Opus De Jazz

Opus De Jazz
Recording Supervised by Ozzie Cadena
Recording Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Notes by H. Alan Stein
Savoy MG-12036
1956

Available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample. Presented here to share this particular issue of the cover art and bio information from the back cover.

Personnel:

Frank Wess - Flute
Also plays tenor sax and arranges. Born 1922 in Kansas City. Has played with Blanche Calloway, Bill Eckstine, Eddie Heywood, Lucky Millinder orks. Joined Count Basie 1953 to present. Great fame as tenor man and also as first jazz flute star on records. Won DOWN BEAT Critic's Poll "New Star" award 1954. Hear him on Savoy LPs Mg 12006, 12022

Vibes - Milt Jackson
"Bags" also plays piano. Born 1923 in Detroit. Came to New York to play with Dizzy Gillespie in 1945. Has played with Howard McGhee, Tadd Dameron, Thelonius Monk combos. Joined Woody Herman 1949. Re-joined Gillespie since 1953. Changed concept of vibes playing from Hampton style into "cool" idiom. Won Esquire May New Star Award 1947. Hear him on Savoy LPs MG 12006, 12020, 12026, 12042, 12046

Piano - Hank Jones
Born 1918 in Pontiac, Michigan. Came to N. Y. in 1944. Early influences Al Haig, Andy Kirk bands. Accompanist for Billy Eckstine and Ella Fitzgerald (Europe 1948). Gigged with John Kirby, Howard MeGhee, Coleman Hawkins. Toured with JATP, 1947. One of the most underrated and yet best representatives of modern school. Hear him on Savoy LPs Mg 12007, 12015, 12017, 12018, 12019, 12021, 12022, 12033, etc.

Bass - Eddie Jones
Born in 1929 in Red Band, N. J. a neighbor and friend of Count Basie family. Studied bass at Howard University and left to teach at Beauford, S. C. 1951. Taught and played in trio, worked in post office. Joined Count Basie band August 1953 to present. An outstanding member of the world's greatest swinging rhythm section. Hear him on Savoy LPs MG 12006, 12022

Kenny Clarke - Drums
"Klook" was born in Pittsburgh, 1914. Musical family, he studied piano, trb., drums, vibes, theory HS. Early jobs include Roy Eldridge 1935. Toured Finland Edgar Hayes 1937. Claude Hopkins, Teddy Hill to 1940. Played Minton's during formative bop days. Played Satchmo, Ella, Red Allen and Coleman Hawkins till '43. Army stint on trb. in Paris. Dizzy Gillespie '46, Tadd Dameron, Echstine. Organized Modern Jazz Quartet '52. A major figure in Modern Jazz.
Opus De Funk
Opus Pocus
You Leave Me Breathless
Opus And Interlude