LP-628

Ramsey Lewis And His Gentle-men Of Jazz - Volume 2

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

"Pershing Lounge", Chicago, January 16 1958
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Croby, bass; Vernell Fournier, drums

8673 But Not For Me
8674 Music, Music, Music
The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
Moonlight in Vermont
There Is No Greater Love
Woody'n You
What's New ?
Poinciana

But Not For Me	Gershwin / Gershwin	January 16 1958
Surrey With The Fringe On Top	Rodgers / Hammerstein	January 16 1958
Moonlight In Vermont	Blackburn / Suessdorf	January 16 1958
Music, Music, Music	Baum / Weiss	January 16 1958
No Greater Love	Jones / Symes	January 16 1958
Poinciana	Bernier / Simon	January 16 1958
Wood'yn You	Gillespie	January 16 1958
What's New	Haggart / Burke	January 16 1958

Liner Notes

The artistry, talent and creative abilities of Ahmad Jamal have been thrilled to and broadly proclaimed by musician and music lover alike. Upon hearing this album be prepared to join the ranks of those who both thoroughly enjoy and sing the praises of "Young Ahmad, the terrible" for this was recorded under the most favorable of conditions and Jamal's fountain of creative splendor is in full flow.

Miller Brown, the owner of the Pershing Lounge (of Chicago's Pershing Hotel) and Ahmad Jamal have a rare and wonderful thing going, these two men respect and regard one another, very highly. So it is no wonder then that Jamal has at the Pershing a suitable atmosphere, and climate in which to swing freely. As truly he does. Away from the inhibiting pressure of the recording studio and with the stimulating warmth of live audience, to work before, plus relaxed familiar surroundings, Jamal has been allowed to give you — the listener, benefit of his amazing skills and marvelous conception in a variety of moods, shades and tones.

Contained herein is portrait of a sincere, industrious young man, wise and mature for his years. A man dedicated to meeting the many challenges of life. Take it out - LISTEN - and BEHOLD AHMAD JAMAL, a truly great talent.

Sid McCoy
Radio Station, WGES, Choicago, Illinois

Having worked at the Pershing Lounge at various times for the past 6 years, the idea developed (during a conversation between Leonard Chess — head of Chess Record Corporation, Sid McCoy — eminent radio personality, and myself) to record our next there at the Pershing Lounge. This present group of selections is the results. The tapes were made on January 16, 1958 and each set that night was recorded. I have chosen 8 tracks out of 43 and sincerely hope that our listeners will derive some degree of enjoyment from them.

Two of the tunes are former recordings of ours we did some years ago. *Surrey With the Fringe on Top' - 1952; "But Not For Me" - 1954. They are a permanent part of our repertoire are frequently requested by our audiences. I make mention here of the fact that of the tunes in our repertoire, "But Not Me" for is asked more than any other selection. I am happy to say that for all who enjoyed our former recording, but could not obtain it — here it is in our present LP.

Working with me are two of the finest musicians I have ever known — musically or otherwise — Israel Crosby, our bassist and Vernell Fournier, our drummer. I have had many treasurable moments working with both of these well known musicians, and am looking forward to all of our future peformances together.

Ahmad Jamal

LP-627

Ramsey Lewis And His Gentle-men Of Jazz - Volume 2

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

Sheldon Recording Studio, Chicago, February 9, 1958
Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums

I Get a Kick Out Of You
Please Send Someone to Love
Brother John
Black is the Color of my true love's hair
It Ain't Necessarily So
Seven Valleys
On the Street Where You Live
Delilah

Delilah	Nicholis	February 9 1958
I Get A Kick Out Of You	Porter	February 9 1958
Please Send Me Someone To Love	Mayfield	February 9 1958
Brother John	Trad, arr. Lewis	February 9 1958
Black Is The Color	Trad, arr. Lewis	February 9 1958
It Ain't Necessarily So	Gershwin	February 9 1958
Seven Valleys	Katz	February 9 1958
On The Street Where You Live	Lerner, Loewe	February 9 1958

Liner Notes

Too often we find the enthusiasm of youth falling pathetically behind the complacency of experience when it comes to music...Very rarely are the two combined...The three young men who comprise the Ramsey Lewis Trio have an average age of 24, hence their youthful enthusiasm...Their combined musical training; 45 years...They are YOUNG MUSICIANS, rather than young men who play music...It is unthinkable that any one of them could have been anything other than a musician, and the fact that they are young is the listeners good fortune.

And right here seems to be a good place to discuss the theory that only experience and can give an artist "soul".

I for one, am forever more tired of the word, but it seems in this day and age you even need soul to eat your morning cereal, and Heaven forbid, an album that doesn't discuss it.

To me, a person's soul is a purely personal matter and cannot be transmitted from one person to another, and any man who is dedicated to, and in love with his work always puts his soul in his work, so to speak...In the case of a musician, his soul is exposed EVERY time he offers his art...Therefore, the degree to which this album is appreciated, or any art for that matter, is simply a reflection of oneself...In other words, it isn't so much a question of what, or how much an artist puts into his work...instead it depends on your depth of appreciation and understanding...I realize that this theory throws the whole question of "soul/' back in the lap of the layman, but isn't that where it really belongs?

From a technical viewpoint, I couldn't begin to tell you why you should listen to this album...Oh, I COULD tell you, but I have read some comments by people supposedly "in the know", and I tell you...all the nuts weren't on trees that year...Therefore, I will make no attempt to tell you what I think of the tunes contained in this album, instead I will tell very briefly why these particular ones were chosen. on trees that year...

SIDE l.
The arrangement of "I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU" was adapted to the sensitive, creativeness of drummer, Red Holt, who using only his fingertips, displays melodic qualities seldom heard in drums.

DELILAH
As in the movie Samson and Delilah, this tune is intended to transport the listener backwards into the realm of pomp and glitter, lavish feasts, dancing girls and all the resplendent living of ancient times.

BROTHER JOHN
Most of us can recall this French folk melody from our early school days. It could be called a "fun" tune whose happy lilt appeals to almost everyone.

PLEASE SEND ME SOMEONE TO LOVE
This Percy Mayfield blues ballad is one of the most frequently requested tunes in the clubs were the trio appears and seems reason enough for it to have been included in this album.

IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SO
This features bassist, Eldee Young with proof positive that his nomination in the 1957 Downbeat Critic's poll was well deserved.

SEVEN VALLEYS
A composition written especially for the Ramsey Lewis Trio by a close friend who has greatly inspired the trio. The composer, Fred Katz, cellist, formerly with the Chico Hamilton Quintet has described as the emotional upheavals of a man, in self-imposed solitude, who is searching, remembering, doubting, hoping and despairing, but finds serenity of spirit in the end.

BLACK IS THE COLOR
Another folk tune that was selected to display the trio as a unit, rather than featuring one particular instrument.

ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE
The "My Fair Lady" craze brought many requests for music from that show. One night the fellows went into a huddle and came up with an on-the-spot arrangement of On The Street. It was so well received, they decided to leave the arrangement just as it was, and even now, it continues to be one of the most often requested numbers by patrons of the Cloister Inn, Delaware & Rush, in Chicago where the trio is currently appearing.

LINER NOTES
By MARCHETA FOSTER
CHICAGO, ILL.
RECORDING STUDIOS, INC.

RECORDED; FEB. 9, 1958
STUDIO—SHELDON RECORDING
ENGINEER—J. WIENER
MUSICAL ARR. RAMSEY LEWIS

LP-626

Paul Gonsalves - Cookin'

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

Sheldon Recording Studios, Chicago, August 6, 1957
Clark Terry, trumpet; Paul Gonsalves, tenor saxophone; Willie Jones, piano; Jimmy Woode, bass; Sam Woodyard, drums

Festival
Clark's Bars
Daddy-O's Patio
Blues
Impeccable
Paul's Idea
Phat Bach
Milli Terry
Funky

Festival	Paul Gonsalves	August 6 1957
Clark's Bars	Clark Terry	August 6 1957
Daddy-O's Patio	Clark Terry	August 6 1957
Blues	Paul Gonsalves	August 6 1957
Impeccable	Paul Gonsalves	August 6 1957
Paul's Idea	Paul Gonsalves	August 6 1957
Phat Bach	Clark Terry	August 6 1957
Milli Terry	Clark Terry	August 6 1957
Funky	Paul Gonsalves	August 6 1957

Liner Notes

Those who were in attendance of the Newport jazz festival in 1956 won't forget the name of Paul Gonsalves. As one of the featured soloists with the Duke Ellington band, he rocked an audience of more than 7,500 persons with his hard-charging solo on Ellington's Dirnuendo and Crescendo in Blue.

Nat Hentoff, writer for Down Beat, remembered it this way:

"Then came the deluge, the Diminuendo and Crescendo with the 27 rocking choruses in between by Paul Bunyan Gonsalves that turned the final Newport night into Dionysian rites and convinced everyone present, including me, that a memorable event was occurring...There is a gripping, rising excitement in the remarkable length and spare consistency of Gonsalves' solo over a rhythm section rocking in a uniquely heated groove...And the long, climbing ensemble close over a gyrating, shouting audience of 7 ,500 is also an experience that will chill you."

In this Argo set, Gonsalves attempts to recreate, in a different atmosphere, the passionate fire he warmed Newport hearts with in '56.

On August 6, 1957, during the Ellington band's stay at Chicago's Blue Note, Gonsalves led three compatriots from the Ellington band and a local pianist into Sheldon Recording studios. Five hours later, the quintet emerged and Paul's Festival had been revisited. From the opening Festival, exclusively Paul's, to the closing Funky, Gonsalves had restated his case, with the assistance of Clark Terry, Willie Jones, Jimmy Woode, and Sam Woodyard.

Bostonian Gonsalves was born 37 years ago on August 12. He began to satisfy his desires for a career in music when he was 16, by playing guitar. Switching to tenor a few years later, he was featured with Sabby Lewis's band in Boston during the early 1940s, After a stint in the army, he worked with the Count aasie band (1946). He worked with Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1949-50, then joined the Ellington band. Except for a few weeks with Tommy Dorsey's band in '53, he's been a member of the Ellington reed section ever since 1950.

Clark Terry, whose trumpet playing has illuminated many record sessions, was also born in 1920. He was active in music in high school, majoring on valve trombone. He left his St. Louis home to serve in the navy during World War II and was a member of an all-star band at Great Lakes, from 1942 to 1945. After he obtained his service discharge, he worked, successively, with the bands of Lionel Hampton, George Hudson (in St. Louis), Charlie Barnet, Charlie Ventura, Count Basie. In November, 1951 he joined the Ellington band and, as already mentioned, has been with it ever since.

Twenty-nine-year-old bassist Jimmy Woode is a formally trained musician. His father was a music teacher in Philadelphia. Woode studied piano at the Philadelphia academy of music, at the Boston university school of music, at the Boston conservatory, and under bassist Paul Gregory. During a navy stint he sang with a navy band, Atter his service tour, he worked with a singing group, then formed his own trio. He spent two years as house bassist at George Wein's Boston jazz emporium, Storwille, and toured with Flip Phillips, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald. He worked with Nat Pierce's band, then joined Ellington in early 1955. Recently, he's been composing and arranging for the Ellington band, in addition to capably handling the bass chores.

Drummer Sam Woodyard, 33, is a self-taught musician. He was born in Elizabeth, N.J. and acquired considerable experience working with groups in the Newark area. He worked with Joe Holiday, Roy Eldridge, and Milt Buckner before joining Ellington in 1955.

Willie Jones is a Chicago pianist, in his late 30s, who has had his own trio and has worked with many name jazzmen in the Midwest. His piano style is in the Milt Buckner tradition.

Gonsalves is credited with three charts for this session: Festival, Blues, and Paul's Idea. Terry contributed Clark's Bars, Daddy-O's patio (for Chicago's leading jazz disc jockey Daddy-O Daylie), Impeccable (written by Terry and Marion Michaels), Phat (a Terry collaboration with a trumpet-playing postal clerk, Sykes Smith), Milli Terry, and Funky. Several of these charts, notably the attractive ballad, Impeccable, and the marching Milli Terry, assist in elevating this session above the mass of uninhibited blowing sessions being issued on record today.

This, then, is a four-Ellingtonians-plus-one session, with glimpses of Newport revisited, the imaginative Clark Terry compositional approach, and Gonsalves' passionate tenor sound enhancing the basic value of the LP.

It is another chapter in the history of the Ellington influence and the men who have made the Ellington band one of infinite significance in the history of jazz in America.

Don Gold
Associate Editor
Down Beat Magazine