LP-2638

Ahmad Jamal Trio - Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

September 5/6 1958 Spotlight Club, Washington D.C.

LP 2638 9023 Ahmad's Blues
LP 2638 9024 It Could Happen To You
LP 636 9025/9040 I Wish I Knew
LP 2638 9026 Autumn Leaves
LP 636 9027 Stompin' at the Savoy
9028 Love for Sale
LP 636 9029 Cheek to Cheek
LP 636 9030 The Girl Next Door
LP 636 9031 Secret Love
LP 636 9032 Squatty Roo
9033 Tater Pie
LP 636 9034 Taboo
LP 636 9035 Autumn in New York
9036 Too Late Now
LP 2638 9037 Gal In Calico
LP 636 9038 That's All
LP 636 9039 Should I LP 2638 9041 This Can't Be Love
LP 2638 9042 I Didn't Know What Time It Was
9043 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
LP 2638 9044 Seleritus
LP 2638 9045 So Beats My Heart For You
9046 Pavanne
LP 2638 9047 Ivy
LP 2638 9048 Let's Fall in Love
9049 My Funny Valentine
LP 2638 9050 Old Devil Moon
LP 2638 9051 Aki and Ukthay (Brother and Sister)
LP 2638 9052 Our Delight
LP 2638 9053 You Don't Know What Love is

Track Listing

This Can't Be Love	Rodgers & Hart	September 5, 6 1958
Autumn Leaves	Prevert, Mercer, Kozma	September 5, 6 1958
Ahmad's Blues	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
Ole Devil Moon	Lane, Harburg	September 5, 6 1958
Selertius	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
It Could Happen To You	Van Heusen, Burke	September 5, 6 1958
Ivy	H. Carmichael	September 5, 6 1958
Tater Pie	Irving Ashby	September 5, 6 1958
Let's Fall In Love	H. Arlen, T. Koehler	September 5, 6 1958
Aki Ukthay	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
You Don't Know What Love Is	D. Raye, G. DePaul	September 5, 6 1958
I Didn't Know What Time It Was	Rodgers & Hart	September 5, 6 1958
So Beats My Heart For You	Henderson, Ballard, Waring	September 5, 6 1958
Gal In Calico	A. Schwartz, L. Robin	September 5, 6 1958
Our Delight	T. Dameron	September 5, 6 1958

Liner Notes

Scorned by the critics but worshipped by musicians and public alike, the Ahmad Jamal Trio was the biggest selling jazz group on records in the year 1958. Billboard Best Sellmg Artists on LP's for 1958: Ahmad Jamal, No. 13; Jonah Jones, No. 18; Erroll Garner, No. 24. Years and years of discouragement and frustration were swept aside by the public acceptance of the single disc and album entitled BUT NOT FOR ME, followed by the session recorded at Washington's Spotlite Club, called simply AHMAD JAMAL.

As a long-time and lonely critical admirer of Ahmad, I'm grateful to the kids of America for paving the way for public acceptance of this quiet, tasteful, and vastly subtle group. For this is a true ensemble: three giants with the same concept of a swinging beat. Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier, on bass and drums, are far more than mere accompanists. Together they provide a foundation and inspiration that free Ahmad from the rhythmic bonds which have enveloped him in the past. Free from worries of tempo, Ahmad is finally able to give full rein to his unique improvisational talent.

During a recent engagement at New York's Apollo Theatre, Ahmad was musing about his last appearance there in 1948 — as a pianist in the obscure George Hudson orchestra. He was uncomfortable in big bands, and soon turned to trio work. The Three Strings was his first venture with guitar and bass, and its success was modest around the environs of Chicago. In the early Fifties came the first trio called Ahmad Jamal, with the guitar of Ray Crawford and the bass of Eddie Calhoun (now with Erroll Garner). Through the intercession of Frank Holzfeind, owner of Chicago's Blue Note, this was the group New York first heard in 1952 at The Embers. Its subtlety and charm completely eluded the noisy patrons of this establishment, and Ahmad beat a disillusioned retreat to the midwest.

Bad luck also enveloped the trio's first recordings, which were released on the step-child label of a major company and received a minimum of distribution. The tunes, Billy Boy, Perfidia, Surrey with a Fringe on Top, are still in the books of the present group, and these Okehs remain among my favorite 78's. The influential jazz critics ignored both the trio and its discs, and Jamal became so upset that in his next New York engagement, he walked off the stand during a set at The Embers, packed his bags and returned to Chicago.

Ahmad's history is not unlike that of other presently successful jazz figures. Bill Basie scuffled for fourteen years before One o'Clock Jump became a hit in 1937. There was an intermission pianist named Garner who for a decade luxuriated in shadows. Tatum was another genius who had to wait years before being recognized, as were Fats Waller and Ellington. Still others, such as Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, and Lester Young, died in comparative obscurity despite major contributions to American music.

Even with the enormous success of his Argo LP's, Ahmad has still to be heard in the flesh or seen in the movies or TV by the vast general, meaning non-Negro public. A true artist, he makes remarkably few concessions to popular taste, demands attention, and exacts of himself the highest possible standards. His is an artistry that has consistently eluded the commercial concepts of agents, bookers, and the powers-that-be in the mass media.

Let's talk a bit about the other members of this unique trio. Israel Crosby was an integral member of Albert Ammons' Rhythm Kings, and I was lucky enough to supervise his first record session early in 1936, when he was a tender sixteen. His "Blues of Israel" was the first jazz disc built around a bass solo, and his collaborators were no less than Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and Jess Stacy. Then as now, he was an endlessly creative and solid ensemble bassist, and it wasn't long before he recorded with Teddy Wilson, joined Fletcher Henderson's band at the Grand Terrace, and finally migrated to New York, where he was among the first musicians to break the color line in broadcasting house bands. After a year at CBS, mostly with Raymond Scott's unit, he was drafted by half an inch (he is barely five foot two and the bass seems to tower above him). Overlooked for years in the musical polls, he is finally receiving his due with Ahmad.

Vernell Fournier is from New Orleans, but first made his name around Chicago as drummer with Buster Bennett's band in 1952, which also featured Crosby. Until he joined this trio, he was often obliged to try other trades than music. A superb technician and rock-steady, he is in the Jo Jones tradition, and seems to be happiest when working with Israel.

All the music on these four sides was recorded during actual performances at Washington's Spotlite Club. It is more than evident that the audience was impeccable in its behaviour, succumbing completely to the hypnotic spell Ahmad weaves so well. Concentrated attention brings out the very best in this trio, which is a fact that New York audiences have still to learn.

It would be effrontery for this annotator to attempt to impose his taste on the buyers of his portfolio. Whether in originals like "Ahmad's Blues" or "Aki & Ukthay"; the standards "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Let's Fall in Love"; or such Rodgers and Hart show tunes as "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" or 'This Can't Be Love", Ahmad's wit and imagination are in constant play. Jamal is a true original, one of a handful produced by American jazz.

JOHN HAMMOND
Noted Jazz Anthority

LP-637

James Moody - Last Train to Overbrook

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

September 7, 8, 10, 1958, Chicago
"Fip" Ricard, Earl Turner, Sonny Cohn, trumpet; John Avant, trombone; Ethel Merker, french horn; Bill Adkins, Lenny Druss, alto saxophone; James Moody alto, tenor saxophone; Vito Price, Sandy Mosse, Eddie Johnson, tenor saxophone; Pat Patrick, britone Saxophone; Floyd Morris, Junior Mance, piano; John Gray, guitar; Johnny Pate, bass, arrnagements; Redd Holt, drums

9009 What's New
9010 There She Goes
9011 Don't worry About Me
9012 The Moody One (False Start)
9012 The Moody One
9013 Yvonne
9014 Last train From Overbrook
9015 All The Things You Are
9016 Tico Tico
9017 Brother Yusef
9018 Why Don't You

Track Listing

Last Train From Overbrook	James Moody	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
Don't Worry About Me	R. Bloom, T. Koehler	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
Why Don't You	Johnnie Pate	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
What's New	Haggart, Burke	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
Tico Tico	Chas K. Harris, Drake	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
There She Goes	James Moody	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
All The Things You Are	J. Kern and O. Hammerstein	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
Brother Yusef	Johnnie Pate	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
Yvonne	Johnnie Pate	September 7, 8, 10, 1958
The Moody One (False Start)		September 7, 8, 10, 1958
The Moody One	Johnnie Pate	September 7, 8, 10, 1958

Liner Notes

Jimmy Moody- has a right to wail his soul. As John Lewis of Chess Producing says, "Well done, baby; well done."

I remember so well the three pulse-pushing days that it took to record this album, every time I play it.

....

Jimmy took his first train to Overbrook in April of this year. In talking to him prior to his voluntary commitment at Overbrook, he sounded almost hopelessly drowned in the juice he was hung up with.

While we waited, Moody was pulling himself back toward his justified position as a great and soulful jazz man of our time. Came the end of August, Jimmy called and said he was straight and could I come to New York and talk about making the session we had discussed some months back.

Moody's voice sounded clear over the phone, and I was on my way to see him at Overbrook. Mrs. Ruby Watters, Jimmy's mother, is in my mind his spiritual force. Her trips to Overbrook on the suburban bus from Newark have given him the warmth in saying "my mom" (as corny as it may sound to some).

J. C. Heard and I went to talk with Jimmy and Dr. Munoz. The corridor between the main building and Ward 33 is where the three of us sat and The Last Train From Overbrook was assigned its cars and was preparing to depart.

After obtaining the permission of Dr. Munoz the session was originally planned for recording in New York, but the arranger that Moody had wanted to work with, was tied with prior commitments. So after some thought, permission was requested for Moody to come to Chicago and Johnny Pate was asked to write the charts. Moody caught a train from New York on Labor day and was at the studio on Tuesday morning before I got in from Detroit. He was practicing on a flute he had brought with him. We needed a tenor and alto. Through the aid of Johnny Sippel at the Billboard, the Selmer Instrument Company provided Jimmy with the horns he needed.

We were entering our third day of recording schedules. Before that, on Friday, we had completed recording the small group side of the Sandy Mosse date (Argo 639) in Chicago. Friday and Saturday nights we recorded the Ahmad Jamal Trio at the Spotlight Club in Washington (Argo 636).

Malcolm Chisholm and I had just deplaned our Capital flight 1 from Washington at 11:12 a.m., at 11:51 a.m. we arrived at our studios, 12:05 p.m. the musicians assembly had made a reality out of its first arrival. By ten minutes to one, Jimmy ascended the musical platform that Johnny Pate had put together in just five days of writing charts and calling the group for the gig.

The rest is for you to judge, the warmth of Moody and orchestra is here for you to listen to.

Jimmy, thank you!
DAVE USHER LAST TRAIN FROM OVERBROOK

The train station was empty. There was no one on the platform but James Moody. It was dark. It looked like rain. Moody's horn case and a small suitcase stood at his feet. He was waiting for the last train from Overbrook, Overbrook is a mental institution in Essex County, New Jersey.

Behind him stood the clean, quiet buildings of the hospital; behind that stood the awful memory of the alcoholic, sick, confused James Moody of the past. A train on another track howled across the New Jersey countryside, and a tremor underneath his feet marked the coming of the last train from Overbrook.

James Moody had been in the Institution for 5 months and this was his first time on his own since his family took him there for treatment.

The great Moody "Flutin' the Blues" band was gone. A big band recording dnte for Argo had been cancelled "because of darkness"...darkness in his mind. And the long, silver track seemed too long and too thin to ever carry him back to the clubs and concert halls.

Yet Moody stood there waiting for the train that would carry him across the eastern face of the land...to Chicago. Argo Records wanted that big band recording date, and had asked him to make it, and he had said yes. And the wear was upon him now as he waited to go there.

Would he make it? Or would he take the money and buy that one little drink for the road? One was all it took to start the whole scene over again.

The rumble under Moody's feet grew stronger, and the train's howl became a roar, and a white beam flashed down the track. The train came and Moody boarded it.

A train full of strangers is a lonely place to be.

The old fears crept in on him. The porter smiled and said, "The cocktail lounge is open, Sir."

Moody swallowed the dryness down his throat and pretended not to hear. The feeling was there...just one drink. Just a little taste. The wall and windows of Ward 33 came to his mind. The faces of his friends at Overbrook formed about him:

Dr. Anderson, the head doctor, Nurse Patterson, Mrs. Thompson of the Music Department. Names and Faces: Lay...Seber...Juda...Paige.

"The folks in Ward 33 are waiting to hear your album Jimmy." Somebody had said.

And the train rocked over and down the hills of New Jersey and Moody closed his eyes and rehearsed the songs he had written while waiting for this day: "Last Train From Overbrook", "There She Goes."

On Tuesday, September 8th, 1958, James Moody stepped off of the last train from Overbrook, only now it was in Chicago. The night had come and gone and he had not taken a drink.

Moody — the man, and Moody — the famous musician had become one: perhaps for the first time.

Dave Usher immediately contacted Johnny Pate; the brilliant bassist, arranger-composer, and Johnny, though leader of his own group, spent Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday writing arrangements for the 15 piece band which Argo had assembled for Moody's record date.

Johnny, an avowed disciple of Quincy Jones, said, "Moody has always been my favorite alto man. He told me to write something tasty and swinging...

Johnny Pate put everything he had into the band arrangements; contributing four of his own compositions, and transforming four standards into deeply felt portraits of emotion.

Moody stepped before the band and Dave Usher turned on the red SILENCE light and pointed his finger at Moody and Moody packed his stomach full of air and BLEW! All the tears he'd shed at Overbrook, all the happiness he felt right then was there. All the power he felt once again in his lungs, all the confidence.

Moody soared—not in the shadow of Bird but beside him in his own image.

The band crackled!

Johnny Pate, the proud, behind-the-scenes man, on bass. Red Holt on drums. The hard, clear toned trumpets of Sonny Cohn, "Fip" Ricard and Earl Turner booted Moody through ten songs. Trombonist John Avant punched out the train-like sounds of the Overbrook Express. And Ethel Merker came from the pit orchestra of "My Fair Lady" to howl the sad cry of the Overbrook train. Young Pat Patrick's baritone roared. And the tenors of Vito Price, Eddie Johnson and, of all people, Sandy Mosse roared back.

And Moody swung in front of it all, leading 14 pieces through his own wilderness and into his own light, carrying with him the altos of Lenny Druss and Bill Atkins. Two piano men took turns at jamming the chords: Floyd Morris, and the Powerhouse himself, Junior Mance and behind it all, stood guitarist John Gray...taking care of the business.

Up, up and up the band went, with Moody wailing on alto tenor and flute.

The Last Train From Overbrook is a brief history of and how one James Moody, musician, wailed...fell...got up and wailed again.

FRANK LONDON BROWN
Frank London Brown is the author of the soon to be published novel Trumbull Park and has contributed jazz articles and short stories to several disnnguished American magazines. Brown is an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. RECORDING ENGINEER MALCOLM CHISHOLM

Stereo recording made on an Ampex-30()S.
Monaural recording made on an Ampex-35().
Frequency response of equipment ± 2db 15cps—23kc.

Masters are made with little or no limiting of dynamic range, and are cut at a level of not more than 5 cm per second, to avoid overloading pickup cartridges. Masters are in all cases made to duplicate, as closely as possible, what was heard in the control room during the session. For best results, use RIAA playback equalizatjon. On this recording, use a microgroove stylus only.

LP-636

Ahmad Jamal - Volume IV

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

September 5/6 1958, Spotlight Club, Washington D.C.
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Vernel Fournier, drums

9023 Ahmad's Blues
9024 It Could Happen To You
9025/9040 I Wish I Knew
9026 Autumn Leaves
9027 Stompin' at the Savoy
9028 Love for Sale
9029 Cheek to Cheek
9030 The Girl Next Door
9031 Secret Love
9032 Squatty Roo
9033 Tater Pie
9034 Taboo
9035 Autumn in New York
9036 Too Late Now
9037 A Gal in Calico
9038 That's All
9039 Should I
9041 This Can't be Love
9042 I Didn't Know What Time It Was
9043 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
9044 Seleritus
9045 So Beats My Heart For You
9046 Pavanne
9047 Ivy
9048 Let's Fall in Love
9049 My Funny Valentine
9050 Old Devil Moon
9051 Aki and Ukthay [Brother and sister]
9052 Our Delight
9053 You Don't Know What Love is

Track Listing

Taboo	E. Lecouna	September 5/6 1958
Should I	Herb Brown, Arthur Freed	September 5/6 1958
Stompin At The Savoy	Sampson, Webb, Goodman, Razaf	September 5/6 1958
The Girl Next Door	Island, Martin, Leo Feist	September 5/6 1958
I Wish I Knew	Gordon, Warren	September 5/6 1958
Cheek To Cheek	Irving Berlin	September 5/6 1958
Autumn In New York	Vernon Duke	September 5/6 1958
Secret Love	S. Fein, P. Webster	September 5/6 1958
Squatty Roo	Johnny Hodges	September 5/6 1958
That's All	Brandt, Haymas	September 5/6 1958

Liner Notes

You can skip this and start listening to the music. At that, you're one up on me, because as I write this the advance tapes haven't arrived yet...you know, the tapes of the music on this LP, that I'm supposed to listen to so I can write about it? It's all right, though. I was at the Spotlite when this session happened, so I can write Authoritative.

And so, if you're the kind of listener who can't enjoy the music until you've read the liner-notes, go ahead, but they're mostly personal opinions.

For example: an opinion by John Hammond, whose early enthusiasms for young unknown Benny Goodman, Bill Basie, and Charlie Christian did no harm to them nor to jazz. I'm always happy when I don't have to fight with John.

"Ahmad," John said on the phone, "is vastly talented. He has a fabulous technique, which he doesn't use very often. His economy — but alas, not his taste — is comparable to Basie's. (His taste gets pretty fancy sometimes.)

"And Ahmad's trio is not just Ahmad, not all piano like Erroll Garner. It's a trio. Ahmad gives the load to Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier, and the combination of Crosby and Fournier is about the most propulsive thing in the rhythm field today. I think Vernell Fournier is just about the best drummer, outside of Jo Jones and one or two others. I first heard Vernell about seven years ago with Buster Bennett's group.

"In fact, I think Ahmad's trio didn't catch on then because he didn't use drums. He had a wonderful guitar-player in Ray Crawford. But it was too quiet. Not enough excitement for people."

There you are, Ahmad. Praise, with faint damns.

I also asked the opinion of a young lady in my office:
Q: Do you like Ahmad Jamal?
A: Oh, yes!
Q: Why?
A: He's terrific!
Q: But, why?
A: I, like the way he plays piano!
Q: Well of course. He's a piano-player.
A: No, I mean I like what he does 'way up at the right end of the piano-keys. And he looks so serious about what he's playing. I mean, he doesn't jump around and act silly about what he's doing.

Maybe the young lady and John Hammond triangulate another reason for Ahmad's fantastic new popularity, and that would be the present success of the Modern Jazz Quartet. John Lewis also looks serious about his music. And the lighter touch is there. The underplaying of Jimmy Giuffre, the understating of Miles Davis — these, with the MJQ, are a big part of today's scene; and today's audiences may be readier than they were for the Jamal subtleties. Billy Taylor's Latin excursions (Cu-Blue, etc.) may have built some response for Ahmad's Poinciana and New Rhumba. Glenn Miller proved dynamics commercial, and Erroll Garner has made it partly this way; and dynamics are an essence of the Jamal style. The Trio builds riffs, too, as the Basie band does. Finally, the "exotic" Ahmad Jamal name may or may not fascinate.

I'm not saying Ahmad's fans go through all this sloppy analyzing. They just know they like him. And they're mostly young people...which is good, because jazz and its origins are for and from young people.

We like what we like of today's music because of what we first heard and liked. I like a good big band better than almost anything, because I got to hearing records back when Charlie Barnet's Cherokee was the big new thing. (This makes me a fogey to some, an upstart to others.) Yes, those Bluebirds of the late 1930s and early '40s, the Barnets, and the black-label 10-inch Victors on which I found Mr. Barnet's prime source in Duke Ellington, they sound great to me today, too. I read Down Beat back then (still do, of course), and I was ready to hate Glenn Miller with George Frazier and to refuse to like Tommy Dorsey along with the record-store proprietor who bragged he didn't stock Dorsey discs; because, until I formed my own personal prejudices, well, you see, I had to rely on the prejudices of others.

This is why I don't seem able to write anything, these notes included, except first-person opinion. I simply can't state anything as a "law", a rule...

Because it only makes sense to me!

We were taught to hate Harry James, too, for his 'nagging" trumpet, and Guy Lombardo, for being Guy Lombardo ( but we weren't prepared to hear defenses of Lombardo, later, from Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong). Today, we of the slightly avant-garde are told to hate Elvis Presley (or Chuck Berry at Newport).

But once I sat in a bar here in Washington, to sit and read and juice a little by myself. I hadn't shaved, that was it, So I knew I wouldn't run into anyone I knew there, or rather anyone who knew me. These little hideaways exact their penalties via jukebox. I found myself tapping my feet to the sinister beat. This guy was singing while I was trying to read, and I liked his singing, but I didn't know who it was, so I looked at the panel on the jukebox, and it was old You Know Who. Elvis.

The Spotlite in Washington, D. C. (a different place) brings in the biggest names in jazz, regularly and often. And the Ahmad Jamal Trio broke the house record. You can hear it, when you listen to this LP. As Toscanini could swing The Stars and Stripes Forever, as Mulligan could stand in and swing a Salvation Army band, as Louis can swing a single note, as Basie can swing in any tempo, as Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal can build their ancient ragas into frenzies Ravel only dreamed at, as Ray Charles can make jazz musicians rush around from backstage to sit out front and rock to his blues, as African kids can set us to swaying with their repetitious pennywhistles, as a backwoods fiddler can swing us with a hoedown, as Bach can fly us across the room — so did a newer, younger generation of Jazz fans turn out enthusiastically and in greater numbers than for any other attraction ever to play the Spotlite.

They hadn't been told Ahmad was "good" for this reason or "bad" for that one, and perhaps there are small blessings when Johnny Doesn't Read. But they didn't howl, jump, cut leather, or do the fish, either. No, they sat quietly and listened like ladies and gentlemen, and at the end of each number they roared their applause.

What's my opinion of Ahmad's music? Well, the very first time Ahmad ever played Washington was when I asked him to come here, seven or eight years ago, for one of my Howard Theater midnight concerts.

The centripetalists in the jazz audience may froth some, but my definition of jazz goes like this: Jazz is what you go to listen to when you want to go hear some jazz. I go to listen to, among others, Ahmad Jamal.

See? You could have been listening to the record all this time.

WILLIS CONOVER
Willis Conover conducts Programs of American music daily for the largest audience in world, on the Voice of America. In 1958 he was awarded both Down Beat's Spokesman of the Year and 'Metronome's Special Award of the Year.