The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz (68 page)

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Authors: Tom Piazza

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BOOK: The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz
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which Forrest uses all his late-night club experience to build excitement in his solos. The set also has a good version of the ballad "That's All."
Most Much!
(Prestige/OJC-350) is also excellent, again a quartet date, but with Ray Barretto's conga drum added. This one includes a roiling version of the calypso "Matilda," as well as such sentimental standards as "My Buddy'' and "Sonny Boy," which Forrest transforms into the stuff of jazz. He also tips his hat to Jacquet with an unhurried but very swinging "Robbins' Nest."
The legendary and little-known James Clay qualifies as a Texas tenor by birth. He never had the recognition he should have had in the 1950s, since he stayed in Dallas except for a 1956 visit to Los Angeles. On that visit (he was barely twenty-one years old), he recorded an album that shows why he became an underground legend. Now available as
The Lawrence Marable Quartet Featuring James Clay: Tenorman
(Blue Note 84440), this quartet date featuring Sonny Clark on piano is a real collector's item. Clay swings like mad but is also very inventive, with an unusual sense of phrasing that owes something to Sonny Stitt (as does his tone) and is very definite and melodic. Here he cooks on "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," as well as on some tasty Sonny Clark originals (Clark plays extremely well here, too), and shows uncanny maturity on his ballad versions of "Easy Living" and "Lover Man." This one is not just another blowing session.
Clay also participated, with fellow Texan David "Fathead" Newman, in an extremely tough 1960 two-tenor album,
The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces: James Clay and David "Fathead" Newman
(Riverside/OJC-257, LP only). The two tenors cook for chorus after chorus on the opening blues and continue to do so for the rest of the album, aided and abetted by the swing-or-die rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones, and Art Taylor. Their medium-tempo "They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a standout, and they go toe-to-toe on the "Indiana"-based "Figger-ration." Clay is also featured on guitar player Wes Montgomery's
Movin' Along
(Riverside/OJC-089), playing flute for the most part, although his tenor is heard on the surging "So Do It!," which many will fondly remember as the opening theme music for New York disc jockey Ed Beach's show in the 1960s and 1970s.
James Moody made his name with Dizzy Gillespie's late-1940s big band (he also spent a good deal of time with later Gillespie small groups). Equally proficient on alto and flute, he is best known as a cooking, inventive bop tenor player (and sometime vocalist).
Wail, Moody, Wail
(Prestige/OJC-1791),
Hi Fi Party
(Prestige/OJC-1780), and
Moody's Mood for Blues
(Prestige/OJC-1837) are all solid examples of his talent; often he is joined here by his alter ego, the vocalist Eddie Jefferson. Moody's solo on "I'm in the Mood for Love" was fitted out with lyrics (and retitled "Moody's Mood for Love") and may be heard in
 
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vocalist King Pleasure's version on
King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings
(Prestige/OJC-217).
Charlie Rouse is best remembered as the tenorist in Thelonious Monk's classic quartet of the 1960s (which he joined in 1959), but he had played with Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Tadd Dameron as far back as the 1940s. Somewhat undervalued critically, Rouse had an instantly identifiable sound from the big-voiced school; he was a swinger and a fantastic ballad player. He can be heard at length on most of Monk's Columbia recordings, such as
Monk's Dream
(CK 40786) and
Underground
(CK 40785).
If you like his playing, check out either or both of two sets under his own name -
Takin' Care of Business
(Jazzland/OJC-491) and
Unsung Hero
(Epic/Columbia EK 46181). The Jazzland set is more varied in repertoire and sound; it also features trumpeter Blue Mitchell and includes cooking originals, a very interesting ballad by pianist Randy Weston called "Pretty Strange," and a solid, medium-tempo version of the standard "They Didn't Believe Me."
Unsung Hero
consists of quartet tracks from two different 1960-1961 sessions; the standouts here are the ballads, especially the opener, ''When Sunny Gets Blue." Rouse is also featured prominently on an excellent album by pianist Sonny Clark,
Leapin' and Lopin'
(Blue Note 84091).
By any measure, Paul Gonsalves must be counted as one of the major tenor voices of the 1950s and 1960s. Equally formidable on the blues, up-tempo wailers, and romantic ballads, Gonsalves had a sound that was unforgettable and a harmonic approach that seemed to have been influenced substantially by the unusual and fluid playing of Don Byas. His reputation is inevitably linked to his recordings (and live performances) with Duke Ellington's orchestra, which he joined in 1950 and remained with until his death in 1974.
By far the most famous one is the epic performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 and available on
Ellington at Newport
(Columbia CK 40587). Ellington opened up the middle section of his 1937 extended piece and had Gonsalves play the blues at a rocking swing tempo for as long as he wanted. Gonsalves closed his eyes, reared back, played twenty-seven choruses, and nearly started a riot. This is one of the most infectious jazz performances ever recorded and an essential set.
Most of Gonsalves's other recordings with Ellington are discussed in the Ensembles section, but special attention must be called to his sinuous, passionate solo on the "Mount Harissa" segment of
The Far East Suite
(RCA/Bluebird 7640-2-RB), his beautiful reading of "Where or When" on
Ellington Indigos
(Columbia CK 44444), and his wild ride on the "Ready Go!" section of Ellington's "Toot Suite," included on
Jazz Party
(Columbia CK 40712), on which he is goaded on by the band's riffs. No Gonsalves fan will want to miss
 
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Duke Ellington and His Orchestra Featuring Paul Gonsalves
(Fantasy/OJC-623), on which Gonsalves is given his head for an entire program with the band; he gets to solo at length on tunes, like "Take the 'A' Train," on which he usually didn't solo. Gonsalves can be heard playing the blues at a rocking tempo with just the Ellington rhythm section on a track carelessly labeled "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" on
The Best of Duke Ellington
(Signature/CBS AK 45257). Gonsalves's own album
Gettin' Together!
(Jazzland/OJC-203), which features him with a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb, is a nice set; his ballad versions of ''I Surrender Dear" and "I Cover the Waterfront" take the honors here. Another album,
Paul Gonsalves and Roy Eldridge: Mexican Bandit Meets Pittsburgh Pirate
(Fantasy/OJC-751), recorded in 1973 with the trumpet giant, is quite disappointing; Gonsalves was in ill health at the time, and he sounds it.
Chicagoan Clifford Jordan's smoky lyricism has been heard in any number of settings, from Charles Mingus's adventuresome mid-1960s group with Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard to a 1980s quartet with Barry Harris, which explored the classic bop repertoire of the 1940s. His 1961 album
Starting Time
(Jazz-land/OJC-147) is a nice introduction to his playing and his composing (three of the eight tunes are his). His guests are trumpeter Kenny Dorham and a rhythm section of Cedar Walton, Wilbur Ware, and Albert Heath; the set is varied and interestingly programmed. Jordan's perhaps hard-to-find 1984
Repetition
(Soul Note SN 1084), recorded with the Barry Harris-Walter Booker-Vernel Fournier rhythm section with which Jordan was working at the time, is a fine mix of Jordan originals and jazz standards like Thelonious Monk's "Evidence." Jordan can also be heard to advantage on Charles Mingus's 1964
Town Hall Concert
(Jazz Workshop/OJC-042) and trumpeter Lee Morgan's
Take Twelve
(Jazzland/OJC-310).
Jordan's fellow Chicagoan Johnny Griffin was one of the strong presences on the scene during the late 1950s and early 1960s; he spent a long time in Europe but has been appearing (and recording) regularly in the United States since the late 1970s. Griffin is a voluble player who had something of a "fastest gun in the West" reputation because of his awesome technique and torrential ideas. A good place to hear Griffin is on the Thelonious Monk album
Thelonious in Action
(Riverside/OJC-103), recorded live at New York City's Five Spot in the summer of 1958 when Griffin was a member of Monk's quartet. This set features the tenorist at length on Monk favorites "Blue Monk" and "Rhythm-A-Ning," as well as on the lesser-known compositions "Light Blue" and "Coming on the Hudson." "Rhythm-A-Ning," an up-tempo ride on the chords of "I Got Rhythm," underlines Griffin's weaknesses as well as his strengths: his technique is prodigious, and he is never at a loss for something
 
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to play, but sometimes he lacks taste - a way of saying he didn't leave enough space in his solos. The companion album
Misterioso
(Riverside/OJC-206) is also good; these are not among the essential Monk items, but they are worthwhile, as was everything Monk recorded.
Griffin's own
The Little Giant
(Riverside/OJC-136) is a nice, varied set with Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Wynton Kelly on piano, marred somewhat by a bad recording balance.
A Blowing Session
(Blue Note 81559) is just what the title implies: an all-star date with the emphasis on extended solos. In this case the lineup is truly daunting: Lee Morgan on trumpet, Griffin, Hank Mobley, and John Coltrane on tenors, and a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey. Many, many notes are played, not all of them meaningful. Morgan plays some of the most interesting stuff here, but of course there is much excitement along the way from all involved. Tenor fans will also enjoy an album made by the quintet Griffin led with tenorist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis in 1960,
Griff and Lock
(Jazzland/OJC-264), a straight-out blowing session (with arranged touches), a little short on subtlety but full of swing and good times. And Griffin has an effective guest role on Wes Montgomery's 1962 live album
Full House
(Riverside/OJC-106), backed by Miles Davis's rhythm section of that time (Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb).
Sonny Rollins
From the time of his most important early recordings in August 1949 with Bud Powell and Fats Navarro (available on
The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume 1
[Blue Note 81503]), Sonny Rollins had something different. Most tenor players at that time who were influenced by Charlie Parker were equally influenced by Lester Young in their way of accenting eighth notes; they also tended to play with a dry, hard sound, like Dexter Gordon or Sonny Stitt. Rollins had the same freedom of accenting that Bird had, but his heavy tone was modeled on Coleman Hawkins's sound.
Rollins didn't really come into his own until the mid-1950s, after a yearlong absence from the scene during which he lay low in Chicago to get himself together personally and musically; when he did, it was as the tenor player who had most perfectly digested Bird's way of accenting, as well as his conception of melody. By 1956 Rollins was arguably the greatest melodic improviser in jazz. He also had a gigantic sound that could seemingly do anything Rollins wanted it to; it could sing romantic ballads, tell stories, ski effortlessly through difficult harmonic terrain at impossible speeds, shout, honk, squeal, laugh derisively, imitate cellos and bassoons, all the while maintaining an awareness of
 
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form in his solos that sometimes made it hard to believe they could have been improvised.
During the 1950s Rollins played and recorded with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach, among others. In 1957 he left Roach's group and became a leader himself. At the end of the decade, Rollins retreated from the jazz scene, going into seclusion for two years to practice, study, meditate, and keep his own counsel (he even practiced some on New York City's Williamsburg Bridge). When he returned, in 1962, he had plainly been influenced by some of the tonal and timbral implications of the avant-garde players of the time, such as Ornette Coleman. The 1960s were a strange time for Rollins; he produced some brilliant work and some that seems to be striving for an effect that never really comes off. At the end of the decade he disappeared again.
He returned in 1972, and no one who heard him at the time will ever forget the power and brilliance with which he played, strolling around bandstands spinning extended unaccompanied cadenzas while everyone held their breath as if they were watching someone do ballet on a high wire with no net. On Rollins's
Next Album
(Milestone/OJC-312), recorded soon after his reemergence, the version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" contains an extended cadenza that gives some idea of what he can do when he is really inspired.
Rollins has been on the scene ever since, and when he is "on" he is still the greatest improviser alive. When he isn't "on," he is capable of astonishingly dull playing. The latter side of Rollins has almost invariably been the dominant one on his recordings after
Next Album
. While most of these have at least one worthwhile track on them, there is a whole lot of Rollins to listen to before bothering with his recordings of the 1970s and 1980s. But if he comes through your town, always make it a point to gamble on a ticket. If you hit him on the right night, you are liable to hear something you'll never forget.
Saxophone Colossus
Rollins's all-around greatest album is probably
Saxophone Colossus
(Prestige/OJC-291), recorded in 1956. A quartet session with Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, and Max Roach,
Saxophone Colossus
spotlights Rollins while he was still featured with the Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet and had put together all the elements of his style into a coherent and irresistible extension of the entire tenor saxophone tradition. You can hear everything here that makes Rollins a giant: his colossal, expressive sound (which he uses to forge a masterpiece version of the slow ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is"), his utterly compelling swing (obvious throughout, and especially on the fast

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