LP-695

James Moody - Another Bag

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Paul Serrano, trumpet; John Avant, trombone; James Moody, tenor saxophone, flute; Kenny Barron, piano; Ernest "Ernie" Outlaw, bass; Marshall Thompson, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, January 30 1962

11438 Minuet in G
11439 The day after
11440 Cup bearers
14441 Sassy lady
14443 Ally (parts 1,2,3)
14444 Pleyel D'jaime
14445 Spastic

Track Listing

Sassy Lady	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Ally (Parts 1, 2, 3)	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Spastic	Ken Duhon	January 30 1962
Minuet In G	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Cup Bearers	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
The Day After	Tom McIntosh	January 30 1962
Pleyel D'Jaime	Dennis Sandola	January 30 1962

Liner Notes

JAZZ IS AMERICAN...as American as fire crackers on the fourth of July or presents at Christmas. Jazz is our own unique music that grew, grew and grew until the whole world sat up and listened. It is the music best suited to express sad and happy moods. Jazz expresses all aspects of life. Never before has so much of life been put into sound as has been put into the patterns of jazz.

The story of James Moody parallels the story of jazz here in America and around the globe. James Moody has carried jazz almost around the world, spreading its message to kings and queens, and to the common people...whoever would listen. The growing acceptance of jazz has more than ever created good will, established friendly ties and broken down racial barriers. Yes the mutual bond of jazz appreciation has helped to dissolve differences between men of every race and color enabling these men to work together with a common cause.

James Moody, age 37, born in Savannah, Georgia, tenor, alto and flute, he is an arranger, composer and leader. Moody's musical career has gone thru many changes...changes not only musically, but physically. I think his "LAST TRAIN FROM OVERBROOK" has given not only him confidence, but the poor seeing eye public, the chance to respect and understand a musician of very high musical ability.

Like all the arts, jazz has its faddists. Let's forget them; they are a fringe minority. It is the major aspects of this art-form which concern us.

In this album you will hear a cross section of the past ten years of James Moody's works...From the early 50's, in Europe, to one of his best selling LPs to date, "Moody With String" (ARGO LP 679).

The beautiful originals here receive exquisite performance at the hands of arranger, Tom McIntosh; five young brilliant musicians and the leader James Moody.

"1n Another Bag," opens with "SASSY LADY," which is very reminiscence of SOFT WINDS, this is Moody on tenor making use of this new material which he treats with love and tender care. "ALLY," follows, as Moody on flute treats the intro gently, and then it swings with Moody taking over on alto. The trumpeter is Paul Serrano; Ken Barron at piano while Moody returns to flute and a beautiful ending.

"Spastic," is an amazing tenor saxophone performance by James.

"Minuet In G," is the most sensitive with a waltz beat, with James on flute, "Cup Bearers," is the happy sound with everyone getting a chance to say something nice. "The Day After," the flute employed again seems to tell a sad story, but one which is told With great interest.

PLEYEL D'JAIME...Sounds to me a bit like one expressing a tear of love in a happy sort pf way...thus Moody on alto wraps up ANOTHER BAG Of beautiful sounds, and if I may repeat myself, this is James Moody at his finest, and heard in a setting that supports him wonderfully well...the band and the arrangements of Tom McIntosh.

AL CLARKE
HOUSE OF JAZZ
WJMO
CLEVELAND, OHIO

LP-694

Lorez Alexandria - Deep Roots

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Lorez Alexandria
Lorez Alexandria, vocal; John Young, piano; Vernel Fournier, bass; George Eskridge, drums
Chicago, February 13, 14 1962

11493 Almost like being in love
11494 Spring will be a little late this year
11495 Softly, as in a morning sunrise
11496 I want to talk about you
11497 Trav'lin' light
11498 Detour ahead
11499 No moon at all
11500 It could happen to you
11501 Nature boy
11502 I was a fool

Track Listing

Nature Boy	Ahbez	February 13, 14 1962
I Was A Fool	Pate	February 13, 14 1962
No Moon At All	Mann, Evans	February 13, 14 1962
Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year	Loesser	February 13, 14 1962
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise	Hammerstein II, Romberg	February 13, 14 1962
Detour Ahead	Ellis, Frigo, Carter	February 13, 14 1962
It Could Happen To You	Van Heusen-Burke	February 13, 14 1962
Travlin Light	Mundy, Mercer, Young	February 13, 14 1962
Almost Like Being In Love	Lowe-Learner	February 13, 14 1962
I Want To Talk About You	Eckstine	February 13, 14 1962

Liner Notes

MY PREDECESSORS here, on the informative side of a Lorez Alexandria album jacket have been much more professionally qualified than I, in passing musical judgment on the engraven image within; and much more informative.

Both Miss Gardener and Mr. Gleason are known for their knowledgable critiques and essays on jazz and popular music. So, when Lorez asked me to write these notes just couple of weeks after I had met her, I hastened back to the enjoyable #663 and #682 in the Argo catalog to read the Gardener, Gleason enlightenment.

Then it became apparent that the one word I have thought and felt about Lorez singing these past six or scvcn recording years was the essence of Gs and Ralph Gs annotations. They both refer to the freshness and creativity of her singing. Perhaps, that's why I've enjoyed hearing her on record these past years, since I have yet to hear her in person. Perhaps her creativity, and surely her warm, articulate voice uncluttered by trickery, have contributed to my increasing enjoyment of her records.

Most of all, I enjoy Lorcz because she sings like Lorez.

I'm getting kind of sick Of the increasing flood of new albums by young girl vocalists — those plaster of Paris copies of the originals with all the warmth and expression of ice cubes.

In her uncomplicated way, Lorez moves from the slowest ballad to the brightest swinger with amazing facility. She seems to tailor the tones of her voice to fit the pace, mood, storyline, and especially the words of a song. It is here, in what I guess they call interpretation of a song, that I find my biggest kick in listening to Lorez, Take '"Travlin' Light." How many singers try to phrase it like Billie Holiday did? Now listen to Lorez sing it. Here, the opening and tag of the tune are as arrestingly refreshing as anything I've in a long, long time. For crying out softly, this is as plaintive a treatment as the Mundy classic can get. The mood of the other ballads in here cries just as tenderly. That fragile little lament "Spring" Lorez handles so gently, you get a feeling that she is scared, and it'll shatter if dropped. And in "Detour Ahead," she warns of it like you'd have to go clear back, through and around Upper Nowhere to get back on the main drag. The same clarity of voice and lyric interpretation prevails in Johnny Pate's "I Was A Fool" and Billy Eckstine's "I Want To Talk About You." Throughout these tracks, John Young's kind of crystalline piano seems as though it's every aim is to encrust Lorez's warm lovely voice with scatters of diamond chips. Israel Crosby's bass, Vernel Fournier's drums, and George Eskridge's guitar plumping up the velvet pillows to catch the gems. It's probably the way Lorez sings the words mood I'm in" in "Almost Like Being In Love" that prompted the above, but I don't care as she evokes odd little pictures like that when I hear these tracks. Luckily I don't write for a living, and radio is so evanescent, that you get away with random vagaries like that, now and then. There's a lot of fun ahead for you in the nice, easy, loose, up-tempo "Softly", "No At All", and "It Could Happen". There's a paucity of notes in her treatment of "Moon" and then she gets that playful, childlike gleam in her voice as she romps along with Howard McGhee in "It Coud Happen" - and it does. As for "Nature Boy", he's quite a changed personality since Nat covered him years ago.

Almost every time I've played one of Lorez's tracks over the past few years I've said that I hoped that someday she would get outr to the coast so we could hear her in person, never realizing when that someday would be. Well, it happened not long ago when Carmen McRae was at the Blackhawk in San Francisco. I'm a big Carmen McRae fan and she was a tremdous hit last year at the Monterey Jazz Festival. One recent night, Carmen introduced Loret from the stage, and after the set and the initial shock was over, I went up to Lorez and introduced myself. The following day she came over to KFRC for a twenty minute interview and those are the only times I've seen or talked to her.

About seven years ago I got her first album, listened, called the all-knowing Ralph Gleason at home, and launched into a small rave. All-knowingly, he said he knew how fine Lorez sang, that she was a REAL jazz singer, and she deserved more plays on the air than she was getting. I agreed. I still do. In our format of good sounds here on KFRC in San Francisco all of the guys dig Lorez, and so do our listeners. That's a nice combination.

Jimmy Lyons
KFRC
San Francisco

LP-693

Ramsey Lewis Trio - The Sound Of Spring

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis Trio
Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Isaac (Red) Holt, drums
United Studios, Hollywood, February 14, 15 1962

11522 Sound of spring
11523 Spring can really hang you up the most
11524 Blue spring
11525 Spring is here
11526 Spring will be a little late this year
11527 Spring fever
11528 It might as well be spring
11529 Soft winds
11530 There'll be another spring
11531 Truly, truly spring

Track Listing

Sound Of Spring	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most	Tommy Wolf	February 14, 15 1962
Blue Spring	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Is Here	Hart, Rodgers	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year	Frank Loesser	February 14, 15 1962
Spring Fever	Ramsey Lewis	February 14, 15 1962
It Might As Well Be Spring	Hammerstein	February 14, 15 1962
Soft Winds	B. Goodman	February 14, 15 1962
There'll Be Another Spring	Lee, Wheeler	February 14, 15 1962
Truly, Truly Spring	Eldee Young	February 14, 15 1962

Liner Notes

Spring has never been at a loss for musical representation. Throughout the centuries it has been interpreted in a broad range of sounds. This diversity of concepts is reflected in the vernal viewpoint of Ramsey Lewis, ranging from the gentle rustle of strings on the first side to the diversified rhythms of the trio on the second.

Because this album may bring him a substantial accumulation of new followers, some of whom may be unfamiliar with the men's backgrounds, a few vital statistics may be worth repeating. Born in Chicago May 27, 1935, Ramsey studied privately from the agc of six, later attending Chicago Musical College and De Paul University. ("However," he says, "I credit most of my musical accomplishments to Miss D, Mendelsohn, my instructress.' Music has been the focus of his life from the start: with a mother who sang in the church choir a father who directed it, as well as two sisters who studied piano extensively; he never considered the possibility of any other career. He was an early aåmirer of Art Tatum and Bud Powell, but considers John Lewis and Oscar Peterson his main influences.

Eldee Young, also Chicago-born (January 7, 1936) has a similar background. His father played guitar and mandolin. Eldee studied guitar with his brother, Carl; played guitar and bass in high school, and studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He began his professional career early, going on the road with rhythm-and-blues singer Chuck Willis in 1954.

Isaac (Red) Holt, born May 16, 1932 in Rosedale, Mississippi was raised in Chicago and was a childhood friend of Ramsey and Eldee, playing with them in a teenage band. Red studied at Crane Tech., later playing in an Army band in Germany, in 1955.

Riley Hampton, a virtual fourth wheel who makes the trio move on Side 1, is best known for his skillful backgrounds for Etta James, and was previously associated with Ramsey in the Sound of Christmas album. The instrumentation here includes seven violins, three violas, two cellos and the trio. It is to Hampton's credit that instead of bogging the trio down in a mollsses-like wasteland of sirupy sounds, he has used the instrumentation to provide coloristic contrasts and orchestral variety.

The opening title number offers a striking demonstration of this mood manipulation. The piano states the theme in orthodox fashion, with obbligato comments from the strings. In the second chorus Ramsey takes over ad lib, and suddenly it swings.

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most is one of those rare tunes that managed to become a standard Without ever having been a hit. Tommy Wolfe wrote it in 1952, and for the first couple of years couldn't even get record on it. Ramsey and Riley use this exceptional melodic vehicle in an effective wedding of piano and strings.

Ramsey's own Blue Spring impressively meets the challenge of the paradox inherent in the juxtaposition of funky blues and dignified strings. The side concludes with two durable ballads, Richard Rogers' Spring Is Here from I An Angel, and Frank Loesser's wistful Spring Will Be A LIttle Late This Year, which dates back to 11944.

The string-sectionless side is inaugurated lustily by Ramsey's attractive Spring Fever, with gospel-funk overtones as Well as Latin touches, deftly accented by the remarkable work of Red and Eldee. It As Well BeSpring, another child of spring-expert Rodgers, is notable for the contribution throughout of Eldee, from the arco introduction through the intriguing lines during the chorus, with a repeated use of four eighth notes followed by a pause.

Soft Winds has been familiar to jazzmen ever the Benny Goodman Sextet, with Christian and Hampton, cut it in 1939. This, it seems to me, is the most unremittingly swinging track of the album, with expert work by Ramsey and unflagging support from his rhythm team.

Hubie Wheeler's lovely melody There'll Be Another Spring, for which Peggy Lee wrote lyrics (and which she introduced in an album co-starring with George Shearing) is given a gentle, graceful treatment. The final track, Truly Spring, reveals that Eldee is making rapid strides as a cellist, inspired no doubt by his bass and cello favorite, Ray Brown. Eldee's composition is charming, his solo work light and nimble as if he were playing guitar, and the whole treatment, complete with tambourine effects, has an element of humor. This is a welcome quality in these sometimes unduly pompous days.

Samuel Butler once remarked that youth, like spring, is an overpraised season, "more remarkable for biting east winds than genial breezes." This was just his nineteenth century way of pointing out that it can really hang you up the most. These sides, though, prove how wrong he was. The case for youth is well served by Lewis, Young and Holt; spring is no less handsomely attended by the swinging winds of this rhythm section and the supple (even genial) zephyrs of the strings. The result is an album that will offer easy listening throughout the four seasons.

Leonard Feather