LP-710

Bill Leslie - Diggin' The Chicks

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Bill Leslie, tenor saxophone; saxella Tommy Flanagan, piano; Thornell Schwartz, guitar; Ben Tucker, bass; Art Taylor, drums
RVG, Englewood, New York, October 19 1962

11946 Rosetta
11947 Margie
11948 Goodnight Irene
11949 Madge
11950 Got a date with an angel
11951 Angel eyes
11952 Lonely woman

Track Listing

Good Night Irene	H. Ledbetter	October 19 1962
Angel Eyes	Matt Dennis, Earl Brent	October 19 1962
Madge	Wm. Leslie	October 19 1962
Margie	Robinson, Davis, Conrad	October 19 1962
Lonely Woman	Ornette Coleman	October 19 1962
Got A Date With An Angel	Walter, Tunbridge, Miller, Grey	October 19 1962
Rosetta	Earl Hines, Wm. Woode	October 19 1962

Liner Notes

EVEN though this is Bill Leslie's first album as a leader, he has already gained a solid reputation among musicians as a young tenor player who has achieved a good measure of singular self-expression, i.e., he is "inta something" or "taking care of bizness," to use the easy jargon of the industry. And Leslie comes by this reputation through an admirable balance of musical attributes which combines a dazzling technical fluency with a deeply felt blues sense that colors and broadens all his music. Listening to this first album. and reflecting on the individuality and emotional maturity of Leslie's playing at this stage of the game one cannot help but wonder where he will go next, and hope to Se informed of his next move. This album really whets your appetite.

Bill has sessioned in and worked around Philadelphia for years, and even though he is interested in a very contemporary expression his dues years in the various cabarets and dance halls of Philadelphia have rewarded him with a strong blues pulse which is evident in everything he plays. So that even though Leslie names such new thinkers as Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Ornette Coleman as the saxophonists he likes best, one can still hear in his playing a very cool distillation of the muscular "gutbucket" saxophones that drive rhythm bands like Bill Carney's in Philadelphia or Louis Jordan's, two of the groups that Leslie came through. This is certainly one reason why Leslie's fluency and facility with the horn never breaks down into shallowness or glibness. He can "get around" on his horn without sacrificing or forfeiting any of his emotional fervor.

Half of the rhythm section on this date, i.e., pianist, Tommy Flanagan and drummer, Arthur Taylor, are two of the most sought after sidemen on the scene; and thev have played together on countless LP's. The bands these men have gone through and the, like they say, "big names," they have played with probably form some wild catalog of what has been happening in jazz in the last ten years.

Bassist, Ben Tucker is also no new hand when it comes to cementing swinging rhythm sections together. He has worked, at various times, with Art Pepper, Roland Hanna, Carl Perkins and Warne Marsh, for a few names.

Thornel Schwartz and Bill Leslie have played together many times before, and Bill was featured on Thornel's debut as leader, as well. These two men certainly have a deep feeling for each other's music, and it is immediately apparent how expertly they can complement and comment on each other's solos (as on the indelibly lovely Lonely Woman where Thornel's almost evanescent chords ring just beneath Leslie's brooding solo, calmly enforcing his beautiful statements).

All these tunes are for or about ladies, as the title should indicate. And as I mentioned, all these tunes are for or about ladies, as the title should indicate. And as I mentioned, probably the most singularly beautiful title on the album is Ornette Coleman's severely introspeetive ballad. Lonely Woman, which Leslie plays the soprano saxophone sounding saxella. This intrument's slight piercing sound, sometimes almost pleadingly speech-like, evokes a chillinglv programmatic image of an emotion that both composer and instrumentalist seem to understand perfectly. The rhythm section is also impeccable on this tune; Tucker's firm quiet chords, and Taylor's continuous dirge-like cymbal, reinforce the total feeling of the piece quite movingly.

Got A Date With An Angel and Rosetta are both taken at about the same bright, fingerpopprng tempos, though Rosetta is just a little quicker on her feet. But both tunes show just how quick Bill Leslie can move around his horn. He has a way of sounding cool and casual even when he is starting to "go upstairs," as is the case on Rosetta, a tune last heard to good advantage when played by Red Allen and Coleman Hawkins.

Ben Tucker provides the western waltz background for the rather tongue-in-cheek version of Good Night Irene. Thornel Schwartz also contributes to the outdoorsy feeling strumming away like it was Hick Night at the Apollo. And after a time, Bill Leslie makes it pretty obvious that Irene was not completely unaware of the blues, as does Tommy Flanagan's brief but vitally bluesy solo.

Angel Eyes is the lovely lovely standard that the M.J.Q. revived a few years ago. And again. Bill Leslie shows the devastatingly introspective and tender aspect of his piayzng, backed with equal purpose by Flanagan. The two show how much feeling can be gotten out of this incredibly fragile piece of music. One of the most exacting tests of a jazz musician is how well he can play a ballad. Many musicians who can play a "jam" handily find it impossible to play a ballad meaningfully.

Leslie's original, Madge, is a "straight up" blues, taken at walking tempo. This chick is an elegantly bluesy type "soul sister" who doesn't have to raise her voice to make a point. Bill's very warm very relaxed sound, aided by Thorne! Schwartz' soft blues chords paint a very attractive portrait and demonstrate quite readily that you don't have to fall down on your back and kick your feet in the air to get that old funky blues thing going.

Margie shows that Bill Leslie can revive any tune with the freshness of his imagination, since this tune is one of the most beat up pieces since the Star Spangled Banner. Notice the way he searches for alternate and minor chords, never content merely to "run the changes." But one of the most salient characteristics of Bill Leslie's playing is that he always seems intent on finding the most expressive way to say a thing. He is never content with the stale or obvious. Let's say Leslie's trying most of all to play like himself, which is maybe a weird idea for a lot of people, but luckily for us, Bill doesn't think it's so weird. Listen to him!

LeRoi Jones

LP-709

Sonny Stitt - Rearin' Back

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Sonny Stitt, alto saxophone; Ronnie Mathews, piano; Arthur Harper, bass; Lex Humphries, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, September 24 1962

11918 Cut plug
11919 Bunny R.
11920 Carpsie's groove
11921 Wee
11922 Queen
11923 Little girl blue
11924 Rearin' back

Track Listing

Rearin' Back	Sonny Stitt	September 24 1962
We	Woods, Sherman, Taobias	September 24 1962
Little Girl Blue	Rodgers and Hart	September 24 1962
Cut Plug	Sonny Stitt	September 24 1962
Queen	Sonny Stitt	September 24 1962
Carpsie's Groove	Sonny Stitt	September 24 1962
Bunny R.	Sonny Stitt	September 24 1962

Liner Notes

THE entire flavor of this Sonny Stitt set is one of happy, relaxed and swinging sounds. It is the first in quite a while with a regular group with which Sonny has been working.

Sonny's history of pioneering in the Modern Jazz field has been marked by many periods of ups, downs and in-betweens. Heralded at first as a "new Bird," then tossed up on the shores as an also ran imitator, Sonny has remained true to himself and to music by always maintaining his musical standards and projecting himself always forward. Now he is rapidly gaining in stature as his own man; most certainly the top alto man now playing!

This is the new rhythm section Sonny sported during a recent Chicago stay, and with which he has been traveling throughout the country. Having them to rely on for the kind of support an artist of his caliber should always have for accompaniment has had a bracing effect on Sonny's musical approach. Where here and there he had been lapsing into a "mechanical bag," because of inept rhythm sections or the overbearing turning toward the latest "hipness," Sonny has once again come forward as the refreshing inventive artist he is.

"Rearin' Back," the title tune of this album takes form in a relaxed Latin style with Calypso overtones somewhat reminiscent of "Matilda." All Of you who have seen Sonny in action know just how descriptive this title is, for Sonny always rears back when the going gets good.

"We" takes us directly back to the "Be-Bop" era (a good place to be). A favorite jam tune of the '40's and early '50's, it provides Sonny with impetus to a sparkling flight of typical "Stitt-isms," with a fine Ron Mathews piano solo separating Sonny's opening statement from the out chorus of fours with Lex Humphries.

"Little Girl Blue," done with the verse in front is the most poignant selection of the set and uncovers Sonny as a balladeer of the first caliber.

"Cut Plug," one of Sonny's many blues based originals closes side one with the basic feeling all good Jazz maintains. The performance is free flowing with hard swinging pulsations underlying Sonny's soul probings. Pianist Mathews keeps the feeling right "in the groove" both in his comping and solo.

Sonny has composed many "pop" styled tunes and opens side two with his newest contribution "Queen." In general flavor it reminds me of Miles' famous "Four," but Sonny's stamp is indelibly upon it. Mathews' beautiful locked chords used intelligently during his solo are not unlike the style invoked by another Argo pianist, Dodo Marmarosa.

"Carpsie's Groove." dedicated to Sonny's long-time friend and recurring manager, Richard Carpenter, is another blues based theme with an interesting reversion to one of the oldest devices used in basic Jazz, the stop-time and press roll to form part of the figure of the tune. It recurs frequently throughout and makes this selection one of the most interesting in the entire collection. The old must always be respected when it's good!

"Bunny R.," a second cousin to "Queen" ends up this refreshing Sonny Stitt album with a medium bounce approach which has always been one of Sonny's favorite tempos for unhurried improvisations. It's a fitting close to an LP which maintains that "unhurried" feeling from note one till the final overtone.

This then, is one of the true greats of our time, Sonny Stitt, "rearin' back" and letting his listening audience in on his secret of musical accomplishment.

Joe Segal

LP-708

Don Goldie - Trumpet Caliente

Released 1963

Recording and Session Information

Don Goldie, trumpet; Leo Wright, alto saxophone, flute; Patti Bown, piano; Barry Galbraith, guitar; Ben Tucker, bass; Ed Shaughnessy, drums; Willie Rodriguez, prcussion; Ray Barretto, congas; Manny Albam, arranger, conductor
RVG, Englewood, New York, October 3 1962

11935 There will never be another you
11936 Nightingale
11937 Fast thought
11938 I hear a rhapsody
11939 Shiny stockings
11940 Goldie's thing

Track Listing

Nightingale	Cugat, Rosner, Wise	October 3 1962
Fast Thought	Don Goldie	October 3 1962
I Hear A Rhapsody	Grgos, Baker, Gaspare	October 3 1962
Shiny Stockings	Frank Foster	October 3 1962
Goldie's Thing	Don Goldie	October 3 1962
There Will Never Be Another You	H. Warren, M. Gordon	October 3 1962

Liner Notes

HOT TRUMPET," which is the translation of this album's title, characterizes only part of Don Goldie's impact. In addition to his crackling swing, Goldie is a hornman of unusually clear and mellow tone, exceptionally fluent technique and taste. There are several other trumpeters, in and out of jazz, with this kind of prodigious technical ease, but not all escape the trap of exhibitionism. As for Goldie, however, he points out: "I've always tried to remember not to let the technique get in the way of the music."

From June, 1959 to September, 1962, Don was a member of Jack Teagarden's band, and with Teagarden, he learned to further deepen his conception. "With Jack," Goldie recalls, "what you leave out is often more important than what you play." Another aspect of Goldie's jazz is that, like Teagarden, he falls into no quick category. He has a broad grasp of the whole jazz tradition, and rather than staying in any one fashionable "bag," Don has developed a personal style that nonetheless fits into a wide range of musical situations.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, on February 1930, Don came from a thoroughly musical family. His father, Harry Goldfield ("Goldie") was first trumpet and assistant conductor for Paul Whiteman for eighteen years. For some of those years, his section colleague was Bix Beiderbecke. Don's mother was concert pianist. After initial instruction on violin and piano, Don switched to trumpet at ten. His first gig was with his father's orchestra When Don was fourteen. After an army term from 1951-54, Don worked with Joe Mooney, acquired more seasoning at Nick's and Condon's, headed his own combo, played with Neal Hefti, and then joined Teagarden. His base is now New York, and he hopes soon to take out his own band.

For this album, Don chose sidemen with whom he felt most in rapport. Manny Albam's scores for the three "bossa nova" numbers are also accurately fitted to Don's approach to jazz. "Manny," Don points out, "is expert at simplicity. Like Jack Teagarden, he too knows what not to put in." From the opening Nightingale on, the music moves with easeful clarity. Listening to Goldie's sweeping thrust, it's illuminating to remember that as a boy, his primary influences were Bunny Berrigan and Louis Armstrong. Added in the following years were Charlie Shavers, Billy Butterfield, Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown. And now, Don is very much his own man. On this track, as throughout the album, there are incisive solos by Leo Wright, until recently member of Dizzy Gillespie's unit, and Patti Down, a forcefully economical pianist who became best known for her work with Quincy Jones' band.

Fast Thovgbt is a Goldie original, and is so titled because that's how it came into being. Built on an ingratiating riff, the tune is first elasticized by Leo Wright. Don's solo is characteristically lucid, flowing and brimming with the promise of latent power. Patti makes her distilled points, and the band swings on out.

I Hear A Rhapsody, Shiny Stockings and Goldie's Thing are in the "bossa nova" framework — a modernized, more supple samba. Barry Galbraith is vital in setting the particular "bossa nova" rhythmic direction. On Rhapsody, besides Wright's song-like flute and Don's warm, muted trumpet, there is a delightfully limber solo by Patti Down. Shiny Stockings, long a staple in the Count Basie book, also takes on an airy resiliency. Worth noting is the discretion and yet also the buoyancy of the rhythm section. Of his rhythm colleagues all through the album, Don emphasizes: "They do more than keep time. They anticipate. They're really listening hard to ererytbing that's going on." Leo Wright is still on flute in the floating Goldie's Thing. "I don't know anyone in jazz." says Goldie, "who gets better sound out of the flute than Leo."

I Hear A Rhapsody is a summing up of Don Goldie's skills — the unforced deftly accurate sense of swing; the thoughtfulness of his conception ("I try very hard to avoid clichés"); the consistent quality of tone; and the use of technique as an expressive means, not as glittering goal in itself. At base, Goldie's jazz is a combination of gracefulness and power. Finding both attributes in one player is not at all a paradox. Goldie has become sure enough of himself not to have to continually prove how hard and fast he swings. He, therefore, utilizes his resources with care and sensitivity. His is indeed a trumpet but it is also a trumpet lirica.

Nat Hentoff