Gone With The Wind - Dave Brubeck

 

Gone With The Wind

Gone With The Wind
The Dave Burbeck Quartet
Columbia Records CL 1347
1959

Dave Burbeck - Piano 

Paul Desmond - Alto Sax
Joe Morello - Drums
Gene Wright - Bass

From the back cover: A good deal has been said in print about the merits of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, what it stands for in relation to jazz, what it has contributed to the facade of jazz, etc., and as you listen to the easy flow of melodic lines and the development of each standard composition in this recording, you will know that this is the Quartet at its best. We feel that the music speaks for itself, and that no words need be said here by way of explanation. Therefore, I would only like to tell you of some special incidents which happened during the recording of this album, and include a few comments from Dave himself concerning some of the pieces.From the very first take, we all knew that this was going to be a swinging session, and it was. I believe it is significant that three- fourths of the compositions contained herein are "first-takers," if I may coin a word. On listening to the first play-back by Dave and the group, the comment would almost invariably be: "That's it! Let's make the next one." This happened throughout the entire session in the studio, until it was time to leave for Dave's evening concert at Orange Grove College in Costa Mesa, California, where we also recorded.

Some of the compositions that were used as a basis for improvisation here were played by the group for the first time at the recording studio, and in several cases the arrangements you hear were not previously planned, but worked out spontaneously while recording. This is why, when you listen to Georgia on My Mind, you will hear a low bass note near the beginning and a rather deceptive ending by Dave. There was great speculation in the studio as to how he would end this piece, and we all waited expectantly until the last note was recorded. It is interesting to know that both Georgia on My Min and Swanee River have been favorites of Dave's for years, but this was the first opportunity he had to record them.

You will notice, too, that there are two versions of Camptown Races: because each had its own special quality, both were used. The first one was the original take at the session, and the second one we thought would be of interest because of more West Indian rhythm played by Joe Morello. This, by the way, just happened, too. No cues, no plan before hand. Everything at that point just seemed to work out spontaneously.

In Dave's words, "Look Down That Lonesome Road is a little drama depicting the life story of man. Loneliness in the beginning, then a fuller, expanded life, then gradually back to the loneliness of old age at the end of the road." The clicks that you hear at the end of this tune are intentional, and are meant to represent footsteps.

Gene Wright volunteered to do a tune that he had long wanted to play – Ol' Man River – and Joe Morello contributed to this album about the South by lengthening a quote from Dave's last album, "Newport 1958," where he quoted Short'nin' Bread on the drum solo of C Jam Blues. He lengthened that quote into a track for this album-added yeast to the original Short'nin' Bread, I guess.

Putting together this album, which evokes memories of the South, was an idea which came to Dave following a concert tour of the South. He decided that he would like to do one album of old and familiar tunes in contrast to the album of originals already released (CL 1251), and with the hope of entertaining everyone North, South, East and West.

Swanee River
The Lonesome Road
Georgia On My Mind
Camptown Races
Camptown Races
Short'nin Bread
Basin Street Blues

Ol' Man River
Gone With The Wind

The New Tristano - Lennie Tristano

 

G Minor Complex

The New Tristano
Lennie Tristano
Recording Engineer: Lennie Tristano
Cover Photo: Lee Friedlander
Cover Design: Loring Entemey
Atlantic Records 1357
1962

Lennie Tristano is heard on this LP in unaccompanied piano solos. No use is made of multi-tracking, over-dubbing or tape-speeding on any selection. Lennie Tristano can also be heard on Atlantic LP 1224: Lennie Tristano

From the back cover: As much as possible, everything in this remarkable set of performances by Lennie Tristano is improvised. Lennie improvises with the time, with the time signature; Lennie improvises on the melodic line, on the chord progressions. Although each of the performances has a definite set of chords implicit in it, there is no fixed sequence in any one of them. Nothing is static. Improvisation is all.

Lennie calls what he does here "stretching out in the forms." Within the jazz forms, simple as they are, he has sought the utmost limits of spontaneity of the improvising imagination. He is never altogether unconscious of the progression. He is never enslaved to any sequence of notes or chords. He is almost completely free but not completely. That is part of the joy in it, he explains: "to see how far you can stretch out in a given frame of reference." The possibilities, he says, are "practically infinite, endless even in the most simple forms. You are constantly creating form on form, a multiplicity of lines, a great complex of forms."

The mathematics of this procedure can be deduced. If someone has "practically infinite" patience, he can sit down and copy out the notes Lennie plays. Or, with somewhat less perseverance, he can sit down with Lennie and discover what sort of exercises go into the preparation of such performances. There are, for example, the exercises for the left hand, one finger at a time, in which the single hand is divided up into lines. He will practice improvising with, say, two fingers assigned the bass line and three the melody, then with three on the bass and two on the melody, and so on and on until the fingers drop off from exhaustion or he has negotiated twelve choruses. For what it may be worth to those who want to try this out for themselves, it should be added that so far Lennie has lost no fingers; his hands are intact and so are his twelve- chorus exercises.

The point of all of this is to assure Lennie and the listener of no dissociation of technique and music. All his playing life, Lennie has been working to develop enough skill to express feeling "without be- ing hung up in the skill itself." It is possible to arrive at such control, such a combination of freedom and restraint, that one is never preoccupied with one's fingers as one plays, that one, in fact, is only barely conscious of what one is doing with one's fingers. At that extremely delicate peak of stability, where instability is just a finger's breadth away, one can give over entirely to feeling. That is exactly what jazz musicians have been doing, however high or low their individual peaks of stability, ever since the beginning of jazz (whenever that was). For jazz is an art of feeling and the jazz musician's greatest joy is to yield to his feeling if he has the equipment with which and to which he can surrender. Such a yielding is what we have here, a triumphant demonstration of the art of feeling.

In this most intimate art, this art of feeling, statements are usually highly personal. One has the choice  of exchanging sentiments with other musicians, with a horn or two or with a rhythm section, or of speaking for oneself alone. Inevitably when one enters a jazz dialogue, there are stiff constraints that stand in the way of an open and honest communication of feeling. Not only is there the formal deference that must be shown other musicians, but also a constant return to a melodic line and a rigid adherence to a fixed chord progression so that the improvising musicians may walk together on common ground. By comparison one can see the many advantages of a performance like this one of Lennie's, alone, without rhythm or any other support. Here all the usual meditative resources of the soliloquy are at his disposal as well as the new ones he has developed for himself, devices which permit him to express as many as five ideas at once and in his improvisations to follow the most elaborate involutions of his feelings.

The elaborations are prodigious. In most of these tracks, he works with multiple time patterns, setting 5/4 or 3/8 or some other time against a steady 4/4. But the 4/4 is not so much a fixed measure of four quarter-notes to a bar as a continuity of beats, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, without any bar-line restrictions. On top of this Lennie constructs a fresh contour out of triplets. He alters the basic structure by adding a fourth note to the triplet, borrowing one note from the second triplet to make four notes of the first one, borrowing two from the third triplet to make four notes of the second one, picking up a whole triplet from the next bar to add to the one left in the third, etc. The result is an astonishing contour made up of 4 on 3 (the altered triplet on the conventional triplet), on top of 5 on 4 (the time in one hand), on top of 4/4 (the basic beat). He does as much again with a triplet to which he had added two notes, creating a contour in fives that, if nothing else, is a breath-taking mathematic. al exercise. But it is much more. "I can never think and play at the same time," Lennie says. "It's emotionally impossible." The thinking is in anticipation of the performance. The exercise precedes a recording such as this one by weeks, by months, by years.

Some idea of the extent to which this collection is a unified display of feeling may be gathered from the fact that everything here except one track (the first on the second side) comes from one tape. The first that you hear is the first that Lennie played, the one he calls Becoming. It is a "sort of waking everything up myself, the studio, the tape recorders; a bringing together of all my forces." And so for four and a half minutes he flexes his fingers and articulates his ideas, in preparation for the monumental statement which follows. The appropriately named C Minor Complex is the most eloquent of jazz solos, a complex gathering of melodic lines and contrasting times and swinging beats out of a C minor progression into nearly six minutes of concentrated feeling that reminds one of nothing so much as the D minor Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue of Bach. After so much music, a pause is called for, a lengthy one, before going on to the tuneful ballad You Don't Know What Love Is and the middle-tempo Deliberation which follow.

The second side starts with a kind of suite entitled Scene And Variations, consisting of three sections, Carol, Tania and Bud, based on more or less the same chord progression, moving from a brilliant brief exam- ination of block chords, through a flurry of single-note patterns, to a driving line which does nothing so much as proclaim in precise accents its own linearity. It is not hard to understand, the response of Lennie's baby daughter Tania to these performances. She listened, and listened, and listened, and then just got up and walked all over the place never having walked before.

The set concludes with two typical Tristano performances. First there is an original ballad, Love Lines, handsomely compendious: Lennie makes his point, develops it a little, and stops; that's all he has to say. Then there is another minor-key gathering of lines and times and beats, G Minor Complex. "When I'm through," Lennie says, "I'll have the well-tempered complex." No better description exists of what Lennie Tristano has already achieved: The well-tempered complex: A marvelous multiplicity of forms swinging together in the service of feeling. – Barry Ulanov

Becoming
C Minor Complex
You Don't Know What Love Is
Deliberation
Scene and Variations
  a) Carol
  b) Tania
  c) Bud
Love Lines
G Minor Complex

Norvo... Naturally! - Red Norvo

 

Love For Sale

Norvo... Naturally!

Red Norvo
Produced by Jemo Recording Enterprises
Under the Supervision of Elliot Machit
Musical Direction: Mickey Miller
Recorded in Hollywood, California
Jemo Recordin Enterprises
Rave Records RLP-101
1956

Red Norvo - Vibes
Bob Drasnin - Flute & Alto

Jim Wyble - Guitar
Buddy Clark - Bass
Bill Douglass - Drums

From the back cover: Now! – for the first time you can hear RED NORVO as RED NORVO should be heard. Never before have the glittering talents of "Remarkable Red" been so tastefully and artfully recorded for his millions of fans to enjoy. The miracle of STEROSONIC SOUND RECORDING presents a new and thrilling experience for the hypersensitive ears of our most discerning audiophiles. It represents, at long last, the complete mastering of all the technical problems involved in producing a super-quality high fidelity recording from STEREOPHONIC TAPE MASTERS.

The magic of STEROSONIC SOUND RECORDING will be immediately apparent to even the most critical listener. The scintillating movement of "I'LL REMEMBER APRIL" will produce for you an amazing "in person" feeling and marvelous things will keep on happening right through to the brilliant finale of "LOVE FOR SALE".

Seldom in the history of intimate jazz groups has a "sound" like this been obtained. Those of us who cut our "musical teeth" on the tremendous power of the Benny Goodman Quartet are going to enjoy the wonderful ensemble work that Red displays in this fine album. In addition to this, the pure, free, unrestrained jazz solos that you will hear are the stuff that gladdens a true jazz fan's heart.

Mozart's Magic Flute will certainly spring to mind when you hear the fantastic work of BOB DRASNIN, Red's flute player. Bob's beautiful jazz solo and his flashing cadenza on "Stella" are enough to convince any real jazz fan that here is a truly Magic Flute. Lest we forget, the inspired work of JIM WYBLE on guitar, BUDDY CLARK on bass and BILL DOUGLASS on drums are in sparkling evidence in all of Red's beautifully conceived and brilliantly executed arrangements. So set up your turn- table make yourself comfortable and the RED NORVO QUINTET will set up shop right in your living room. Relax- because it's NORVO Naturally!

I'll Remember Paris
Spider's Web
Tenderly
Lullaby Of Birdland
Stella By Starlight
Scorpion's Nest
Funny Valentine
Love For Sale

The Woody Herman Band!

 

Strange

The Woody Herman Band!

Capitol Records T560
1954

Woody Herman - Clarinet & Alto Sax
Dick Hafer, Bill Perkins, Dave Madden - Tenor Saxes
Jack Nimitz - Baritone Sax
Al Porcino, Dick Collins, John Howell, Charlie Walp, Bill Castagnino - Trumpets
Cy Touff - Bass Trumpet
Dick Kenney, Keith Moon - Trombones
Nat Pierce - Piano
Reed Kelly - Bass
Chuck Flores - Drums

From the back cover: One of the most amazing stories in the music business in the past few years has been the return to the big band field of Woody Herman, and his subsequent demonstration that a big band can be successful and still play the kind of music it wants to.Woody, who has been around the entertainment world a long time – he was billed in vaudeville as "The Boy Wonder of the Clarinet" in 1922 when he was nine years old – had led three highly successful big bands when he organized his Sextet in the early 1950s. The first Herman band, "The Band That Plays the Blues," was a pre-war favorite in the late swing era. The second was the great 1945-46 "First Herd" which set music business records in the mid-forties that still stand. The other was the "Second Herd," the 1947-48 band that featured the famous Four Brothers sound the most imi- tated band sound in jazz – and which recorded the classic Early Autumn for Capitol. Despite the fact that this band won the Down Beat poll and other honors, the music business was at such a low ebb at the time that the "Second Herd" had to be scrapped.

When Woody formed his present band, the one that has become known as the "Third Herd," he carefully planned it to aim first at the dancing public and secondly at the jazz fans. Ralph Burns, Woody's chief arranger and composer of Early Autumn, wrote a basic book designed to keep the Four Brothers sound, featuring danceable tunes in good tempos and yet spicing them with sufficient jazz flavor to hold the interest, not only of the musicians themselves, but of the jazz-minded members of the younger generation.

That they have done this is evident from the success story of the band. In the past three years they have worked 50 weeks of the year with a regular ten days or two weeks vacation. They have pioneered in the presentation of modern big band swing in such spots as the Golden Hotel in Reno and the Statler in New York. In addition, they have made a specialty of playing, with notable success, at college proms and concerts during the spring and fall.

Early in 1954, the "Third Herd" introduced Europe to this type of American orchestra and the subsequent headlines in the British trade papers were enthusiastic. "The Band Is As Great As They Say," the New Musical Express headlined in a rave review.

The reasons for the "Third Herd's" popularity are self-evident on this record. There is the supple, rhythmic foundation – the swing which characterizes Woody Herman; there is the intelligent attention to melodic ballads, beautiful in treatment, bringing out the loveliness that can be jazz; and there is the precision, versatility, and excitement of a big band that is adept, sure of itself, and secure in the knowledge that a major part of its function is to reach the audience.

Over the cleanly swinging rhythm, Woody has integrated the best of modern jazz and the fundamentals of the swing school with the intention of playing for the people, playing good dance music and good jazz-because the roots of jazz are in dance music, and the excitement and fire of jazz can reach almost any audience if it is based on good dance rhythms. It is a tribute to Woody as a musician and as a leader that he has done this. – Ralph J. Gleason Editor, "The Rhythm Section," San Francisco Chronicle

These are the tunes on this record, presenting an excellent cross-section of the varied talents of the "Third Herd."

WILD APPLE HONEY, a great flagwaver, is by now a Herman standard. Tenor solos are by Bill Perkins and Dick Hafer; Cy Touff is heard on bass trumpet; and Charlie Walp's long trumpet solo intro- duces a series of exchanges between the men in the trumpet section.

STRANGE, a beautiful ballad arranged by Ralph Burns, features Woody's romantic alto sax and Dick Kenney's lyric trombone..

MISTY MORNING, a Ralph Burns original, features Woody's alto and Bill Perkins' tenor in what seems destined to be an- other Early Autumn.

WOULD HE?, a catchy original by Manny Albam, offers solos by Touff, Perkins, and Woody on clarinet.

SLEEP, the old standard in an excellent dance tempo, gives Jack Nimitz his chance for a baritone solo after bits by Perkins and Nat Pierce.

AUTOBAHN BLUES, a Ralph Burns original celebrating the Third Herd's visit to Germany in 1954, has solos by Perkins, Woody, and Pierce before a beautiful trumpet chorus by John Howell. This sort of solid blues number is a strong point with this band and seems likely to become a jazz classic.

BY PLAY, a Manny Albam original, features Cy Touff and his bass trumpet in a bright number.

LA CUCARACHA MAMBO is a whimsical arrangement by Billy May. Woody stars on clarinet and the insinuating dance rhythm is simply delightful.

ILL WIND, a ballad of the late 30s arranged by Ralph Burns, features a beautiful soft trumpet solo by Dick Collins, one of the young stars of the Third Herd, another excellent tenor solo by Perkins, and some warm, moving alto by Woody.

BOO HOO, an arrangement of the old pop tune by Nat Pierce, is done in excellent dance tempo and features Collins and Touff trading four bar choruses on the trumpet and bass trumpet.

HITTIN' THE BOTTLE, an old novelty from the 30s, is a head arrangement with solos by Woody, Touff, Perkins and some high note trumpet by Bill Castagnino.

Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel - Duane Eddy

 

Three-30-Blues

Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel
Duane Eddy - His 'Twangy' Guitar and The Rebels
Produced by Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood
Engineers: Jack Miller and Eddie Brackett
Jamie Records JLP-3000 (LP-DE-501

1958

The Rebels
Buddy Wheller - Bass
Steve Douglas - Sax
Mike Bermani and Bob Taylor - Drums
Al Casey - Rhythm Guitar
Duane Eddy - Guitar
The Sharps - Vocal Group

From the back cover: A studio filled with technicians and re- cording equipment... Musicians tuning their instruments adding to the already throbbing hum of activity... This is a recording session and these are the men and machines that make up the nucleus of a thriving industry. But men and machines are not enough. There is something needed to add that all important spark: someone to lend that vital something necessary to make all this come to life: to give a unique quality to what might otherwise be just another recording session. That someone, in this case, is a handsome, twenty year old, six footer named Duane Eddy and that something is his "twangy" guitar. We are in Phoenix, Arizona, Duane's home town, waiting to record his first album, "HAVE 'TWANGY GUITAR - WILL TRAVEL." For the prelude to all of this, we must go back to March of 1958 and the office of Jamie Records in Philadelphia where Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood (independent record producers from the west coast) are in conference with Harry Finfer, Prexy of Jamie. The subject of their conversation is a young guitar player and his record- ing of "Moovin' 'N Groovin'." The answer is an enthusiastic "yes" and so the Duane Eddy sound makes its bow before the American public with significant success. The winning team of Hazlewood and Sill produce Duane's follow up to "MOOVIN' 'N GROOVIN' " and this time the name of Duane Eddy girdles the globe on the wings of an astonishingly original sound bearing the title of "REBEL-ROUSER." "REBEL" is not only a smash hit in the U.S. and England but also becomes a number one instrumental in Europe. With this it is apparent that the Duane Eddy star is in its ascendency. The star becomes a meteor when, appearing on the Dick Clark Show, Duane plays an encore. The following day Jamie Records is flooded with calls asking about the encore number. There are over 150,000 advance orders for a record that has not yet been produced. Duane flies to Phoenix to record "RAMROD," which becomes an immediate success.

In three tries he scores three hits. Can it be done again? "CANNON BALL" provides the answer to that question by exploding upon the record scene with all the force its namesake warrants. In just four releases Duane Eddy accounts for more than two millions of record sales.

On personal appearance tours Duane plays to capacity houses. The Brooklyn Paramount draws throngs of Duane Eddy fans. The world famous Hollywood Bowl hosts a capacity crowd the night Duane headlines Dick Clarke's "Rock and Roll at the Hollywood Bowl." Now in the midst of an overpacked schedule of theatre dates and personal appearances Duane looks forward to a motion picture and the recording of his first LP. This brings us up to date. Here is Duane . . . There is the 'Stand By' light... and here is the album. – Ben DeMotto

Lonesome Road
I Almost Lost My Mind
Rebel-'Rouser
Three-30-Blues
Cannon Ball
The Lonely One
Detour
Stalkin'
Ram Rod
Anytime
Moovin' 'N Groovin'
Loving You

The Great Brook Benton & Jessie Belvin

 

The Great Brook Benton & Jessie Belvin

The Great Brook Benton & Jessie Belvin
Crown Records STEREO CST 402

That Girl I Love - Brook Benton
A New Love - Brook Benton
Goodnight My Love - Jessie Belvin
Once Upon A Time - Jessie Belvin
Just Say Hello - Jessie Belvin
Dreams Oh Dreams - Brook Benton
Don't Close The Door - Jessie Belvin

I'm In Love - Jessie Belvin

I Want To Know Why - Jessie Belvin

I'll Mess You Up - Jessie Belvin

Mainstream - Vic Dickenson & Joe Thomas

 

Sweethearts On Parade

Mainstream
Vic Dickenson & Joe Thomas & Their The All-Star Jazz Groups
Recording engineer: Tom Dowd
Cover illustration: Phil Featheringill
Cover design: Marvin Israel
Supervision: Nebi Erlegun
Atlantic Records STEREO SD-1303
1959

The musicians who appear on this LP were selected by the English jazz critic and historian Albert J. McCarthy. – Buck Clayton appears by arrangement with Columbia Records.

PERSONNEL

On Sweethearts On Parade, I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me, Crazy Rhythm & Blues For Baby, the personnel is: Joe Thomas, trumpet; Johnny Letman, trumpet; Dickie Wells, trombone; Buddy Tate, tenor sax; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Herbie Nichols, piano; Everett Barksdale, guitar; Bill Pemberton, bass; Jimmie Crawford, drums.

Sweethearts On Parade, I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me & Crazy Rhythm were arranged by Dick Vance.

On Sweethearts On Parade, Joe Thomas plays lead in the ensembles at the beginning and end, as well as the 8-bar solo before the concluding ensemble. The trumpet solo in the middle is by Johnny Letman. On I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me, the first trumpet solo is by Joe Thomas; the second trumpet solo (muted) is by Johnny Letman; the trumpet solo following Buddy Tate's tenor sax solo is by Joe Thomas; both trumpets are beard in the concluding ensemble. On Crazy Rhythm, the trumpet solo which follows Dickie Wells' trombone solo is by Johnny Letman; Joe Thomas' trumpet leads the ensemble. On Blues For Baby, the first and last solos are by Joe Thomas; the trumpet solo following Herbie Nichols' piano solo is by Johnny Letman.

On Undecided & The Lamp Is Low, the personnel is: Vic Dickenson, trombone; Buck Clayton, trumpet; Hal Singer, tenor sax; Herbie Hall, clarinet; Al Williams, piano; Danny Barker, guitar; Gene Ramey, bass; Marquis Foster, drums.

From the back cover: The term "mainstream jazz" was coined by the British critic Stanley Dance. In his own words it is:"Primarily, a reference term for a vast body of jazz that was at one time in danger of losing its identity. Practically, it is applied to the jazz idiom which developed between the heyday of King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton on the one hand, and that of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie on the other".

"The tag originated during the recent period when jazz seemed to be entirely divided between Traditional (alias Dixieland, alias New Orleans, alias Two-Beat) and Modern (alias Bop, alias Cool, alias Progressive). Among those this division left out in the cold were musicians like Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins and Buck Clayton. Since all good jazz, of whatever kind and era, theoretically swings, 'Swing' was hardly an adequate label for them. Hence Mainstream for jazz of a 'central' kind, a music not inhibited by any particular instrumental combination, but emphasizing the twin virtue of communicable emotional expression and swing."

In the winter of 1958 I spent three months in the United States, mostly in the New York area, interviewing musicians of the swing period in connection with a forthcoming book. I was disappointed at the lack of opportunities many of these musicians have for regular playing and felt that very few received adequate attention from the recording companies. I approached Nesuhi Ertegun, of Atlantic Records, with the suggestion that I be allowed to select the musicians for two sessions to make up an LP and he was good enough to give me complete freedom in the project. In discussions with each leader the personnel was agreed upon and the choice of material and musical details were left to the participants. I was particularly keen to record Joe Thomas, a trumpeter whose work I have admired for many years, and one who has been poorly represented on record during the past decade. Four of the six tracks are by a group led by Thomas and a few notes on some of the musicians taking part may be helpful to newer enthusiasts.

Joe Thomas was born at Webster Groves, near St. Louis, Missouri, on July 24, 1912. He was featured with numerous big bands during the thirties, including those led by Cecil Scott, Willie Bryant, Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson and Teddy Wilson. During the first recording boom of the early forties he made dozens of records, both as a leader and side. man. He won praise from collectors principally on the strength of solos with Fletcher Henderson, an Art Tatum session with vocalist Joe Turner in 1941, and a 1946 date at which he made a fine version of the Duke Ellington number Black Butterfly. He claims to be greatly indebted in his playing to the St. Louis trumpeter Charlie Creath, but the main in- fluence is obviously that of Louis Armstrong.

The forty-one year old Chicagoan Johnny Letman is not too well known. He has had a varied career, including spells with the big bands of Count Basie, Cab Calloway and Earl Hines; more recently working as a pianist-entertainer in small clubs. I heard him at the "Metropole" deputising for Roy Eldridge with the Coleman Hawkins band and immediately decided to use two trumpeters on this date. His fiery playing makes a good contrast to the more sober style of Joe Thomas. Dickie Wells is recognized as one of the great trombone stylists of jazz. Born at Centerville, Tennessee, on June 10, 1907, he has worked with many of the big bands but is best known for his solos on numerous Count Basie records made between 1938 and 1946. In 1937 he toured England and France with Teddy Hill's orchestra and while in Paris recorded a number of titles with the late Django Reinhardt that have become classics of their kind. During the past few years his playing has become notable for its sardonic quality. William "Buster" Bailey, born in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 19, 1902, was one of the first academically trained musicians to enter jazz, and has now been active in the jazz world for four decades. A mainstay of the Fletcher Henderson band for many years, he gained considerable public acclaim as a result of his stay with the John Kirby band from 1938 to 1947.

Buddy Tate now leads what is virtually the only regular mainstream group playing in the New York area, appearing at the Celebrity Club on 125th Street most week-ends. The forty-five year old tenor star came up with numerous Mid- western bands and at one time, when with Troy Floyd, his partner was the late Herschel Evans. He gained recognition as a member of the Count Basie orchestra and in recent years has recorded frequently with Buck Clayton.

Many people may be surprised to find pianist Herbie Nichols on a session of this nature, as he is generally considered a modernist and has had several LPs issued which portray this side of his playing. However, he is a versatile musician who has held diverse jobs including a spell with the De Paris Brothers band.

Everett Barksdale worked regularly with the late Art Tatum between 1949 and 1954. A regular member of Buddy Tate's band, he is also greatly in demand at recording sessions these days and has appeared on a number of dates with Louis Armstrong. He normally plays an electric guitar but for this date reverted to an unamplified instrument.

The rhythm section is rounded out with Bill Pemberton and Jimmie Crawford. The former is not as well known as he should be, but his unobtrusive yet solid work is slowly gaining him acclaim. Jimmie Crawford, one of the great drummers of the swing era, became famous as a member of the superb Jimmy Lunceford orchestra, but in recent years has done a great Ideal of work as a member of theatrical pit bands.

The arrangements for this session are by Dick Vance, an excellent trumpeter in his own right, who was a fellow mem. ber of the Fletcher Henderson section along with Joe Thomas and Roy Eldridge. Sweethearts On Parade and I Can't Believe are numbers associated with Louis Armstrong, the former having notable solos by Bailey and Letman, while the latter includes a witty solo by Bailey, excellent Wells, two powerful choruses by Tate, and a good contribution by Thomas. Crazy Rhythm has very good solos from the horn men, particularly Wells and Letman. The fourteen minute Blues For Baby (dedicated to Baby Matthews, vocalist wife of Joe Thomas) has two choruses each by Barksdale, Wells, Nichols, Letman, Bailey, Tate and Thomas. The mood is sustained remarkably well and Thomas's playing here is as fine as anything he has done on record.

The other two tracks are by a band led by Vic Dickenson and were recorded on October 28, 1958 (the Thomas tracks were recorded the previous day); Little new remains to be said about the leader, whose witty and entirely individual playing has gained him the admiration of musicians and fans alike. Equally well known is the astonishingly consistent Buck Clayton, whose superbly controlled and imaginative trumpet playing has been particularly admired in Europe. In an era when so many trumpet players have adopted a deadpan tone, Clayton has remained true to the great tradition of his instrument. Herbie Hall, Edmond's brother, has had a long career stretching from early days with Texas bands to his present job with Eddie Condon. Hal Singer has played with Jay McShann and Duke Ellington, among others, but for a decade was lost to jazz as a result of his great success as a rhythm and blues performer.

The rhythm section consists of Al Williams, Danny Barker, Gene Ramey and Marquis Foster. Barker is a New Orleans musician whose career includes appearances with many traditional groups and a long spell with Cab Calloway's band. Marquis Foster is a Boston musician who is now working in the New York area after a spell with the George Shearing Quintet. Al Williams is another versatile musician who has recorded with artists as stylistically diverse as Sonny Stitt, Jimmy Rushing, Buck Clayton, and numerous rock 'n' roll groups. Ramey is another Jay McShann veteran, but in recent years has appeared frequently with modernists. The two tracks by this group are a medium tempo Undecided and a medium slow The Lamp Is Low. Clayton's theme chorus on the latter is a sensitive and moving statement, and it is significant that the solos that follow are in no sense an anticlimax.

I believe that this LP gives an accurate reflection of the abilities of just a few of the mainstream musicians working in the New York area today. The success of an LP of this nature depends on the inventiveness of the solos in the main and I believe that a high level was maintained through- out. The music on this LP swings all the way, it is frequently exciting, and now and then attains an exceptional level of creativity. – ALBERT J. McCARTHY

SIDE ONE

1. Sweethearts On Parade
(By Carmen Lombardo & Charles Newman; Mayfair, ASCAP. Time: 4:50)

2. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
(By Clarence Gaskill & Jimmy McHugh; Mills, ASCAP. Time: 5:54)

3. Undecided
(By Charlie Shavers & Sid Robin; Leeds, ASCAP. Time: 4:32)

4. Crazy Rhythm
(By Joseph Meyer, Roger Wolfe Kahn & Irving Caesar; Harms Inc., ASCAP. Time: 3:38)

SIDE TWO

1. The Lamp Is Low
(By Mitchell Parish, Maurice Ravel, Peter DeRose & Bert Shefter; Robbins, ASCAP. Time: 6:08)

2. Blues For My Baby
(By Joe Thomas; Progressive, BMI. Time: 12:50)

After Hours - Joni James

 

They Can't Take That Away From Me

After Hours
Joni James
Produced  by Howard Scott
Sound Engineer: Val Valentin
Coordinator: Jesse Kaye
Cover Photograph by Jacques Lowe
MGM SE 4008
1962

Pete Jolly - Piano
Ralph Pena - Bass
Howard Roberts - Guitar
Shelly Manne (side one) or Milt Holland - Drums

From the back cover: Here is Joni James at her best-free, easy, relaxed and sweetly swinging. You'll hear her the way the public has never had a chance to hear her  – informal and with her hair down."After Hours", is a new departure for Joni. This is her first album with a jazz rhythm section backing. And it swings from note one!

The medium of jazz has given Joni a new dimension and a further opportunity to demonstrate her incomparable sense of timing and a unique ability in harmonic improvisation. "After Hours," is jazz at its best – relaxed and free-but the style is undeniably – Joni James.

This is really "After Hours" – a true jam session featuring Joni James sitting in with a quartet of top-flight jazzmen. There were no written arrangements whatsoever, and each side of the album was cut in one long continuous take. There was no splicing or cutting. What you hear is exactly what happened. This is it – there were no second takes.

The only preliminary preparation, before the tape started to roll, was a two hour conference. Here, Joni and the boys ran down the tunes. They also set up their routines and the ways that they would get in and out of the various tempos.

Accompanying Joni in this album. are Pete Jolly at the piano; Howard Roberts, guitar; Ralph Pena, bass; and Shelly Manne on the drums. Milt Holland takes over for Shelly Manne on side two. Each one of these leading jazzmen takes his turn carrying the solo load in individual songs.

The songs themselves are an ex- cellent selection of twelve top, old and new favorites-chock full of sen- timental moods and delivered by Joni with warmth and tenderness.

That the entry of Joni James into jazz was a complete success will become evident as you spin the platter. So now sit back, relax, unwind yourself, and enjoy a good half hour of sweet, swinging jazz with Joni and the boys-"After Hours." – Stan Ulanoff

All Of Nothing At All
Somewhere In The Night
I'll Remember April
Misty
I've Got A Crush On You
Just One Of Those Things
I Almost Lost My Mind
Can't Get Out Of This Mood
This Heart Of Mine
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
They Can't Take That Away From Me

Classics Go Latin - Irving Fields

 

Classics Go Latin

Classics Go Latin
Irving Fields
King Records STEREO 724
1961

Warsaw Concerto
Third Man Theme Cha Cha
Liebestraum
La Cinquantaine
Poet And Peasant Rumbature
Blue Danube Merengue
Schubert's Serenade
Vienna Woods Cha Cha
Dark Eyes
Song Of India
Melody In F Cha Cha
Piano Concerto In B Flat Minor

East Is West And The Twain Shall Meet In Hawaii

 

East Is East and West Is West

East is East and West is West and the Twain Shall Meet In Hawaii
Recorded in Hawaii
Produced by Tommy Kearns
Waikiki Records STEREO-LP-313

From the back cover: No other place in the world does the East meet the West with such coordination as in Hawaii.With perfect simplicity of understanding and with complete lack of prejudice of any sort, all nations have mingled with a serenity and ease which adds to the charm of this lovely paradise. Many of Hawaii's songs and peoples reflect these happy unions.

As you listen to these selections from Hawaii's favorites, notice the tinkle of the Far East, the robustness of the West – mingled with the lull of the sparkling blue Pacific.

These things are international – and truly Hawaiian...love, longing, joy, sadness and extreme happiness.

More than any nation, the Hawaiians have written their history in song. It is fitting that as other races were introduced into the islands, they brought with them their very best and most pleasant traditions which were absorbed and therefore recorded in the music unique to this Paradise for all.

Our artists, too, show the passing of generations in this ideal atmosphere. The principal artist – Eddie Spencer – is a classic example, being of Alii (or Royal) Hawaiian, Hawaiian-Chinese and English extraction. He is a perennial favorite with all who visit the Islands, these nationalities being mixed into the happy, smiling, gentle artist who warms the hearts of all who hear him.

The other artists are a cross-section of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Tahitian, French, Swedish, Russian, English and Polynesian-giving living proof that all people can live and enjoy being together.

Dreams Of Old Hawaii
Ia Neke
E Mama E
Aloha Sunset Land
Ahulili
Lei Aloha Lei Makamae
Tahiti Nui
The Wedding Song – Ke Kali Nei Au
Mauna Loa
Old Plantation
Paradise Isle
Song Of The Island – Na Lei O Hawaii