Small Hotel
Bobby Brack Trio
Cover Photo: Basil Tuir / Rex Lanning
Cover Design: R. Kennedy / C. Clatterbuck
Recorded by the Audio Recording Co., under the supervision of Vlad Maleckar
Packaged by Helm Graphic, New York
Colpix CL 405
1959
From the back cover: ALBUM CRITIQUE – In order for an album of jazz to meet with any measure of professional success it must answer in the affirmative at least two questions: first will the record stand up to repetitive listenings so that the listener gains something new with each audience; and second-have the musicians done some- thing original with the standard tunes which form the framework of jazz, both in writing and in improvisation?
APPLYING these questions to the album at hand we must answer with a strong, unequivocal "yes" in both instances. For here is jazz, pure and simple, that is unpretentious and yet here is a jazz of considerable complexity. Whenever such a paradox exists in music we invariably have a composition or performance which reveals some new facet of its body or soul with each listening to hear all of it at once. In the case of the Bobby Brack Trio, we have three young musicians who play a lot of music and probably live even more. Their music is the product of three highly-spirited, active minds; reflected in every chorus, in every chord, is an enthusiasm for life, for the ecstatic and the esthetic for jazz. Here is a music that is at once restrained and exciting, casual and violent, serious and happy. Here is an almost perfect fusion of spirit and intellect. It is a music that lures the listener back for more, offering new discoveries each time.
"The second "yes" does not require so much explanation and qualification. The special treatment given to traditional jazz standards by the Bobby Brack Trio happens to be one of its great attractions. One need only witness a single rehearsal to discover the great efforts these men make for originality and freshness one need only hear a single com- position to realize the completeness of their success. In the "written" sections of these standards they are never content with hackneyed, threadbare approaches; once something has been said, it is not worth saying again seems to be their philosophy. Having created their own springboard, as it were, the trio goes on to jam and swing in its own idiom.
On one occasion the writer mentioned to the group that a certain musician had just released a recording of a jazz standard, giving it a particularly novel interpretation. Bobby's reaction: "Don't play it for me. Don't tell me about it. We are planning to do that tune and I don't want to be influenced."
BUT of course the influences are there. Every creative mind owes a debt to the past, for his creations are but a result of his experience; and before a person can create he must study what was done yesterday and what is being done today. As a result, any work of art is either the extension of a tra- dition or a rebellion against it. The Bobby Brack Trio produces a sound of its own, yet, at the same time, the group is ever aware of jazz's rich past; the Trio is historically geared and subjectively driven. Just what the specific influences are, is something difficult to determine. Let the listener detect and decide for himself, if he must, what threads of jazz have been woven into the fabric of the Brack sound. However, we think it only fair to warn the listener that any attempt to bracket the sounds in this album into a definite school will result in time spent in vain. For what really matters here, is that the Trio works within the jazz idiom, never exceeding its limits, while employing shades and tones which have the sound of a new voice.
THE SELECTIONS
Lover (3:38) opens the first side, an exciting up-tempo tune which well exemplifies the Trio's aptitude and sto for gusto a fast-driving, swinging beat. Bobby's big sponges with delicate definitions and midway through his drums answer with an exceedingly complex polyrhythmic solo. This piece is an exhibition in pyrotechnics.
You Stepped Out of a Dream (3:04) follows as a change of pace, beginning as a tenderly treated ballad that soon de- velops into a hard-swinging number, demonstrating the unity that the Trio is so well known for. They move and swing as one mind and one body.
Bobby opens Small Hotel (4:36) soloing on the congal drum, setting a Latin mode. At the second chorus the group moves into 4/4 evolving into an almost bluesy feeling. In the next chorus Bobby takes to his drums, continuing his use of the hands neither stick nor brush is employed throughout this.
In All The Things You Are (3:22) Surace is spotlighted on piano, demonstrating his lyrical feel for the ballad without a beat behind him. In the second chorus Dave and Bobby join in, with Surace establishing the tempo, and the Trio wails for two choruses, closing out the number.
Dave is showcased on bass with Lover Man (3:39), one of his favorite tunes. Dave feels that Billy Holiday has done more for Lover Man than anyone in jazz, and his treatment of it sometimes suggests this feeling.
To conclude Side One the Trio collaborates once again on an interesting Mountain Greenery (3:44). This one takes off contrapuntally, changing into a swinging four beat in the second chorus. Bobby's drums feel the skin of his fingers again here, and Greenery is wrapped up and brought home by a return to the original contrapuntal statement.
Side Two is initiated with Cheek To Cheek (5:29). The melodic line is given an agitated heavy-sounding riff at the outset with all three men playing in unison. At the bridge a latin beat is established, followed by two choruses of excited piano by Surace. Bobby answers with an eight bar solo. Then Dave speaks up on bass for an interlude; the Trio consolidates its forces again and brings to a conclusion a truly happy Cheek To Cheek.
What Is This Thing Called Love (3:29) begins at the bridge with a soft, impromptu piano solo; then a modification of the melodic line suddenly explodes on the keys which is echoed by Bobby's drums. Now swinging in up-tempo, Ron and Bobby exchange fours. The Trio has fun with this one and their sense of humor comes to the fore.
Spontaneous (7:15) is the one original composition in the album; it was designed by Bobby to best explore his conception of solo drumming. Using mallets through its entirety, Bobby gives himself a free hand here. Listen for the point where Bobby has four rhythms running simultaneously while following a melodic line. Half-way through Bobby sets his sensitive foot moving and maintains this motion almost until the end of the piece. Close listeners will hear a strange sound in places during Spontaneous. It is only Bobby's feeling for rhythm escaping from his body through his teeth.
A creation of several different and contrasting musical genres is the bill of fare for Love Is A Simple Thing (2:23), the last selection on Side Two. A toy piano effect is implemented, succeeded by subtle allusions to the minuet and Charleston. The Trio then breaks into a driving jazz foray, and as it develops, love becomes quite a swinging thing indeed. – FRANK BRUNOTTS
Colpix CL 405
1959
From the back cover: ALBUM CRITIQUE – In order for an album of jazz to meet with any measure of professional success it must answer in the affirmative at least two questions: first will the record stand up to repetitive listenings so that the listener gains something new with each audience; and second-have the musicians done some- thing original with the standard tunes which form the framework of jazz, both in writing and in improvisation?
APPLYING these questions to the album at hand we must answer with a strong, unequivocal "yes" in both instances. For here is jazz, pure and simple, that is unpretentious and yet here is a jazz of considerable complexity. Whenever such a paradox exists in music we invariably have a composition or performance which reveals some new facet of its body or soul with each listening to hear all of it at once. In the case of the Bobby Brack Trio, we have three young musicians who play a lot of music and probably live even more. Their music is the product of three highly-spirited, active minds; reflected in every chorus, in every chord, is an enthusiasm for life, for the ecstatic and the esthetic for jazz. Here is a music that is at once restrained and exciting, casual and violent, serious and happy. Here is an almost perfect fusion of spirit and intellect. It is a music that lures the listener back for more, offering new discoveries each time.
"The second "yes" does not require so much explanation and qualification. The special treatment given to traditional jazz standards by the Bobby Brack Trio happens to be one of its great attractions. One need only witness a single rehearsal to discover the great efforts these men make for originality and freshness one need only hear a single com- position to realize the completeness of their success. In the "written" sections of these standards they are never content with hackneyed, threadbare approaches; once something has been said, it is not worth saying again seems to be their philosophy. Having created their own springboard, as it were, the trio goes on to jam and swing in its own idiom.
On one occasion the writer mentioned to the group that a certain musician had just released a recording of a jazz standard, giving it a particularly novel interpretation. Bobby's reaction: "Don't play it for me. Don't tell me about it. We are planning to do that tune and I don't want to be influenced."
BUT of course the influences are there. Every creative mind owes a debt to the past, for his creations are but a result of his experience; and before a person can create he must study what was done yesterday and what is being done today. As a result, any work of art is either the extension of a tra- dition or a rebellion against it. The Bobby Brack Trio produces a sound of its own, yet, at the same time, the group is ever aware of jazz's rich past; the Trio is historically geared and subjectively driven. Just what the specific influences are, is something difficult to determine. Let the listener detect and decide for himself, if he must, what threads of jazz have been woven into the fabric of the Brack sound. However, we think it only fair to warn the listener that any attempt to bracket the sounds in this album into a definite school will result in time spent in vain. For what really matters here, is that the Trio works within the jazz idiom, never exceeding its limits, while employing shades and tones which have the sound of a new voice.
THE MEN
SINCE this is the Trio's first album, the time is favorable for an introduction of its members and a brief history of its existence.
DAVE MASKE, bassist, born in 1932 in Akron, Ohio, began his musical studies on piano, later switching to bass and jazz where he has found a home providing a pulsating, swinging backbone to the Trio's structure. Having played with many groups, Dave is happiest with the Brack Trio because he likes the immediacy and intimacy of communication required by the musicians in such a small organization. Dave is a graduate of Kent State University and is now teaching in a public school in Ravenna.
RON SURACE, pianist, from Lorain, Ohio, born in 1933, has been studying piano for seventeen years and has been playing jazz for almost as long. Ron lists his "great awakening" as coming during the time he served in the Army where he had the opportunity to meet a number of jazzmen with widely varying conceptual approaches to jazz. Ron is now in his final year of the School of Music at Kent State University and plans to go on to conservatory study from there.
BOBBY BRACK, leader, drummer, from Cleveland, Ohio, born in 1931, has played drums since the age of four. Now in his last year of study at Kent State, Bobby plans to enter law school after graduation. He has provided the beat and swing to many big bands, including those of Ralph Flanagan, Ralph Marterie, Johnny Long, and the great band of Tommy Dorsey. Although Bobby has seen much of the world. from behind a set of drums his interests and activities include so many fields that his conception of jazz has not become static or narrowly introspective. With Bobby each set is a new adventure and each tune a fresh experience, one that is to be enjoyed as well as played.
So there you have them. Collectively they form the Bobby Brack Trio, a group of young, energetic men with a sense of humor who are destined to carve for themselves a rather sizable niche in the world of jazz.
And, as might be guessed by this time, the three members. of the Trio happened upon one another at Kent State University in Ohio where, at a chance meeting, they struck up an accord, an understanding, and a sympathy in their musical concepts. Since its inception at Kent State, where the group developed a large acclamatory audience practically overnight, its fortunes and acceptance have risen in a steadily ascending path. They soon passed beyond the borders of Kent and performed for many jazz clubs throughout Ohio.
The fortunates who have heard the trio, have persistingly demanded an album, a permanent record, as it were, of the Brackian sound, and this album is an answer to that demand. With this album you can now enjoy a new sound in jazz, something which, if you haven't experienced it yet, you will become addicted to after your first exposure.
SINCE this is the Trio's first album, the time is favorable for an introduction of its members and a brief history of its existence.
DAVE MASKE, bassist, born in 1932 in Akron, Ohio, began his musical studies on piano, later switching to bass and jazz where he has found a home providing a pulsating, swinging backbone to the Trio's structure. Having played with many groups, Dave is happiest with the Brack Trio because he likes the immediacy and intimacy of communication required by the musicians in such a small organization. Dave is a graduate of Kent State University and is now teaching in a public school in Ravenna.
RON SURACE, pianist, from Lorain, Ohio, born in 1933, has been studying piano for seventeen years and has been playing jazz for almost as long. Ron lists his "great awakening" as coming during the time he served in the Army where he had the opportunity to meet a number of jazzmen with widely varying conceptual approaches to jazz. Ron is now in his final year of the School of Music at Kent State University and plans to go on to conservatory study from there.
BOBBY BRACK, leader, drummer, from Cleveland, Ohio, born in 1931, has played drums since the age of four. Now in his last year of study at Kent State, Bobby plans to enter law school after graduation. He has provided the beat and swing to many big bands, including those of Ralph Flanagan, Ralph Marterie, Johnny Long, and the great band of Tommy Dorsey. Although Bobby has seen much of the world. from behind a set of drums his interests and activities include so many fields that his conception of jazz has not become static or narrowly introspective. With Bobby each set is a new adventure and each tune a fresh experience, one that is to be enjoyed as well as played.
So there you have them. Collectively they form the Bobby Brack Trio, a group of young, energetic men with a sense of humor who are destined to carve for themselves a rather sizable niche in the world of jazz.
And, as might be guessed by this time, the three members. of the Trio happened upon one another at Kent State University in Ohio where, at a chance meeting, they struck up an accord, an understanding, and a sympathy in their musical concepts. Since its inception at Kent State, where the group developed a large acclamatory audience practically overnight, its fortunes and acceptance have risen in a steadily ascending path. They soon passed beyond the borders of Kent and performed for many jazz clubs throughout Ohio.
The fortunates who have heard the trio, have persistingly demanded an album, a permanent record, as it were, of the Brackian sound, and this album is an answer to that demand. With this album you can now enjoy a new sound in jazz, something which, if you haven't experienced it yet, you will become addicted to after your first exposure.
THE SELECTIONS
Lover (3:38) opens the first side, an exciting up-tempo tune which well exemplifies the Trio's aptitude and sto for gusto a fast-driving, swinging beat. Bobby's big sponges with delicate definitions and midway through his drums answer with an exceedingly complex polyrhythmic solo. This piece is an exhibition in pyrotechnics.
You Stepped Out of a Dream (3:04) follows as a change of pace, beginning as a tenderly treated ballad that soon de- velops into a hard-swinging number, demonstrating the unity that the Trio is so well known for. They move and swing as one mind and one body.
Bobby opens Small Hotel (4:36) soloing on the congal drum, setting a Latin mode. At the second chorus the group moves into 4/4 evolving into an almost bluesy feeling. In the next chorus Bobby takes to his drums, continuing his use of the hands neither stick nor brush is employed throughout this.
In All The Things You Are (3:22) Surace is spotlighted on piano, demonstrating his lyrical feel for the ballad without a beat behind him. In the second chorus Dave and Bobby join in, with Surace establishing the tempo, and the Trio wails for two choruses, closing out the number.
Dave is showcased on bass with Lover Man (3:39), one of his favorite tunes. Dave feels that Billy Holiday has done more for Lover Man than anyone in jazz, and his treatment of it sometimes suggests this feeling.
To conclude Side One the Trio collaborates once again on an interesting Mountain Greenery (3:44). This one takes off contrapuntally, changing into a swinging four beat in the second chorus. Bobby's drums feel the skin of his fingers again here, and Greenery is wrapped up and brought home by a return to the original contrapuntal statement.
Side Two is initiated with Cheek To Cheek (5:29). The melodic line is given an agitated heavy-sounding riff at the outset with all three men playing in unison. At the bridge a latin beat is established, followed by two choruses of excited piano by Surace. Bobby answers with an eight bar solo. Then Dave speaks up on bass for an interlude; the Trio consolidates its forces again and brings to a conclusion a truly happy Cheek To Cheek.
What Is This Thing Called Love (3:29) begins at the bridge with a soft, impromptu piano solo; then a modification of the melodic line suddenly explodes on the keys which is echoed by Bobby's drums. Now swinging in up-tempo, Ron and Bobby exchange fours. The Trio has fun with this one and their sense of humor comes to the fore.
Spontaneous (7:15) is the one original composition in the album; it was designed by Bobby to best explore his conception of solo drumming. Using mallets through its entirety, Bobby gives himself a free hand here. Listen for the point where Bobby has four rhythms running simultaneously while following a melodic line. Half-way through Bobby sets his sensitive foot moving and maintains this motion almost until the end of the piece. Close listeners will hear a strange sound in places during Spontaneous. It is only Bobby's feeling for rhythm escaping from his body through his teeth.
A creation of several different and contrasting musical genres is the bill of fare for Love Is A Simple Thing (2:23), the last selection on Side Two. A toy piano effect is implemented, succeeded by subtle allusions to the minuet and Charleston. The Trio then breaks into a driving jazz foray, and as it develops, love becomes quite a swinging thing indeed. – FRANK BRUNOTTS
Lover
You Stepped Out Of A Dream
Small Hotel
All The Things You Are
Lover Man
Mountain Greenery
Cheek To Cheek
What Is This Thing Called Love
Spontaneous
Love Is A Simple Thing
You Stepped Out Of A Dream
Small Hotel
All The Things You Are
Lover Man
Mountain Greenery
Cheek To Cheek
What Is This Thing Called Love
Spontaneous
Love Is A Simple Thing
Just picked this up at a thrift store - my copy is on Segno; same cover. Track 2 is playing - this is some great jazz (and I'm hard-core - Coltrane, Monk, Mingus, etc.). Hope the rest of the album holds up - this is great listening! - Dave Scott
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