LP-610

Ahmad Jamal – Count 'Em 88

Released 1956

Recording and Session Information

Chicago, IL, September 27, 1956
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Walter Perkins, drums

8258 Spring will be a little late this year
8262 On Green Dolphin Street
8263 Beat out one
8264 Maryam
8266 How about you?
8267 It's easy to remember
8268 Jim loves Sue
8269 Volga boatman
Also recorded at this session:

8259 I know
8260 Cheek to cheek
8261 Speak low
8265 Makin' whoopee

Chicago, IL, October 4, 1956
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Walter Perkins, drums

8283 I just can't see for lookin'

Also recorded at this session:

8282 I wish I knew (unissued)
8284 But not for me (unissued)

Track Listing

Volga Boatmen	Traditional	September 27 1956
On Green Dolphin Street	Bronisław Kaper, Ned Washington	September 27 1956
How About You?	Burton Lane, Ralph Freed	September 27 1956
I Just Can't See for Looking	Nadine Robinson, Dok Stanford	October 4 1956
Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year	Frank Loesser	September 27 1956
Beat Out One	Ahmad Jamal	September 27 1956
Maryam	Ahmad Jamal	September 27 1956
It's Easy to Remember	Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers	September 27 1956
Jim Love Sue	Ahmad Jamal	September 27 1956

Liner Notes

For some years now, Chicago has been fortunate enough to be the home base for the operations of pianist Ahmad Jamal.

A succession of engagements at various of the Windy City's spas, interrupted only occasionally by dates elsewhere such as New York's Embers, has made Ahmad one of the most celebrated of that city's many talented jazzmen.

A slim, guileless-looking, fastidiously-dressed gentleman whose boyish look belies his 26 years. Ahmad first burst into prominence when Down Beat's Pat Harris reported him as a new find when he worked the Blue Note in 1950, heading a group called the Three Strings.

Previous to that he had left his native Pittsburgh to work with the George Hudson band out of St. Louis, which also contained saxist Ernie Wilkins, now better known for the enormous amount of composing and arranging he does for bands and record dates.

Ahmad returned to Pittsburgh to join a group called the Four Strings, which became a forerunner to the Three Strings which did so well at the Blue Note and other Chicago spots.

It was in the spring of 1952, when he played the Embers, that noted critic John Hammond hailed the Jamal trio as "prodigious" and "Unbelievably subtle."

Jamal is indeed subtle, and he is dart-quick in facility, with a firm-yet-delicate touch that enables him to skim through figures that is charted on graph paper would look like the ups and downs in the career of Yellow Kid Weil.

It is obvious at first hearing that Ahmad approaches a piano as a skilled fisherman might a mile-long lake teeming with fish. He has a lot of room to get a lot out of it, and he casts about with sure skill, utilizing the entire area to achieve his results.

This is a long way to go about saying that Jamal is a two-handed pianist, a species sometimes difficult to find. It is demonstrated neatly here, however, as is his good taste and droll sense of humor. You might be as happy as I aha that he chose to include I Just Can't See for Lookin', a Nat Cole vocal effort a decade ago.

Easy to Remember is a good example of the unit feel the trio achieves, and their romping qualities come out on Beat Out One.

Ahmad is offered the sturdy support here of bassist Israel Crosby, for years a well-known figure in jazz, and drummer Walter Perkins, whose credits include work with Ben Webster. He frequently was the drummer for Jutta Hipp when he was stationed in Germany a couple of years ago.

They provide friendly atmosphere for Jamal, who is content that this is the best set of sides he has yet recorded.

I will have to agree with him.

JACK TRACY
Editor, Down Beat Magazine

Recording Engineer: BERNIE CLAPPER
Cover Photography - Design: DON BRONSTEIN
Supervision: PHIL CHESS
Date Recorded: 10/4/56
Universal Record Corp.
CHESS PRODUCING CORP. 2120 SO. MICHIGAN

LP-609

Sandy Mosse – Chicago Scene

Released 1956

Recording and Session Information

Universal Recording, Chicago, Illinois, July 6, 1956
Dave Mulholland, trumpet; Sandy Mosse, tenor saxophone; Ira Sullivan, tenor saxophone; Eddie Baker, piano; Jimmy Gourley, guitar; Leroy Jackson, bass; Dorrell Anderson, drums

8150 Straight life
8151 Let's get away from it all
8153 Dee's delight
8155 Let's go
8160 Fascinating rhythm
8161 'Tis autumn
8162 Knickerbooper
8163 Clara's blues

One of the following made it onto the album as Outville

8152 Evening in Paris (unissued)
8154 Rekinomon ? (unissued)
8156 Doin' it (unissued)
8157 Balance blues ? (unissued)
8158 Over the rainbow (unissued)
8159 John's blues (unissued)

Track Listing

Straight Life	I. Schulman	July 6 1956
Let’s Get Away from It All	M. Dennis-T. Adair	July 6 1956
Knickerbopper	D. Mulholland	July 6 1956
Dee’s Delight	Eddie Baker	July 6 1956
Let’s Go	I. Schulman	July 6 1956
‘Tis Autumn	Henry Nemo	July 6 1956
Outville	Eddie Baker	July 6 1956
Fascinating Rhythm	George Gershwin	July 6 1956
Clara’s Blues	Sandy Mosse	July 6 1956

Liner Notes

Chicago jazzmen have been in an untanable position for years. Because most of the lucrative jobs for talented musicians lie in the recording and TV studios of New York and Los Angeles and in the film studios of Holloywood, most good players head for either city.

There they form part of vast talent pools that provide literally hundreds of good musicians for jazz record dates.

As all but a handful of the firms that record jazz are in those two cities, it becomes obvious that a discery can issue many records without looking much farther than its own nose.

And thus it has been almost inevitable in recent years for most of the jazzmen in Chicago to gravitate to busier centers. Its musicians have been siphoined off at a steady rate/ The comparative few who have remained have generally found it difficult to make a satisfactory living from music.

Even the city's big clubs, which were more numerous at the beginning of 1957 than at any time since World War II, will seldom hire local men. It takes records to make a reputation, they feel, so they seek out of town groups.

This is a discouraging picture in a city which at one time was the hub of thw eowrld's jazz activity.

But few persons have ever done anything serious about trying to alleviate it.

This album is one of what will be a number of Argo LPs devoted to Chicagoans. The names may laregly be unfamiliar to you. They are men who have scuffled and worked day jobs and off-night gigs and only sometimes regaularly in order to stay in Chicago. Some have been sidemen with name bands and groups, then came back home.

All of them have worked in one or more groups in the Windy City, as the men who are able to land playing dates became leaders for a day and hire the man they worked for last week.

The men on this session in its various combinations are:

Sandy Mosse, tenor sax: at 27 a familiar horman on the Chicago scene. Lived and played in Europe in 1951-'52, worked with Woody Herman in '55. Recorded with Bill Russo on Atlantic LP. An important tenor man with seomthing to say.

Ira Schulman, tenor sax: has been a prominent Chicago saxman for nearly a decade. Led own units, played with big bands of Russo, Jay Burkhart, other.

Dave Mulholland, trumpet; also plays flugelhorn, alto horn, writes. A Russo student. Heard frequently with the Jim Lounsbury band.

Eddie Baker, piano has worked with own trio, as accompanist for Bille Holiday, and with Bill Russo on Europe tour in 1955. Also does considerable writing.

Jimmy Gourley, guitar; an unsung guitarist but one of the best. Gained considerable reputation in Europe while living in Paris in 1951-'55. Worked with Burkhart, Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, many others.

Leroy Jackson, bass: another in the long line of excellent bassists to come out of Chicago in the last few years )others: Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy Clark, Wilbur Ware, Johnnie Pate). Has played with Dinah Washington, rhythm and blues groups, many Chicago units.

Dorrell Anderson, drums: longtime member of the Chicago group. Played with Gene Ammons, tenor Johnny Griffin, et al.

Too many liner notes, I feel, claim greatness for the accompanying record when it is simply not there. This will not be one of them.

There are some exhilirating moments here - Mosse on Let's Get Away from It All, Gourley's eloquent guitar Baker's fleet piano; flashes of Schulman's tenor, etc.

But I feel the biggest value of this set lies in its presentation of jazzmen who deserve to be heard even though they are not well-known.

It is a simple matter to assemble a group of poll-winners and near-misses in a New York or Hollywood studio and do a session that figures to do well because of its name value.

It takes some courage to record men simply because you feel it should be done.

This LP is a trailbreaker in the respect that it presents some individual talents that have remained in a city which tries studiously to ignore them.

More will follow.

JACK TRACY
Down Beat Magazine
Straight Life and Let's Get Away from It All are played by a group comprising Sandy Mosse, tenor; Jimmy Gourley, guitar; Eddie Baker, piano; Leroy Jackson, bass; Donell Anderson, drums.
Knickerbooper is played by Ira Schulman, tenor; Dave Mulholland, trumpet, same rhythm section.
Dee's Delight and Let's Go is played by Mosee (1st tenor solo on Dee's Delight, Schulman (second tenor solo on Dee's Delight and only tenor solo on Let's Go, Mulholland, Dourley, and rhythm.
'Tis Autumn is by Schulman and rhtyhm.
Outville and Fascinating Rhythm are by backer, Jackson and Anderson.
Clara's Blues is by Mosse and rythhm.

Recorded on July 6, 1956 at Universal Studios, Chicago.

LP-608

 Zoot Sims Quartet – Zoot

Released 1956

Recording and Session Information

Chicago, Illinois, October 12, 1956 (Capitol N.Y.C)
Zoot Sims, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; John Williams, piano; Nabil "Knobby" Totah, bass; Gus Johnson, drums

9:20 special
The man I love
55th and State
The blue room
Gus's blues
That old feeling
Bohemia after dark
Woody'n you

Track Listing

9:20 special	E. Warren	October 12, 1956
The man I love	Gershwin & Gershwin	October 12, 1956
55th and State	J. Sims	October 12, 1956
The blue room	Rogers - Hart	October 12, 1956
Gus's blues	G. Johnson	October 12, 1956
That old feeling		October 12, 1956
Bohemia after dark	O. Pettiford	October 12, 1956
Woudy'n you	D. Gillespie	October 12, 1956

Liner Notes

Zoot Sims has been an active member of the jazz fraternity ever since he joined Kenny Baker's orchestra in 1941 at the age of 16. Since that time he has worked with Bobby Sherwood, Bob Astor, Sonny Dunham, Benny Goodman, and an innumerable number of small groups, including that of Gerry Mulligan, which he left in mid-'56 to form his own unit. Yet it has been only of late that his playing has begun to earn the respect among musicians and fans alike that it deserves.

In addition to all his previous credits, Zoot also is the owner of a badge of distinction which can be worn in the lapels of just three other men. Along with Stan Getz, Herbie Steward, and Serge Chaloff, he was one of the original members of the "Four Brothers" saxophone section of the Woody Herman orchestra in 1947 and '48.

No other section of any jazz band was ever as well-known as the Brothers, due not only to the unique nickname but also because of the artistry of all its members.

In turn, the musicians were all propelled to varying degrees of fame through the association.

Stan Getz made it almost overnight. His solo on Woody's Early Autumn was a huge hit, and he became the best-known tenor saxist of the past decade, and a winner of seven consecutive Down Beat polls.

Herbie Steward, a musicians' musician highly respected by his fellow players, retired to the obscuricy of Hollywood studios and dance bands early in the '50s. His lovely tone and supple conception were the envy of many a contemporary.

Baritone saxist Serge Chaloff, an amazingly flexible musician, had a roaring career underway until some personal difficulties virtually wrecked it.

And so just two of the Brothers remain prominent. Their progress might be likened to that of the hare and the tortoise. Getz flew to fame. Sims has plodded steadily.

Getz is the consummate artist, the brilliant technician with the floating sound. There are times when you will swear there is really nothing left to play after he has finished a solo, He explores every devious, twisting channel.

Zoot, as Bob Brookmeyer says, "plays earthy." He is direct, simple, logical, and above all, emotional.

I have long held the theory (though certainly is not one evolved by me) that a musician who has found his sea legs and charts his own personal course is just what he plays.

To explain. Roy Eldridge is the same flaming personality as his playing. So is Dizzy Gillespie. The elfin delight in color and sound that pours from Erroll Garner's piano is Errol Garner. Jimmy Giuffre is a calm, dryly humorous student of music.

Zoot Sims is the country boy moved to the city, one who has let enough sophistication stick to him so that he can get along with the urbanites. Though he has firm control of his horn, he shrugs off any unnecessary technical bric-a-brac to dig deeply into the blues-based roots of jazz. His playing is piercingly honest and revealing, and though he, too, is of the many who have been influenced by Lester Young, his sound is thicker and fuller, and the beat he evokes is more akin to a heart-beat than a pulse.

Zoot is a swinger planted ankle-deep in loam. All those qualities are evident in this collection, the first to allow him so much blowing room. He carries it off superbly, from the first booting notes of 920 Special, the old swing era favorite, through Dizzy Gillespie's Latino Woody'n You.

In between are a movingly eloquent Man I Love, a skimming excursion over 55th and State, based on a familiar and often-employed chord structure, and Blue Room, played at finger-snapping tempo.

And there's Gus's Blues, written by Gus Johnson, the drummer on the date. That Old Feeling follows, then Sims picks up the alto to play Oscar Pettiford's Bohemia After Dark. It seems fragile in his hands, as if at any moment the instrument might break in two as he pours tenor saxophone conception into it.

Quite a remarkable album, this, one which turns a bright bulb on Zoot Sims, tenor saxophonist.

He does not blink. JACK TRACY
Editor, Down Beat Magazine

LP-607

 Norman Simmons - Norman Simmons Trio

Released 1956

Recording and Session Information

Universal Studios, Chicago, October 1956
Norman Simmons, piano; Victor Sproles, bass; Vernell Fournier, drums

Capacity in blues
Stella by starlight
Jan
My funny Valentine
Peppe
Chili bowl
Moonlight in Vermont
You do something to me
Love is eternal
They can't take that away from me
Tranquility

Track Listing

Capacity in Blues	Norman Simmons	October 1956
Stella by Starlight	Young-Washington	October 1956
Jan	Norman Simmons	October 1956
My Funny Valentine	Rogers-Hart	October 1956
Peppe	Norman Simmons	October 1956
Chili Bowl		October 1956
Moonlight in Vermont	Suessdorf-Blackburn	October 1956
You Do Something to Me	Porter	October 1956
Love Is Eternal		October 1956
They Can't Take That Away from Me	G&I Gershwin	October 1956
Tranquility	Norman Simmons	October 1956

Liner Notes

"Capacity in Blues," one of Norman's first compositions, 1949, is one of those swinging kinds of things thay you'd like to hear the trio play all night. "STELLA BY STARLIGHT," nothing need be said:

The aforementioned "JAN" (Sproles, that is), gives that tingly latin sensation that this kind of music CAN portray when done right, as it is here. "MY FUNNY VALENTINE" done a myriad of times, was done again, if only to prove, as it were, that there is still yet another way.

"PEPPE" is not only the name of the final tune on side I., but is a dedication to "PEPPE", the fine congo player on the date. "PEPPE" the drummer first came to Norm's attention when he and Vernel were with Paul Bascomb. When "PEPPE" joined the band a whole new concept of Latin rhythms opened up for Simmons, and the wonderful way they have been assimilated into his natural jazz feeling is the spark that makes so many of his arrangements and originals so vivid.

Side II opens with "CHILLI BOWL", previously recorded by Duke Ellington, and used on the trio's night club engagements as their theme song, and features VIC on BASS, "MOONLIGHT IN VERMONT," the beautiful modern standard was hereby included at the behest of Norm's many Chicago fans who continually request it during his in-person perfmances. "YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME" follows "MOONLIGHT", and it certainly does with its freshness and flavor. "LOVE IS ETERNAL", from the moving picture of the same name, it is played with a rhythm dervied from a Cha Cha feeling, but used here to feel like a vamp or mood setting.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME", gets a subdued swing treatment from the trio that also makes you want them to never stop.

Going into the albums closing theme, "TRANQUILITY", SIMMONS says, "This was first written in 1952 in the key of D Flat Minor, as an exercise for solving in difficult keys (The bridge went thru E natural). The composition was conceived to be "tranquil" knowing I'd have to "tip toe" thu the changes. The Signature key on this date was changed to F Minor, because the original arrangement was not conceived for piano melody, but for guitar and tenor sax in low register.

Its all Greek to me, but it certainly does Swing!!!

The NORMAN SIMMONS TRIO is the name of the group featured in this new ARGO album.

To those unfortunate enough to have never witnessed their musical prowess in person in the Chicago area, we dedicate this introduction.

Having mose recently completed a successful LAS VEGAS engagement, the trio had previously drawn plaudits for; their wonderful recording of the George Shearing Quintet at the famous Blue Note; their rhythm section ability at the now defunct Bee-Hive behind such varied greats as, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Wardell Grey, Red Rodney etc; and as the key men on the famous Paul Bascomb recording of Norman's composition "JAN", which quite natually, is herwith included in NORMANS own tasty arrangement.

NORMAN SIMMONS, Piano. At 26 is rapidly becoming one of the most sought after arrangers in the mod-west. Being one of those rare muscians who writes only what is necessary to fully convey the meaning of a particular composition, be it his or someone else's, Norman never over-burdens the performers or listeners with superfluous writing. Once the intended mood is set, his philosphy is "to wail."

VICTOR SPROLES, Bass. Has developed so rapidly during the past few years, that he is constantly under harrassment from combo leaders to join "their" group. Not only does he possess the necessary rhythmic steadiness and ever flow all modern bass men need, but shows tremendous solo ability with the definition of each note he plays an outstanding factor in his favor.

VERNEL FOURNIER, Drums. The only non-Chicagoan in the trio (A real New Orleans Modernist, yet), Vernel has that capacity to underline the entire proceedings with such inate taste that oftimes the desire to term him a rhythmist or percussionist is desirable to that of drummer. Schooled by a famous N.O. teacher, Sideny "Beffy" Montague, his foundation is one of lasting quality.

Having worked together continuously for the past three years both as a rhythm section and a trio, Norm, Vic, and Vernel, have built up such a wonderful rapport amongst themselves, that even the casual listener can easily discern the various moods herein contained.

BY JOE SEGAL
CHICAGO COLUMNIST, METRONOME MAG.

LP-606

 Cy Touff, Miff Mole and Mike Simpson - Doorway to Dixie

Released April 1957

Recording and Session Information

Chicago, Illinois, March 17, 1950
Miff Mole, trombone; Bill Tinkler, trumpet; Darnell Howard, clarinet; Paul Jordan, piano; Mel Schmidt, bass; Booker T. Washington, drums

High Society(Premium PR-853)
Light As A Feather(Premium PR-853)
Runnin' Wild (Premium PR-852)
When The Saints Go Marching In(Premium PR-852)
South Rampart Street Parade
Muskrat Ramble

Chicago, Illinois, September 10, 1956
Muggsy Dawson, cornet; Cy Touff, bass trumpet; Mike Simpson, clarinet; Paul Jordan, piano; Mel Schmidt, bass; Frank Bullo, drums.

8232 South Rampart street parade
8233 Basin Street blues
8234 Muskrat ramble
8235 At the jazz band ball
8236 Struttin' with some barbecue
8237 Royal garden blues

Track Listing

At The Jazz Band Ball		September 10 1956
Basin Street Blues		September 10 1956
Struttin' With Some Barbecue		September 10 1956
Royal Garden Blues		September 10 1956
High Society
Light As A Feather
Runnin' Wild
When The Saints Go Marching In
South Rampart Street Parade
Muskrat Ramble

Liner Notes

TBC

Downbeat Magazine Review, May 16, 1957

Cy Touff - Miff Mole
DOORWAY TO DIXIE—Argo 12" LP 606;
At the Jazz Band Ball; Basin Street Blues; Struttin* with Some Barbecue; Royal Garden Blues; High Society; Light as a Feather; Runnin* Wild; When the Saints Go Marching In; South Rampart Street Parade; Muskrat Rumble.
Personnel: First four sides: Touff, bass trumpet; Muggsy Dawson, cornet; Mike Simpson, clarinet; Paul Jordan, piano; Mel Schmidt, bass; Frank Rullo, drums.
Second six sides: Mole, trombone; Bill Tinkler, trumpet; Darnell Howard, clarinet; Paul Jordan, piano; Mel Schmidt, bass; Booker T. Washington, drums.
Rating: irk
This is a curious LP, almost without reason for existence, coupling as it does a quartet of new tracks by a group not entirely at home in two-beat with a half-dozen done some years ago by a veteran trombonist and some fellow researchers into les temps perdido.
The Touff sides are well recorded except that the drums are too loud. Touff himself comes off very well—a swinging easy-styled soloist able to fit into this genre easily. Clarinetist Simpson contributes a good solo on Basin Street, perhaps the most successful tune, but the over-all effect of these four sides is barren of any real message.
The Mole sides are for collectors only, badly recorded and containing only occasional bright bits from Howard. They seem to me to be non-descript Dixie. There is an unidentified male vocalist on these sides whose version of Saints differs from the label.
There are excellent notes, by the way, a considerable improvement for this label. (B.J.G.)