The Jazz Pickers - Harry Babasin

 

De Ge

Harry Babasin And the Jazz Pickers

With Special Guest Star Terry Gibbs

Cover and Liner Photography: Dave Pell

Cover Portrait: Eva Diana

Engineer: Dayton Howe

Mode Records, Ltd. MOD LP 119

Recorded July, 1957 - Hollywood, California 

Personnel:

Harry Babasin - Cello

Terry Gibbs (Courtesy EmArCy Records) - Vibes

Dempsey Wright - Guitar

Ben Tucker - Bass

Bill Douglas - Drums

From the back cover: Harry Babasin is a veteran bassist, having stepped into the music majors following his graduation from North Texas State College in 1941. His success on the bands of Gene Krupa, Boyd Raeburn and Charlie Barnet established him as one of the best jazz players on the big band circuit. Before concluding his "tour of the road" Harry joined Woody Herman's famous "Four Brothers" band (the second herd) and became a part of the fondly remembered history of the great aggregation.

Upon his return to the West Coast and a more placid way of life, Harry joined the growing ranks of jazz musicians employed by the motion picture studios. During this interval in his life, Harry worked with the Benny Goodman sextet in a movie called "A Song Is Born," and, finding a cello on the set, began experimenting between takes on the smaller and more articulate version of his own instrument. Long an admirer of another great jazz cellist, Oscar Pettiford, Harry conceived the idea for the Jazz Pickers – a string jazz ensemble featuring the pizzicato technique.

Down Beat's West Coast representative, John Tynana, heard about the Babasin experiments, and encouraged the leader to make up a book (arrangements or standards and originals) which would make the group a salable item to club owners in the Los Angeles area. Firm in the conviction that the public will buy an integrated unit with jazz roots, Babasin and Tynan turned their respective talents to making the Jazz Pickers a reality.

The welcome addition of Terry Gibbs to play the vibes parts for these sessions is an extension of Harry's plan for the group. The basic quartet of cello, guitar, bass and drums is augmented by a fifth and possibly sixth book, written for selected instruments such as Terry's vibes which, through his great talent, adds a sparkle that few recorded groups have attained. Terry's complete individuality and faultless technique have long since established him as one of the greatest exponents of his instrument in jazz. 

The other Jazz Pickers are hand-picked musicians who have satisfied Harry's dual demands of technical excellence and the less tangible quality of an intrinsic feeling for jazz in such a subtle setting. Guitarist Dempsey Wright, Bassist Ben Tucker, and Drummer Bill Douglas have welded their talents into a strong rhythm block on which the improvised structures rest.

Five of the eight tunes heard in this set are Harry Babasin originals, especially arranged to project the personality of the group, as were the three standards also chosen. Under the guiding hand of Harry Babasin, the Jazz Picker produced these sides.

From Billboard - January 20, 1958: Softly swinging modern spotting cello, guitar and bass creating identifying group sound, functional writing with substantial solos by guest star Terry Gibbs, vibes, Babasin, cello; propulsive rhythm playing – notably drummer Bill Douglas – could well beguile the modern buyer. Try "De Ge" as demo band.

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