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

LP-707

Gene Shaw Quintet - Break Through

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Clarence "Gene" Shaw, trumoet, arranfer; herman Morrison, tenor saxophone; James Taylor, piano; Sidney Robinson, bass; Bernard Martin, drums; unknown, latin percussion
Ter Mar, Chicago, October 11 1962

11927 It's a long way
11928 A.D.'s blues
11929 Tonight
11930 Our tune
11931 The thing
11932 Marj
11933 Six bits
11934 Autumn walk

Track Listing

Autumn Walk	James Taylor	October 11 1962
Ad's Blues	C. E. Shaw	October 11 1962
Marj	C. E. Shaw	October 11 1962
Six Bits	Carl Davis	October 11 1962
The Thing	C. E. Shaw	October 11 1962
Tonight	Leonard Bernstein	October 11 1962
Our Tune	Jack DeJohnette	October 11 1962
It's A Long Way	Carl Davis	October 11 1962

Liner Notes

AS THE FIRST ALBUM featuring Gene Shaw, this recording will serve for many as an introduction to his immense talents as trumpet artist, composer-arranger and leader. Gene is a member of the original contingent of Detroit-based jazz musicians who came into national prominence during the fifties — a remarkable group that included Thad Jones, Kenny Burrell, Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Yusef Lateef and Barry Harris — and he is far from being an unknown among the inner circle of musicians. But the release of this, his first LP for Argo, should bring him into long overdue recognition as an important contributor to the current musical scene.

Relating his musical biography, Gene began "I was born in Detroit, June 16, 1926. I started taking piano lessons — oh, When I was four years old, then switched to trombone when I was six." He reflected, then added, "I went back to classical piano for two years." He became interested in the trumpet while convalescing in an army hospital in Detroit. "I had an old beat-up cornet I bought in the Philippines. I left it laying around until I heard Hot House by Dizzy Gillespie over the radio and thought to myself, "that's gibberish. I can do better. So with the help of a friend, Allen Bryant, I learned how to make trumpet sounds. Three weeks later I had my first job at the Hut Bar in Detroit."

"Later, Skee Wilson and Barry Harris told me, and then showed me on the piano, that there were little things called chord changes and that Dizzy Gillespie was a master in the use of these and had actually extended on them. I was stunned by my ignorance and quit the job."

Following this revealing experience, Shaw enrolled in the Detroit Institute of Music to study harmony, theory, composition and arranging. After completing his course he went out among his contemporaries, playing and gradually picking up bits of knowledge about the trumpet. From these formative years, Gene recalls in particular "Little John" Wilson, a Detroit trumpeter who gave of his professional experience and guidance.

Moving on to New York, he gigged with Wardell Gray, Lester Young, Lucky Thompson and Others. During this period he met and worked with Charles Mingus, appearing on several of the controversial bassist/composer's recording sessions. Concerning Gene's work on the album Tijuana Moods, recorded in 1957 but not issued until five years later, Mingus recently remarked, "If this album had been released in 1957, Shaw would be a star today." In turn, Shaw sums up his debt to Mingus saying, "Mingus' ability to see music through the 'eyes of life' forced me into a new depth of endeavor. It is my aim to follow the path he began, as far as possible, towards its conclusion, For his teaching shall be eternally grateful.

In each of the eight selections on this LP, Gene and the Quintet have tried to project a personal feeling or message. For example, Six Bits might a portrait of a man who is literally down to his last six bits; instead of despondent or disillusioned, he tries to make the best of things with the little he's got. Avenue Walk depicts the mature years of a man's life when he counts up his accomplishments and resources as he faces the cold of the coming winter. And The Thing is the monster that lurks in each of us. The gentle and timid soul who feeds the birds and gives candy to children may explode for no apparent reason and commit some horrendous act.

ABOUT THE OTHER MUSICIANS

SHERMAN MORRISON, on tenor saxophone, may well become one of the dominant voices on his instrument in years to come. He has absorbed much from the work of such giants as John Coltrane and Hank Mobley without being absorbed by their influence. He is currently studying at the Chisago Conservatory and hopes to do some scoring for films and television.

Pianist JAMES TAYLOR came to Chicago from New York in 1959 and has been working around Chicago with various local groups, playing both piano and organ. His interest is divided equally between playing and composing. The intrguing Autumn Walk is his composition.

SIDNEY ROBINSON, whose strong bass lines are the foundation of the rhythm section, began playing bass in the army and has gigged around Chicago for the past few years. He is student of James Palacek who holds the second bass chair of the Chicago Symphony.

Chicago-born BERNARD MARTIN, like the others, has appeared with a number of groups in the Chisago area. His work on drums, tasty but never obtrusive, shows a sensitive awareness of shading and dynamics.

Alfred W. Bowman