LP-740

James Moody - Comin' On Strong

Released 1964

Recording and Session Information

James Moody, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute; Kenny Barron, piano, organ; George Eskridge, guitar; Chris White, bass; Rudy Collins, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, September 16 1963

12704 I've grown accustomed to her face
12705 Zanzibar
12706 Sonnymoon for two
12707 Dizzy
12708 Ole [For the gypsies]
12709 Please send me someone to love
12710 Autumn leaves
12711 Fly me to the moon (In other words)

Track Listing

In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)	Bart Howard	September 16 1963
Dizzy	James Moody	September 16 1963
Autumn Leaves	D. Kozma, J. Mercer, A. Prevert	September 16 1963
Ole	Dizzy Gillespie	September 16 1963
Sonnymoon For Two	Sonny Rollins	September 16 1963
I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face	Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe	September 16 1963
Zanzibar	Esmond Edwards	September 16 1963
Please Send Me Someone To Love	Percy Mayfield	September 16 1963

Liner Notes

IN MANY WAYS, the title of this album is unnecessary. Comin' On Strong is the way James Moody does things musically. Moody has contributed too much to jazz and to the general dignity of the jazz business to have it any other way.

Moody the musician is a product of bop era. The wages of those years were destructive to many of its participants, yet Moody remains. The quality of the music produced by many members of the then avant-garde movement has been variable, yet Moody's is consistently excellent. Many men have shifted their musical conceptions to take advantage of this fad or that craze. yet Moody, (if necessary), will take music and fit it to his conception. Musicians have taken up new instruments to give them added versatility and their musical personality changes to suit the demands of the instrument; yet Moody plays alto, tenor and flute in a style that is distinctly his own.

Moody has a history of producing unique musical performances. Moody's Mood For Love is a classic ballad performance, but slow pieces are a small part of his repertory. A list of his outstanding works Will number pieces as diverse as NJR. Hey Jim , Disappointed, The Strut, Last Train From Overbrook, Darben the Redd Foxx, With Malice Towards None and Workshop. HoW many men can claim such a huge collection (still only partially accounted for here) of musical successes?

Moody has also given a good deal of inspiration to young musicians. During the period when he led a septet he featured men such as Babs Gonzales, Johnny Coles, Eddie Jefferson, Gene Kee and Clarence Johnston. Moody also used the compositions of talented musicians like Quincy Jones, Benny Golson and Tom McIntosh while these men were largely unknown to the general public.

Moody the man has suffered some untimely misfortunes during his 20 years as contributing jazzman. The year 1938 is one he would like to forget. Too many bottles of cheap wine threatened his career but Moody committed himself to Overbrook Hospital in New Jersey and came back.

In the summer Of 1961, Moody took his group to The Five Spot in New York after an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival and things were good until the club was closed by the police and the band was out of work. Moody, however, went to Chicago where he shared the bandstand for a couple of weeks with three other saxophonists; Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt. The performances of these men during their stay at McKies DJ Lounge shook the very foundations of the Chicago Jazz world and people still talk about it three years later. Lesser men could not have made it yet Moody did.

For the last two years, Moody has been an associate of John Birks Gillespie. Now Moody concentrates more on alto and flute; although tenor was the horn he played when he was a member of Mr. Gillespie's first big band in the middle 1940's. The fine interaction between Moody and Diz has been evident from the very beginning of their latest relationship. Moody is the ideal compatriot for Dizzy because his shy manner meshes with the leader's extrovert personality. The result is nightly demonstration of musical and social common sense.

In this album, Moody is assisted by the Gillespie rhythm s«tion of Kenny Barron, Chris White and Rudy Collins and Chicagoan George Eskridge on guitar. As with each Moody release. the listener gains a little more insight into the musical personality of the man. In this case, it is two Latin pieces, Ole and Zanzibar, that reveal another facet of his versatility. Zanzibar was written by Esmond Edwards, the man responsible for the making of this album and I think the listener will agree that With works like Zanzibar coupled with Bonita and Desert Winds (recorded by Illinois Jacquet), jazz may have found its answer to Prez Prado.

Moody has also contributed an original to the date. It is a line entitled Dizzy and during the course of its performance, one can enjoy an affectionate portrait of our number one trumpeter and presidential candidate.

Moody has always brought to his ballad performances a unique interpretative powers and in this collection, Fly Me To The Moon and I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face are fine examples.

COMIN' ON STRONG?: OF COURSE. Anything else would be an insult to the man.

Bob Porter
Editoe, "The Digger"