Polly Wants A Tonic
Kaleidoscope
The Buddy DeFranco - Tommy Gumina Quartet
Recorded at Universal Recording Studios, Chicago
Engineer: Bernie Clapper
Mercury Records SR 60743
1962
Buddy DeFranco - Clarinet
Tommy Gumina - Accordion
John Doling - Bass
William Mendenhall - Drums
From the back cover: "Who's the boss of the bossa nova?"
This album is, and there isn't a single "soul samba" in it.
Don't take my word for it. I get paid to write these notes. Listen to it all the way through one time and judge for yourself.
Then, if you're a compulsive liner note reader, or need reassurance from the critics, read on.
"When they said The Buddy DeFranco-Tommy Gumina Quartet had a new sound, they weren't kidding..."
"The pair, along with their bassist, John Doling, and drummer, Bill Mendenhall, do some wild things and some that are so beautiful they almost hurt." (Barry Morrison, The Denver Post, July 20, 1962)
Morrison used superlatives ranging from "fantastic" to "dreamy" to describe what he heard and the emotions he felt when DeFranco and Gumina played this music at Denver's Bandbox just two weeks before they recorded it.
The session, at Universal Studios in Chicago August 2 and 3, were meant to be closed, but the DeFranco-Gumina sounds were too much for the studio wall to hold.
Musicians, engineers, executives and secretaries stared ducking in. They peered through the pirtholes in the doors and crowded into the control room. They popped their fingers, gasped, shook their heads and muttered in amazement. Musicians from all over Chicago "just fell in for a minute" to hear "what's happening."
Before they could figure it out DeFranco and Gumina were off to the San Kenton Clinics at Indiana University . There Buddy and Tommy played a set with Sam Jones and Louis Hayes of the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, that shook up Sam, Louis, Cannon, Nat, Yussef Lateef, Kenton, Johnny Richards, Russ Garcia, Donald Byrd, and everyone else within earshot.
Next then slipped into New York's Basin Street East – unheralded, unbilled, and third on the roster with Sarah Vaughan and The Brothers Four.
Bill Coss, Down Beat's New York editor, wrote:
"There's really nothing in current jazz to compare with this group. The ability to swing and instrumentation reminds immediately of Joe Mooney' Quartet, but that's no comparison. It is multinoted in the manner of the best boppers, but that isn't it either. It experiments with keys in a way slightly reminiscent of early groups led by Lennie Tristano. Still there's no comparison.
"What it probably comes down to is that both leaders play instruments conductive to virtuoso performances. They are virtuosos and the product is high-level, high-powered jazz.
"It is almost without fault."
John S. Wilson of The New York Times has always praised DeFranco's incredible technique but has often worried for fear that Buddy was catching a cold. This time he detected a thaw and reported "it is evident that the chill that has pursued Mr. DeFranco for so many years is finally wearing off."
George T. Simon of the New York Herald-Tribune concentrated on Gumina. He put it simply, "Last week a refreshing jazz musician came to town... His name is Tommy Gumina.
I'm not going to explain the music to you. I haven't figured it out myself. But here are a few hints for people who can't just enjoy music but must figure it out.
This music is polytonal, but not always, Sometimes it is chromatic. Once in a while it even dares to be diatonic. Sometimes it is contrapuntal. It swings. Some of it will make your girl want to kiss you. Some of it many even make you want to dance. Even you're aging mother-in-law who "can't understand what's happened to music since the A&P Biopsies went off the radio" may like some of it.
Buddy DeFranco plays clarinet. Everybody should know that by now. He's been accused of playing it too well for years. In this album, if you listen closely, you'll hear him play a few squeaks and clams for the Tony Scott, Pee Wee Russell, and Acker Bilk fans who complain that he's unfair to "human" clarinetists.
Tommy Gumina plays an accordion-organ, a new instrument with a transistorized electronic organ built in. He can play organ like Jimmy Smith. He can play accordion like nobody's business. He can switch from one to the other faster than you can blink your eyes. And he can play both accordion and organ together. He does them all in this album.
Gumina is an alumnus of the Harry James band and ABC's Hollywood studio staff. His major jazz influences are Oscar Peterson, DeFranco and Charlie Parker. His orchestral influences include Nelson Riddle, Spud Murphy and Gil Evans. He credits Riddle and Murphy as the chief sources of the polytonal system he unveils in this album.
Bassist Doling is best-known for his work with the Pat Morgan Quartet. His idol is his former roomate, the last Scott LaFaro. He displays some of Scott's influence here, but his big tone and his fierce walking style recall Red Mitchell and Leroy Vinegar. He also has a bird in his back yard that whistles Sweet Georgia Brown.
Drummer Bill Mendenhall is a DeFranco-Gumina discovery from Delaware. They first heard him with Al Beutler's group at Kenton Clinics at Michigan State University in 1961. He joined them last fall. Buddy and Tommy both feel he has the potential to develop into one of the top drummers in jazz. He also knows how to squeeze himself, Doling, his drums, a bass and luggage into his Volkswagen sedan.
From Billboard - November 17, 1962: Buddy DeFranco plays clarinet and Tommy Gumina plays accordion and a relatively new instrument called the accordio-organ on this set, which has its high points at the quicker tempo. The blend between clarinet and accordio-organ is solid and the two-man-with-rhythm swinging team add spice with humor and variety with distinctive harmonies. "Now's The Time," "Polly Wants A Tonic," "Whisper Not" and "Summertime" are some of the better tracks.
Now's The Time
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Fly Me To The Moon
Whisper Not
Stella By Starlight
Polly Wants A Tonic
What's New
Summertime from "Porgy And Bess"
Like Someone In Love
Speak Low from "One Touch Of Venus"
