LP-741

The Ramsey Lewis Trio At The Bohemian Caverns

Released 1964

Recording and Session Information

Ramsey Lewis, piano; Eldee Young, bass; Redd Holt, drums
Bohemian Caverns, Washington D.C, June 4 + 6 1964

13256 All of you (unissued)
13257 The cave
13258 Let's have it... (unissued)
13259 The shelter of your arms
13260 People
13261 Something you've got
(West Side Story medley :)
13262 Maria
13263 Somewhere
13264 Jet song
13265 To-night
13266 Fly me to the moon
13373 My babe

Track Listing

West Side Story Medley	L. Bernstein	June 4 + 6 1964
Somewhere		June 4 + 6 1964
Maria		June 4 + 6 1964
Jet Song		June 4 + 6 1964
Somewhere		June 4 + 6 1964
People	J. Styne	June 4 + 6 1964
Something You Got	Chris Kenner	June 4 + 6 1964
Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)	B. Howard	June 4 + 6 1964
My Babe	W. Dixon	June 4 + 6 1964
The Caves	R. Lewis	June 4 + 6 1964
The Shelter Of Your Arms	S. Collie	June 4 + 6 1964

Liner Notes

FOR MORE than four years the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, D. C., has provided a steady home for jazz and its faithful supporters. This club is known world wide for its physical layout of sculpturesque beauty and stalactite formations hanging from its ceiling. Said club owner Tony Taylor to his partner Angelo Alvino and myself, "That's why, times when we don't even have a strong act in the room to draw the people, there are a certain amount of individuals who might filter through here anyway, just to see the place". So here we find the very necessary ingredients of the mixture to make jazz — the customer, the atmosphere, and the world's finest performing artists.

One of the most exhilarating feelings a jazz fan could have is to watch and listen to great musicians, and the audience here attests in unanimous agreement to the aforementioned statement. I assume by now that you know that the Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded this album live at the Bohemian Caverns, in the heart of the nation's capital. On hand was a full house of eager Ramsey Lewis fans, a new piano, and bass and drums tuned to perfect pitch. Here you will find an energetic and joyous atmosphere as the trio - opens with music from WEST SIDE STORY. The improvisations in the West Side Story medley are not all in the jazz choruses. The arrangement itself is more than just a clever restatement of the melody. Each section of the score reveals to the listener a different face of the structure, and when the final Chorus and the dramatic coda are reached, a thorough exposition of the remarkable work of Leonard Bernstein has been accomplished.

In creating a jazz version for three themes of this story, the trio combined its great musical know-how to reveal beautiful, dramatic contrast, tenderness, love, and unrest.

On "PEOPLE", the trio defies description, and proves that "people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."

The blues can often come very close to truc poetry, a virtue that is often overlooked, and a mighty convincing story is told here in the very popular opus, "SOMETHING YOU GOT".

It is difficult to praise Ramsey Lewis' pianistic ability too highly. Ramsey makes a bold adventure of "FLY ME TO THE MOON" or "IN OTHER WORDS": and his consistently high performances are just short of miraculous.

One of the country's best cello and bass players, since Oscar Pettiford, is Eldee Young. This young man is so advanced that there is seemingly no harmonic puzzle too abstract for resolution, no rhythmic limb too high for him to jump off. All this is proven in his venturesome journey with "MY BABE" Many professional players of swinging repute mention Red Holt as their favorite drummer. Red can do more with his left hand, than most can do with both. He is well received for his efforts on "SHELTER OF YOUR ARMS".

"THE CAVES" brings the fellows together with great applause; this one written by the trio for the club.

This album contains many musical principles and musical feelings; and before jazz fulfills its promise there may be a long lonesome road ahead, yet efforts like this show the way and make the whole thing worth while. You will agree that this is one of the best sessions in the career of the three: Ramsey, Red, and Eldee — the illustrious RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO.

Al Clarke
WOOK Radio
Washington, D. C.

LP-740

James Moody - Comin' On Strong

Released 1964

Recording and Session Information

James Moody, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute; Kenny Barron, piano, organ; George Eskridge, guitar; Chris White, bass; Rudy Collins, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, September 16 1963

12704 I've grown accustomed to her face
12705 Zanzibar
12706 Sonnymoon for two
12707 Dizzy
12708 Ole [For the gypsies]
12709 Please send me someone to love
12710 Autumn leaves
12711 Fly me to the moon (In other words)

Track Listing

In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)	Bart Howard	September 16 1963
Dizzy	James Moody	September 16 1963
Autumn Leaves	D. Kozma, J. Mercer, A. Prevert	September 16 1963
Ole	Dizzy Gillespie	September 16 1963
Sonnymoon For Two	Sonny Rollins	September 16 1963
I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face	Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe	September 16 1963
Zanzibar	Esmond Edwards	September 16 1963
Please Send Me Someone To Love	Percy Mayfield	September 16 1963

Liner Notes

IN MANY WAYS, the title of this album is unnecessary. Comin' On Strong is the way James Moody does things musically. Moody has contributed too much to jazz and to the general dignity of the jazz business to have it any other way.

Moody the musician is a product of bop era. The wages of those years were destructive to many of its participants, yet Moody remains. The quality of the music produced by many members of the then avant-garde movement has been variable, yet Moody's is consistently excellent. Many men have shifted their musical conceptions to take advantage of this fad or that craze. yet Moody, (if necessary), will take music and fit it to his conception. Musicians have taken up new instruments to give them added versatility and their musical personality changes to suit the demands of the instrument; yet Moody plays alto, tenor and flute in a style that is distinctly his own.

Moody has a history of producing unique musical performances. Moody's Mood For Love is a classic ballad performance, but slow pieces are a small part of his repertory. A list of his outstanding works Will number pieces as diverse as NJR. Hey Jim , Disappointed, The Strut, Last Train From Overbrook, Darben the Redd Foxx, With Malice Towards None and Workshop. HoW many men can claim such a huge collection (still only partially accounted for here) of musical successes?

Moody has also given a good deal of inspiration to young musicians. During the period when he led a septet he featured men such as Babs Gonzales, Johnny Coles, Eddie Jefferson, Gene Kee and Clarence Johnston. Moody also used the compositions of talented musicians like Quincy Jones, Benny Golson and Tom McIntosh while these men were largely unknown to the general public.

Moody the man has suffered some untimely misfortunes during his 20 years as contributing jazzman. The year 1938 is one he would like to forget. Too many bottles of cheap wine threatened his career but Moody committed himself to Overbrook Hospital in New Jersey and came back.

In the summer Of 1961, Moody took his group to The Five Spot in New York after an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival and things were good until the club was closed by the police and the band was out of work. Moody, however, went to Chicago where he shared the bandstand for a couple of weeks with three other saxophonists; Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt. The performances of these men during their stay at McKies DJ Lounge shook the very foundations of the Chicago Jazz world and people still talk about it three years later. Lesser men could not have made it yet Moody did.

For the last two years, Moody has been an associate of John Birks Gillespie. Now Moody concentrates more on alto and flute; although tenor was the horn he played when he was a member of Mr. Gillespie's first big band in the middle 1940's. The fine interaction between Moody and Diz has been evident from the very beginning of their latest relationship. Moody is the ideal compatriot for Dizzy because his shy manner meshes with the leader's extrovert personality. The result is nightly demonstration of musical and social common sense.

In this album, Moody is assisted by the Gillespie rhythm s«tion of Kenny Barron, Chris White and Rudy Collins and Chicagoan George Eskridge on guitar. As with each Moody release. the listener gains a little more insight into the musical personality of the man. In this case, it is two Latin pieces, Ole and Zanzibar, that reveal another facet of his versatility. Zanzibar was written by Esmond Edwards, the man responsible for the making of this album and I think the listener will agree that With works like Zanzibar coupled with Bonita and Desert Winds (recorded by Illinois Jacquet), jazz may have found its answer to Prez Prado.

Moody has also contributed an original to the date. It is a line entitled Dizzy and during the course of its performance, one can enjoy an affectionate portrait of our number one trumpeter and presidential candidate.

Moody has always brought to his ballad performances a unique interpretative powers and in this collection, Fly Me To The Moon and I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face are fine examples.

COMIN' ON STRONG?: OF COURSE. Anything else would be an insult to the man.

Bob Porter
Editoe, "The Digger"

LP-739

Baby Face Willette - Mo-Roc

Released 1964

Recording and Session Information

Baby Face Willette, organ; Ben White, guitar; Eugene Bass, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, 27 March + 2 April 1964

13142 Dad's theme
13143 Misty
13144 Bantu penda
13145 But not for me
13146 Sight in darkness
13147 Mo-roc
13148 Unseen and unknown
13149 Zip five

Track Listing

Mo-Roc	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964
Bantu Penda	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964
Dad's Theme	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964
But Not For Me	George & Ira Gershwin	27 March + 2 April 1964
Misty	Erroll Garner & Johnny Burke	27 March + 2 April 1964
Unseen And Unknown	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964
Zip Five	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964
Sight In Darkness	Roosevelt Willette	27 March + 2 April 1964

Liner Notes

THE MUSIC on this album offers strong cvidcnce of the versatility-and-greatness of Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette. This versatility and greatness is divided into two levels, first as an instrumentalist, second as a composer.

As an instrumentalist, "Baby Face" exploits a highly rhythmic and "funky" organ sound, a sound that today is extremely popular with the record buying public, including both lovers of Rhythm and Blues and Jazz.

As a composer, all of the original tunes in the album were composed by Willette. The others, "Misty", the Errol Garner classic, and "But Not For Me" are by now jazz standards.

Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette was born on September 11, 1933 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Like many of today's top jazz organists, He got his start playing in church. He is no newcomer to the jazz organ scene. Among earlier dues he has paid were stints with the great Joe "The Honeydripper" Liggins and "Big" Jay McNeely.

After years of traveling on the road, experiencing the pros and cons of a musician's life socially, economically and musically, Willette decided to make it on his own, and formed a trio. The group as represented on this record was formed in the fall of 1963.

The organ of Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette is unique. It jolts with the unexpected and the new. It has something to say and uses every resource to interpret its message. Willette's organ is ingenious — gifted with musical expression — listen now to ROOSEVELT "BABY FACE" WILLETTE...

The set opens with MO-ROC, a tune which is named in short for Chicago's Moroccan Village where "Baby Face" is currently employed. Willette's driving solo sets the mood for Ben White's "cooking" guitar on this track.

In Swahili, which is an African language, BANTU PENDA means "Black Love". This track features mellowness involving contrasting elements of these two instruments, the organ and guitar.

DAD'S THEME, "Baby Face" asserts, "is a tune that was dedicated to my father who died recently". Again the soulful organ of Willette is establishing new pitches, more funk and harmony. The marching togetherness on this is beautiful.

The much recorded "BUT NOT FOR ME" has good melodic lines. Willette plays through the tune in a provocative manner, then tosses the feature spot to Ben.

An African female witch doctor was in mind when Willette recorded UNSEEN AND UNKNOWN. Notice the blending of harmonics on this one. The screaming, which connotates the voicings of the witch doctor, also enhances this set.

ZIP FIVE, another Willette original, begins with a swinging, grooving, rollicking beat. Freedom of expression is dominant here. Throughout the whole 'grooving" affair, the listener will not only get a chance to hear the tremendous virtuosity of the Willette organ, but to "dig" Ben White and Eugene Bass in a secondary but forceful role "wailing" and "pushing" the set to a successful conclusion.

Rounding out this tastily prepared album, the trio indeed reaches the essence of musical compatibility on SIGHT IN DARKNESS. Here Willette's organ and White's guitar concur ideas. On this, as well as throughout the album the skinmanship of Eugene Bass is very much appreciated.

Looking over the whole session, all of the charts on this album, which is "Baby Face" Willette's first album for Argo, you will find one of the most spirited and original organists in the "World of Jazz" today — Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette.

Tom Reed
"THIS IS JAZZ"
KPRS FM
Kansas City, Missouri