Lou McGarity - Blue Lou
Released 1960
Recording and Session Information
Lou McGarity Big EightDoc Severinsen, trumpet; Lou McGarity, trombone, vocal; Bob Wilber, clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone; Dick Cary, piano alto horn,trumpet; George Barnes, guitar; Jack Lesberg, bass; Don Marino, drums
New York, September 14 & 15, 1959
9738 Blue skies
9739 Born to be Blue
9740 Blue Lou
9741 Blue Champagne
9742 Under a blanket of blue
9743 Blue turning grey over you
9744 Blue Moon
9745 Blue Again
9746 Blue and broken hearted
9747 Black and Blue
9748 Blue prelude
9749 I get the blues when it rains
Track Listing
| Blue (And Broken Hearted) | Leslie, Clarke, Handman | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Moon | Rodgers, Hart | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Prelude | Jenkins, Bishop | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Again | McHugh, Fields | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Champagne | Reyerson, Watts | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Turning Grey Over You | Razaf, Waller | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Lou | Sampson, Mills | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Born To Be Blue | Torme, Wells | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Blue Skies | Berlin | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Black And Blue | Razaf, Waller, Brooks | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| I Get The Blues When It Rains | Stoddard, Klauber | September 14 & 15 1959 |
| Under A Blanket Of Blue | Neiburg, Livingston, Symes | September 14 & 15 1959 |
Liner Notes
IT WOULD seem offhand to be a rather banal idea to gather together a group of tunes with the word "blue" in their titles and record them for an album release. But when you listen to Blue Lou a realization gradually comes to you that whatever it was causing, or inspiring, the composer to use "blue" in the title was engendered by a single mood common to all the writers. This mood gives to the collection a definite musical validity.The underlying mood here is a thread holding all the parts together and is by no means the repetitive, tiresome sound you hear in many mood albums. There is nuance in the melodies themselves, the tempos, the ensembles, and the individual solos. The beauty of the resulting music is that it offers double enjoyment — it is a wonderful sound to have accompanying whatever one might be doing and at the same time there is enough musically happening to warrant studied listening and repeated playings.
There is another reason for the above reaction, and it is predicated upon the experience and individual virtuosity of the Lou McGarity band. Every member of the group has had long experience playing radio and television studios as well as jazz. This means they have had to play every conceivable type of music that exists and play it well on short notice.
On this record assignment they were given carte blanche to play the way they would prefer to perform, yet, this is not a typical jazz date. It has been reported that jazzman Eddie Condon once came on a Commodore record date saying. "Well, let's cut this one for the jazz record collectors and get it over." Others have recorded musicians' music strictly for themselves. The results from this set of recording activity have frequently amounted to a round-robin of jazz solos (usually not very original) or an advanced musical study with limited appeal.
Nothing of the sort happens on Blue Lou. There are improvised solos to be sure, but they are integrated into the melodic mood interspersed with interesting backgrounds and unusual instrumental ensemble combinations.
The star and leader of the session is trombonist Lou McGarity, who has played recently in the studio bands heard on the Arthur Godfrey, Steve Allen, and Garry Moore shows.
Real music fans are much better acquainted with the Lou McGarity, who played with the great Benny Goodman orchestra of 1941-'42 that also included the late guitarist Charlie Christian, trumpeter Cootie Williams, tenor man George Auld, drummer Dave Tough, and pianist Johnny Guarnieri, among other great jazz figures.
Goodman discovered McGarity playing in the late Ben Bernie's band towards the end of 1940. This was the beginning of a jazz career for the young Georgia trombonist. then known as "Mac" McGarity. He added outstanding trombone solos to the Goodman product, something the band had not been particularly noted for up to that time, and many jazz fans remember Goodman's recording of On The Sunny Side Of The Street because of Lou's hot trombone solo.
When Goodman first organized his band he wanted to hire Jack Teagarden to be his trombone soloist, but Jack was under an ironclad contract to Paul Whiteman at the time and couldn't join. Early McGarity was quite close to the Teagarden style, but in the following years has developed his own individuality while retaining some of the Teagarden feeling.
Most of the sides in Blue Lou have either a guitar or McGarity introduction. Several, such as Blue Moon and Black Blue, are trombone solos, and in each case the end has a drop to a deep tone as a sort of McGarity tagline or period. There are many other worthwhile trombone solos, both open horn and muted, on the other sides. Sometimes there are almost undiscernible trills and at other times he plays insinuatingly smooth.
On I Get The Blues When It Raim McGaricy takes a turn at the vocal chorus (the only vocal included in the set) and sings it in a lazy Teagarden-like manner. It can also be noted, as with Teaparden, Lou's vocal phrasing bears a close resemblance to his trombone phrasing.
Carl (Doc) Severinsen, who was once in Charlie Barnet's trumpet section alongside Maynard Ferguson, plays open and muted solos and effectively leads ensembles. On Under A Blanket of Blue there is an interesting muted trumpet solo backed by Dick Cary playing his E-alto (peck) horn. Ordinarily you would expect it to be the other way around. Severinsen is especially noteworthy leading the ensemble on Blue Again.
Bob Wilber started in jazz as a protege on clarinet of the late clarinetist and soprano saxophonist, Sidney Bcchet. Through the years he has constantly grown musically and has been heard from time to time with modern progressive groups, as well as with many traditional combos. On this date he can be heard playing clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor saxophone. His tenor is noteworthy on Blue Lou in solo and ensemble On Blue and Broken Hearted the Wilber clarinet has a particularly lilting lyrical sound.
If listeners would like to play games, they might try to determine if Wilber is playing bass clarinet or low register clarinet on Blue Champagne. This listening game could also be applied to trying to separate Lou's trombone and Cary's peck horn in occasional spots.
Another outstanding soloist throughout the set is George Barnes on electric guitar. His most outstanding side could be either Blue Again or Blue Prelude, depending on the listener. George's blues choruses are reminiscent of the ideas he used to play on rhythm and blues record dates back in Chicago many years ago, In those days he sar in backing blues vocalists for "kicks" and in the process acquired a strong feeling for the blues. Note his playing on Blue Skies.
The group's rhythm section includes Dick Cary on piano. Jack Lesberg, bass, and Don Marino, drums. Cary, who was the first pianist playing with the famed Louis Armstrong All Stars a decade ago, triples here on piano, horn, and trumpet. He has a piano solo towards the end of Blue Turning Over You and on Born To Be Blue, and his are the muted trumpet solos on Blue And Broken Hearted and Black and Blue.
Lesberg and Marino, both of whom have played around New York City for many years, give fane rhythmic support throughout. They can be heard alone to good advantage on Under A Blanket of Blue.
The recognizable melodies, the intricate interplay of instruments, and the exciting solos all tend to give this mood collection an appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes.
George Hoefer
