The Pretty Sound
The Pretty Sound
Joe Wilder
Columbia Records CL 1372
1959
Personnel
HARBOR LIGHTS, THE BOY NEXT DOOR, BLUE MOON
(recorded December 1, 1958)
Joe Wilder - trumpet
Jerome Richardson - sax and clarinet
Hank Jones - piano
George Duvivier - bass
Don Lamond - drums
Urbie Green - trombone
Al Cassamenti - guitar
Bill Bodner - sax, English horn, flute, clarinet
GUYS AND DOLLS, IT'S SO PEACEFUL IN THE COUNTRY, GREENSLEEVES, LULLABY
(recorded December 3, 1958)
Joe Wilder - trumpet
Jerome Richardson - sax and clarinet
Hank Jones - piano
George Duvivier - bass
Osie Johnson - drums
Urbie Green - trombone
Jerry Sanfino - sax, flute, clarinet
Al Cassamenti - guitar
CARAVAN, I HEAR MUSIC, AUTUMN IN NEW YORK
(recorded May 22, 1959)
Joe Wilder - trumpet
Urbie Green - trombone
Milt Hinton - bass
John Cresci, Jr. - drums
Herbie Mann - flute
Hank Jones - piano (courtesy of Capitol Records)
From the back cover: During the past decade, a sizeable group of our most inventive jazzmen has been relentlessly directing all of their creative energies toward extending not only their own musical vocabularies, but the language of jazz itself.
Whether the frequently torturous paths that these restless searchers have been following lead anywhere is still open to question. Still, their groping, grasping and often brilliant (if somewhat self-conscious) trail-blazing is a healthy reflection of the state of jazz. Certainly, it proves that there is life in this upstart-form still.
Unfortunately, like most radical movements, the "new" jazz is all too often recognized by a distressing absence of humor, warmth, grace and good, old-fashioned romanticism.
Joe Wilder, who cannot be linked with any particular school of jazz or otherwise classified, categorically is, among other nice things, a romantic. He is also a superior craftsman with a knowledge and control of his instrument that approaches the phenomenal.
Wilder is a finished, intelligent musician with a broad outlook. Within the framework of jazz and abetted by his own masterful technique, he is able to be not only pretty, but modern, "funky," far-out, simple and direct- whatever the mood or the musical environment demands.
This album has been designed as a showcase for the special "Wilder sound," a lovely and perhaps even necessary sound to have in jazz today. As the principal soloist, with simple arrangements by Mike Colicchio and Teo Macero designed especially to highlight his work, Wilder is given both the time and the scope to display his lyrical improvisatory powers. The tunes include a few of the less overdone standards – among them Hugh Williams' and Jimmy Kennedy's 1937 hit Harbor Lights, perhaps remembered best as it was so hauntingly used in John Ford's "The Long Voyage Home." Two of Wilder's favorite popular composers are also represented; Alec Wilder with It's So Peaceful in the Country, and Frank Loesser with Guys and Dolls and I Hear Music. Only the two latter songs and Juan Tigol's Caravan are handled in medium-to-fast tempos. All of the rest keep to the ballad mood- giving Wilder the opportunity to "blow pretty" most of the time.
About Joe Wilder:
The son of a musician, Joseph Benjamin Wilder was born on Colwyn, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1922. Educated in Philadelphia, Joe joined Les Hite's band in 1941, working with another, somewhat frantic trumpeter named Gillespie. Then, during 1942 and 1943, he was part of the violently swinging band led by Lionel Hampton. That tour of duty was interrupted by the draft board and for the next two years Joe played trumpet for the
United States Marines, from which he graduated with the title of "Assistant Bandmaster" – with rank to match.
Immediately afterward, he returned to the din of Hampton's brass section, moving on from there to Jimmie Lunceford's last crew and then for short periods, he served with Lucky Millinder, Sam Donahue, Herbie Fields and Count Basie, making a European tour with the latter in 1954.
After this jazzman's basic training, Joe settled in New York. For three years, he played in the pit orchestra of the Broadway hit "Guys and Dolls"- studying for his B.A. degree at the same time at the Manhattan School of Music.
For the past few years, Joe Wilder has been working steadily in New York, as a staff member of a network TV orchestra and on hundreds of re- cordings. His superb technique and extraordinary adaptability have made him one of the most sought-after musicians in New York-so much so that until signed by Columbia Records to do his first Lp for them, "Jazz From Peter Gunn" (CL 1319), in 1959, his jazz appearances were becoming regrettably rare.
Now we have "The Pretty Sound."
Whether the frequently torturous paths that these restless searchers have been following lead anywhere is still open to question. Still, their groping, grasping and often brilliant (if somewhat self-conscious) trail-blazing is a healthy reflection of the state of jazz. Certainly, it proves that there is life in this upstart-form still.
Unfortunately, like most radical movements, the "new" jazz is all too often recognized by a distressing absence of humor, warmth, grace and good, old-fashioned romanticism.
Joe Wilder, who cannot be linked with any particular school of jazz or otherwise classified, categorically is, among other nice things, a romantic. He is also a superior craftsman with a knowledge and control of his instrument that approaches the phenomenal.
Wilder is a finished, intelligent musician with a broad outlook. Within the framework of jazz and abetted by his own masterful technique, he is able to be not only pretty, but modern, "funky," far-out, simple and direct- whatever the mood or the musical environment demands.
This album has been designed as a showcase for the special "Wilder sound," a lovely and perhaps even necessary sound to have in jazz today. As the principal soloist, with simple arrangements by Mike Colicchio and Teo Macero designed especially to highlight his work, Wilder is given both the time and the scope to display his lyrical improvisatory powers. The tunes include a few of the less overdone standards – among them Hugh Williams' and Jimmy Kennedy's 1937 hit Harbor Lights, perhaps remembered best as it was so hauntingly used in John Ford's "The Long Voyage Home." Two of Wilder's favorite popular composers are also represented; Alec Wilder with It's So Peaceful in the Country, and Frank Loesser with Guys and Dolls and I Hear Music. Only the two latter songs and Juan Tigol's Caravan are handled in medium-to-fast tempos. All of the rest keep to the ballad mood- giving Wilder the opportunity to "blow pretty" most of the time.
About Joe Wilder:
The son of a musician, Joseph Benjamin Wilder was born on Colwyn, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1922. Educated in Philadelphia, Joe joined Les Hite's band in 1941, working with another, somewhat frantic trumpeter named Gillespie. Then, during 1942 and 1943, he was part of the violently swinging band led by Lionel Hampton. That tour of duty was interrupted by the draft board and for the next two years Joe played trumpet for the
United States Marines, from which he graduated with the title of "Assistant Bandmaster" – with rank to match.
Immediately afterward, he returned to the din of Hampton's brass section, moving on from there to Jimmie Lunceford's last crew and then for short periods, he served with Lucky Millinder, Sam Donahue, Herbie Fields and Count Basie, making a European tour with the latter in 1954.
After this jazzman's basic training, Joe settled in New York. For three years, he played in the pit orchestra of the Broadway hit "Guys and Dolls"- studying for his B.A. degree at the same time at the Manhattan School of Music.
For the past few years, Joe Wilder has been working steadily in New York, as a staff member of a network TV orchestra and on hundreds of re- cordings. His superb technique and extraordinary adaptability have made him one of the most sought-after musicians in New York-so much so that until signed by Columbia Records to do his first Lp for them, "Jazz From Peter Gunn" (CL 1319), in 1959, his jazz appearances were becoming regrettably rare.
Now we have "The Pretty Sound."
Harbor Lights
I Hear Music
It's So Peaceful In The Country
Autumn In New York
Guys And Dolls
Blue Moon
Caravan
Greensleeves
The Boy Next Door
Lullaby
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