Search Manic Mark's Blog

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

A GalleryOf Gershwin - The First Modern Piano Quartet

Our Love Is Here To Stay

A Gallery Of Gershwin
The First Modern Piano Quartet
Dick Marx, Eddie Costa, Hank Jones & Johnny Costa
Manny Albam and His Orchestra
Coral Records CLR 59102
1958

From the inside jacket: To Coral Records; the arrangers and conductors, Manny Albam (for the ensemble) and Irving Joseph (for the quartet); and the pianist, Dick Marx, Eddie Costa, Hank Jones and Johnny Costa, it became evident that what had to be attempted was a fusion of a number of elements, each of them strikingly sufficient to begin with: Gershwin's superb feeling for melody allied with his equally strong understanding of jazz, the blues and folk music; his concert-orchestral approach and his inclination toward the musical-comedy theatre; his continual search for more modern forms of his natural tendency to express them initially in terms of the piano.

No literature existed for four jazz pianos, none certainly for a quartet with a modern orientation. (The First Piano Quartet had played classical, semi-classical and some popular selections – the latter not in a jazz vein, and without orchestration – but that was all.) Half a dozen arrangers insisted that none could be written; even Albam and Joseph were at first reluctant to essay it and then intrigued by the challenge presented to them. Two of the principal problems were the writing of piano parts that would enable the listener to differentiate among the soloists and the selection of soloists whose playing, like that of a string quartet, would be complementary – one man's and another's. Thus, there was kept in mind Dick Marx's lyrical strain, Eddie Costa's bent toward rhythmic figures in the lower registers; Hank Jones' delicate, single-finger style, and Johnny Costa's way with the heavier counter-melodies. As in a chamber group, endless combinations and permutations were devised. The choosing of the songs then became a matter of each man's preferences – those of Albam and Joseph; those of Costas, Marx and Jones.

Albam orchestrated them in a group comprised of the piano quartet surrounded by sixteen strings (violins, violas and cellos), four trumpets, two trombones, two alto and two tenor saxophones alternating on clarinet, and rhythm section of drums, bass and guitar. The result is "A Gallery Of Gershwin." The sense of it is the same that made the novelist John O'Hara say, on Gershwin's death in 1937, "George Gershwin died on July 11, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to." – Gilbert Millstein.

From Billboard - October 20, 1958: Tho this is not really jazz in the free sense of the word it is nevertheless mighty creamy stuff. The soloists who comprise the quartet are Dick Marx, Eddie Costa, Hank Jones and Johnny Costa. Each has a chance at what might be called disciplined improvising over the big orchestra backing on a flock of great Gershwin items. Stereo-wise the separation element is not played. It's simply a good, big, round sound and it makes for rewarding 3-D listening.

Fascinatin' Rhythm
Love Walked In
Clap Yo' Hands
The Man I Love
Someone To Watch Over Me
Mine
Liza, Liza
Bes You Is My Woman
Our Love Is Here To Stay
Somebody Loves You
Soon

No comments:

Post a Comment

Howdy! Thanks for leaving your thoughts!