LP-659

The Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Legend of Bix

Released 1959

Recording and Session Information

The Metropolitan Jazz Octet
Ed Haley, trumpet; Ed Avis, valve trombone; Dave Edwards, alto saxophone; Tom Hilliard, tenor saxophone; Benny Baileys, britone sxophone; Gerry Lofstrum, bass; Jim Gianais, drums
New York, August, 1959

9649 In the dark
9650 Nick La Rocca
9651 Candlelights
9652 Little Louis and the King
9653 In a mist
9656 Flashes
9657 Paul Mares
9658 Davenport blues
9659 The ballad of Emmett Hardy

Track Listing

Nick La Rocca	Tommy Hilliard	August 11-12 1959
Little Louis And The King	Tommy Hilliard	August 11-12 1959
Paul Mares	Tommy Hilliard	August 11-12 1959
The Ballad Of Emmett Hardy	Tommy Hilliard	August 11-12 1959
11-12 August 1959	Bix Beiderbecke	August 11-12 1959
Flashes	Bix Beiderbecke	August 11-12 1959
Davenport Blues	Bix Beiderbecke	August 11-12 1959
In The Dark	Bix Beiderbecke	August 11-12 1959
Candlelights	Bix Beiderbecke	August 11-12 1959

Liner Notes

About Bix

BIX BEIDERBECKE was obviously the sort of man about whom legends insist upon growing. He lived for only twenty-eight years, and his career actually spanned less than a decade (most of that time spent in bands that could not do justice to his sensitive, lyric jazz talents). Yet he was a tremendous influence on all the musicians who heard him: the Chicagoans, not much younger than he, made him their idol; and such listeners as Louis Armstrong, Red Nichols, and the men who worked alongside him in the Paul Whiteman and Jean Goldkette orchestras seem to have been uniformly awed and amazed. He remains a vivid, affectionate and larger than life-size memory to almost all who knew him — and to a great many who didn't. He remains, in short, the number one jazz legend.

Grauer and Keepnews
Pictorial History Of Jazz

Born in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10, 1903. From a comfortable and cultivated family, he studied piano briefly under Professor Grade of Davenport, who claimed that the boy did well for one who played so entirely by ear. He picked up the cornet shortly after hearing Nick LaRocca on The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recordings. His interest led him next to King Oliver and the young Louis Armstrong.

As to who was the most important influence on his cornet playing, there is much controversy to this day. Some feel that Paul Mares from the New Orleans Rhythm Kings was strongly felt. Others are of the idea that near legendary Emmett Hardy (died at twenty-two, having never recorded), must have been the most important influence. As it is with legends, it is difficult to keep the facts straight.

Of the more persistent images of him that are drawn for us, we discover an absent-minded kind of Peter Pan who drank too much, played cornet like no one else, and when too inebriated to blow, would sit down at the piano and improvise strange, haunting melodies, of which, only five were ever set down on paper. He died on August 6, 1931. The mortal remains of Bix were interred on August 10, 1931. The immortal remains on his recordings, and in the five pieces for piano that we still have with us.

About The Music

We have tried to create a fantasy on the coming of age of a young man who was deeply involved in the beginnings of a very new art form, It is based, primarily, on the music of the men who were supposed to have influenced him, chronologically : Nick LaRocca, childhood;
King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, adolescence;
Paul Mares, youth;
Emmett Hardy, the man who could have been.
The composition Nick LaRocca is based on two different phrases played by La Rocca.

 

This one is from The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recording of Tiger Rag.

 
This is from The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recording of Clarinet Marmalade, Both phrases are lightly introduced, developed, and ultimately restated.

Little Louts And The King is derived from a re-rhythmitization of King Oliver's West End Bluer and two consecutive Louis Armstrong cornet choruses on Oliver's Dippermouth Blues.

Paul Mares is represented by the chord progressions of Shim-Me-She-Wobble and the Mares chorus from the New Orleans Rhythm Kings' recording of same.

The Ballad Of Emmett Hardy begins with the name Emmett Hardy, musically stated. It is broadened and finally concluded by Bix' famous chorus from I'm Coming Virginia.

The five pieces for piano were orchestrated with thought to their original value and meaning.

About The Group

The Metropolitan Jazz Octet began as a rehearsal group in August, 1957. They have been enthusiastically received on all their public appearances, including a first-time-ever performance by a jazz group at the celebrated Old Town Art Fair in Chicago.

Tom Hilliard

LP-658

Richard Evans Trio - Richard's Almanac

Released 1959

Recording and Session Information

The Richard Evans Trio
Richard Evans, bass; Jack Wilson, piano; Robert Barry, drums
Ter-Mar Recording Studios, Chicago, July 21, 22 and 23 July, 1959

9609 Jeepers Creepers
9610 I'm glad there is you
9611 Trees
9612 Vera
9613 The Preacher
9614 Consu
9615 Crazy Rhythm
9616 Bye bye, blackbird
9617 Daybreak (unissued)
9618 Should I?

Track Listing

Trees	Rasbach, Kilmer	July 21-23, 1959
Vera	Richard Evans	July 21-23, 1959
I'm Glad There Is You	Madeira, Dorsey	July 21-23, 1959
The Preacher	Horace Silver	July 21-23, 1959
Crazy Rhythm	Meyer, Kahn, Caesar	July 21-23, 1959
Bye Bye Blackbird	Henderson, Dixon	July 21-23, 1959
Daybreak	Adamson, Grofe	July 21-23, 1959
Consu	Jack Wilson	July 21-23, 1959
Should I	Brown, Freed	July 21-23, 1959
Jeepers Creepers	Warren, Mercer	July 21-23, 1959

Liner Notes

LINER NOTE WRITING, unlike other forms of fun-and-profit endeavor, is a unique and significant means of expression. It is the last bastion in the struggle to preserve The Impertinent Essay.

This profound realization came to me quite suddenly recently, while I was sitting in the bathtub thinking about the Richard Evans trio and its performance in this LP. I thought about all the jazz critics, musicologists, psychologists, philosophers, night club comedians, record company owners, sociologists, and eccentrics writing liner notes. Every thirty seconds a set of liner notes is born, I said to myself. Obviously in need of inspiration, I splashed a bit of lukewarm water in my face and thought what some of the leading liner note scholars would say about this album.

Heinz Gruber-Jung, the noted classical composer and Birdland bleacherite, would write: "It is notable that Evans, in both his choice of keys and diminished chords, should reflect the thinking of both Bela Bartok and Luke Appling. But, of course, it was Monk who began it all be playing tonic chords with his jaw in 1947.

Or Morton Willhoff, editor of The Jazz Cipher: "Evans, it seems to me, plays in an angular, variegated fashion—a pastiche of James P. Johnson, Heinrich Wasserman, and Rob Roy. Of course, it was Heinz Gruber-Jung who first termed his playing 'notable'."

Or Ara Gitwit, the jazzman's friend and usher at some of the most epochal jazz record sessions: "Evans blows. He blows hard. And when he blows the other guys join in. They dig him. They blow, too. It's wild."

Somehow, I couldn't imagine any of these approaches being the right one. After all, this marked Evans' debut on records as leader of his own group. The record was important to him. So I talked with Evans.

I discovered that he is 27 years old, that he was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He came to Chicago when he was five. He was more concerned with painting than music (he won a citywide contest, as a painter, when he was at DuSable high school in Chicago). When he was 17 he began studying trombone, then turned to bass. After a stint in the army from 1953 to 1955 (as an illustrator), he returned to his home and worked with local jazz groups.

In 1956, he spent eight months as bassist with the band of Lionel Hampton, touring Europe and Australia. He spent three months with Maynard Ferguson's band, then accompanied Dinah Washington in '57. After a session of study at Wilson junior college, he returned to jazz, working local concerts, jamming at sessions, and accompanying visiting singers (including Dakota Staton). From November, 1958 to May, 1959, he headed his own trio at the southside Pershing Lounge.

He has recorded with Ferguson, Hampton, Miss Washington, and a group headed by Chicago jazzman-philosopher Sun Ra. His compositions (he's turned out approximately 25 to date; more are in the work) have been recorded by Johnny Griffin (Where's Your Overcoat, Boy), Hampton (Lullaby Of Forrealville) and Benny Golson (This Night).

Jack Wilson, the pianist in the Evans trio, is 23. He's from Fort Wayne, Indiana, but Evans met him in Atlantic City in 37. Evans was with Dinah Washington; Wilson was heading his own quartet. Soon, Wilson joined the Washington entourage. In '58, Wilson settled down in Chicago as a member of Evans' group. A months ago he entered the army. He's currently performing as a musician-in-uniform.

Drummer Robert Barry, 27, has been playing drums since he and Evans were classmates at DuSable. His experience has been confined to local groups, including those of Johnny Griffin and Sun Ra.

Evans had no intention of creating a "new music" for this date. "The tunes are digestible, not involved," he told me. "They're not for musicians only. This is music the people can dig, too." The tunes were selected because Evans "liked the way the chords ran; they gave us food for thought."

Eight of the tunes are standards. Trees, by Joyce Kilmer and Oscar Rasbach, dates from 1922, but is planted in modern earth here. I'm Glad There Is You, a Jimmy Dorsey-Madeira collaboration, is given a Latin flavor by the Evans trio. Horace Silver's The Preacher is gospelish enough to make Mildred Falls smile; on it Evans takes an arco solo (note that he's out of the solo light most of the time). Crazy Rhythm, which goes back to Broadway in 1928, features drummer Barry, logically enough.

Bye Bye Blackbird, another oldie, features Evans again, briefly and tastefully. Daybreak is the most balladic of the lot. Should I (remember the 1929 Hollywood film, Lord Byron Of Broadway? Neither do I.) bounces along lightly, with some walking bass and fleet Wilson piano. Jeepers Creepers (Hollywood again: the 1958 film, Going Places) is the sprightly closer.

The two originals — Evans' Vera and Wilson's Consu — have a common inspiration. Each is a tribute to the musician's fiance. Vera emerges here as a Latinish type, zestful and bright; Consa (for Consuela) is moody and softly romantic.

And that's it — three young musicians performing eight standards and two originals, On their initial LP as a trio.

I could say that this LP will live forever in the annals of recorded sound. I could say that this trio will "gas you" or "recall moments of Ravel or Debussy. But I won't.

As Wynton Kelly, one of our leading free thinkers, says, "I'm only one...guy." I'll stop right here. The rest is for listening.

Don Gold

LP-657

The Herb Pilhofer Trio

Released 1960

Recording and Session Information

The Herb Pilhofer Trio
Herb Pilhofer, piano; Stuart Anderson, bass; Dale Olinger, guitar
Ter-Mar Recording Studios, Chicago, 8th and 9th September 1959

Valse Hot
Sweets
More than you know
The Duke
My Ship
Trio
A ship without a sail
Isn't it romantic?
It might as well be spring
Godchild

Track Listing

Valse Hot	Sonny Rollins	September 8 & 9 1959
Sweets	Bill Russo	September 8 & 9 1959
More Than You Know	Youmans, Rose, Eliscu	September 8 & 9 1959
The Duke	Dave Brubeck	September 8 & 9 1959
My Ship	Weill, Gershwin	September 8 & 9 1959
Trio	Herb Pilhofer	September 8 & 9 1959
Ship Without A Sail	Rodgers, Hart	September 8 & 9 1959
Isn't It Romantic	Rodgers, Hart	September 8 & 9 1959
It Might As Well Be Spring	Rodgers, Hammerstein	September 8 & 9 1959
Godchild	George Wallington	September 8 & 9 1959

Liner Notes

A GOOD PORTION of American jazz, like many other areas of entertainment, is embroiled in a star-system that exults the individual performer and discourages ensemble efforts.

Many groups have no choice but to build their work around a featured performer because they lack the ability to perform as an integrated unit. Such groups are quickly transformed into the promotion man's "personality" product.

And so it is indeed refreshing to find a group like the Herb Pilhofer trio that produces that scarce commodity, ensemble jazz, and with such extremely good taste. So emphatic is Pilhofer about the group concept that he rejected several bookings that would have featured him with bass and guitar. It was the group or nothing, a decision that delayed wider recognition, but kept Herb's musical philosophy intact.

Argo has, with this album, acknowledged the honesty and integrity of Pilhofer's bias. As one observer remarked while listening to the tapes, "it's the whole cloth, without any superfluous embroidery."

It is a good metaphor for describing the trio's work, comparing its music to a rich and finely woven fabric. No matter what the trio cuts from the bolt it applies its craft masterfully.

This album demonstrates Pilhofer's theories Of unity, There are no exhibits of individual talent at the expense of thc trio. It's the total instrumentation — piano, a guitar, and a bass — that prevails. One exception is Pilhofer's solo performance of It Might As Well Be Spring. Still, this an obvious showcase for the piano and not misappropriation of the unit.

The son of a building contractor, Pilhofer was born April 18, 1931, in Nuernberg, Germany. He began studying at the family box-styled piano when he was 17 with thoughts of being commercial artist (illustrator) still in his mind.

"I was sparsely trained, but developed an early interest in jazz from listening to American recordings. I used to try and play like Teddy Wilson, but I soon realized that what I was doing wasn't honestly me, I guess I developed my own style gradually."

Pilhofer resists efforts to identify him with any particular school of pianists. His strong individuality happily defies most labels.

He organized his own small combos, trios and quartets, and played in the Nuernberg area and in USO Camp shows. He arranged and recorded for Radio Munich where he learned the rudiments of composition arranging.

An army captain from Baltimore, Md., sponsored Pilhofer's trip to the United States. The day he left Germany he married an Albert Lea, Minn., girl who was studying in Vienna. "I got stranded in the Twin Cities because she (his wife, Margery) was from Albert Lea."

Shortly after settling in Minneapolis he organized a trio that has, at times, tripled its size. The Pilhofer groups have in constant demand by club owners, concert directors, and civic promoters.

Pilhofer has continued to grow musically. In January, 1960, he added a drummer to the trio and appeared with the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra in the premier performance of his Three Pieces For Jazz Quartet and Orchestra. The success of the composition, which daringly allows improvisation within the orchestral framework, was immediately apparent when audience called the group back to repeat the third piece.

While working six nights a week at various Twin Cities clubs, attending school and teaching, producing commercial recordings and composing, Pilhofer has found time to write arrangements for Chico Hamilton and Art Van Damme. A Minneapolis church uses a children's songbook composed by Pilhofer.

Dale Olinger, a 38.year-oId Minneapolis native, was first a trumpeter and during the late 1940s with the Claude Thornhill band. He returned to Minneapolis and played with local groups including the Lou Levy quartet. His playing is undergoing steady improvement with particular attention to developing his technique. A member Of the trio for the last two years, Olinger has done some writing for the group, He teaches guitar and piano.

Stu Anderson, leads a double life as an English and speech teacher by day and bassist by nighL A University of Minnesota graduate, he majored in English and music. He also worked with Levy, the late Serge Chaloff, and Conte Candoli

"The most admirable feature of both is their lack of musical prejudices. Both are willing to experiment. That's a healthy attitude that adds to our strength," Pilhofer said.

"Since the guitar and piano are both chordal well as melodic instruments they can really get in each other's hair. This problem — which I often encountered with other guitarists — never seems to arise with Dale. We complement each other.

"And Stu has such a good harmonic rhythmic sense. So many younger bassists play their instruments like violin. They ignore its basic purpose. Stu never gets in the way and always seems to when you need him."

Pilhofer thinks his partners in the trio have the proper philosophy of trio jazz. "We've agreed that we are not intercstcd in 'manufacturing' a style at the cost of becoming stereotyped. We don't want to straight-jacket a tune for the sake of a sound, something that may be commercially good but musically restricting."

Charles Hanna