LP-699

Eldee Young – Just For Kicks

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Leo Wright, alto saxophone, flute; Mal Waldron, piano; Eldee Young, bass, cello; Richard Evans, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, December 28 1961

11389 Thing-a-ma-jig
11390 Untitled
11391 Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
11392 Mr. Kicks
11393 When Johnny comes marching home
11402 Blues
11403 Goodbye
11404 Crazy she calls me
11405 John Henry
11406 Cry me a river Truly
Big brother
Just for kicks

Track Listing

When Johnny Comes Marching Home	L. Lambert	December 28 1961
Goodbye	Gordon Jenkins	December 28 1961
Crazy She Calls Me	Sigman-Russell	December 28 1961
Big Brother	E. Young	December 28 1961
Cry Me A River	A. Hamilton	December 28 1961
Truly	E. Young	December 28 1961
Mr Kicks	Oscar Brown Jr.	December 28 1961
Motherless Child		December 28 1961
Just For Kicks	E. Young	December 28 1961
John Henry		December 28 1961

Liner Notes

YOUNG CARL YOUNG "blew" guitar and sang and dug jazz the most. In his middle twenties his driving dream was to make it as a musician. Naturally, he turned his Little Brother on to music. The kid was still skinning his shins in a West Side Chicago schoolyard, but he was eager to learn.

"Wash your hands and I'll let you play". Carl would say. To Big Brother, the instrument was too beautiful for dirty hands to hold. Then when the kid retutned all scrubbed and ready, the lessons would begin.

"Don't just grab the instrument any old way. Hold it just so. Now try this change. No, listen to how Lonnie Johnson does it. See? try that run again, and swing, dammit, swing!

The directions pointed by Big Brother Carl have guided Little Brother, Eldee Young all his life. He has the same deep love of music and respect for his instruments. His sounds, like his hands, are clean and correct. And above all, he swings. This album, "Just For Kicks" is a moving demonstration of how far Eldee has come and of how much farther he can go.

His recipe is simple. Take a handful of prime musicians, seasoned well. Mix with bold, but sensitive musical concepts. Pour in plenty of purpose and salt it with a sack of soul, and cook. The result is well done.

"I've wanted to make this album for a long time", Eldee explains. "I wanted to show what my instruments can do. The bass has always been part of jazz, but it's seldom used as a boss instrument. Its melodic possibilities are seldom explored and the cello is hardly used at all."

Side one is Eldee's boss bass swinging in boldly as "Johnny Comes Marching Home". "Goodbye" could be a love scene with the bass cast as boy, and Leo Wright's bittersweet alto sax as girl. Eldee grows pensive and more melodic for "Crazy She Calls Me", while "Big Brother" is full of happy memories of Carl. "Cry Me A River" features Wright's alto and reads like a dear John letter.

Side two takes us to the land of the cello, starting with some blues: "Truly", some blues. As the hip slickster, "Mr. Kicks", Eldee introduces himself both on cello and with his spoken vocal. Then comes the weep and wail of the lonely "Motherless Child". The company was perfect to swing "Just For Kicks", the title tune, and to stand tall like mighty "John Henry."

This was what Eldee wanted. A triumph? Yes — but he'd be first to tell you of the rich contributions made by Leo Wright's sensitive sax and flawless of how strong Mal Waldron is on piano and Richard Evans on bass, and of the melodic thunder drummed up by Red Holt who with Eldee and Ramsey Lewis forms one of the most formidable trios in jazz.

And there was one more musician in the group, unseen save by Eldee himself. Big Brother Carl who gave guitar in his thirties; who died at age 41 just four anonths before this album was cut, but whose spirit was in every note.

Yes, the musical Young Brothers made it — both of them.

Oscar Brown. Jr.

LP-698

Gene Ammons – Just Jug

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Gene Ammons, tenor saxophone; Eddie Buster, organ; Gerald Donovan, drums
"D.J. Lounge", Chicago, August 28 1961

Not Released
11195 Just you, just me
11196 M.J. blues
11197 I can't get started
11198 C jam blues
11199 But not for me

The following selections appear on LP 698
11200 Foot tappin'
11201 It could happen to you
11202 Sweet Georgia Brown
11203 Falling in love with love
11204 Please send me someone to love
11205 Scrapple from the apple
11206 P.M - A.M. [Jug's blue blues]
11207 Fast track

Track Listing

Scrapple From The Apple	C. Parker	August 28 1961
Falling In Love With Love	Rogers, Hart	August 28 1961
Please Send Me Someone To Love	Mayfield	August 28 1961
Sweet Georgia Brown	Casey, Bernie, Pinkard	August 28 1961
It Could Happen To You	Burke, Van Heusen	August 28 1961
Foot Tappin	Gene Ammons	August 28 1961
P.M. - A.M.	Gene Ammons	August 28 1961
Fast Track	Gene Ammons	August 28 1961

Liner Notes

THE ADVENT of having Gene Ammons as an exclusive Argo artist has given me a long-awaited opportunity to heap accolades upon Chicago's great gift to the world of music.

This particular recording, done live, with a little less than the ultlmate in accoustical opportunity, points up Gene's enormous tone jutting through the resounding sounds and clashes of the club which was crowded with "last set" swingers.

Combined with the organ of Eddie Buster and Gerald Donovan's drums, Gene's warmth and inventive genius transforms these standards and originals to Jazz performances worthy of continued listening. Gene, throughout, is in his "down home" bag, and is playing to the customers. These renditions, completely spontaneous, put Gene on his own without another horn to battle and without a full complement of rhythm instruments. That he successfully generates the excitement expected from a "real pro" is easily in evidence throughout the album.

The music contained here - in was all recorded at one setting, in this exact sequence. Gene had eyed the recording equipment the entire evening, and with only the last set to go he took the stand with that "Ammons gleam" in his eye and signaled to the engineer, the audience and the hand that "this one's goin' down"! And down they are, one after the other, giving the audience barely enough time to applaud or soulfully carry on, between tunes. Just as with the other truly great saxophonists there is no mistaking the Ammons sound or approach. Known among record fans and musicians alike as "The Big Sound" and "Boss Tenor", to me "JUG" now occupies the position of a LESTER YOUNG.

Some of the particular musical highlights that appeal to me include Gene's swingmg of the "usually sugared up" ballad, "Falling In Love With Love"

With his famous tag endings; the up-tempoing Of "Sweet Georgia Brown", spotlighting Jug's running facilities; the BIG, JUICY, SWINGING ENDING on "It Could Happen To You"; and the beautiful turning of the pretty blues line of "Foot Tappin'" into a soul moving performance.

This, then is one of the GREAT saxophonists of our time playing here as he does most every night of the week wherever his "tours of musical duty" may take him; in the big famous clubs in the big famous cities, or in the local "hot spot" where the cats come to dig. This is GENE AMMONS in his most musical habitat, groovin' along, swingin' a song, and making everybody happy in the process! How about you?"

Joe Segal

LP-697

Gene Ammons / Sonny Stitt – Dig Him!

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Sonny Stitt, alto saxophone, tenor saxoiphone; Gene Ammons, tenor saxophone; John Houston, piano; Buster Williams, bass; George Brown, drums
Chicago, August 26 1961

11183 A mess
11184 New blues up and down
11185 Time on my hands
11186 We'll be together again
11187 My foolish heart
11188 Red sails in the sunset
11189 Headin' west [Water Jug]
11190 A pair of red pants
11191 Autumn leaves
11192 But not for me

Track Listing

Red Sails In The Sunset	Kennedy, Williams	August 26 1961
But Not For Me	Gershwin	August 26 1961
A Pair Of Red Boots	Stitt	August 26 1961
We'll Be Together Again	Fisher, Laine	August 26 1961
A Mess	Stitt	August 26 1961
New Blues Up And Down	Ammons, Stitt	August 26 1961
My Foolish Heart	Young, Washington	August 26 1961
Headin' West	Ammons	August 26 1961
Autumn Leaves	Mercer, Prevert, Kpzma	August 26 1961
Time On My Hands	Adamson, Youmans, Gordon	August 26 1961

Liner Notes

ANYONE who's been around jazz for awhile can tell you that this is certainly not the first time Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt have played together. And after hearing this album, even those relative newcomers to the music would be able to tell that these two men know each other's music so well and complement each other so perfectly, that at times it's hard to tell when one horn stops and the other begins.

Strangely enough, even though Ammons and Stitt have been around now for quite awhile, and would definitely have to be included on anybody's list of important saxophone players of the last decade and a half, they have both not really been given their due by critics, writers and the other marginalia of jazz. But other musicians have always known iust how important Sonny and "Jug" have been, and have never ceased to sing their praises. Many people who haven't really listened closely to Ammons in years think that the only thing Gene can do is play the loud part in wild saxophone duels. People who think like this perhaps have never heard the Ammons who is playing the opening bars of My Foolish Heart or We'll Be Together Again, two very beautiful ballads, on this album; or Gene's incredibly sophisticated solo on Autumn Leaves. Also, people who associate "Jug" solely with the honk cannot know how deeply he has influenced many of the young "far out" players like Rollins or Coltrane. In fact the Ammons influence is even a very heavy feature in the styles of young "avant garde" players like Archie Shepp of the Cecil Taylor group, who seem to have listened to "Jug" for a long time, and to have benefted by it immensely. But listen to New Blues Up And Down (a direct descendant of the old Blues Up And Down which, along with Stringin' The Jug, was one of the biggest Ammons-Stitt record hits during the old duel days) Time On My Hands or Headin' West as examples of how fluid and vital Gene's line is even at the quickest tempos. He never has to rely on the overly obvious phrase or the well worn cliché; he can always come up with the freshly turned note, the unusual phrase, no matter how old the tune might be. I mean who ever thought they'd hear Red Sails In The Suuset played like this? From Jug's first introductory funky-calypso phrase he invites you to a very singular rehearing of this veteran of the schmaltz circuit.

Sonny Stitt has been characterized too many times, by those people who seem always to be characterizing jazz performers on the basis of one small facet of their styles, as "a disciple of Charlie Parker." I think it would be safe to say that almost any saxophonist who has heard "Bird" can be called a disciple. But Stitt, along with Dexter Gordon, was one of the first people around to transfer what Parker was doing to the tenor saxophone. Although Stitt on tenor sounds nothing like Bird on tenor. But foc any saxophonist walking around today to be completely uninfluenced by Parker would be like a Christian not knowing who his religion was named after. It just hardly seems possible.

The terrible thing, it seems to me, is that too many people have heard that Sonny's been influenced by Bird, without understanding that Stitt is one of the few people who've been able to take so strong an influence and put it to such an admirably personal use. Stitt is first of all Stitt; and a mighty ubiquitous influence in his own right. There are many, many young tenor men around now whose connection to some of the Parker magic was gotten through Stitt's brilliant appropriation of it. Sonny's lovely solo on My Foolish should be enough to convince even the hardest head that Stitt is, and has been for a long time now, an individual voice, and one of the most exciting expressive voices we have. His line, even when he is playing a ballad, soars, and is multi-noted and fluid, without being thin or underweight. Sonny always gets enough meat into his solos, no matter how fast his fingers are moving.

The Stitt-Ammons combination works so well for several reasons, for one, both these players know their instruments as well as they know their own voices; probably better. They know their instruemnts so well that they know they don't constantly have to play meaningless sprays of notes just to show that they've had saxophone lessons. And though each man's style is very separate and singular, their overall approaches complement each other extraordinarily. Ammons is one of those rare saxophonists who was able to put Hawkins and Young together and still come out on top, with a style that is completely his own.

Sometimes Jug's attack is direct, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Hawkins, but again sometimes it is subtle and graceful in that manner that Pres could have patented. Stitt on the other hand, got all his Pres training via Parker, but his long staggering multi-noted line is still softened and gracious. The Stitt and Ammons methods make for great contrast, but it is a contrast that is so compatible that sometimes it seems that there is only one very, very chameleon like saxophonist working. Their unison sound, e.g.. on New Blues or Headin' West, an Ammons' original is really a marvelous invention, like an organ made out of saxophones. And either soloist can come off this heavy driving duet line, and play a solo of such tenderness and subtlety, one wouldn't think it possible. Again, Autumn Leaves will convince you.

For some indication of how beautifully these musicians are able to extend each other's statements, Time On My Hands is suggested. On the opening phrases of the tune the line is played by Ammons with Stitt just behind him embellishing and commenting on the mam statement. Then Stitt takes the line, and Ammons is content to comment. The piece is resolved with one of the most elegant saxophone duets I've heard in some time, re-emphasizing the taste and musicianship with which these two players approach their work.

Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons separately can about anything on the saxophone anyone can think of; together, as they have proven so often before, they are completely out of sight.

—LeRoi Jones

LP-696

Red Holt – Look Out!! Look Out!!

Released 1963

Recording and Session Information

Floyd Marvin, trombone; Wallace Burton, alto saxophone; Ramsey Lewis, piano; Roland Faulkner, guitar; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, December 1961

11363 Red sails in the sunset
11364 Stella by starlight
11365 Soul mist
11366 I cover the waterfront
11367 Look out no.1
11367 Look out no.3
11368 Drum drunk
11369 My favorite things
11370 Little Liza Jane
11371 Sanctified woman
11372 To-night
Ghost riders

Track Listing

Look Out No. 3	Red Holt	December 1961
Little Liza Jane		December 1961
Favourite Things	Rodgers, Hammerstein	December 1961
Red Sails In The Sunset	Kennedy, Williams	December 1961
Drum Drunk	Red Holt	December 1961
Soul Mist	Holt-Lewis-Young	December 1961
Ghost Riders	Edw. Kay	December 1961
Stella By Starlight	Young, Washington	December 1961
Sanctified Indian	Red Holt	December 1961
I Cover The Waterfront	Green, Heyman	December 1961
Tonight	Bernwtein, Schirmer	December 1961
Look Out No. 1	Red Holt	December 1961

Liner Notes

LOOK OUT!! LOOK OUT!! Here comes Isaac "Red" Holt and Company taking you on a musical journey that should impress you most favorably.

Red Holt — the man — is sensitive and sincere. You get the impression he's always striving to say, "This is the way I truly feel. I've got a statement to make, hear me out." He's unpredicable, entertaining and magnetic.

Of course most of you are already familiar with Red through his long participation as percussionist with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. He, Ramsey, and Eldee Young have been making wonderful music for many years and the popularity of the group is a tribute to the discerning taste of the music loving public. The trio invariably works before packed audiences and its record releases areenthusiastically received.

Red Holt — the percussionist — is dynamic, confident and thoroughly professional. Through the years he has been the anchorman in the Ramsey Lewis Trio. His wonderful sense of rhythm and tasteful showmanship have been essential to the success of the group. The powers at Argo Records thought it would be a good idea to spotlight Red as leader on a record session and we're inclined to believe it was a very wise move. Naturally, Ramsey Lewis and Eldee Young were present on piano and bass and to round out the group, add tonal color and instrumental excitement Red wisely chose the fine jazz talents of Floyd Marvin, Roland Faulkner and Wallace Burton.

On this particular record date, it would be easy to say that the many moods of "Red" have been recorded with musicians that have been close to him for most of his musical life. Each one having something definitely in common with the others. That magnetic cohesion of minds, each anticipating the other in collaborating to give a careful blend of melodic, swinging and exotic sounds in jazz.

If this is your first time entering the world of jazz, you've picked a masterful jazz story teller in Mr. Holt. If you're a long time member in our exciting world of jazz, enjoy it!! So have fun, sit back, relax and close your eyes if you can and will, let the musical images take form, you see they'll definitely come alive with vibrancy for you, "the many connoisseurs fine music," for only you and the will have reality now!! Music is recorded, yes...it is the very best in recorded music, so...LOOK OUT!! LOOK OUT!! Hear "Red" Holt and Company.

LeBaron Taylor
Radio WCHB
Detroit. Michigan

LP-695

James Moody - Another Bag

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Paul Serrano, trumpet; John Avant, trombone; James Moody, tenor saxophone, flute; Kenny Barron, piano; Ernest "Ernie" Outlaw, bass; Marshall Thompson, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, January 30 1962

11438 Minuet in G
11439 The day after
11440 Cup bearers
14441 Sassy lady
14443 Ally (parts 1,2,3)
14444 Pleyel D'jaime
14445 Spastic

Track Listing

Sassy Lady	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Ally (Parts 1, 2, 3)	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Spastic	Ken Duhon	January 30 1962
Minuet In G	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Cup Bearers	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
The Day After	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Pleyel D'Jaime	Dennis Sandola	January 30 1962

Liner Notes

JAZZ IS AMERICAN...as American as fire crackers on the fourth of July or presents at Christmas. Jazz is our own unique music that grew, grew and grew until the whole world sat up and listened. It is the music best suited to express sad and happy moods. Jazz expresses all aspects of life. Never before has so much of life been put into sound as has been put into the patterns of jazz.

The story of James Moody parallels the story of jazz here in America and around the globe. James Moody has carried jazz almost around the world, spreading its message to kings and queens, and to the common people...whoever would listen. The growing acceptance of jazz has more than ever created good will, established friendly ties and broken down racial barriers. Yes the mutual bond of jazz appreciation has helped to dissolve differences between men of every race and color enabling these men to work together with a common cause.

James Moody, age 37, born in Savannah, Georgia, tenor, alto and flute, he is an arranger, composer and leader. Moody's musical career has gone thru many changes...changes not only musically, but physically. I think his "LAST TRAIN FROM OVERBROOK" has given not only him confidence, but the poor seeing eye public, the chance to respect and understand a musician of very high musical ability.

Like all the arts, jazz has its faddists. Let's forget them; they are a fringe minority. It is the major aspects of this art-form which concern us.

In this album you will hear a cross section of the past ten years of James Moody's works...From the early 50's, in Europe, to one of his best selling LPs to date, "Moody With String" (ARGO LP 679).

The beautiful originals here receive exquisite performance at the hands of arranger, Tom McIntosh; five young brilliant musicians and the leader James Moody.

"1n Another Bag," opens with "SASSY LADY," which is very reminiscence of SOFT WINDS, this is Moody on tenor making use of this new material which he treats with love and tender care. "ALLY," follows, as Moody on flute treats the intro gently, and then it swings with Moody taking over on alto. The trumpeter is Paul Serrano; Ken Barron at piano while Moody returns to flute and a beautiful ending.

"Spastic," is an amazing tenor saxophone performance by James.

"Minuet In G," is the most sensitive with a waltz beat, with James on flute, "Cup Bearers," is the happy sound with everyone getting a chance to say something nice. "The Day After," the flute employed again seems to tell a sad story, but one which is told With great interest.

PLEYEL D'JAIME...Sounds to me a bit like one expressing a tear of love in a happy sort pf way...thus Moody on alto wraps up ANOTHER BAG Of beautiful sounds, and if I may repeat myself, this is James Moody at his finest, and heard in a setting that supports him wonderfully well...the band and the arrangements of Tom McIntosh.

AL CLARKE
HOUSE OF JAZZ
WJMO
CLEVELAND, OHIO

LP-694

Lorez Alexandria - Deep Roots

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Lorez Alexandria
Lorez Alexandria, vocal; John Young, piano; Vernel Fournier, bass; George Eskridge, drums
Chicago, February 13, 14 1962

11493 Almost like being in love
11494 Spring will be a little late this year
11495 Softly, as in a morning sunrise
11496 I want to talk about you
11497 Trav'lin' light
11498 Detour ahead
11499 No moon at all
11500 It could happen to you
11501 Nature boy
11502 I was a fool

Track Listing

Nature Boy	Ahbez	February 13, 14 1962
I Was A Fool	Pate	February 13, 14 1962
No Moon At All	Mann, Evans	February 13, 14 1962
Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year	Loesser	February 13, 14 1962
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise	Hammerstein II, Romberg	February 13, 14 1962
Detour Ahead	Ellis, Frigo, Carter	February 13, 14 1962
It Could Happen To You	Van Heusen-Burke	February 13, 14 1962
Travlin Light	Mundy, Mercer, Young	February 13, 14 1962
Almost Like Being In Love	Lowe-Learner	February 13, 14 1962
I Want To Talk About You	Eckstine	February 13, 14 1962

Liner Notes

MY PREDECESSORS here, on the informative side of a Lorez Alexandria album jacket have been much more professionally qualified than I, in passing musical judgment on the engraven image within; and much more informative.

Both Miss Gardener and Mr. Gleason are known for their knowledgable critiques and essays on jazz and popular music. So, when Lorez asked me to write these notes just couple of weeks after I had met her, I hastened back to the enjoyable #663 and #682 in the Argo catalog to read the Gardener, Gleason enlightenment.

Then it became apparent that the one word I have thought and felt about Lorez singing these past six or scvcn recording years was the essence of Gs and Ralph Gs annotations. They both refer to the freshness and creativity of her singing. Perhaps, that's why I've enjoyed hearing her on record these past years, since I have yet to hear her in person. Perhaps her creativity, and surely her warm, articulate voice uncluttered by trickery, have contributed to my increasing enjoyment of her records.

Most of all, I enjoy Lorcz because she sings like Lorez.

I'm getting kind of sick Of the increasing flood of new albums by young girl vocalists — those plaster of Paris copies of the originals with all the warmth and expression of ice cubes.

In her uncomplicated way, Lorez moves from the slowest ballad to the brightest swinger with amazing facility. She seems to tailor the tones of her voice to fit the pace, mood, storyline, and especially the words of a song. It is here, in what I guess they call interpretation of a song, that I find my biggest kick in listening to Lorez, Take '"Travlin' Light." How many singers try to phrase it like Billie Holiday did? Now listen to Lorez sing it. Here, the opening and tag of the tune are as arrestingly refreshing as anything I've in a long, long time. For crying out softly, this is as plaintive a treatment as the Mundy classic can get. The mood of the other ballads in here cries just as tenderly. That fragile little lament "Spring" Lorez handles so gently, you get a feeling that she is scared, and it'll shatter if dropped. And in "Detour Ahead," she warns of it like you'd have to go clear back, through and around Upper Nowhere to get back on the main drag. The same clarity of voice and lyric interpretation prevails in Johnny Pate's "I Was A Fool" and Billy Eckstine's "I Want To Talk About You." Throughout these tracks, John Young's kind of crystalline piano seems as though it's every aim is to encrust Lorez's warm lovely voice with scatters of diamond chips. Israel Crosby's bass, Vernel Fournier's drums, and George Eskridge's guitar plumping up the velvet pillows to catch the gems. It's probably the way Lorez sings the words mood I'm in" in "Almost Like Being In Love" that prompted the above, but I don't care as she evokes odd little pictures like that when I hear these tracks. Luckily I don't write for a living, and radio is so evanescent, that you get away with random vagaries like that, now and then. There's a lot of fun ahead for you in the nice, easy, loose, up-tempo "Softly", "No At All", and "It Could Happen". There's a paucity of notes in her treatment of "Moon" and then she gets that playful, childlike gleam in her voice as she romps along with Howard McGhee in "It Coud Happen" - and it does. As for "Nature Boy", he's quite a changed personality since Nat covered him years ago.

Almost every time I've played one of Lorez's tracks over the past few years I've said that I hoped that someday she would get outr to the coast so we could hear her in person, never realizing when that someday would be. Well, it happened not long ago when Carmen McRae was at the Blackhawk in San Francisco. I'm a big Carmen McRae fan and she was a tremdous hit last year at the Monterey Jazz Festival. One recent night, Carmen introduced Loret from the stage, and after the set and the initial shock was over, I went up to Lorez and introduced myself. The following day she came over to KFRC for a twenty minute interview and those are the only times I've seen or talked to her.

About seven years ago I got her first album, listened, called the all-knowing Ralph Gleason at home, and launched into a small rave. All-knowingly, he said he knew how fine Lorez sang, that she was a REAL jazz singer, and she deserved more plays on the air than she was getting. I agreed. I still do. In our format of good sounds here on KFRC in San Francisco all of the guys dig Lorez, and so do our listeners. That's a nice combination.

Jimmy Lyons
KFRC
San Francisco

LP-693

Ramsey Lewis Trio - The Sound Of Spring

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis Trio
Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Isaac (Red) Holt, drums
United Studios, Hollywood, February 14, 15 1962

11522 Sound of spring
11523 Spring can really hang you up the most
11524 Blue spring
11525 Spring is here
11526 Spring will be a little late this year
11527 Spring fever
11528 It might as well be spring
11529 Soft winds
11530 There'll be another spring
11531 Truly, truly spring

Track Listing

Sound Of Spring	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most	Tommy Wolf	February 14, 15 1962
Blue Spring	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Is Here	Hart, Rodgers	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year	Frank Loesser	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Fever	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
It Might As Well Be Spring	Hammerstein	February 14, 15 1962
Soft Winds	B. Goodman	February 14, 15 1962
There'll Be Another Spring	Lee, Wheeler	February 14, 15 1962
Truly, Truly Spring	Eldee Young	February 14, 15 1962

Liner Notes

Spring has never been at a loss for musical representation. Throughout the centuries it has been interpreted in a broad range of sounds. This diversity of concepts is reflected in the vernal viewpoint of Ramsey Lewis, ranging from the gentle rustle of strings on the first side to the diversified rhythms of the trio on the second.

Because this album may bring him a substantial accumulation of new followers, some of whom may be unfamiliar with the men's backgrounds, a few vital statistics may be worth repeating. Born in Chicago May 27, 1935, Ramsey studied privately from the agc of six, later attending Chicago Musical College and De Paul University. ("However," he says, "I credit most of my musical accomplishments to Miss D, Mendelsohn, my instructress.' Music has been the focus of his life from the start: with a mother who sang in the church choir a father who directed it, as well as two sisters who studied piano extensively; he never considered the possibility of any other career. He was an early aåmirer of Art Tatum and Bud Powell, but considers John Lewis and Oscar Peterson his main influences.

Eldee Young, also Chicago-born (January 7, 1936) has a similar background. His father played guitar and mandolin. Eldee studied guitar with his brother, Carl; played guitar and bass in high school, and studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He began his professional career early, going on the road with rhythm-and-blues singer Chuck Willis in 1954.

Isaac (Red) Holt, born May 16, 1932 in Rosedale, Mississippi was raised in Chicago and was a childhood friend of Ramsey and Eldee, playing with them in a teenage band. Red studied at Crane Tech., later playing in an Army band in Germany, in 1955.

Riley Hampton, a virtual fourth wheel who makes the trio move on Side 1, is best known for his skillful backgrounds for Etta James, and was previously associated with Ramsey in the Sound of Christmas album. The instrumentation here includes seven violins, three violas, two cellos and the trio. It is to Hampton's credit that instead of bogging the trio down in a mollsses-like wasteland of sirupy sounds, he has used the instrumentation to provide coloristic contrasts and orchestral variety.

The opening title number offers a striking demonstration of this mood manipulation. The piano states the theme in orthodox fashion, with obbligato comments from the strings. In the second chorus Ramsey takes over ad lib, and suddenly it swings.

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most is one of those rare tunes that managed to become a standard Without ever having been a hit. Tommy Wolfe wrote it in 1952, and for the first couple of years couldn't even get record on it. Ramsey and Riley use this exceptional melodic vehicle in an effective wedding of piano and strings.

Ramsey's own Blue Spring impressively meets the challenge of the paradox inherent in the juxtaposition of funky blues and dignified strings. The side concludes with two durable ballads, Richard Rogers' Spring Is Here from I An Angel, and Frank Loesser's wistful Spring Will Be A LIttle Late This Year, which dates back to 11944.

The string-sectionless side is inaugurated lustily by Ramsey's attractive Spring Fever, with gospel-funk overtones as Well as Latin touches, deftly accented by the remarkable work of Red and Eldee. It As Well BeSpring, another child of spring-expert Rodgers, is notable for the contribution throughout of Eldee, from the arco introduction through the intriguing lines during the chorus, with a repeated use of four eighth notes followed by a pause.

Soft Winds has been familiar to jazzmen ever the Benny Goodman Sextet, with Christian and Hampton, cut it in 1939. This, it seems to me, is the most unremittingly swinging track of the album, with expert work by Ramsey and unflagging support from his rhythm team.

Hubie Wheeler's lovely melody There'll Be Another Spring, for which Peggy Lee wrote lyrics (and which she introduced in an album co-starring with George Shearing) is given a gentle, graceful treatment. The final track, Truly Spring, reveals that Eldee is making rapid strides as a cellist, inspired no doubt by his bass and cello favorite, Ray Brown. Eldee's composition is charming, his solo work light and nimble as if he were playing guitar, and the whole treatment, complete with tambourine effects, has an element of humor. This is a welcome quality in these sometimes unduly pompous days.

Samuel Butler once remarked that youth, like spring, is an overpraised season, "more remarkable for biting east winds than genial breezes." This was just his nineteenth century way of pointing out that it can really hang you up the most. These sides, though, prove how wrong he was. The case for youth is well served by Lewis, Young and Holt; spring is no less handsomely attended by the swinging winds of this rhythm section and the supple (even genial) zephyrs of the strings. The result is an album that will offer easy listening throughout the four seasons.

Leonard Feather

LP-692

John Young Trio - Themes and Things

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

John Young Trio>
John Young, piano; William Yancey, bass; Phillip Thomas, drums>

Ter Mar Studios, Chicago, June 6, 7 1961

10948 Fever>
10949 Playboy theme>
10950 Weaver of dreams>
10951 Mr. Lucky>
10952 Young blues>
10953 Slow blues (unissued)>
10954 Theme from "Peyton Place">
10964 Theme from Spartacus>
10965 One-eyed Jack>
10966 Take five>
10967 Portrait of my love>
10968 My romance>
10969 When Sunny gets blue>
10970 This could be the start of something big (unissued)>
>

Track Listing

Portrait Of My Love	Ornadel, West	June 6, 7 1961
When Sunny Gets Blue	Fisher, Segal	June 6, 7 1961
Take Five	Desmond	June 6, 7 1961
Peyton Place	Yuffy, Halyate, Bass	June 6, 7 1961
Fever	Glover	June 6, 7 1961
Mr. Lucky	Henry Mancini	June 6, 7 1961
Spartacus (Love Theme)	North	June 6, 7 1961
Weaver Of Dreams	Young, Elliott	June 6, 7 1961
My Romance	Rodgers, Hart	June 6, 7 1961
Playboy Theme	Cy Coleman	June 6, 7 1961
One Eyed Jacks (Love Theme)	Friedhofer	June 6, 7 1961
M J R Blues	Thompson, Wilson, Evans	June 6, 7 1961

Liner Notes

THEMES AND THINGS is the music John Young is most apt to be called upon to play at any given moment during his usually extended stays at one or another of Chicago•s smart intimate clubs. The themes included herein, I'm sure are quite familiar to you. Their interpretation, however, is more different than ordinary, for John Young is not an ordinary performer of music. He is, rather, an astute student of awareness, whose talent lies in his ability to garner from even the most uninteresting compositions the most important elements. This is the same talent that made greats of Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, Lester Young. etc, John Young has the talent to enhance ordinary or hackneyed themes, to seek out their inner beauty, and has the taste to embroider them properly so that new life may spring from their tired tones. This is not to say that all of the this album lies in this category, although undeniably some of it does! Most the lovely "love theme" from Spartacus stands on its own merit, as does Peyton Place and One Eyed Jack.

"Things" include several standard ballads, My Romance, Portrait Of My Love, When Sunny Gets Blae, and the unusual Weaver Of Dreams. The original blues, MJR, was co-composed by three fine Chicago musicians, all of whom appear regularly on Argo; Marshall Thompson, drums; Jack Wilson, piano; and Richard Evans, bass. And its theme is not too unlike the famous Bags Groove.

A few of the musical highlites for you to pay particular attention to include the Tatm-like intro and beautiful milking of the sweet melody of When Sunny Gets Blue: the parody onsumptuous movie grandioseness in the introduction of the Peyton Place selection, and the subsequent humorous approach, through interpolation, and the tender mood-setting approach John gives the theme.

Through all of the tunes in this, John's second Argo album, he and his superb trio (Phil Thomas and William Yancey) gives forth a steady swinging sparkle that bespeaks their professionalism and as a rhythm unit. As such. I am fortunate to have been able to call upon this trio many times to propel top artists such as Sonny Stitt, Howard McGhee, Gene Ammons, Bennie Green, Ira Sullivan, and many others through their creative paces. Playing as trio is one thing. Being a successful rhythm section is quite another. John Young's trio has both attributes in abundance.

To those of us in the Chicago area, where John practices most of his musical magic, his style is quite recognizable, and his exhuberant personality continuaIIy bubbles through his musical expressions. Having had his fill Of the road early in his career, with such as the Andy Kirk band, Eddie Chamblee combo, and others, John now prefers the comparative security of Chicago club work to the uncertainty of fame-seeking around the world. That he is the dean of Chicago's modern swing pianists is generally acknowledged. "Young' John Young, now forty, is not getting any younger, high time that nation-wide recognition be his, despite his reluctance to actively it. This album and the others that follow will undoubtedly help toward this end.

John Young is one of the major mainstays of that happy style of piano playing that is too quickly dying, I, for one, am very happy to have been able to continually hear John in person through the years. Your chance is through this album. Dig it!

Joe Segal

LP-691

Ahmad Jamal - All Of You

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Ahmad Jamal Trio
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Vernel Fournier, drums
Live "The Alhambra", Chicago, IL, late June 1961

For full set list, see LP-685

11102 Ahmad Jamal You're blase
11103 Ahmad Jamal You go to my head
11106 Ahmad Jamal All of you
11108 Ahmad Jamal What is this thing called love?
11109 Ahmad Jamal Star eyes
11115 Ahmad Jamal Time on my hands
11116 Ahmad Jamal Angel eyes

Track Listing

Time On My Hands	Adamson, Gordon, Youmans	June 1961
Angel Eyes	Brent, Dennis	June 1961
You Go To My Head	Gillespie, Coots	June 1961
Star Eyes	Raye, DePaul	June 1961
All Of You	Cole Porter	June 1961
You're Blase	Sievier, Hamilton	June 1961
What Is This Thing Called Love	Cole Porter	June 1961

Liner Notes

The Ahmad Jamal Trio was formed in May - 1951. At that time we were using Guitar - Ray Crawford and Bass - Tommy Sowell.

We started recording in 1952. I had been trying to sell the idea spasmodically since 1949, when I made certain efforts in this direction toward some of the most likely recording companies at that time...unsuccessfully.

I will always remember my very dear and long time acquaintance Chris Powell (whose group most of you "informed afflcienados" wouldn't remember the late Clifford Brown being a part of). Chris' group made the first demonstration pressings with me in Toronto . where he was working at the time and I was accompanying a group of singers called "The Caldwells."

Since then much has taken place....recording and otherwise, including some "5" Star record ratings (whatever that means....Ahmad's Blues, etc.,...Down Beat Magazine) as early as 1952 when the group was virtually unheard of.

I was fortunate enough to grow up with and around such musicians as Thomas Turrentine, Joe Harris, Harold Holt, Joe Kennedy, Sam Johnson, Edgar Willis, and also share the rich heritage that Pittsburgh Roy Eldridge, Erroll Garner, Dodo Marmarosa, Ray Brown, Art Blakely, Earl Hines, Billy Eckstein, Billy Strayhorn and many many others, including some personalities that are synonymous with Pittsburgh....LeRoy Brown, Honey Boy Minor, William Hitchcock, Joe Westray, etc.

Pittsburgh was and still is a formidable territory for transient musicians, with sessions going on into the early hours of the morning. Such musicians as Jerry Elliott, Billy Lewis, Bass McMahon and the musicians who hadn't started playing then and are doing so well now (Stanley Turrentine and others) playing Host.

This present L. P. was recorded in one of the most enjoyable and most compatible atmospheres that I have ever known, as far as clubs go.....The AlHambra.....not saying this because we own same, but because so many club owners and promoters could take a lesson from the Artist's approach toward working facilities for the musicians and singers.

The acoustics; the piano, the lighting, the atmosphere, could only be conducive to one thing.......a happy result and here it is.

AHMAD JAMAL

LP-690

Dorothy Ashby

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Dorothy Ashby, harp; Herman Wright, bass; John Tooley, drums
Chicago, August 8, 1961

11126 Booze
11127 I'll remember April (unissued)
11128 Lonely melody
11129 John R.
11130 Django
11131 Secret love
11132 You stepped out of a dream
11133 Satin doll
11134 Li'l darlin'
11135 Gloomy Sunday
11136 Stranger in paradise
11137 Aeolian groove (unissued)

Track Listing

Lonely Melody	Arranged By – O. McLaughlin	August 8 1961
Secret Love	Webster, Fain	August 8 1961
Gloomy Sunday	Javor, Seress, Lewis	August 8 1961
Satin Doll	Ellington	August 8 1961
John R.	D. Ashby	August 8 1961
Li'l Darlin'	Neal Hefti	August 8 1961
Booze	D. Ashby	August 8 1961
Django	J. Lewis	August 8 1961
You Stepped Out Of A Dream	Lane, Washington	August 8 1961
Stranger In Paradise	Forrest, Wright	August 8 1961

NB: You Stepped Out Of a Dream wrongly attributed to Lane, Washington rather than Gus Kahn, Nacio Herb Brown

Liner Notes

A JAZZ HARPIST is a rare thing. First of all the harp is a rather unlikely instrument to swing. It's an awfully difficult instrument to play really well and it demands technique that is incongruous With swinging. Perhaps as important is the thinking that the harp, by the very nature Of the instrument, is likely to attract musicians who, in themselves, are improbable swingers. Dorothy Ashby is, then, a rare thing. She is indeed a jazz harpist and she does swing.

I first became aware of Dorothy some years ago when hearing her front small groups of really exceptional musicianship. I heard her with Frank Wess playing flute, and with Ed Thigpen on drums, and with a great many men who's musicianship is, I think, a commentary on Dorothy as a woman in jazz. Frank Wess is regarded by many as having been the first jazz flutist, which might get you an argument in some quarters but not many. He has been an important contributor to the Basic band for nearly ten years. Ed Thigpen, now of the Oscar Peterson trio, is perhaps the ideal trio drummer and an infinitely respected one. That Dorothy has worked and recorded with these men and has performed consistently for such a long time with men of this stature suggests, I think, a rather unique position in music, not unlike that of Melba Liston. Melba was, for a time, an important part of the Dizzy Gillespie hand and the Basie band. She has sat side by side in trombone sections with such men as Brookmeyer and has worked among men who are real giants. This is not because a woman playing trombone is a novelty, but because she plays that well. Dorothy, too, has long worked among men of real stature, not because jazz played on a harp by a woman is a novelty, but because she plays that well.

Dorothy is a Detroit musician and in some circles that, in itself, is some claim to fame. Detroit has produced an uncommon group of splendid musicians...Milt Jackson, Paul Chambers, Kenny Burrell, Pepper Adams, all those Joneses, Frank Rosolino and many more — rather a strong group to stand out among, Cannonball Adderley recently made the remark that any musician who makes it among that Detroit crowd has got to be saying something, Dorothy is much loved and respected among her Detroit contemporaries and has surely distinguished herself in their company.

This is a trio album. With Dorothy are Herman Wright playing bass, and John Tooley on drums. Again Dorothy is with men of stature. Herman Wright has been a firmly established musician for a long time and appears in an enormous number of albums, but is probably best known for his work with Terry Gibbs and more recently with George Shearing. John Tooley's credits include that coveted experience of accompanying Billy Holiday.

Most of the music in this set is familiar, even if seldom heard. I think particularly of Gloomy Sunday, done so many years ago by Shaw. While rarely heard now, the tune is virtually a legend and so well remembered for the impact of its lyric that the beauty of its melodic line was all but overlooked at the time. And Diango, the wonderfully interesting John Lewis tune that is too rarely heard. Lonely Melody is borrowed from the theme music of the motion picture Goodbye Again and the Goodbye Again people rowed it from Brahms' Third Symphony. Much more familiar are three that have been very big pop hits, You Stepped Out of A Dream, Stranger in Paradise from and Secret Love, done here at a tempo that is a complete surprise. Ellington's Satin Doll and Neal Hefti's are two very charming things that belong to the jazz world because of their association with the Ellington and Basie bands, but have been adopted by the rest of the world for their simple and quite beautiful melodic lines. And there are two originals here, John R. and Booze. John R. is named for John R. Street in Detroit which, like Chicago's Rush Street, has been an important street in Detroit night club life. Dorothy has long been a regular performer on John R. Street. I don't know why Booze is called Booze!

This is not hard jazz. This is an album that says jazz can, after all, be melodic, that a thing can be gentle without being weak and can be sweet without being saccrine. What is done here is done well, the improvisation is creative, and in typical Dorothy Ashby thinking—it's done in beautiful taste. She is indeed a jazz harpist and she does swing.

Jim Rockwell

LP-689

The Al Grey-Billy Mitchell Sextet

Released 1961

Recording and Session Information

Al Grey-Billy Mitchell Sextet
Henry Boozier, trumpet; Al Grey, trombone, baritone horn; Billy Mitchell tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; Gene Kee, piano, alto horn; Art Davis, bass; Jual Curtis, drums; Ray Barretto, conga
Live "Museum of Modern Art", New York, July 6, 1961

11030 African lady (unissued)
11031 Bantu
11032 Just waiting (unissued)
11033 Melba's blues
11034 Nothin' but the truth (unissued)
11035 Maggie's theme (unissued)
11036 On Green Dolphin Street
11037 Wild deuce
11038 I got it bad (unissued)
11039 Bluish grey
11040 Home fries
Grey's blues

Track Listing

Bluish Grey	Thad Jones	July 6 1961
Wild Deuce	Gene Kee	July 6 1961
On Green Dolphin Street	Kaper, Washington	July 6 1961
Bantu	Randy Weston	July 6 1961
Melba's Blues	Melba Liston	July 6 1961
Home Fries	Gene Kee	July 6 1961
Grey's Blues	Al Grey	July 6 1961

Liner Notes

WHEN AL GREY AND BILLY MITCHELL appeared on one of the afternoon programs at Newport '61, they blew up such a storm that they were instantaneously retained for a return engagement on the highly competitive evening bill. Needless to say, Al and Billy broke it up under the kleig lights, just as they had in the bright sunshine. These two graduates summa cum lande from Count Basie's Advanced Academy of Swing know how to put the jazz message across.

Al and Billy made the trip to Newport alone. The budget which allowed for Judy Garland with 30 pieces could not be stretched to accommodate Al and Billy plus 4. The full sextet was launched on the nation's jazz scene, after spring training in Pennsylvania and a warmup at a Village Vanguard Sunday session, at the event which has been preserved in essence on this album. It was the second concert of the second season in Metronome's 'Jazz in the Garden" series at New York's Museum of Modern Art. We booked the Grey-Mitchell Sextet because we believe that one of the main functions of the concerts, presented in surroundings and under auspices considerably nobler than usually accorded to jazz, is to present new and exciting groups and musicians to the public and the jazz world. (And undeservedly neglected veteran talent as well.)

Metronome is pleased and proud to have had a hand in the successful launching of this hne new group, and doubly pleased that Argo Records shared our feelings about it. These feelings were echoed by our good colleagues on Down Beat, who said that the sextet has "that special, immediate and warm quality that will make it successful."

One of the nice things about this band is that it is a band. It has a unity of purpose and a cohesiveness which is, sadly missing in many of the current assemblies hastily gathered in the recording studios. Considering the background of the co-leaders, this doesn't seem odd at all. Al Grey's biography was outlined in inimitable style by Jon Hendricks in his liner-notes to Al's second Argo album. "The Thinking Man's Trombone" (Argo LP 677). Suffice it to say here that Al has paid his dues with a veritable Who's Who of great jazz bands: Benny Carter, Jimmie Lunceford, Lucky Millinder, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie—and Of course, Count Basie. In early 1961, Al decided to split from the Count's fold, joining a sudden exodus that had begun with Joe Williams and Joe Newman. Billy Mitchell, who had joined Count at almost the same time as Al, made the leap with him. Billy, though born in Kansas City, grew up in that spawning-ground for contemporary jazz talent: Detroit, the Motor City. He, too, has considerable major league jazz experience under his belt. including service with Lunceford, Millinder, the famous territory band of Nat Towles, Woody Herman, and Dizzy Gillespie (the latter when Al was also on the band). In between, Billy headed his own groups in Detroit. Among his sidemen were such current luminaries as Thad and Elvin Jones and Tommy Flanagan.

Both men have found their own personal voices. Al Grey is famed for his plungermute work, continuing a tradition which is most closely identified with Duke Ellington's immortal Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton. Aside from his expertise with the plunger, Al is a master of modern trombone with few peers in the realms of speed and control. On this album, Al also returns to his first instrument, the Baritone Horn, on which he displays a big, warm and mellow sound.

Billy Mitchell was Basie's star tenor voice during his tenure with the band, and with good reason. He is a true master of the tenor. Though strongly rooted in mainstream tradition, his style is no eclectic amalgam of influences. Billy is strictly his own big-toned, aware and swinging self. On this album, you will also hear him on alto, during the proceedings on Home Fries. Billy also plays clarinet when the occasion requires.

The co-leaders are not only 'doublers" in the band. In Gene Kee, the sextet has a quadruple-threat man who plays piano and Alto Horn (or "Peck Horn," as it is commonly known), and is a gifted composer and arranger as well. This album reveals all aspects of his talents excepting one: Gene Kee is also a trained audio technician. Trumpet man Henry Boozier cuts the arrangements in style, and in Jule Curtis Al and Billy have found a young drummer who keeps time instead of indulging himself in displays of gymnastics. On this album, his team-mate is one of the outstanding young bassists of the day, Art Davis. On two of the selections, the group is augmented by Ray Barretto, whose congas are jazz-educated.

In today's highly restricted jazz market, it is no easy thing to launch and sustain a new group. But we believe that the Al Grey-Billy Mitchell Sextet has what it takes for the major leagues, Blue is Grey, a Thad Jones original, opens with soft locked-hands piano over a beat straight from Father Basie's good book. Al leads the neat opening sermonette, then launches into some straight talk with the plunger. Billy enters on a blue phrase, stretches it for size and delivers some impassioned blues. Ensemble prepares for the landing, accomplished with a final plunger roar.

The sextet's varied palette of sounds and moods is next displayed on Gene Kee's Goose. which corncs on like a whole flock. A neatly scored ensemble opening sends Billy into a succinct statement with both roots and antennae. Al emerges from the background riff for a mellow but stern message on baritone horn, whereafter a commendably brief drum solo sets the stage for a short visit to Cuba — and out we go. This performance is together, with Curtis' drumming in the groove.

Green Dolphin Street is a romantic locale. Kee's arrangement, showcasing him on alto horn, has a sound and feeling reminiscent of the great Tadd Dameron. (Another nice thing about this band is that things keep happening behind the soloist — maintaining both his and the listeners' interest.)

An intriguing aspect of contemporary jazz-orientation is aired on Bantu, the third movement of Randy Weston's "Freedom, Africa" suite, here scored by the gifted Miss Melba Liston. After a mysterioso opening, the Bantus emerge in full cry. Al, again on baritone horn, delivers the call to arms, where-upon Ray Barretto, with solid support from Curtis, sends out the signals. The ending is a gas.

Side Two opens with another contribution from Miss Liston, this time in the dual role of composer and arranger. (Melba was in Dizzy's talent incubator along with Al and Billy.) Melba's Blues is blue indeed, opening with Art Davis walking like a natural man with nothing but the blues on his mind. The tempo is one which challenges the group's ability to swing — playing slow is harder than racing. They come through with applomb. Al's sermon is almost ominous in mood; Billy is both tough and lyrical. Art Davis' plucked solo is the blues with a smile. Art continues to the fore during the concluding ensemble.

Gene Kees Home Fries are a species of soul food not recommended for ulcer diets. The harmonic climate is minor. The solos flash by: Kee comes on like a French Horn, Billy's alto soars, Boozier's only solo of the date is brief but literate, and Al's contribution includes a quote from "Summertime' plus a characteristic coda.

The session ends with a happy opus by Grey, Ray's Blues, dedicated to congaist Ray Barretto. Drums and conga set the stage for a riff; a call-and-response sequence pits Al's trombone against the ensemble and sends him off on a wild and wooly ride. The riff returns to launch Billy on a free and rousing romp which dumps the listener right into the percussionist's lap. Messrs. Barretto and Curtis have a ball, and a brief restatement of the theme wraps up the concert in style.

Dan Morgenstern

LP-688

The Jazztet At Birdhouse

Released 1961

Recording and Session Information

Art Farmer, trumpet; Tom McIntosh, trombone; Benny Golson, tenor saxophone; Cedar Walton, piano; Tommy Williams, bass; Albert "Tootie" Heath, drums
Live "Birdhouse", Chicago, IL, May 15, 1961

11208 Junction
11209 Farmer's market
11210 Darn that dream
11211 Shutterbug
11212 'Round midnight
11213 A November afternoon

Track Listing

Junction	B. Golson	May 1961
Farmer's Market	A. Farmer	May 1961
Darn That Dream	E. DeLange, J. V. Heusen	May 1961
Shutterbug	J.J. Johnson	May 1961
Round Midnight	B. Hanighen, C. Williams, T. Monk	May 1961
November Afternoon	T. McIntosh	May 1961

Liner Notes

THIS is the fourth album by the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, and it's happy I am that I can tell you in all truth it continues their record-breaking Argo cavalcade.

How long it will go on the Lord only knows, but as for the present, they've once again come up with something new as well as another first-rate program of jazz music.

Not to keep you in suspense, but to tell the story from the start, the first record was set by Meet The Jazztet (Argo LP 664). Since this was the group's initial album it necessarily was something new. Even better, according to The Jazztet's manager, Kay Norton, is that the LP turned out to be a consistent good seller.

The second Jazztet album, Big City Sounds (Argo LP 672), presented a reorganized lineup, with only the leaders remaining from the original unit.

The unusual feature of the third album, The Jazztet And John Lewis (Argo LP 684), is the material: Six compositions by the internationally-famed musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet which he arranged specifically for The Jazztet.

The Jazztet's newest album — the one you're holding as you read this — is the first ever made by the group during a public performance. It also marks Art Farmer's recording debut on the fluegelhorn.

The six extended numbers that comprise this set were taped a few months ago while The Jazztet was at the Birdhouse, a jazz club on Chicago's Near North Side. Farmer and Golson have a particular fondness for the club, not only because The Jazztet opened it about a year ago, but also because of the room's superior acoustics. Hence the suggestion that Argo tape the group during performance at the Birdhouse was quickly accepted.

So far as this observer is concerned, the decision was both wise and highly rewarding. Studio sessions can eliminate the occasional fluffs and clinkers to which even the best jazz instrumentalists are subject while in the throes of spontaneous creation, but at the same time such sessions lose the emotion-gripping quality that is instilled by a performance for paying customers. Evidences of this energizing situation are to be found here in the listeners' applause for soloists and the group, in occasional out-cries by the musicians, and in the music itself.

Before dealing with the individual selections, something about The Jazztet should be noted for the benefit of those still unacquainted with the group. The Jazztet was conceived in the summer of 1959 when Farmer and Golson, separately planning to organize their own combos, each broached this idea to the other. It soon became apparent that their aims were similar: Creation Of a group that would strike a musical balance between organization, as exemplified by fresh, thoughtful writing, and extemporization, the heart of jazz. That they have been eminently successful in steering a safe course between the Scylla of a "jamming band" and the Charybdis of an "arranger's band" is the firm belief of this writer.

The Music

Jünction, an easy rocker that evokes the Count, is a Golson composition and arrangement. Benny slips into the forefront smoothly and lightly to launch a flowing tenor solo that becomes assertive near its end. Farmer joins in with some clipped observations before proceeding to speak his piece, a somewhat fragmented discourse that has the rhythm section commenting.

Farmer's Market is Golson's arrangement of the composition that Art created some ten years ago and which received its most notable expositions in the late Wardell Gray's tenor solo and in the 1952 vocal written and recorded by Annie Ross. In the present version the tune is taken at racetrack tempo. There are cooking solos by both Benny and Art. Pianist Cedar Walton, who takes the spotlight after a drum break and stage-setting ensemble passage, contributes an exceptional solo that contains some notable phrasing and intriguing shifts of meter.

Darn That Dream, the only "pop" standard in the album, is a showcase for the Farmer fluegelhorn and proves that the months Art has devoted to this instrument were well spent. It is evident that he has accomplished the unusual feat of transferring his own wide, warm trumpet sound to the horn, a quality that adds to the effectiveness Of ballads such as this. The tender mood that Farmer creates and the beautiful coda with which he ends the piece further confirms the belief that he has few peers in this romantic realm.

Shutterbug is the J.J. Johnson tune and he arranged this uptempo version for The Jazztet. A staccato introduction heralds Farmer's solo during the course of which he demonstrates his fine control of sound as well as his ability to play hot. With the rhythm section stoking the fire to keep the pot bubbling, Golson moves in for a solo that exhibits his command of high-speed technique and, more importantly, his talent for improvisation. Drummer Albert Heath gets a brief solo before the minor.feeling number is concluded with a senerous ensemble.

'Round Midnight is the longest and, to this listener, the most rewarding number on the album. Golson's arrangement of Monk's lovely composition an The Jazztet's playing of it attain the group's aims to the fullest extent. The opening horn note and brief piano passage establish the mood, which is most movingly amplified by the succeeding segment that has a passage by fluegelhorn, a three-horn voicing, a brief, rhapsodic tenor interlude and another ensemble bit. Farmer introduces a new element with a trumpet solo which seems to hint that the sun will again be shining a few hours hence. The mood changes again as Golson comes on with a tenor solo that begins with a beautiful singing quality that gradually is transformed into a soul-wrenching cry. As the rhythm moves into a more propulsive groove, the sound of the tenor expands to climax its tale of loneliness. I believe this to be one of Benny's finest recorded solos. The arrangement makes further effective use Of the instruments before conduding its provocative story.

November Afternoon was written and arranged by trombonist Tom McIntosh. A delightful piece, it hints at a ballad as it begins but quickly shifts into a romping vein. While the number gives a fine display Of McIntosh's work, Farmer and Golson are not neglected. Here too, as throughout the album, the support of bassist Tommy Williams, Walton and Heath is of high value.

Russ Wilson

LP-687X

Ramsey Lewis Trio - Sound of Christmas

Released 1961

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, 1960

10513 Santa Claus is coming to town
10514 Winter wonderland
10515 Hey Mr. Ray (unissued)
10516 Teardrops from my eyes (unissued)

Chicago, October 1961
11248 Christmas blues
11249 Merry Christmas
11250 Here comes Santa Claus

Addtional 10 unknown strings added, Riley Hampton, arranger

11251 What are you doing New Year's Eve?
11252 The sound of Christmas
11253 God rest ye merry gentlemen
11254 Sleigh ride
11255 The Christmas song

Track Listing

Merry Christmas Baby	Charles Brown	October 1961
Winter Wonderland	Smith, Bernard	October 1961
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	Gillespie, Coots	October 1961
Christmas Blues	Ramsey Lewis	October 1961
Here Comes Santa Claus	Autry, Aldeman	October 1961
The Sound Of Christmas	Lewis, Hampton	October 1961
The Christmas Song	Torme, Wells	October 1961
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen	Arranged By – Ramsey Lewis	October 1961
Sleigh Ride	Anderson, Parish	October 1961
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve	Frank Loesser	October 1961

Liner Notes

MERRY Christmas to everyone and especially jazz lovers, but more especially to Ramsey Lewis Trio lovers.

Ramsev and his piano, along with Eldee Young on bass and Red Holt on drums, have put together some of the greatest Christmas sounds ever waxed in the jazz vernacular. And the best part of this album is that it won't go out with the season, because the sounds on many of the cuts such as Christmas Blues and The Sound of Christmas, which by the way are originals, are good jazz 365 days a year.

On Side l, you will hear typical Ramsey Lewis piano. (I would imagine the piano had to be tuned after each track)! They start off with Merry Christmas Baby, with a beautifully melodic introduction, and Ramsey's strong touch taking over as it progresses. Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town are two numbers that the trio have done before, and Here Comes Santa Claus swings in the same light cheerful style. Christmas Blues, however, is something else. This tune, along with The Sound Of Christmas, stands out in my mind as the two best pieces of work in the album.

Having already jumped to Side 2, I would like to mention that if Mel Torme and Leroy Anderson, who wrote The Christmas Song and Sleigh Ride, in that order, were to hear the performances of their labors as done by Ramsey, Eldee and Red, they would have to admit "Like it ain't never been done like this before". I hope Mr. Torme and Mr. Anderson will excuse the paraphrasing, but I just can't find better words to describe the interpretation given these two cuts.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, one of the most beautiful Christmas carols ever written, will satisfy the "Carol Singers" as well as the "Hippys". And closing out the album is one of my all-time favorites, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve. I don't mind saying it absolutely "flipped" me.

This album marks the first time the trio has recorded with strings. Side one features the trio only, but on Side two, they are accompanied by a beautiful string section, conducted by Riley Hampton. After you've listened to this side, I'm sure you will agree that the trio should continue to utilize strings in the future in at least a portion of each album.

While you're listening to The Ramsey Lewis Trio's SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS, please keep in mind that all of us wish all of you a very Merry, Swingin' Christmas.

Nelson Noble

LP-686

The Ramsey Lewis Trio - Never On Sunday

Released 1961

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis Trio
Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, August 10 & 11, 1961

11138 The ripper
11139 I got plenty o' nuttin'
11140 Water boy
11141 Thanks for the memory
11142 Cielito lindo
11143 You just don't care
11144 Never on Sunday
11145 You've changed
11146 The breeze and I
11147 Exactly like you

Track Listing

The Ripper	Ramsey Lewis	August 10 & 11 1961
I Got Plenty Of Nothing	Gershwin, Gershwin	August 10 & 11 1961
Waterboy	Arranged By – Ramsey Lewis	August 10 & 11 1961
Thanks For The Memory	Robin, Rainger	August 10 & 11 1961
Ceilito Lindo	Arranged By – Isaac Holt	August 10 & 11 1961
You Just Don't Care	El Dee Young	August 10 & 11 1961
Never On Sunday	Hadjaidakis	August 10 & 11 1961
You've Changed	Carey, Fischer	August 10 & 11 1961
The Breeze And I	Stillman, Lecuona	August 10 & 11 1961
Exactly Like You	Fields, McHugh	August 10 & 11 1961

Liner Notes

THERE are two kinds of music listeners in the world of jazz as in all other kinds of entertainment. First, there is the social devotee who spins his "sides" whenever the notion strikes his fancy. He has the discretion of selecting what he wants to play, when and for how long. His record collection is the bona fide guide to his personal taste in waxing pleasure. There is little room for pretense or pretext here. The social devotee shells out cash on the line for his records and each niche filled on his record shelf represents a corresponding void in his bank account.

On the other hand, there is the professional listener. He listens, literally, for years on end. At times it seems as though the mountain of music to be listened to is never-diminishing. His collection is multitudinous. It is comprised primarily of records he has had to play. Few of the dozens of records received regularly ever reach that special corner in the record library rcscrved for those albums one wants to listen to again, if ever that mountain diminishes!

As a jazz disc jockey for some several years, I suppose I have developed a tolerant ear of the professional listener. Occasionally, a musical unit along which has that spark of vitality and freshness, mixed with just the proper portion of talent and musical presence, to stand these rather blasé old ears on their ---s, to put it precisely.

The Ramsey Lewis Trio story is one of those made-in-Hollywood tales heard much too infrequently in real life. The three, healthy young men of the same environment decide to improve their lot through playing music. They band together and find that the trio has an unbelieveable, scintillating cohesion right off the bat. They receive influential backing from prominent entertainment leaders, and are booked into and play to SRO audiences in a sophisticated downtown nightclub. A record contract follows and their albums plummet them into the national spotlight. A successful trip around the jazz circuit and growing audience appeal firmly establish the trio as one of the jazz units which is here to stay in an era when groups crop up, blossom and die like an Ephemerida.

This album will give ample evidence of why the trio has continually renewved its lease on public appeal. All of the spontaneous, alive, animation which characterizes the Ramsey Lewis Trio is here faithfully reproduced. As you listen, note that accepted traditions in jazz serve only as guideposts for these three, adventuresome young musicians. Mood, rhythm, instrumentation, utilization of personnel are skillfully manipulated to show off the tune to its best advantage. The material recorded here is deliberately varied and comprehensive. This unit has no "groove" in which they are compelled to play. True, the one word most often associated with their efforts is "funky," this is a treatment rather than a restrictive style. The selections here range from showtunes to folk songs to gutty, earthy blues. Each tune is treated with its own special. portion of the Lewis magic; and becomes an infectious, delightful listening experience.

It is really no wonder that the Ramsey Lewis Trio is the mutual choice of both the social and the professional listener when one wishes to listen for sheer delightful enjoyment.

There must be one word of caution added. Much has been said of the carefree ease with which the unit rollicks through its chores. This is a deceptive ease acquired from mastery of their instrumnents and the material hand. At times, one is startled at the precision and unity of musical approach which marks their work. The interplay between instruments, the uncanny complimentary support, the deliberate dips into rhythmic variety; all indicate the self assurance and musical maturity which grows more evident with each recording.

This is their latest offering and by virture of the above stated reasoning, it must be conceded that this is their most challenging. They approached the task with responsibility, and the recording will undoubtedly find a haven in the preferred record nooks of listeners of all types.