X-A-Dose (Clarke, McKenzie, Hampton, Williams and Hunter)
Ed's Blues (Hampton)
Buck Clarke Quintet
Recorded in Washington, D.C., December 2 and 3, 1959
Offbeat Records OJ-3003
1959
Offbeat Records OJ-3003
1959
Buck Clarke - Bongos & Conga Drum
Don McKenzie - Vibraharp
Fred Williams - Bass
Charles Hampton - Piano, Alto Sax, Clarinet & Wooden Flute
Roscoe Hunter - Drums
From the back cover: New Jazz groups usually are introduced to the reading public with a salvo of superlatives. It's a tradition. I remember when the Joe Mooney Quartet was "discovered" in New Jersey or some such wasteland, Mike Levin of Down Beat solemnly announced that the quartet was the greatest jazz group to appear since "Edward Kennedy Ellington" and his band. (What would disc jockeys and the more portentuous writers (Levin usually wasn't protentuous) do if they couldn't roll out "Edward Kennedy Ellington?" If Duke were named, say, Humbert Humbert Ellington, he probably would be playing piano today at an upstairs night club in Washington, D. C.)
Hyperbole is rampant in liner notes. Hardly a week went by when I was reviewing records that I didn't get an LP by some cocktail trio playing in Milwaukee or Seattle which was proclaimed a three-piece threat to the Modern Jazz Quartet. I wish I had a thousand dollars (I'm greedy) for every pianist who has been in- troduced as the new Art Tatum or the logical successor to Bud Powell. Because of all this puffery, I'm afraid that if I don't call the Buck Clarke Quintet (they play on this record) the greatest combo since the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, readers will become suspicious.
The Buck Clarke Quintet is, eschewing superlatives, a good band. The five members are skillful professional musicians who play modern jazz with refreshing enthusiasm. There is no jaded here-we-go-again feeling on this LP. Though Clarke plays bongos and conga drum, this is not an Afro-Cuban group. The Latin percussion blends in with rest of the Quintet and does not sound as if it were pasted on for effect. Clarke tries to fit his drums into the arrangements, adding something more than rhythm. The Quintet has a light, deft sound and, especially when Charles Hampton plays clarinet, a different flavor than most jazz combos. The goal of the Quintet, Clarke Says, is entertainment, but is always musical, never trivial.
The group, which is based in Washington, D. C., is capable of a variety of moods. On this record, they range from the passionate ("Lover Man"), through lowdown ("Ed's Blues"), lyrical ("Floretta"), and blithe ("Second Wind") to exuberant ("X-a-Dose"). Three members of the band write better-than-average original com- positions, a half-dozen of which are on this LP. My favorites are Fred Williams's "Second Wind," a fine example of idiomatic wind writing; Don McKenzie's "Floretta," a graceful ballad; and Hampton's perky "Cool Hands." Hampton plays a 19-cent wooden Japanese flute he bought in drug store on "X-a-Dose," He was more pleased, however, with his solo on "Lover Man", shaking his head in disbelief as he listened to the playback. "Ed's Blues" is that recording session standby an afterthought that required only one take and turned out well.
The Quintet had been playing together regularly about 10 months when this record was made. They recorded shortly after appearing for a week at the Howard Theater in Washington and gained the finishing touches of confidence and polish. The five rehearse faithfully every Sunday morning in the basement of McKenzie's home (where the piano always is in tune because McKenzie is an expert piano tuner), no mean feat for musicians who work late on Saturday nights.
The Quintet started as a trio (bass, vibes, conga and bongos). Their first date was at a Washington art gallery, where Clarke was showing paintings of jazz musicians. Drums were added, and in February, 1959, Hampton joined to make it a quintet.
Since all five are newcomers to records, here are brief biographies:
William (Buck) Clarke, 26, was born in Washington and began playing bongos when he was 16. He turned professional a year or so later. His first job was traveling with a band that played carnival midways, working from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. "Many times I couldn't put my hands in my pockets when I finished," Clarke recalls. He worked as a single for two years in New Orleans, spent two years in the Army, joined Arnette Cobb after service, worked as a single again, and returned to Washington. He has jobbed around Washington, accompanied Nina Simone, and worked as an artist on the exhibits staff of the Smithsonian institution. Clarke likes Miles Davies, John Coltrane, John Lewis, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, and Oscar Peterson.
Don McKenzie, 28, a native of Washington, started taking music lessons when he was seven. He was playing the marimba at 11 and got his first set of vibes a year later. McKenzie played concerts and recitals around Washington and appeared with a Negro opera company in Carnegie Hall. He became interested in jazz when he was about 17. After serving in the Army, where he was in military bands, McKenzie worked in New York for a year-and-a-half. He is in the building and decorating business with his father. Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, and Hampton Hawes are among his favorite jazzmen.
Charles Hampton, 29, born in Greenville, S. C., started studying piano when he was 16. He now plays piano, alto sax, clarinet, and flute and is studying oboe at the Modern School of Music, Washington, where such musicians as Frank Wess and Charlie Byrd have attended. Hampton also attended the Howard University School of Music for three years. He likes writing both jazz and chamber music. His favorite arrangers are Benny Golson, Bill Holman, and Gil Evans.
Fred Williams, 29, born in Washington, did not start music until he served in the Air Force, though he was interested in playing the bass before then. Williams played with USO troupes in Europe, worked New York for a year, and now attends Howard full-time. He plans to teach when he graduates. His favorite bassists are Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, and Keeter Betts.
Roscoe Hunter, 29, a native of Washington, has been drumming since he was 10, when his equipment was two knives tapped on chairs in accompaniment to the radio. He bought a snare drum in 1947 and gradually built up to a full set. Hunter started playing dates around Washington in 1949. His favorites include Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, and Shelly Manne.
All are hard-working musicians with one goal to make entertaining, good music. I think they succeed on this record. – PAUL SAMPSON (Sampson formerly wrote a jazz column for the Washington Post and Times Herald.)
Cool Hands
What Is This Thing Called Love
Second Wind
Mil-Dy
Ed's Blues
X-A-Dose
Lover Man
I'll Remember April
Floretta
From the back cover: New Jazz groups usually are introduced to the reading public with a salvo of superlatives. It's a tradition. I remember when the Joe Mooney Quartet was "discovered" in New Jersey or some such wasteland, Mike Levin of Down Beat solemnly announced that the quartet was the greatest jazz group to appear since "Edward Kennedy Ellington" and his band. (What would disc jockeys and the more portentuous writers (Levin usually wasn't protentuous) do if they couldn't roll out "Edward Kennedy Ellington?" If Duke were named, say, Humbert Humbert Ellington, he probably would be playing piano today at an upstairs night club in Washington, D. C.)
Hyperbole is rampant in liner notes. Hardly a week went by when I was reviewing records that I didn't get an LP by some cocktail trio playing in Milwaukee or Seattle which was proclaimed a three-piece threat to the Modern Jazz Quartet. I wish I had a thousand dollars (I'm greedy) for every pianist who has been in- troduced as the new Art Tatum or the logical successor to Bud Powell. Because of all this puffery, I'm afraid that if I don't call the Buck Clarke Quintet (they play on this record) the greatest combo since the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, readers will become suspicious.
The Buck Clarke Quintet is, eschewing superlatives, a good band. The five members are skillful professional musicians who play modern jazz with refreshing enthusiasm. There is no jaded here-we-go-again feeling on this LP. Though Clarke plays bongos and conga drum, this is not an Afro-Cuban group. The Latin percussion blends in with rest of the Quintet and does not sound as if it were pasted on for effect. Clarke tries to fit his drums into the arrangements, adding something more than rhythm. The Quintet has a light, deft sound and, especially when Charles Hampton plays clarinet, a different flavor than most jazz combos. The goal of the Quintet, Clarke Says, is entertainment, but is always musical, never trivial.
The group, which is based in Washington, D. C., is capable of a variety of moods. On this record, they range from the passionate ("Lover Man"), through lowdown ("Ed's Blues"), lyrical ("Floretta"), and blithe ("Second Wind") to exuberant ("X-a-Dose"). Three members of the band write better-than-average original com- positions, a half-dozen of which are on this LP. My favorites are Fred Williams's "Second Wind," a fine example of idiomatic wind writing; Don McKenzie's "Floretta," a graceful ballad; and Hampton's perky "Cool Hands." Hampton plays a 19-cent wooden Japanese flute he bought in drug store on "X-a-Dose," He was more pleased, however, with his solo on "Lover Man", shaking his head in disbelief as he listened to the playback. "Ed's Blues" is that recording session standby an afterthought that required only one take and turned out well.
The Quintet had been playing together regularly about 10 months when this record was made. They recorded shortly after appearing for a week at the Howard Theater in Washington and gained the finishing touches of confidence and polish. The five rehearse faithfully every Sunday morning in the basement of McKenzie's home (where the piano always is in tune because McKenzie is an expert piano tuner), no mean feat for musicians who work late on Saturday nights.
The Quintet started as a trio (bass, vibes, conga and bongos). Their first date was at a Washington art gallery, where Clarke was showing paintings of jazz musicians. Drums were added, and in February, 1959, Hampton joined to make it a quintet.
Since all five are newcomers to records, here are brief biographies:
William (Buck) Clarke, 26, was born in Washington and began playing bongos when he was 16. He turned professional a year or so later. His first job was traveling with a band that played carnival midways, working from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. "Many times I couldn't put my hands in my pockets when I finished," Clarke recalls. He worked as a single for two years in New Orleans, spent two years in the Army, joined Arnette Cobb after service, worked as a single again, and returned to Washington. He has jobbed around Washington, accompanied Nina Simone, and worked as an artist on the exhibits staff of the Smithsonian institution. Clarke likes Miles Davies, John Coltrane, John Lewis, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, and Oscar Peterson.
Don McKenzie, 28, a native of Washington, started taking music lessons when he was seven. He was playing the marimba at 11 and got his first set of vibes a year later. McKenzie played concerts and recitals around Washington and appeared with a Negro opera company in Carnegie Hall. He became interested in jazz when he was about 17. After serving in the Army, where he was in military bands, McKenzie worked in New York for a year-and-a-half. He is in the building and decorating business with his father. Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, and Hampton Hawes are among his favorite jazzmen.
Charles Hampton, 29, born in Greenville, S. C., started studying piano when he was 16. He now plays piano, alto sax, clarinet, and flute and is studying oboe at the Modern School of Music, Washington, where such musicians as Frank Wess and Charlie Byrd have attended. Hampton also attended the Howard University School of Music for three years. He likes writing both jazz and chamber music. His favorite arrangers are Benny Golson, Bill Holman, and Gil Evans.
Fred Williams, 29, born in Washington, did not start music until he served in the Air Force, though he was interested in playing the bass before then. Williams played with USO troupes in Europe, worked New York for a year, and now attends Howard full-time. He plans to teach when he graduates. His favorite bassists are Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, and Keeter Betts.
Roscoe Hunter, 29, a native of Washington, has been drumming since he was 10, when his equipment was two knives tapped on chairs in accompaniment to the radio. He bought a snare drum in 1947 and gradually built up to a full set. Hunter started playing dates around Washington in 1949. His favorites include Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, and Shelly Manne.
All are hard-working musicians with one goal to make entertaining, good music. I think they succeed on this record. – PAUL SAMPSON (Sampson formerly wrote a jazz column for the Washington Post and Times Herald.)
Cool Hands
What Is This Thing Called Love
Second Wind
Mil-Dy
Ed's Blues
X-A-Dose
Lover Man
I'll Remember April
Floretta
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