill at single string or chordal improvising.

REZA. An African chanting prayer sung in Portuguese. Particularly impressive is the manner in which she softens the hypnotic repetitions of the melody to fit into a typical Latin framework.

In Person At El Matador! - Sergio Mendes

 

Arrastao

In Person At El Matador!

Sergio Mendes and Brasil '65

Recording Engineer: Wally Heider

This LP was recorded at El Matador in San Francisco, Calif. Atlantic Records gratefully acknowledges the kind cooperation of the management and staff of El Matador

Cover Design: Haig Adishian

Supervision: Nesuhi Ertegun

The cover painting is by Wesley Duke Lee, a well-known contemporary Brazilian painter, who dedicated this painting to Sergio Mendes

Produced by Rio Productions in conjunction with Nesuhi Ertegun

Wanda De Sah and Rosinha De Valenca appear through the courtesy of Capitol Records

Atlantic 8112

1965

The personnel of "Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65

Sergio Mendes - Piano

Sebastiao Neto - Bass

Paulinho Magalhaes - Percussion

Chico Barera - Drums

The featured guitar soloist is Rosinha de Val and the featured vocalist is Wanda de Sah

Sergio Mendes can also be heard on Atlantic LP 1434: The Swinger From Rio

From the back cover: Chauvinism is as reprehensible and as expendable in music as it is in politics, painting or plumbing. Nevertheless, when an esthetic point has to be made, one that involves a particular group of artists and the very special form they have created, it is both agreeable and enlightening to observe them under the same musical roof, with no outsiders on hand.
This is not an oblique way of saying "Give bossa nova back to the Brazilians" or "Yankee go home." It is merely a reminder that no matter how much wonderful music may have derived, in altered style, from the Brazilian popular music. that invaded the United States three or four years ago, there remains nevertheless a substantial body of musicians who are entitled to call themselves the original, the genuine article. Such a group is Sergio Mendes and his Brasil '65 ensemble.

The concept behind the formation of this combo was a logical one. It entailed a desire to present to American audiences an all-Brazilian, self-contained unit, packaged in Rio for export to a country that has heard most of its Brazilian music played by men who have never been farther South than South Bend.

Sergio Mendes was born February 11, 1941 in Niteroi, which is more or less the Oakland of Rio, just across the bay. (Contrary to intelligence in an earlier album, Ipanema is not a town; it is merely the name of a nearby beach.) Since bringing his show here in November of 1964, Sergio has lived in the U.S. He now makes his home with his wife and infant son in Studio City, Calif.

Sergio's bassist, 34-year-old Sebastiao Neto, is also from Niteroi. Chico Batera, 21, comes from Governor Island, near Rio, and Paulinho, whose full name is Paulino Magalhães, is a Rio-born Los Angeles percussionist added specially for this occasion.

When this live date was taped at "El Matador," the popular Latin-pop-and-jazz music club in San Francisco, the group was completed by the 21-year-old Wanda Maria Sa, a Rio girl professionally known as Wanda De Sah, and by Maria Rosa Cannellas, professionally known as Rosinha de Valenca or Little Rose of Valenca, after her home town. Rosinha, who is 23, was inspired by Baden Powell to take up the guitar; she has a phenomenal ear but cannot read music and does not know the name of a single chord.

There is a little confusion concerning the discoverers of the group. Actually it was a music lover named Dick Adler, now their manager, who helped Sergio to assemble the Brasil '65 unit in Rio and bring it to this country. Sergio also says, "I will never forget the help I had from my godfather, Mario Dias Costa, in the Cultural Division of the Brazilian Foreign Office, who aided us financially in getting started; and from Raul Smandeck, the Brazilian Consul in Los Angeles, who helped us when we arrived here."

Tem do de Mim features Wanda and Sergio. Written by Carlos Lyra, it is a typically relaxed and charming Brazilian melody. O Morro, sung by Wanda, means "the hill" and tells a wistful story about the poor people who live in the slums but are, within prescribed limitations, happy in their sadness (like the blues people who are pictured as laughing just to keep from crying).

Arrastão is a song about fishermen casting their nets on the waters. Written by de Moraes and Eduardo Lobo, a new melodist, it won a $5,000 award in Brazil recently as best new song of the year. My Portuguese being roughly on a level with my Swahili, I cannot vouch for the lyrics, but the melodic contours and the harmony have a unique charm, and there is a suspenseful quality to the main statement. The performance has a form and variety of moods and tempos that lend additional strength to Wanda's interpretation.

The Black Orpheus medley opens with a delicate and simple treatment of Mahna de Carnaval by Rosinha, in a melancholy mood in which Sergio and the rhythm section are soon involved. A bold percussion interlude spans the bridge into Samba de Orfeu, Sergio's delineation of which invited immediate recognition and applause from the generally quiet and attentive audience. Wanda, with unison vocal assistance from her colleagues, completes the medley with A Felicidade, a paradoxically minor-mode song about happiness.

Samba do Astronauta, which is not dedicated to the Wright Brothers, is a Baden Powell melody that serves as a delightful vehicle for the dexterity of Miss de Valenca. The mood it was designed to evoke does not involve the space ship but rather the view of the earth as seen from beyond. There are lyrics, I am told, by de Moraes, but in this version Rosinha manages to tell the story most effectively with her own genius-tipped fingers.

Vai de Vez, which means get lost, or don't come back, was composed by Menescal and has a particularly easy, legato rhythmic feeling that seems to me to symbolize the whole mood of bossa nova, or at least the most essentially Brazilian elements of this often-distorted idiom. Rosinha plays the melody just as it was written; the only ad libbing is offered by Sergio, whose single-note lines have some of the delicacy of a John Lewis.

Samba de Jose, featuring Rosinha, was composed by a fellow-guitarist, Jose Menezes. As in so much of the album, the rhythm is understated yet never wants for virility (if one dare ascribe such a quality to a group that includes Miss Valenca).

Sergio's light touch and improvisational flair can be scrutinized in Noa Noa, his own composition. ("I named it for the island where Gauguin went.") There is more of Mendes, incidentally, in his own album, The Swinger from Rio, on Atlantic 1434.

Caminho de Casa, meaning the road home, was composed by Joao Donato, a pianist from Brazil who now lives in Los Angeles. The very basic chords here will sound familiar to those who have heard some of Vince Guaraldi's work.

"I don't like to play a lot of notes or use the familiar jazz clichés," says Sergio, an observation the truth of which is reflected in his relaxed treatment of Joao Donato's Jodel. This track offers a moment in the spotlight to bassist Sebas- tiao Neto, whose ideas seem equally unpretentious. This is, all in all, the most charming instrumental track in the album.

Reza, the theme number of the Brasil '65 unit, is described by Sergio as "based on an African prayer, and with lyrics by Rui Guerra to a melody by Eduardo Lobo." The main melodic figure, consisting of only two notes, has a haunting quality that leaves people singing it as they walk out of El Matador- or out of the living room as they finish playing this fascinating album.

Brasil '65 has undergone one or two changes in personnel since this session took place, but the spirit remains the same. Now that we have Sergio Mendes permanently among us, we can only hope that he will continue to remind us North American adaptors and imitators that his music doesn't have to concern itself about whether it sounds authentic. It was born that way. May it continue to manifest its intriguing characteristics in Brasil '66, Brasil '67 and so forth far into the Pan-American future. – LEONARD FEATHER

Reza - Sergio Mendes

O Morro - Wanda De Sah

Samba Do Astronauta - Rosinha De Valenca

Tem Do De Mim - Wanda De Sah

Jodel - Sergio Mendes

Samba De Jose - Rosinha De Valenca

Noa Noa - Sergio Mendes

Black Orpheus - Ensemble

  (a) Manha De Caraval

  (b) Batuque De Orfeu

  (c) Samba De Orfeu

  (d) A Felicidade

Arrastao - Wanda De Sah

Vai De Vez - Rosinha De Valenca

Caminho De Casa - Sergio Mendes

The Astromusical House Of Aries - Astrological Series Volume 1

 

The Astromusical House Of Aries

The Astromusical House Of Aries

Astrological Series Volume 1

The Sign Of The Warrior or Pioneer

Producer: Paul Robinson

Repertoire Coordinator: Marlene Stokes

Designer: Oscar De Larenta

Coiffures by Paul Mitchel for Henri Bendel

Cover Photograph: Francesco Scavullo

Designer and Art Director: Bob Cato

GPW Records 1001 Astro Stereo

1969

In Crowd 

King Of The Road

The Joker

Day By Day

Light My Fire

Walk On The Wild Side

All The Way

Kiss Of Fire

The Bridge At Remagen (Main Theme)

Alfie

Downtown

Here Comes The Swingin' Mr. Wilkins! - Ernie Wilkins

 

Gone With The Wind

Here Comes The Swingin' Mr. Wilkins!

Ernie Wilkins and His Orchestra

Everest Records STEREO SDBR 1077

1960

From the back cover: This is the first album for Everest by one of the most consistently rewarding arranger-writers in jazz. The clarity of Ernie Wilkins' scoring; the brisk interplay between sections; the buoyant riffs and counter-lines behind each soloist – are all projected with unique presence and impact as a result of Everest's wide-ranged, full-bodied, exactly balanced sound.

Ernie intends this to be "a jazz dance band" set; and the relaxed, flowing arrangements make it easy for even novices to navigate while the pungent solos by several first-rate jazzmen, including a number from the Count Basie band, should sustain the interest of those who prefer to concentrate on listening.

In the trumpet section are Ernie Royal, Richard Williams, and from the Basie regiment, Joe Newman and Snookie Young. On Baubles, Bangles and Beads, Somebody Loves Me, Gone With the Wind and It Don't Mean a Thing, Thad Jones, another Basicite, replaces Williams. On trombones are Jack Rains, Mickey Graume, Paul Felice on bass trombone, and Al Grey of the Basie band. The reeds are led by Marshall Royal on alto and clarinet; Frank Wess, alto, tenor, flute; Zoot Sims and Paul Gonsalves, tenors with Benny Golson in for Gonsalves in the same four numbers on which Thad Jones replaces Richard Williams. The firmly swinging rhythm section consists of Jimmy Jones, piano; Freddie Greene, guitar; Eddie Jones, bass; Eddie Costa, vibes; and Charlie Persip, drums. Greene, Eddie Jones, Mar- shall Royal, and Frank Wess are all Basiemen while Paul Gonsalves is with Duke Ellington.

Al Grey handles all the trombone solos. Joe Newman has the majority of trumpet solos except for Thad Jones on It Don't Mean a Thing and Richard Williams on The Continental and Stompin' at the Savoy. Flute solos are by Frank Wess who is also heard on tenor in The Continental. Paul Gonsalves solos in All of You and the remainder of the tenor solos are by Zoot Sims. The excellent clarinet solo on Baubles, Bangles and Beads is by Marshall Royal. "He should," notes Ernie, "play clarinet more often. Hardly anybody knows he can play that well with that full a tone."

Ernie selected all the members of the band, and was justifiably pleased at how quickly and completely the band fell into an integrated, thoroughly swinging groove. As a result, the sessions were unusually smooth and several times, the first take of a number proved to be the one that was finally selected. Much of the credit for the lack of tension on this and almost all other Ernie Wilkins' dates is due to his thoroughly idiomatic writing for jazz players. His scores are never cluttered, and invariably make it easy for a man, if he can swing at all, to start swinging from the first note.

The brass section is satisfyingly crisp and assertive, playing with biting precision and yet without a trace of stiffness. Wilkins' voicings for the reed section result in a full, mellow blend that reminds me, to some extent, of the round, flowing substance of Benny Carter's reed section writing for his big bands in the thirties and forties. The rhythm section keeps the beat alive without juggling with it.

Ernie Wilkins had considerable sideman experience as a saxophonist before he decided to concentrate on writing. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, July 7, 1922, Ernie's first instrument was piano. He studied at Wilberforce University, and then gained valuable experience in the Navy Band at the Great Lakes Training Station. After being discharged, he worked with George Hudson and Earl Hines, and became part of Count Basie's reed section from May, 1951, to February, 1955. It was while with Basie that Ernie established his reputation as a skillful, unpretentious arranger with a particularly strong feeling for the blues. Since leaving Basie, Wilkins has continued to write for the Count as well as for Harry James, Ted Heath and Dizzy Gillespie. He is exceptionally active as a scorer for recording dates, and among the many vocalists for whom he's written backgrounds have been Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington, Morgana King, and Lurlean Hunter.

Wilkins hopes that this album will help reintroduce young dancers to that vigorous big band sound -with modern overtones – that used to be so pervasively popular with teenagers in the thirties and early forties. "I think," says Ernie, "that the climate is changing and that there's a growing opportunity for swinging big bands that can play for dancing as easily as for listening, and simultaneously for both purposes.

"I tried," Ernie continues, "to make these standards swing, but with a certain amount of charm as well so that they'd catch the average listener's ear. The quality I was after was effervescence." The band communicates that feeling of joyful, unstraining zest and the result is, I feel, one of the best dance albums in recent months as well as a resilient display of mainstream big band jazz. Jazz, after all, started as music for dancing, and there's no reason why a dance band oughtn't to also have a fully pulsating rhythm foundation and imaginative soloists as this one does. Ernie Wilkins may be on the road again yet-as a leader – Nat Hentoff

Broadway

Surrey With The Fringe On Top

Falling In Love With Love

The Continental

Makin' Whoopee

Stompin' At The Savoy

You're Driving Me Crazy (What Did I Do)

Baubles, Bangles And Beads

Somebody Loves Me

All Of You

Gone With The Wind

It Don't Mean A Thing (If You Ain't Got That Swing

Little Wing - Gil Evans

 

The Meaning Of The Blues

Little Wing

The Gil Evans Orchestra

Live In Germany

Produced by Rudolf Kreis

Recorded live in Germany, October 1978

Licensed by Circle Records, W. Germany

Thanks to Gabriele Kleinschmidt

Front cover photograph: Alois Maul

Back cover photograph: Daniel Lubej

Album design: Randy Vieth

Inner City IC1110 

1981

Gil Evans - Electric Piano

Bob Stewart - Synthesizer

Don Pate - Electric Bass

Rob Crowder - Drums

Terumasa Hino - Trumpet

Lewis Soloff - Trumpet and Piccolo Trumpet

George Adams - Tenor Sax, Flute, Percussion

Gerru Niewood - Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute

From the back cover: GIL EVANS is his own man - although he is demonstrably one of the most influential arrangers in American jazz, he does not have a "five foot shelf" of albums to show for his forty years in jazz. Nevertheless, the years have produced some of the most imaginative and eclectic sounds from the pen of any single arranger currently active. The secret or perhaps merely one of the secrets – is that Evans is never stagnant. In the early 1940s, his arrangements made the Claude Thornhill band one of the most listenable and effective of its era. Later, he was in the forefront of new music with his arrangements for the landmark Birth of The Cool sessions, with Miles Davis an association which continued over the years and resulted in a number of fresh explorations: the Sketches of Spain and Miles Ahead albums as well as the big band Porgy and Bess and the + 19 sets. All reveal a mind in continual quest of new horizons, not content to repeat a formula.

The present set stems from a European tour made in the fall of 1978, which Evans recalls "began in Belgium and ended in Holland." Although some of the arrangements had been made expressly for this tour (and an earlier one that summer), others had been cut down from the original big band format for this nine-piece group.

The Hendrix piece, "Little Wing," for example, had been recorded before by the larger group for a long-unavailable RCA album, "There Comes A Time." But Evans' open ears are reflected in the range of sources here reproduced: Hendrix's electric and rock-oriented matrix is side by side with a piece by alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, whose strengths are rooted in bop, and by another from the pen of hip sophisticate Bobby Troup. – Maggie Hawthorne

Dr. Jeckyll (Jackie) - Jackie Mason

Solo: Niewood as: Hino tp; Pate b; Soloff piccolo tp

The Meaning Of The Blues - Bobby Trout & Lee Worth

Solo: Adams ts

Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

Solo: Levin syn; Stewart tu; Soloff tp; Niewood ss; Crowder dr

On Stage - Bill Perkins

 

Just A Child

One Stage

The Bill Perkins Octet

A Richard Bock Production

Pacific Jazz PJ-1221

1956

Bill Perkins - Tenor

Bud Shank - Alto

Jack Nimitz - Baritone and Bass Clarinets

Stu Williamson - Trumpet and Valve Trombone

Carl Fontana - Trombone

Russ Freeman - Piano

Red Mitchell - Bass

Mel Lewis - Drums

From the back cover: William Reese Perkins, the tow-headed, serious young tenor saxophonist who makes his debut as a leader of his own group in this album, "has the best sound in jazz today".

That all-encompassing tribute comes from another top flight young jazz man and Perkins' section mate for a year on the Woody Herman band, tenor Jerry Coker.

It is also typical of the reaction of musicians and fans throughout the jazz world. Two years ago Stan Getz (and if Pres is president, surely Stanley is secretary of state) flatly told me "Perkins is blowing more than any of us".

Compliments are coming Perkins' way frequently these days. He was voted New Star in the Down Beat Critics' Poll last year and received a similar honor from Metronome. Critics have been unanimous in praising his work with the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton bands. During the Kenton tour of England in the Spring of 1956, Perkins was hailed as the "most beautifully relaxed, eloquent, emotionally moving tenor we have heard in Europe since Pres' last visit" by critic Mike Butcher of The New Musical Express.

And what does this praise do to Perkins? It makes him hang his head bashfully and talk about how great Stan and Brew and Pres and a host of other tenor players are and how dissatisfied he is with his own efforts.

Such modesty is rare in any field, but especially rare in jazz. And yet, it has always been Perkins' trademark ever since he first appeared on the jazz scene as a member of the sax section of the Woody Herman Third Herd. Perkins, who joined Woody in 1951 after a short spell with Jerry Wald's band in Los Angeles (Woody had fired a tenor right after a radio broadcast and put in a hurry call for a replace- ment. Wald sent over Perkins who sat down and stayed for two years), left to stay at home with his family a while, played with Maynard Ferguson's great little band, and then re-joined Herman in 1954 and toured Europe and the U.S. with him and since then has been one of Kenton's stars.

Bill Perkins, (nicknamed "Phineas" by his fellow musicians on the Herman band) was born in San Francisco July 22, 1924. He went to high school in Santa Barbara and attended the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the Univer- sity of California. Originally he had planned to be an engineer. All his immediate family (male, that is) were engineers and it seemed natural for him to follow in their footsteps. He had played clarinet and sax with high school groups in Santa Barbara and while he was at Stanford taking his master's degree, he studied tenor with Chuck Travis, who had played with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Eventually the at- tractions of music proved too great and Bill decided to make it his career.

He then enrolled in Westlake College of Music in Hollywood and after study there, played with Dan Terry, Shorty Rogers (he recorded "The Wild One" EP with Rogers), Jerry Wald and Desi Arnez. Today Perkins plays an imposing array of reed instruments, including the tenor, flute (he has been working on this consistently for the past few years), bass clarinet, alto sax, clarinet and oboe. He also arranges, and some sparkling examples of his ability in that department will be found in this album.

Perkins is a great admirer of "the old" Lester Young and of Stan Getz, and lists among his other favorites Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn and Forrest Westbrook. And his hobbies, aside from mu- sic, are sailing and electronics.

If there were but two words to describe Perkins' tenor sax sound, you would have to say "disciplined emotion". He is a thorough musician, never satisfied with any level he reaches, and is his own sever- est critic. Even on the road with a band, Perkins is famous for being on the job early and practicing. The sound he gets on the tenor is a distillation of the sounds that have gone before, melded into a beau- tifully controlled lyric projection of his own musical ideas.

Perkins is rhythmic, as a good tenor should be (witness his solo in "Song of the Islands") and he is romantic, too (witness the beauty of his solo on "Just a Child".) When he was with Woody Herman it was his fate to have to take the Getz solo on "Early Autumn", a nightly request. It is to his credit, and a tribute to the high quality of his musicianship, that he never played it with the Getzian ghost peering obviously over his shoulder. He stood there and blew it as though it had never been blown before. Each time was the first time, and he won the ever-lasting respect of his fellow musicians for that, including Woody Herman who has heard not a few tenor in that specific situation in the past decade.

If these words sound like an unadulterated paen of praise, I have been successful. That is exactly what I would like to write about Bill Perkins. I don't know of any musician I have ever encountered who has earned my unequivocal respect to the extent that Bill Perkins has. I think that he is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest tenor men in jazz. And furthermore, that he is indicative of the new look in jazz players: a musician, a gentleman and a credit to his art.

For this album, Perkins has joined with four other former Herman Herdsmen: Red Mitchell, Carl Fon- tana, Jack Nimitz and Stu Williamson. Mitchell is already acclaimed as one of the top jazz bass play- ers. Fontana, who has been in comparative obscurity with the band of Hal McIntyre following his service with Herman, is now earning belated praise for his work with Stan Kenton. Jack Nimitz, who was anchor man in the sax section most of the time Perkins was on the Herman band, has recently been performing the same duties with the Kenton orchestra. Stu Williamson, another graduate of the Kenton and Herman bands, has possibly never been heard in such good form as on this album.

The other men are Bud Shank, one of the best known and respected alto sax men in jazz; Russ Freeman, a continually improving pianist who is very impressive on these sides, and Mel Lewis, Ken- ton's current drummer, who provides a tastely swinging foundation.

As to the tunes on this album, I would like par- ticularly to direct your attention to the two numbers from the old Basie band, "Song of the Islands" and "Let Me See", both of which utilize the original Lester Young tenor solos for ensemble playing; Per- kins' work on "One Hundred Years From Today", with its lovely ending; the trombone and tenor interplay on "Zing! Zang!", and the reflective, romantic playing of Perkins on "Just a Child" and Stu Williamson's muted horn on the same tune. – Ralph J. Gleason, editor - The Rhythm Section, San Francisco Chronicle and Down Beat columnist.

Song Of The Islands by Charles King (Arranged by Bill Holman)

One Hundred Years From Today by V. Young and N. Washington (Arranged by Lennie Niehaus

Zing Zang by Bill Perkins (Arranged by Bill Perkins)

Let Me See by Harry Edison (Arranged by Bill Perkins)

For Dancers Only by Sy Oliver (Arranged by Bill Perkins)

Just A Child by Johnny Mandel (Arranged by Johnny Mandel)

As They Reveled by Bill Holman (Arranged by Bill Holman)

When You're Smiling by L. Shay, M. Fisher and J. Goodwin (Arranged by Lennie Niehaus)

Brew Moore

 

Dues Blues

Brew Moore

Photograph: Weiss/Schill

Fantasy 3264 (OJC-049 / F-3-264)

1983

All tunes except: "Dues Blues" – Brew Moore and Harold Wylie, Saxophones; John Markham, Drums; John Moshner, Bass: John Marabuto, piano. "Due Blues" – Brew Moore, Tenor Saxophone; Cal Tjader, Vibes; Bobby White, Drums; Dean Reilly, bass; Vince Guaraldi, Piano

From the back cover: For most of the past two years the best Sunday afternoon sessions in San Francisco have taken place at The Tropics, a corner bar out "in the Avenues" on the way to the Pacific ocean.

Prime feature of these Sunday sessions has been the two tenor team of Brew Moore and Harold Wylie. Any Sunday afternoon you would be likely to find a voting majority of the jazz musicians, travelling and local, who are currently in the Bay Area in attendance paying their homage to Brew and Harold at The Tropics.

The session was held on election day, which in California as in other states, is an unnaturally dry period. However, aided by two cases of ale from a neighboring connection, the session got under way. The three basic elements of this LP are the three basic elements of the Tropics sessions: blues, ballads and swing. The contrasts and the similarities—in the tenor styles of Brew and Harold make interesting listening, especially on their treatment of the ballad.

Of the tunes, "Edison's Lamp" is a product of the pen of John Coppola, stalwart trumpeter with Herman, Kenton, May and many other big bands. It is constructed from a series of quotes from "Septem- ber in the Rain" made by Harry Edison on an LP some time ago. "Nancy With the Laughing Face" is Jimmy Van Heusen and Phil Silvers' lovely ballad and it is no coincidence that Brew Moore's wife is named Nancy, too; "Rhode Island Red" is a tune by pianist John Marabuto, it's named after a character on the San Francisco children's tv show, "Fireman Frank" (the youngest member of Marabuto's family is a steady viewer); it's supposed "to have a Western flavor," Marabuto says; "Marna Moves" is Brew's own tune for his daughter; "Dues Blues" is a traditional San Francisco blues number, played by all the bands locally, "Pat's Batch" is named for KROW disc jockey Patrick Henry and refers to his growing reputation as a braumeister which may one day overshadow his reputation for segueing records in the same key.

Brew Moore is the doyen of tenor saxophonists in San Francisco and something of a legend among the local jazzmen. This is his second Fantasy LP under his own name and he is also heard on Fantasy 3211 and 3250 with Cal Tjader. A native of Mississippi, Brew has played with most of the great names of modern jazz in New York and elsewhere before settling in San Francisco early in the 1950s. Since then he has led his own group, as well as appearing as featured soloist at The Black Hawk, The Cellar and the Jazz Workshop.

Harold Wylie is 27, a native of San Francisco and the only musician in his family. He first studied the saxophone and clarinet in high school and has played with Woody Herman as well as with numerous local combos. In an unusually penetrating insight into the psychology of jazzmen, Wylie says, "The main reason I play is because I have to play and that's as much as I can understand about it." Harold Wylie is another one of San Francisco's jazz and yachting enthusiasts. He spends every possible moment aboard his 23-foot sloop called "Ool-ya-koo."

John Markham (one of the three John M's on the date, Brew points out) has held down the drum chair with such bands as Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton and in recent years has been the house drum- mer at KGO-TV in San Francisco. A superlative big band drummer, he functions equally as well in a small group and his drumming has been an integral part of the Sunday sessions at the Tropics for some time.

John Marabuto is a composer as well as a pianist. A native of Oakland, he has worked locally with almost all the good jazz groups including Brew's own group, and like Markham, Wylie and Mosher, is a sometime player with the Rudy Salvini big band. His favorite pianist at the moment is Hank Jones and John supplements his professional piano playing with daytime gigs as a piano tuner.

John Mosher is a native of Sioux City where his father was a bandleader in vaudeville days. He came to the Pacific Coast after service in the Army and has worked with Jerry Gray, and Les Brown. He settled in San Francisco early in 1957 and since then has been recognized as one of the best bass players in town. He is currently working with the Griller String Quartet in a series of concerts on the educational tv station, KQED, in which the Quartet is enlarged for some unusual string and woodwinds performances. A most versatile musician, he has doubled between the Hangover (as a substitute in Earl Hines' band), and the Ballet Russe as well as modern jazz playing. He intends eventually to devote himself to classical music.

One track, "Dues Blues," was taken from a concert at the University of California given by Cal Tjader and featuring Brew Moore. Accompanying Brew and Cal on this track are Vince Guaraldi, Fantasy recording artist and regular pianist with the Tjader group; Dean Reilly, who has appeared as bassist on numerous Fantasy LPs, trombonist Bob Collins, also featured on Fantasy LP 3211, and drummer Bobby White, formerly with Vido Musso and Buddy DeFranco.

– RALPH J. GLEASON - Editor, Jam Session (G. P. Putnam's Sons)

Edison's Lamp

Nancy With The Laughing Face

Rhode Island Red

Marna Moves

Dues Blues

Pat's Batch

Tjader Plays Tjazz - Cal Tjader

 

Minor Goof

Tjader Plays Tjazz

Cal Tjader

Fantasy 3278 (F-8097)

Featuring: Brew Moore, Al McKibbon, Sonny Clark, Bob Collins, Eddie Dran, Bobby White, Eugene Wright

The Cal Tjader Quartet: Cal Tjader, drums; Bob Collins, trombone; Eddie Duran, guitar; Al McKibbon, Bass

The Cal Tjader Quintet: Cal Tjader, vibes; Brew Moore, tenor; Sonny Clakrk, piano; Bobby White, drums; Gene Wright, bass

From the back cover: IN THE 1955 CRITIC'S POLL OF Down Beat Magazine, Cal Tjader was voted New Star of the Vibes. This is doubly a tribute to Cal, because the general public has known him mainly as a leader of an excellent mambo group in the past two years. Prior to that, of course, he was featured on Latin rhythm instruments and vibraphone with the George Shearing Quintet, and before that with Dave Brubeck.

Although Cal has had an exceptionally successful career with his Mambo Quintet, he is at heart a jazz man pure and simple, and his mambo group has a solid jazz foundation. But the Latin rhythms of mambo and cha cha do not always provide the most felicitous surroundings for jazz improvisation. That's why Cal and Fantasy decided to make this album. There was another reason, too. Cal wanted the jazz public to hear three remarkable musicians who are currently living and working in San Francisco-trombonist Bob Collins, tenor saxophonist Brew Moore, and guitarist Eddie Duran.

This album gives them an opportunity to be heard in the best circumstances possible. There were two dates for this LP. The first, THE CAL TJADER QUARTET, was done at the Marines Memorial Theater in San Francisco. It fea- tures Cal on drums (long before he was known as a vibraphonist, he was an excellent drummer), Al McKibbon (Cal's old sidekick from the George Shearing Quintet), on bass; Bob Collins, brother of Dick, on trombone, and Eddie Duran on guitar. There is no piano.

The second session, THE CAL TJADER QUINTET, was held at the Berkeley Little Theater. Cal used the rhythm section of the Buddy De Franco Quartet: Bobby White, drums; Sonny Clark, piano, and Gene Wright, bass. Brew Moore is on tenor and Cal himself on vibes.

The Quartet cut four tunes: I've Never Been in Love Before, How About You, My One and Only Love and I'll Know. Collins' trombone is the featured instrument on each with occasional solos by Eddie Duran. There were six tunes by the Quintet: Moten Swing, There Will Never Be Another You, Jeepers Creepers, A Minor Goof, Imagination and Brew's Blues.

Moten Swing opens with Brew stating the theme, which is actually the closing riff from the old Bennie Moten arrangement Count Basie made famous and which is such a part of Kansas City jazz history. There are solos by Cal, Brew and Sonny Clark. On I've Never Been in Love Before, Bob Collins states the melody with Eddie Duran gently picking away in the background. It's almost straight melody and a perfect showcase for Collins' somewhat lugubrious trom- bone. There Will Never Be Another You provides Cal with an opportunity to take a long, beautiful solo. He is followed by Brew. Listen to the extra long ring of the vibes at the end of Cal's solo. It runs straight through the first four bars of Brew's solo. On How About You, which is taken up tempo, Eddie Duran plays a particularly fine chorus after Bob Collins ends his statement. The "Yeah!" you hear faintly in the background is Eddie's own exclamation when he hit a surprisingly exciting chord. On Jeepers Creepers, both Cal and Brew take swinging solos and Gene Wright is heard in a bass break.

A Minor Goof opens with a nod to Count Basie by Brew and contains excellent, swinging solos by Cal, Brew and Sonny Clark. My One and Only Love is another showcase for Collins' ballad work and there is also an Eddie Duran solo with interesting doubling up of the rhythm behind him by Cal's drums. Imagination gives Brew Moore a chance to work on a ballad and he does so with echoes of Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and, of course, his own favorite, Lester Young. It's a very expressive solo. I'll Know, the lovely tune from Guys and Dolls, has a melodic solo by Bob Collins and a guitar bit by Eddie Duran. On Brew's Blues, a medium tempo riff tune, there's another long vibes ring. Watch for it and also listen for the quote from Fascinating Rhythm in Gene Wright's bass solo. Bobby White, the dynamic drummer, gets a chance to show off on this one, too.

A NOTE ON THE MUSICIANS: Cal Tjader was born in St. Louis in 1925 and studied at San Francisco State. He worked with the Dave Brubeck Trio and Octet and in 1950 joined George Shearing. When he left the Shearing Quintet in 1954 he formed his own group specializing in the mambo. His favorite vibraphone players are Milt Jackson (he composed a tune for the Shearing group, in honor of Milt, "Mood for Milt") and Lionel Hampton.

Brew Moore comes from Indianola, Miss. (his real name is Milton Jr.) where he was born in 1924. He studied at the University of Mississippi and started on music when his mother "bought me a harmonica on my ninth birthday." His first job was playing clarinet with a Dixieland band in New Orleans in 1942 and since then he has worked with Elliot Lawrence, Machito, Howard McGhee, Kai Winding and Charlie Parker. He has been in San Francisco since 1954 and wants to stay. "Have no tux. Will not travel," he says, and his favorite tenors are Lester Young, Zoot Sims, Allen Eager and Al Cohn.

Bob Collins (Robert Lamont, to be exact) was born in Portland, Oregon in 1922 and was taught by his father, who started Bob and brother Dick in 1936. He, too, is a veteran of the Dave Brubeck Octet and has worked with numerous small groups in Northern California. His ambitions do not include traveling, but do include spending every possible week-end sailing on San Francisco Bay with his boat partner, Cal Tjader.

Eddie Duran was born in San Francisco in 1925, is mainly self taught, and has been in and around show-business since he was eight years old and won an amateur singing contest with his brother, Manuel, now pianist with Cal Tjader's Mambo Quintet. Eddie has worked with Freddie Slack, Flip Phillips, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, George Shearing, Red Norvo and Vince Guaraldi. He lists his hobbies simply as: Astronomy and girls.

Moten Swing (B. Moten) - Quintet

I've Never Been In Love Before (Losser) - Quartet

There Will Never Be Another You (Warren) - Quintet

How About You (Lane) - Quartet

Jeepers Creepers (Mercer, Warren) - Quintet

A Minor Goof (B. Moore) - Quintet

My One And Only Love (Mellin, Wood) - Quartet

Imagination (Van Huessen) - Quartet

I'll Know (Losser) - Quartet

Brew's Blues (Moore) - Quintet