The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz (66 page)

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Authors: Tom Piazza

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BOOK: The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz
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remarks apply to
Groovin' with Golson
(New Jazz/OJC-226), one of the loosest Golson sets available, on which Golson and Fuller are accompanied by Ray Bryant, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey. The repertoire here consists of three blues at different tempos and two medium-tempo ballads ("I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Yesterdays").
Benny Golson
(Swing 8418) contains material from two 1958 dates, one recorded in New York and one in Paris. The New York sides have Lee Morgan on trumpet, with Philly Joe Jones again on drums; the Paris sides find Golson and pianist Bobby Timmons (his bandmate from the Blakey group) with three French musicians, including bassist Pierre Michelot. Golson plays very well here, as does Morgan. The three Paris tracks are a bit less interesting, but the album is certainly worth having.
Lestorian Mode
Lester Young was a large and direct influence on many young musicians and not just tenor players, especially beginning in the early 1940s. Although his was far from the only influence - Don Byas and Coleman Hawkins, for example, had just as many adherents - a whole school of young tenor players undeniably fashioned themselves in Young's image with acolytic fervor. One of the best of them was even quoted as saying that any tenor player who didn't play like Pres was playing wrong.
The statement is obviously somewhat unsound, but it gives an idea of the kind of nearly fanatical devotion Young could inspire. One semilegendary character around the New York jazz scene, a nonmusician now in his sixties, is famous for his instant recall of almost any Lester Young solo; on the least provocation, and under almost any circumstances, he will collar his listener and begin singing Young solos from memory.
Other musicians have inspired this kind of adulation, but only a handful; they tend to be jazz's prophetic voices: Armstrong, Parker, Coltrane. Young certainly belongs in their company; the elements of his style were fundamental to the music's development, implying what writer Stanley Crouch has termed "a fresh logic." In any case, the 1940s saw a whole armada of young Pres devotees arrive on the scene, many of whom went on to forge very identifiable voices for themselves, but few, if any, of whom ever lost that identifying stamp of the President in their sounds, their ideas, and their approach to swinging.
The most famous seed farm for these Youngsters was the Woody Herman big band of the late 1940s, the so-called Four Brothers band, referring to the three tenors of Herbie Steward, Zoot Sims, and Stan Getz and the baritone of Serge Chaloff, Pres devotees all. Later Al Cohn would become one of the
 
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Herman Brothers as well. The 1947 recording of the tune named for them, "Four Brothers," can be heard on
Woody Herman-The Thundering Herds, 1945-1947
(Columbia CK 44108); the arrangement and melody, by reed man Jimmy Giuffre, are bop-influenced, but the tenor solos come straight out of Pres (baritonist Chaloff is the most Parker-influenced of the soloists). This is one of only two tunes by this edition of the Herman band on this set, by the way; the others are by a slightly earlier gang, and, for me, they hold up a bit less well.
In any case, the records the Brothers made under their own names afford them more room to stretch out. Getz, Sims, and Cohn all got much more interesting as they got older, but many of their recordings of the 1940s and early 1950s are enjoyable, if not earthshaking. A good sampling of their sound from this early period is
Stan Getz/Zoot Sims - The Brothers
(Prestige/OJC-008), which contains the results of two sessions, a 1952 Al Cohn-Zoot Sims date and a 1949 summit meeting involving Getz, Cohn, Sims, and fellow Pres followers Allen Eager and Brew Moore. In the Five Brothers tracks, the differences among the players' styles are so slight as to be negligible to all but specialists, and no one gets much chance to stretch out; the Cohn-Sims tracks are more satisfying. This is swinging, easy-to-listen-to jazz, happy and melodically pleasing at its best, somewhat boring at its worst. In any case, a little of it goes a long way. All involved are featured to better advantage elsewhere. The same remarks apply to
Brothers and Other Mothers
(Savoy SJL 2210), which is valuable for its 1947 tracks by Serge Chaloff, the very talented baritone Brother, and its generous sampling of tracks by Pres cult figure Brew Moore (the titles are "Blue Brew," "Brew Blue," "More Brew,'' and "No More Brew"). Still, this is hardly essential stuff.
Brew Moore, perhaps the most elusive of the Lestorians (with the exception of Allen Eager, who is fondly remembered by those around at the time for his appearances with Tadd Dameron's band), was a natural, warmly swinging player who led a more or less tragic life and never achieved any public recognition to speak of. His album
Brew Moore
(Fantasy/OJC-049), for some reason available only on LP, is an extremely relaxed, happy session presenting Moore in tandem with an obscure West Coast tenorist and Pres devotee named Harold Wylie. Together they play chorus after chorus of swinging, inventive tenor with a special lyrical edge. Moore's version of the ballad "Nancy with the Laughing Face" is reason enough to pick this one up. No history being made, just very good jazz. Another Moore set,
The Brew Moore Quintet
(Fantasy/OJC-100, LP only), is good, too, but neither as relaxed nor as inspired as Brew Moore. Let's hope that Fantasy decides to bring out
Brew Moore
, at least, on CD.
 
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Wardell Gray was not a part of the Woody Herman gang, but he took a backseat to no one as a disciple of Lester Young's.
Wardell Gray Memorial, Volume 1
(Prestige/OJC-050) and
Volume 2
(Prestige/OJC-051) contain Gray in various small-group settings recorded between 1949 and 1953.
Volume 1
is probably the better of the two; it includes Gray's medium-tempo blues solo "Twisted," which became a hit for singer Annie Ross (with lyrics added) and, later, Joni Mitchell. Throughout, Gray's evenly swinging, bop-flavored but essentially Lestorian playing is very tasty.
The Brothers
Zoot Sims was one of the most consistent players in jazz until his death in 1985. Like Moore, he had a natural spark, a buoyant swing, and an inner warmth that tended to suffuse any session he was involved in, especially as he got older and his tone broadened. Sims really loved to play; a good example of his go-for-broke spirit is the famous 1951 "Zoot Swings the Blues" (included on
Zoot Sims Quartets
[Prestige/OJC-242]), one of the first jazz records to be made using the extended time available on what was then the new medium of the long-playing record. While this number was being recorded, Sims was supposed to be watching for a signal from the control booth to let him know when to stop his solo; he forgot to look up, according to writer Ira Gitler, who was there, and by the time he remembered to look, the producer just waved him to keep going. The result was an exhilarating long tenor blowout on an up-tempo blues; Art Blakey's drums were a key factor in goading Sims onward.
A very good Sims set, recorded in 1956, is
Zoot Sims in Paris with Henri Renaud and Jon Eardley
(Swing SW 8417). His beautiful sound really comes through here, and he is in inspired form on these quintet sides with the obscure trumpeter Eardley and a French rhythm section. The repertoire is a nice mix of swinging originals and standards, a walking-tempo blues on which Sims excels, and a fine ballad, "My Old Flame." This set is a perfect capsule lesson in what made Zoot Sims so special - he swings effortlessly, his ideas always take interesting turns, and his sound is warm and expressive. Pres is present in the always-melodic quality of the tenor improvisations and in the light-footedness of the swing, but this could be no one but Sims.
Zoot!
(Riverside/OJC-228) is another nice 1956 quintet date with several originals by pianist-composer George Handy; this, too, is well recorded, and Sims plays very well, if not quite as inspired as on the Swing set.
In his later years Sims recorded many albums for producer Norman Granz's Pablo label; Sims always played well, but many of Granz's productions in the 1970s have a thrown-together air about them, and often either the
 
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recording balance or the mix of musical personalities isn't all it could have been. But on the 1975
Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers
(Pablo/OJC-444), there are no problems, and Zoot is in super form on an all-Gershwin program ranging from swingers ("The Man I Love," "Lady, Be Good") that feature Sims at his most exciting, to ballads like ''How Long Has This Been Going On?" His rhythm section includes Oscar Peterson, and this is a jazz album for all seasons. Even better is
Zoot Sims Meets Jimmy Rowles: If I'm Lucky
(Pablo/OJC-683), on which Sims is paired with the pianist for a beautifully programmed set of ballads and swinging pop tunes in which Sims's tone is a thing to marvel at. "You're My Everything" and "Gypsy Sweetheart" are my personal favorites, but the entire set is superb. Sims communicates an almost ecstatic joy here, a sheer exhilaration.
Sims was often at his best with another saxophonist with whom he could exchange ideas, and the saxophonist with whom he exchanged the most ideas over the course of his life was his Brother from the Herman band, Al Cohn. Two excellent albums by this duo, recorded sixteen years apart almost to the day, are 1957's
Al and Zoot
(Decca/MCA MCAD-31372) and 1973's
Body and Soul
(Muse MCD 5356). Cohn was a musician's musician, a talented composer and arranger as well as a tenor player of rare imagination and lyricism. The earlier of these two sets is a happy, swinging jaunt for the two Brothers, with good two-horn arrangements provided by Cohn. The emphasis here is on straight-ahead blowing; the album even includes an ingenious tune that features them both on clarinet.
Body and Soul
is a more varied program, with several extraordinary ballad performances. The rhythm section is an unusual one of Jaki Byard, George Duvivier, and Mel Lewis, players who rarely played together, but they really provide an extra spark here. The opening swinger, " Doodle-Oodle," has muscular solos from both horns and exciting exchanges with drummer Lewis; there's also a fast waltz, a bossa-nova medley, a beautiful duet on Johnny Mandel's "Emily," and a gorgeous Sims soprano sax reading of the ballad "Jean." Highly recommended. Sims and Cohn both play, in separate groups, on an album by singer Jimmy Rushing,
The You and Me That Used To Be
(RCA/Bluebird 6460-2-RB), a showcase for one of jazz's best voices, singing standards in all-star instrumental settings.
Cohn made several excellent albums on his own; of them, the most impressive must be the hard-to-find
Heavy Love
(Xanadu 145, LP only), an album of unaccompanied duets with pianist Jimmy Rowles. This is a stunning display of musicianship and soul; on the opening "Them There Eyes," for example, the two generate as much momentum as it is possible to generate, and without anyone spelling out the rhythm. Both men have such sure command
 
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of the musical pulse that the underlying beat doesn't need to be stated. The rest of the program consists mainly of standards like "Taking a Chance on Love" and "These Foolish Things."
Al Cohn's America
(Xanadu 138, LP only), also consisting mostly of standards, is a fine quartet outing with Barry Harris, Sam Jones, and Leroy Williams. Perhaps the most unusual and delightful track here is a muted bossa-nova version of "America the Beautiful"; it may sound strange, but they bring it off.
Stan Getz
Of all the Brothers, Stan Getz was by far the most commercially successful. Few jazz musicians since the days of the big bands have enjoyed such popularity with the general public; in 1963 Getz had a gigantic hit with the Brazilian tune "The Girl from Ipanema," and his albums have been consistently popular. Although his penchant for accessible material and lyrical, melodic improvising led some critics and fans, especially during the 1960s, to dismiss Getz as a merely pleasant and unchallenging player, Getz was in fact a great stylist, with an instantly identifiable, light, Pres-influenced sound that grew more and more full-bodied as his career progressed.
Although his playing gained in heat and passionate expressiveness in the 1960s, Getz always strove for beauty first. He seldom played his best at ultrafast tempos, at which he tended to rely on repeated scalar patterns rather than fresh combinations of melodic ideas, and he was never a blow-all-night tenor battler. Rather, he shone in settings that displayed his beautiful sound and his inventive, melodic ideas at more relaxed tempos. One of the earliest devotees of the bossa nova, a samba-based Brazilian music that came to the United States early in the 1960s, Getz was a romantic first and last.
His 1967
Sweet Rain
(Verve 815 054-2) is probably the best album he ever recorded, a quartet set with Chick Corea on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Grady Tate on drums. The rhythm section is extremely flexible here, able to move from meditative sections, in which the pulse is only implied, to charging, cooking passages, and Getz responds with playing that ranges from gorgeous, round-sounding lyrical phrases to aggressive shouts, even yodeling some here and there. None of it is forced; all of it works as a whole. Two adventuresome Corea originals, the Latin-tinged Dizzy Gillespie tune "Con Alma," the bossa nova "O Grande Amor," and the title track, a haunting ballad, make up a set that can't be recommended highly enough. Corea's "Litha" is notable for its contrasting meditative and cooking sections, not just in the melody statement but underneath the solos; listen here, and throughout, to

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