LP-663

Lorez Alexandria - Early In The Morning

Released 1960

Recording and Session Information

Lorez Alexandria, vocals, Joe Newman, trumpet; Al Grey, trombone; Frank Wess, tenor saxophone, flute; Frank Foster, tenor saxophone; Ramsey Lewis, piano; John Gray, Freddie Green, guitar; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Chicago, March 15-17 1960

10004 So long
10005 Don't explain
10006 Early in the morning
10007 Good morning heartache
10008 Trouble is a man
10009 I ain't got nothin' but the blues
10010 Baby don't you cry
10011 Rocks in my bed
10012 I almost lost my mind
10013 I'm just a lucky so and so

Track Listing

Early In The Morning	Bartley, Hickman, Jordan	March 15-17 1960
Don't Explain	A. Herzog, B. Holiday	March 15-17 1960
So Long		March 15-17 1960
Good Morning, Heartache	Fisher, Drake, Higginbotham	March 15-17 1960
Trouble Is A Man	Wilder	March 15-17 1960
I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues	George, Ellington	March 15-17 1960
Baby Don't You Cry	Buddy Johnson	March 15-17 1960
Rocks In My Bed	Ellington	March 15-17 1960
I'm Just A Lucky So & So	Ellington, David	March 15-17 1960
I Almost Lost My Mind	Joe Hunter	March 15-17 1960

Liner Notes

WHAT MAKES a jazz singer? Many things, and if we knew them all, we'd be able to produce such singers almost at will. And we can't. Wishing won't make it so, as the scarred egos of countless singers testify.

Sometimes a singer can be a jazz singer fpr one tune, one night. Doris Day, for instance, is to me a jazz singer on one record - April In Paris. And Rosemary Clooney for another - Tenderly. Perhaps there's a clue as to the why of jazz singing.

Lorez Alexandria says, "a lyric is dead until you breathe life into it," and I think she has, in this statement, hit at one of the essential elements of jazz singing which, whem added to swinging and a few more, make a jazz singer. And on the other hand, without which you can't be a jazz singer at all unless you are gifted with a rare voice — the kind that appears once in a generation.

Bringing a lyric to life, bringing a song to life, making those sounds into reality and above all into a personal reality which can then make it live in the mind of the listener and become part of his or her experience —these are the essential elements of jazz singing and they're not too far removed from the essential elements of any art.

Lorez Alexandria IS a jazz singer. I make that statement flatly, because she has reached me time after time on records and made the lyric and the song and the whole musical complex come to life.

She's a native of Chicago, from a musical family, sang spirituals, jubilees and semi-classics with an a-capella choir and taught in the Chicago park system recreation program. She sang with King Fleming's big band, his combo, and his vocal group in the midwest, and in recent years has been out on her own as a singer with a growing body of fans that includes Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan.

She digs Ella Fitzgerald ("the most fabulous musicianship") and Frank Sinatra ("his phrasing always completely kills me") and, as any careful listener can hear, she has been greatly influenced by the horn players of jazz, including Lester Young and Charlie Parker.

When she selected the material for this LP, Lorez planned it with these thoughts in mind:

"I don't think blues have to be yelled, I'm not a blues shouter. We were striving for the mood-type thing and I wanted to attempt another phase of what I can do. I'm not entirely happy with the album — no singer ever does an LP she's altogether pleased with — but I am plexscd to this degree: These were things I wanted to do and I did as much as I can. I know that I did the BEST I could and we do have the light, the mood, and the blues."

Lorez has conviction about the importance of lyrics. "When you're telling a story you must have the liberty of speech. The only thing I think about when I am singing is what the lyric says to me and what I want it to say to the public."

The songs on this album are a beautiful cross-section of the blues ballads of the past few years. There's the sprightly Early In The Morning," which Louis Jordan made into a hit in the late '40s; the lovely Don't Explain and Good Morning Heartache which Billie Holiday wrote and recorded and made into classics; Rocks In My Bed, which was one of Ivie Anderson's greatest vocals with Duke Ellington; I Almost Lost My Mind, Ivory Joe Hunter's great blues ballad; I'm Just A Lucky So And So, and I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues, other Ellington standards; and Baby Don't You Cry. Little Miss Cornshucks' So Long, plus Alec Wilder's haunting Trouble Is A Man.

On all of these, Lorez sings as a jazz singer should: with conviction, with the phrasing and flexibility of an instrument, and with a deep concern for the communication of the lyrics. She has assistance throughout by musicians of the first rank. On side 1, she is accompanied by Ramsey Louis (piano): Eldee Young (bass); Red Holt (drums), Johnny Gray (guitar). On side two, they are joined by Joe Neasman (trumpet); Frank Wess and Frank Foster (tenors); Al Grey (trombone), and Freddie Green (rhythm guitar). The tenor solos are by Frank Foster, the flute solos by Frank Wess.

And the singing by Lorez Alexandria, singer, whose warmth, feeling, and ability to breathe life into a lyric - i.e. to sing creatively — marks her as one of the very few real jazz singers to emerge in recent years.

Ralph J. Gleason, whose syndicated column, The Rhythm Secton, originates in the San Francisco Chronicle.

LP-662

Ahmad Jamal - Happy Moods

Released 1960

Recording and Session Information

Ahmad Jamal Trio
Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Vernel Fournier, drums
Chicago, January 20 & 21, 1960

9945 Rhumba no. 2
9956 Easy to love
9958 Little old lady
9960 Excerpt from the blues
9964 I'll never stop loving you
9970 Pavanne
9973 For all we know
9974 Speak low
9977 Time on my hands
Raincheck

Track Listing

Little Old Lady	Hoagy Carmichael	January 20 & 21, 1960
For All We Know	Morton Gould	January 20 & 21, 1960
Pavanne	Ahmad Jamal	January 20 & 21, 1960
Excerpt From The Blues	Cole Porter	January 20 & 21, 1960
You'd Be So Easy To Love	Billy Strayhorn	January 20 & 21, 1960
Time On My Hands	Adamson, Youmans, Gordon	January 20 & 21, 1960
Raincheck	Strayhorn	January 20 & 21, 1960
I'll Never Stop Loving You	Cahn, Brodszky	January 20 & 21, 1960
Speak Low	Weill, Nash	January 20 & 21, 1960
Rhumba No. 2	Ahmad Jamal	January 20 & 21, 1960

Liner Notes

THE METEORIC RISE of Ahmad Jamal from comparative obscurity to the most sought-after and biggest-selling recording artist in jazz is one of the phenomenons of the last two years. Seldom in the history of music has a man soared to international renown so rapidly.

To the people who had never heard of Jamal previous to 1958, it probably seemed almost miraculous that a man could come from nowhere so fast. To those who had watched with some interest a career that was a good decade in the making, the surprise was not nearly so great. Because for years Ahmad had displayed great potential for success and had built up a small but tremendously loyal following.

When the lightning struck, he was ready.

That lightning came in the form of a 12-inch-round vinylite disc called Argo LP 628, But Not For Me. Most commonly it is referred to as Jamal At The Pershing. It touched off a prairie fire.

Succeeding recordings included two LPs recorded in night club surroundings and one with orchestra — Jamal At The Penthouse. This is the first studio recording the trio has done by itself since the fates smiled.

And the hallmarks of the hrnal style are in full evidence here — simplicity, rhythmic force, subtlety, and remarkable interplay between the members.

Take the first track, for example. Ahmad dug back to the to come up with a pop hit of that day in Hoagy Carmichael's Little Old Lady. The melody is stated in typical Jamal fashion — easily recognizable but shaped gracefully and slyly to his own liking. A long solo from Ahmad follows, as bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier play hand-in-glove behind him.

A touching ballad performance follows as Ahmad weaves a haunting mood on For All We Know.

Morton Gould's Pavanne is next and is an excellent example of how far afield Jamal will range to find material suitable to him. The smoothly-meshed, free-floating rhythmic vitality of the trio is a highlight here.

Excerpt From The Blues is a Jamal original that allows him to roam reflectively and quietly through the blues before kicking up the tempo once more on Cole Porter's You'd Be So Easy To Love.

Ahmad's approach to the first track on the second side is unusual. He plays just one chorus of Time On My Hands, straying little from the melody, before going into a closing vamp. "It's such a pretty tune as written that I didn't feel like doing any more than this with it," says Jamal.

Raincheck is a Billy Strayhorn composition that is played brilliantly by Ahmad and associates. Fournier puts brushes aside to play with sticks for the first time in the album and contributes greatly to swinging feeling of the performance.

Another change-of-pace ballad follows as Ahmad inserts hints of Over The Rainbow into his playing of I'll Never Stop Loving You.

Vernell goes back to sticks on Speak Low, Ahmad unleashes some violence in his long, churning solo, and the final chorus becomes a sparkling example of subtlety and rhythmic ingenuity.

The absorption Jamal often has shown for Latin tempos is evidenced once again on the closer, Rhumba No. 2, his own composition, and it is a fitting wrap-up to yet another package of first-rate Jamal.

It has often been said of Ahmad that because of the taste and simplicity of his style, What he doesn't play is often as important as what he does play.

I must disagree.

I like to hear what he does play.
Jack Tracy

Down Beat 18 August 1960 Volume 27 Issue 17
This one left me in a pretty unhappy mood despite the fact that it was well executed. So many jazzmen have listed Jamal as one of their first sources of inspiration. It is more than mildly disappointing, therefore, to hear this artist collapse into a sea of pretty clichés, pyrodynamics, and technical chicanery.

There are occasional flashes of thoughtful creativity throughout. Old Lady is one, portions of Blues is another. The album swings quite satisfactorily. However. there is that uncomfortable bounce created by the brief piano stabs by Jamal punctuated by Fournier’s bass drum.

Crosby is uncompromising in his taste, and he continues as the sparkplug of the group.

In case you hadn't noticed, consider that one cute little tune, Time, has only the opening chorus and a “closing vamp”; that Loving You has some awfully cute quotes from Over the Rainbow; that Rhumba No. 2 has some very cute trills and frills, and that the playing time runs exactly 36 minutes and 36 seconds (isn’t that cute?). All this considered, the album is just a little too cute for jazz. It is a first-rate contribution, however. (B.G.)

LP-661

Sonny Stitt - Burnin'

Released May 1960

Recording and Session Information

Sonny Stitt, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone; Barry Harris, piano; Bill Austin, bass; Frank Gant, drums
Chicago, August 1, 1958

8942 Ko-ko
8943 I'll tell you later
8944 It's hipper than that
8945 Lover man
8946 A minor sax
8947 Easy living
8948 Reed and a half
8949 Look for the silver lining
8950 How high the moon
8951 Last tune (unissued)

Track Listing

Ko-Ko	Parker	August 1 1958
A Minor Sax	Sonny Stitt	August 1 1958
Lover Man	Davis, Sherman, Ramirez	August 1 1958
Reed And A Half		August 1 1958
How High The Moon	Lewis, Hamilton	August 1 1958
I´ll Tell You Later	Sonny Stitt	August 1 1958
Look For The Silver Lining	DeSylva, Kern	August 1 1958
Easy Living	Robin, Rainger	August 1 1958
It´s Hipper Than That	Sonny Stitt	August 1 1958

Liner Notes

WHEN A MAN has an avowed devotion to "make people happy through music," then that man hopes he shall be welcomed with open arms. Not so Sonny Stitt. Alcohol, unsympathetic women, narcotics, and unfair musical criticism have singularly and compoundedly vented their spleen on the sensitive artist. More than once, that welcome mat revealed itself to be a shag rug on a slippery surface and Sonny was found picking himself up to knock on the door of fulfillment once more.

Thank heavens for that resiliency. Now the prematurely graying Stitt has a sustaining philosophy regarding his roller coaster existence.

"Everybody has his problems," he states, "but what I always say, you shouldn't let your problems rob you, for tomorrow is a brand new day."

The musical day dawned early for Stitt. His mother took the 14-year-old devotee to and from work three nights a week and on weekends. On February 2, 1960, Edward Stitt was 35 years old and had 21 years of professional musicianship behind him.

These decades have been highlighted with many coveted awards on both the alto and the tenor saxophones. Although his first love is the alto, you will note here that he plays both horns with equal facility. Here he alternates horns with fantastic casc within the confines of a single tune. His sailing, angular tenor style is the antithesis of the florid, rapid-fire alto style.

"They are two different instruments," Sonny explains. "They have two different sounds and they are supposed to bc played differently." Aside from these two horns, Sonny has bccn toying with the idea of developing a third sound on the soprano saxophone. He added,

"The flute is good listening, but I can't imagine myself as the Pied Piper — at least with a flute."

These tracks were made after a minimum number of "takes" to avoid a constant fear which Sonny has...too much polish.

"There is a little more creation involved when you don't over-rehearse. It's like an artist painting a picture. If it's good, then leave it alone. When it's finished, it's over. You can't do the same painting or the same music over again. This is why I couldn't take a studio gig if I were offered one. I can't play the same thing over and over again."

In an era of evasive statements and noncommital answers, Sonny Stitt is the answer to a writer's dream. He is utterly fearless in his opinions and remarks concerning jazz.

"Let's face it, jazz has been here since before ragtime began and people can't do without music — it's food. It's food for the musician and food for the people." He aligns himself firmly with the jazz musicians of the middle west and the east coast tradition.

"The boys on the east coast are more like men when they play," he says. "Not that the west coast fellows don't know what they're doing, because they do. They play all the right notes, but the feeling doesn't seem to be there — something seems to be missing.

"I think jazz is supposed to be warm, not hot all the time, but warm, not cool. It's supposed to have a little kick to it, a little pop of the finger." After reflecting a moment, he qualified his stand.

"I won't venture to say all west coast jazz is bad. It depends on the man and not the climate he comes from."

Stitt holds little regard for the environmental influences upon the musician.

"Shucks, I've been down in Georgia and felt like I was raising sand — had a good time. To me, the most important elements necessary for a good performance are the musician himself, his frame of mind, and the band he's working with."

Some people seem to have been born to get all the breaks, others were destined to make their own. Sonny Stitt is a breaks-maker if ever there was one. Once again he is personally and musically on the ascent. When his coaster car reaches the top this time, Sonny plans to brake and stay there.

Barbara J. Gardner