LP-656

Various Artists - Fanfare Of Hits

Released 1959

Recording and Session Information

5287 M-3000 The Pastels Been So Long
5257 8225 Paul Gayten Music Goes Round and Round
5289 8569 Clifton Chenier My Soul
5309 8746 Eddie Fontaine Nothin’ Shakin’
5249 7964 The Daps When You’re Alone
5277 8540 Paul Gayten/Oscar Wills Flat Foot Sam
5276 8537 The Ravens That’ll Be The Day
8568 Clifton Chenier Bayou Drive
8132 Bobby Charles Time Will Tell
8252 5265 Earl Zeb Hooker Frog Hop
8071 5256 Billy Stewart Billy’s Blues
8773 5300 Paul Gayten Tickle Toe

Track Listing

Been So Long	The Pastels	Pastels
Music Goes Round and Round	Paul Gayten	Farley, Riley, Hodgson
My Soul	Clifton Chenier	Chenier, James
Nothin’ Shakin’	Eddie Fontaine	Colacrai, Lampert, Fontaine, Gluck
When You’re Alone	The Daps	Smith
Flat Foot Sam	Paul Gayten	Wills, Lewis
That’ll Be The Day	The Ravens	Holly, Allison, Petty
Bayou Drive	Clifton Chenier	Chenier
Time Will Tell	Bobby Charles	Guidry
Frog Hop	Earl Zeb Hooker	Hooker
Billy’s Blues	Billy Stewart	Stewart, Williams
Tickle Toe	Paul Gayten	Gayten

Liner Notes

SOME OF THE GREAT songs and recordings of recent years have been released on the Argo Aabel. Artists like The Pastels, The Ravens, Bobby Charles, and Paul Gayten have presented their best work in that time, and so many have been the requests from record-buyers the country over to assemble some of their recordings in LP form, this album is the result.

And there is a great variety of selections here, from The Pastels' haunting version of Been So Long to Paul Gayten's rocking treatment of Music Goes 'Round And 'Round, the sensational song hit of the mid-1930s brought up to date in Gayten's inimitable modern fashion; from Clifton Chenier's moving Bayou Drive to the rollicking Billy's Blues by Billy Stewart, also well-known as the pianist with the great Bo Diddley when this side was cut.

You'll hear the sensational stylings of two outstanding young singers — Eddie Fontaine and Bobby Charles. Eddie romps through Nothin' Shakin' in the style that opened his door to hitdom and Bobby tells his message on Time Will Tell.

Two more vocal groups come to the fore on That'll Be The Day and When You're Alone. The former is given a foot-patting arrangement by The Ravens, the long-established hit-makers, while Alone is given respectful and moody ballad treatment by The Daps.

Three other instrumentals played with a tremendous dance beat round out this collection of winners. One is Earl Zeb Hooker's Frog Hop, the others ale Flat Foot Sam and Tickle Toe, done by the old master pianist, Paul Gayten.

You'll have a ball hearing some of these chart-topping recordings again, all assembled on one rhythm-packed, ear-catching album. It's great listening!

Notes:

Eddie Fontaine - Nothin' Shakin'
From: https://www.discogs.com/master/666159-Eddie-Fontaine-Nothin-Shakin
Fontaine went into the studio at his own cost and cut a demo of a song he had written (or at least, he has always claimed that he was the sole writer), "Nothin' Shakin'", using guitarists George Barnes and Eddie O'Connor, drummer Cozy Cole and two others. He submitted the demo to publisher Gene Goodman in the hope that he would get the song placed with a record company, but there were no takers initially. Eddie then signed with Tommy Valando's Sunbeam label and rerecorded "Nothin' Shakin'" for them. Soon after the release of this new version he found out - to his dismay - that his original demo had been sold to Chess Records without his knowledge and had acquired three additional writing credits : by Diane Lampert, John Gluck, Jr (later co-writer of "It's My Party") and Cirino Colacral. This original (and superior) version came out on Argo 5309 in August 1958 and climbed to # 64 on Billboard's Hot 100, the only chart entry of Eddie's career. "Nothin' Shakin'" was also released in the UK (London HLM 8711) and was later recorded by the Beatles (for the BBC), Billy Fury and Craig Douglas, among others.

LP-655

The Kenny Burrell Trio - A Night At The Village Vanguard

Released 1960

Recording and Session Information

Kenny Burrell Trio
Kenny Burrell, guitar; Richard Davis, bass; Roy Haynes, drums

Village Vanguard, New York, September 16 & 17, 1959
9759 Soft winds Argo LP655
9760 Will you still be mine? Argo LP655
9761 Blues in the closet Unissued
9762 I'm a fool to want you Argo LP655
9763 Broadway Argo LP655
9764 I can't see for lookin' (long version)
I can't see for lookin' (short version)
9765 It's easy to remember Unissued
9766 Doodlin' Unissued
9767 Well you needn't Argo LP655
9768 But beautiful Unissued
9769 How could you do a thing like that to me?
9770 Cheek to cheek
9771 All night long Argo LP655
10209 Trio Argo LP655
10210 Just a-sittin' and a-rockin' Argo LP655
Afternoon in Paris
Tricrotism

Track Listing

All Night Long	Shelton Brooks	September 16 & 17 1959
Will You Still Be Mine	Dennis, Adair	September 16 & 17 1959
I'm A Fool To Want You	Sinatra, Wolf, Herron	September 16 & 17 1959
Trio	Erroll Garner	September 16 & 17 1959
Broadway	Bird, Woode, McRae	September 16 & 17 1959
Soft Winds	Mary Jackson	September 16 & 17 1959
Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'	Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington	September 16 & 17 1959
Well, You Needn't	Thelonious Monk	September 16 & 17 1959

Liner Notes

KENNETH Earl Burrell, at 28, has firmly secured a position in the ranks of firstrate jazz guitarists; he's a part of an illustrious tradition that encompasses the accomplishments of such stalwarts on the instrument as Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. For a musician as young as Burrell, this is not a trivial triumph. Yet Burrell has not simply fallen heir to the respect of musicians and jazz fans; he's won it.

A member of a music-minded Detroit family, he observed his three brothers — all muscians - in action before leaping into jazz on his own. Although he toyed with a brother's guitar as a boy, by the time he was 12 he had developed a fondness for the saxophone. When his mother declared that the family budget wouldn't justify the purchase of a horn, he settled for his first instrument, a $10 guitar, accompanied by a batch of instruction books.

Self-taught, he embarked on a career in the Motor City jazz milieu, an environment that has produced such jazzmen as the Jones boys (Thad, Hank, and Elvin), bassist Paul Chambers (who was born in Pittsburgh, but nurtured in jazz in Detroit from 1949 to 1954), tenor man Billy Mitchell of the present Basie entourage, and pianist Barry Harris, who emerged from hometown security recently to tour with Cannonball Adderley.

During the late '40s and early '50s, Burrell played session after session with local jazzmen and touring notables. He worked with the groups of Candy Johnson, Count Belcher, Tommy Barnett, and — in '51 — with Dizzy Gillespie brigade. He worked with his own group, too. In 1933, he briefly subbed for Herb Ellis in the Oscar Peterson trio.

In '55, too, he completed the requirements for a bachelor of music degree at Wayne university, a curriculum that included more than a year of formal classical guitar study. After completing college work and serving the stint with the Peterson trio, Burrell felt that the time was ripe for the move to New York. He made that invasion in late '55 and didn't attend too many sessions in the year that followed before the word on his skill was out, among critics€ Jisteners, and fellow musicians.

Nat Hentoff, writing in Down Beat in '57, noted, "Burrell...impresses me increasingly as the most important of the new guitarists. He pulls the hat trick — solid, full tone; bracing ideas and a non-nonsense, this-is-home beat. And the blues, furthermore, is a key part of his language."

With the wholehearted support of his cohorts in jazz, Burrell has made New York his base of operations. In recent years, he's participated in a string of blowing session record dates, often opening up a slot for a guitarist in rhythm sections that might otherwise have neglected the instrument. He's worked with groups of all sizes, from the traditional east coast horns-and-rhythm dates to sessions featuring big band sounds.

In this recent recording — cut during an in-person appearance by Burrell's trio at New York's Village Vanguard — Burrell emerges, without the presence of distracting horns or unsympathetic companions, as a soloist of artistry and taste and a leader who can weld a cohesive unit without obvious effort. Part of the unity achieved here, of course, is the product of devotion to duty and background in basics of bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roy Haynes.

Davis is an exceptional figure in jazz. The 30-year-old Chicagoan brought an impressive reputation as a classically-trained musician to his jazz endeavors. He studied privately for nine years, attended Vandercook college for four years, and played in several large orchestras in Chicago, including the Civic Symphony. His experience in jazz has been with various Chicago groups, as a member Of Ahmad Jamal's trio (1953-'54), as one-half of the Don Shirley duo, and as One of the accompanying crew for Sarah Vaughan. He's been an asset on many recording dates.

Haynes, 34, worked with Davis on the Sarah Vaughan team. Before that, he pursued a memorable and instructive path in jazz, working with Pete Brown in Boston (Haynes is from Roxbury, Mass.) in the mid-'40s, with Luis Russell, Lester Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and various groups appearing at Birdland. Few musicians can boast more elite company in their developmental years.

In this venture, Burrell, Davis, and Haynes blend impeccably to produce sounds that are neither syrupy or crude, neither blatantly commercial nor unnaturally earthy. The groove is a mellow one throughout.

The opener — All Nite Long — perfectly states the group's attributes. Burrell, in single-lines and chordal patterns, explores the blues without descending to cliches; Davis and Haynes support him superbly. The pace quickens on the Matt Dennis-Tom Adair Will You Still Be Mine, but the creativity does not falter. Burrell, in a ballad mood, has I'm A Fool To Want You to himself; like one of the tune's composers — a guy named Sinatra — Burrell knows how to caress a melody. Trio provides a riff framework for Burrell's improvising and offers some crisp Haynes-Burrell commentary.

The Bird-Woode-McRae (not Charlie Parker, Jimmy Woode and Carmen McRae) tune, Broadway, is a sprightly romp. Soft Winds, first recorded by its composer, Benny Goodman, in 1939, is deftly handled, too, by the trio. The Strayhorn-Ellington collaboration, Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin', offers more of the easy-going side of the Burrell threesome. And the closer, Thelonious Monk's appealing Well, You Needn't, is a medium-flowing excursion.

Throughout the LP, there are notable moments. The Burrell-Haynes exchanges, for example, are consistently incisive. Burrell resists the temptation to drown the listener with technique-for-its-own-sake; just as sensibly, he avoids being fashionably "soulful" in favor of being naturally so, without the custotnary in-group devices. In this too, melody and rhythm are both vital concerns and originality governs them both. Burrell proves the value of having taste and imagination and ascertains that if you've got the latter you don't have to worry about the former.

Critic John Wilson has written that "Burrell is a loose, loping guitarist who manages to swing along on almost consistently interesting lines..."With the more-than-able aid of Davis and Jaynes here, Burrell manages to reinforce that appraisal without sacrifcing the trio sound.

I'm sorry I wasn't at the Village Vanguard to hear the group. But I'm delighted that highlights from the performance are preserved here.

Don Gold

LP-654

Lou McGarity - Blue Lou

Released 1960

Recording and Session Information

Lou McGarity Big Eight
Doc 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