Johnny Griffin - The Man I Love

“Critic Ralph J. Gleason made an oft-quoted remark about Johnny Griffin during the course of a 1958 ‘Down Beat’ record review. To avoid any misunderstandings this is Gleason’s paragraph, in full: ‘Unquestionably Johnny Griffin can play the tenor saxophone faster, literally, than anyone alive. At least he can claim this until it’s demonstrated otherwise. And in the course of playing with this incredible speed, he also manages to blow longer without refueling than you would ordinarily consider possible. With this equipment he is able to play almost all there could possibly be played in any given chorus.’

“As far as it goes Gleeson’s words are probably correct. (In the absence of a jazz section to the Guinness Book of Records we must assume Griffin’s leading position in the field of runners in the Semi-Quaver Race.) But it would be wrong to assume that John Arnold Griffin III was nothing more than a note-producing machine fitted with a control graduated from ‘Finished with Engines’ up to ‘Full Speed Ahead’. He is an amazingly consistent soloist, a man who is never off from by all accounts; undeniably he likes fast tempos but is a complete, rounded jazz musician, capable of tackling any material with the aid (or something otherwise!) of any rhythm section. Since he came to Europe in 1962, at the age of 34, he has been giving free lessons on the gentle arts of relaxation, saxophone technique, deep-seated emotional intensity and a host of other important elements to thousands of listeners in Paris, London, Copenhagen and other centres where jazz is appreciated.

“When John left the United States he seemed already to have achieved more than many jazzmen achieve in a lifetime. He was 16 when he joined Lionel Hampton’s band as an alto saxophonist. (At least Griffin thought he had been booked to play alto in the reed section. On his first date with the band he took out the smaller horn only to be asked the whereabouts of his tenor. He dashed back home to Chicago at the earliest opportunity laid hands on a tenor and rejoined Hamp’s reed section which contained such stalwarts as Arnett Cobb, Bobby Plater and Charlie Fowlkes.) When Joe Morris, one of Hamp’s trumpeters, left to form his own band in 1947 John went with him and stayed with Morris for three years. (Morris’s lively little rhythm-and-blues band had a rhythm section comprising Elmo Hope, Percy Heath and Philly Joe Jones for a time.)

“Apart from a handful of relatively short engagements with other bands (Arnett Cobb’s unit in 1951, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers from March to October 1957 and the Thelonious Monk Quartet during the summer of 1958) Griffin has been a solo artist or band leader since leaving the Joe Morris band. When I spoke to him during one of his bookings at the Ronnie Scott Club during the late sixties he seemed content to be touring the European jazz centres, secure in the knowledge that he would find a suitable rhythm section for his engagements. (He also spoke of the Johnny Morris band with pride, listed the names of the men who had passed through its ranks and gave me the news that Morris had died a few years earlier.) But I suspect that his appearances at the Montmartre Jazzhuis in Copenhagen during 1967 must have given him particular pleasure. The rhythm section contained two other expatriate Americans, friends of Johnny who had worked and recorded with him back home. Pianist Kenny Drew, a direct contemporary of Griffin, came to Europe from New York City in 1962 while Al Heath brother of bass player Percy and saxophonist Jimmy, lived in Europe between 1965 and 1968. The bass player, Nils Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, is of course the world-class Danish jazzman who has worked with every visiting American and was a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio for a time.

“The LP contains music which is wholly typical of a Johnny Griffin set, rich in blues either actual (such as ‘Blues for Harvey’) or as an overlying mood (Duke’s lovely ‘Sophisticated Lady’, painted here in varying shades of azure). Despite the different instruments Griffin’s most obvious influence must be Charlie Parker and if one plays parts of the LP at the incorrect speed of 45rpm the Parker Quality is perhaps more noticeable. (The speed change shifts the tenor up into the alto saxophone register.) Listen to the manner in which Griffin even when those phrases consist a flurry of notes you will observe the Parker-like rhythmic approach. ‘I like to play fast. I get excited. When the rhythm section gets cooking I want to explode,’ Griffin once told an interviewer. He was too modest to even hint that his own playing, in turn, was the cause of many rhythm sections cooking as they have never cooked before. The threesome heard here have proved their worth in other contexts but the presence of Griffin ‘The Infallible’ must have acted as a spur and when Al Heath sets the ball rolling with a crisp drum solo right at the beginning of ‘The Man I Love’ the atmosphere seems to be charged with a special electricity which affects all four men. Back in the early sixties Johnny helped to spark off just such a feeling night after night when he co-led a quintet with that other great tenor saxophone individualist, Eddie Davis.

“But the music is not made up simply of break-neck races over chordal assault courses. On ‘Hush-a-Bye’ the Griffin tenor is positively Hawkins-like in places, full of rich-toned authority but edged with a mellowness which is as welcome here as it is on the beautiful ‘Sophisticated Lady’. Johnny is careful to ensure that his fellow musicians are given solo space and inevitably it is the resourceful Kenny Drew who makes a big impression with his wonderfully swinging two-handed piano playing.

“The set closes with ‘Wee’, the Denzil Best tune which Griffin has been using as a theme for some time. The number started life under the title ‘Allen’s Alley’ when it was a part of a Coleman Hawkins record date on which Allen Eager was featured.” (Alun Morgan. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bs), Albert Heath (dr)

1. The Man I Love

2. Hush-A-Bye

3. Blues For Harvey

4. The Masquerade Is Over

5. Sophisticated Lady

6. Wee

flac/16-bit

Kenny Drew - This Is New

“‘This Is New’ happens to be more than just one of the song titles here, more even than a visually evocative phrase that suggested a photographic cover idea too good to be passed by. It also happens to be a quite apt description of what is taking place musically in this album:

“This is current jazz played by musicians who are young, but have considerable playing experience. All of them also have much the same sets of jazz roots and attitudes. They are men to whom the jazz revolution preached by Bird and Dizzy and Monk at the start of the 1940s is the important starting point. But in referring to the music that developed primarily out of the early-‘40s experimentation, it must be noted that roughly a decade and a half has gone by since Minton’s. And that is actually more calendar time, for example, than elapsed between the issuance of King Oliver’s earliest records and Benny Goodman’s!

“The fact is that at least a full jazz generation has grown up in that time, and that jazz has changed considerably. But, perhaps because it takes a good deal of time to get perspective on such things, or perhaps because there has been no violent upheaval of -form- (certainly nothing comparable to the differences between Swing or Dixieland and Bop), there is a strong tendency to lump everything recent together as ‘modern’. Well, not quite everything: there is a wide variety of experimentation, and there is the music of the West Coast jazzmen, and most of this gets called ‘cool’, as distinguished from the sort of music you hear in this album, which is usually tagged as ‘post-bop’ or ‘hard bop. Sometimes of course the lines get blurred, as will happen with any over-simplification: Miles Davis’ man-walking-on-eggshells trumpet tone is often singled out as the starting point of cool jazz, yet by background and continuing jazz context he belongs to the boppers, and his influence is surely importantly felt in the work of younger horn men like Donald Byrd.

“But the major point to be made is that by now the music of the disciples of bop has emerged as an entity, as a self-contained style. Giving it names like ‘post-bop’ may obscure this point, making it seem as if this is more-of-the-same, but it’s not all like that. This is jazz with basic distinctive qualities of its own, and these qualities seem to be very effectively and excitingly in evidence here.

“Above all, this is ‘funky’ jazz, taking that word in its current meaning of earthy, almost gutbucket, with a decided overall feeling of the blues. It is a far less frenetic and self-conscious music than much of early bop (which often failed to conceal its dogged determination to be ‘different’). Some critics complain that there is excessive attention to top-speed tempos, but I find a high and effective proportion of swinging middle-tempo material. Wholehearted, unembarrassed ballads are rather rare; but there are occasions, as with ‘You’re My Thrill’ here, when everything jells beautifully and soulfully. It is a rhythmically sound jazz (whereas early bop, busily working out new concepts of the functions of rhythm instruments, was not always so), and one reason for this may well be the emergence of a large crop of outstanding bassists, of whom Wilbur Ware is one of the most impressive. This is a music aware of newer harmonic ideas without being pretentious about it, and capable of re-exploring the basic and ‘old-fashioned’ jazz art of ensemble playing: listen particularly to the big sound of Byrd and Hank Mobley together on ‘This Is New’; and also on ‘It’s Your or No One’, which they had recorded, but quite differently, when both were member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. (The Blakey group, incidentally, has been something of a post-bop training school: its frequently shifting personnel has also included Drew and Ware.)

“Kenny Drew is rapidly maturing into one of the significant younger pianists. Born in New York City in 1928, he has worked with a wide variety of major jazz performers [...]. Although his approach indicates the influence of Bud Powell and, to an extent, Thelonious Monk, he is almost unique among modernists in also appreciating and making use of the heritage of such pre-moderns as Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. Donald Byrd, still in his very early twenties, is quite clearly the coming young man on trumpet; Hank Mobley is among the most highly regarded of current tenor men. Wilbur Ware, since coming to New York from Chicago about a year ago, has quickly established himself as among the more formidable bass players, both in solo work and as a rhythm man. G.T. Hogan, who has worked with Illinois Jacquet and Stan Getz, considers this his jazz record debut, and it is a promising one.” (Orrin Keepnews. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Kenny Drew (pi), Donald Byrd (tp), Wilbur Ware (bs), G.T. Hogan (dr)

A1. This Is New

A2. Carol

A3. It's You Or No One

B1. You're My Thrill

B2. Little T

B3. Paul's Pal

B4. Why Do I Love You

mp3/320kbps

Johnny Griffin - Way Out

"Although 'Way Out!' was recorded in New York, the album's accent is on tenor titan Johnny Griffin's native Chicago. Windy City bassist Wilbur Ware plays, in the words of  'Down Beat' reviewer Richard Hadlock, 'uncommonly creative solos', and fine of the six selections are from the pens of Chicagoans. Griffin, producer Orrin Keepnews notes, 'puts across the full impact of his intricacy and dexterity of ideas and of fingering here without having to resort to blazing tempos. But just to show what he can do way up there, he takes on that durable old warhorse, 'Cherokee', for a fresh and dazzling display of fireworks.'" (From the liner notes to the 1994 OJC reissue.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Wilbur Ware (bs), Philly Joe Jones (dr)

A1. Where's Your Overcoat, Boy?

A2. Hot Sausage

A3. Sunny Monday

B1. Cherokee

B2. Teri's Tune

B3. Little John

mp3/320kbps

Dexter Gordon & Slide Hampton - A Day in Copenhagen

"In immediate succession MPS-Records is issueing two albums by two great tenor saxophonists: Lucky Thompson ('A Lucky Song-book in Europe', MPS 15231) and Dexter Gordon. These two belong so much together but are at the same time in such contrast to each other as - a generation before them - Ben Webster and Don Byas (who encounter 'Webster Meets Byas' is documented on MPS 15159 ST).

"In 1962 Dexter Gordon who, after his famous recordings made at the beginning of the fifties, lived more or less obscurely and without much attention paid to in Los Angeles, had a brilliant come-back with his Blue Note album 'Go!'. Since that time numerous Dexter Gordon records were produced both in the USA and Europe - nearly all in quartet or quintet format in order to attain the success of 'Go!' or even to surpass it.

"The 'new thing' of this 1969 MPS record is the face that here Dexter is presented for the first time in an arranged frame for three horns, drafted by Slide Hampton. This collaboration between arranger/trombonist Slide Hampton and Dexter Gordon became possible since Slide's arrival in Europe last year. He and Dexter often played together with great inspiration and enthusiasm and often expressed the wish to make a record together.

"Dexter Gordon who played in the bands of Lionel Hampton and Louis Armstrong, made his first successful record with the Bill Eckstine Big Band in 1945: the famous 'Blowing the Blues Away'. His breakthrough however came with a range of tenor-battles with Wardell Gray, who in 1955 was found dead in the desert near Las Vegas. How important Gordon's influence was became clear at the end of the fifties when - having been nearly forgotten by the great mass of Jazz fans - pioneering musicians such as Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane mentioned him as their special 'inspiration'.

"In 1963 Dexter came to Europe travelling through many European countries until finding a real home in Copenhagen. When last year - after some bad experiences the great tenorist had in Paris - the Danish authorities refused to give him a license card hundreds of young people marched on Copenhagen's Radhus-Plads demonstrating: 'We want Dexter! We want Dexter!'

"This happened about the same time when Slide Hampton came to Europe. Slide belongs to a younger generation than Dexter. In the mid-fifties he became known for his playing with Buddy Johnson and Lionel Hampton, but his breakthrough came through both his trombone-playing and his arrangements for Maynard Ferguson's 1957/59 orchestra. His most famous piece at this time was his well known 'Fugue' - perhaps the most swinging of all the Jazz fugues (the author of these notes is using it for nearly 10 years as theme-song for the SWF-Jazz-Sessions, the Jazz concert series of the Southwestern German Radio and TV Network). How brilliantly Slide can score for medium-sized bands is fully demonstrated on the records he made under his own name for RCA-Victor and Atlantic. There are recordings with an octet having the power and richness in sound of a big band (e.g. the successful 'Sister Salvation').

"Slide wrote all the arrangements for our record - with the exception of Dexter's improvised quartet contribution 'The Shadow of Your Smile'. He also composed three of the selections. A typical example for the rich sounds Slide knows to get from only three horns is 'A Day in Vienna', dedicated to the Jazz-Workshop of the Austrian Radio Network in Vienna.

"'A New Thing' is - judged by the stylistic standards many listeners may associate with the terms 'New Thing' - a complete 'Old Thing'. 'I only called it 'New Thing' because it was the newest I had written for the date with Dex' (says Slide). And it was this new-old 'New Thing' the musicians liked best when making the record.

"'My Blues' was Slide's first composition after coming to Europe in 1966; he says: 'It gave us a chance to get away from the complex chord patterns of some of the other music on the date'.

"Let's also hear what Slide himself has to say about 'What's New': 'I remember this song from many great artists, but most of all from Clifford Brown with Strings. I knew all the cats were hip to this one... it is written in a 12/8 rhythm...'

"'You Don't Know What Love Is' finall is - as every interpretation of this beautiful melody - a tribute to Billie Holiday. Slide Hampton: 'When playing this we all thought about Billie and her great album 'Lady in Satin' and also about a later recording by Miles Davis. I changed the tempo but tried to keep the same beautiful melodic and harmonic concept that Billie and Miles used.'

"The third horn on our album is Jamaica-born Dizzy Reece who sincce 1948 has been living in Europe - apart from a short American interlude - alternately in England, Germany, France and Holland, a trumpeter having been praised by such critical colleagues as Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.

"And last not least as rhythm section we decided on the Kenny Drew Trio, to whom Dexter Gordon is since long especially accustomed from playing with at Copenhagen's 'Jazz-Hus Montmartre': Kenny Drew on piano and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and guest drummer Art Taylor from Paris." (Joachim E. Berendt, tr. Wolf-Dieter Wagner. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Dexter Gordon (t-sx), Slide Hampton (tb), Dizzy Reece (tp), Kenny Drew (pi), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bs), Art Taylor (dr)

A1. My Blues

A2. You Don't Know What Love Is

A3. A New Thing

B1. What's New

B2. The Shadow Of Your Smile

B3. A Day In Vienna

mp3/v0

Jackie McLean & Dexter Gordon - The Source, Vol. 2

"This keenly-awaited sequel to 'The Meeting' could well have been subtitled 'Back to Bebop'. For bop, the intricate and beautiful music that burst on a surprised world 30 years ago, is indeed 'The Source' that gives the present LP its title.

"Jackie McLean and Dexter Gordon were closely identified with those sensational sounds that ushered in a whole new musical lifestyle. As a very young man Jackie was casually but significantly tutored by the late Bud Powell. A few years on and he was running around with Charlie Parker, digging the master, listening, learning, getting it together. Bird saw the promise in him, so did Miles Davis. He was on his way.

"Dexter Gordon, meanwhile, had to be regarded as Mr. Saxophone by all the hip tenor cats (not to mention contemporaries on alto, even baritone). Dexter's huge influence on musicians of that era has been well and truly put in perspective by Ira Gitler in 'Jazz Masters of the Forties'. Gordon was the man who was able to synthesize the truth preached by Lester Young, Charlie Parker and the Texas tenors into a cohesive and personal whole.

"Small wonder that Jackie writes on the jacket of 'The Meeting' (SteepleChase SCS-1005): 'He [Dexter] made me want to be a musician - I heard Bird after Dex.' Well, during two evenings at the Montmartre Jazzhus, Copenhagen, in July 1973, Jackie and Dexter, making their first records together, took a retrospective look at bebop and some of the compositions from those days that still inspired them. And in doing so they reaffirmed the validity and durability of that particular jazz style.

"Warning: This is not tired nostalgia, a friendly stroll down memory lane for the benefit of middle-aged dudes who are striving to recapture their youth. Jackie and Dexter have moved forward and onward. In the 1970s they are playing differently, with greater fire and invention than 20 years ago. That is as it should be. But the old lines from their youth continue to merit re-investigation.

"If you think about it, there is no earthly reason why 'Half Nelson' should be any less exciting as a blowing vehicle in 1973 than it was in 1942 when composer Miles Davis first recorded it (with Bird on tenor). 'Half Nelson' was based on Tadd Dameron's 'Ladybird'. McLean and Gordon follow what has become accepted tradition by going into the original theme after starting 'Half Nelson'. Dex og Jackie alternating on the breaks. Dexter obviously enjoys these good changes, from bottom to top, even finding time to give us a glimpse of the 'Mona Lisa'. They are to Jackie's liking, too, and Kenny Drew delineates a typically supple solo. Dig Niels-Henning - superb.

"Though 'I Can't Get Started' is a show tune from the 1930s, it became jazz property after Billy and Bunny had individually immortalised the song, and this melody continues to be a favourite with the boppers. Bird did it up a couple of time as only he could. Jackie and Dexter infuse the tune with that bittersweet flavour that spells e-m-o-t-i-o-n. Who said 'I Can't Get Started' was a trumpeters' property? He was wrong. Dexter's 'If You Could See Me Now' coda is a nice touch.

"We go back to 1947 again for a second Charlie Parker/Miles Davis collaboration, 'Another Hair-do' which the Bird supposedly recorded in Detroit on Christmas Day of that year. It's a blues, of course, and in this territory McLean and Gordon have few peers. Jackie makes several references to the little tag that Bird used to preface his set-closing 'Theme'. It's a long and highly-charged solo. When it comes to the quotation game Dexter is tops and in the course of his solo you will find snatches of 'Oop-bap-Sh'bam', his favourite 'And the Angels Sing', 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town', 'Frankie and Johnny', etc.

"When Dexter first recorded 'Dexter Digs In', Niels-Henning was four months old. That was in 1946 and more than a quarter of a century later Mr. Gordon still sounds as fresh as a spring dawn. This extended 're-write' of the tenor saxophonist's original (which, incidentally, had Bud Powell and Max Roach in the supporting cast!) finds Jackie and Kenny, besides Dexter, digging in. There is some kinetic conversation between the saxes before the rideout. This riffy opus, by the way, inspired singer Eddie Jefferson to write a memorable set of lyrics which he recorded in 1969.

"Jackie's closing tribute says it all. Dexter was his source and their collective source was bebop. What Jackie doesn't mention is his own part in these proceedings. There can be no doubt tha on those nights at the Montmartre, Mr. McLean acted as a catalyst to the man who was his own original inspiration. It could only happen in jazz and to have the occasion preserved on two great albums makes it a treat we can savour over and over again." (Mark Gardner. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Jackie McLean (a-sx), Dexter Gordon (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bs), Alex Riel (dr)

1. Half Nelson

2. I Can't Get Started

3. On The Trail

4. Closing

5. Another Hair-Do

6. Dexter Digs In

7. Closing

mp3/320kbps

Jackie McLean & Dexter Gordon - The Meeting, Vol. 1

"Jackie McLean with Dexter Gordon - what could be more natural? Two of the genuine heavyweights of post-war jazz, whose style stem from the same musical revolution. Men of huge talent with so much in common. Such an obvious partnership that nobody thought of it before - not even when they were both contract artists for Blue Note in the 1960s. Happily, the stars were in the right alignment when Jackie arrived in Copenhagen for an engagement at the Montmartre Jazzhaus during July of 1975. Dexter and Jackie were recorded together at last with a superb rhythm section, a responsive audience and under perfect conditions. 'The Meeting' is that first of two albums that capture the full flavour of those marvellous nights.

"As Jackie indicates in his note on this jacket, Dexter was an early and potent influence on the younger man's conception. When McLean was just a kid of 14 or 15 he used to hang around places where Dex played. At that time 52nd Street was still going full blast and Gordon was the big man on tenor. Sometimes Jackie would even get to sit in with 'Long Tall Dexter', and they jammed side by side at different places through the years.

"McLean's soaring, incisive alto and Gordon's lithe, powerful tenor here combine to give it you straight from the hip. These are players who have never compromised as artists. They play what they feel, what they believe in. They project deep emotions, scorn the superficial. Their stories are about love, hardships, good times, dues, fun, frustration, hope and hurt. There's often a raw edge to their messages but then music be something more than a sugar-coated pill to put you to sleep. 'Sunset' will move you; it isn't meant to be an anaesthetic which is all that so many people (pity them) want from music.

"The fire is lit between Jackie and Dexter from the first ensemble of Gordon's blues All Clean through Sahib Shihab's bright 'Rue de la Harpe', Kenny Drew's pastel shaded 'Sunset' to Ferdie Grufe's 'On the Trail'. The furnace in the rhythmic sense is kept masterfully stoked by Kenny Drew, Niels Henning og Alex Riel (who have worked as a trio, off and on, for eight or nine years).

"For those who may be unfamiliar with these five musicians (is that possible?) here are some brief words of biographical background:

"John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean was born in New York City on May 17, 1932. He started on saxophone at an early age and was greatly helped by pianist Bud Powell. He was first heard on record with Miles Davis in 1951. During the 1950s Jackie worked and recorded with George Wallington, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and Donald Byrd among others. From 1959-61 he acted and played in Jack Galler's 'The Connection'. Since that time he has led his own groups, frequently toured Europe, played in Japan and taught at the Universy of Hartford. His development as a soloist, composer and leader can be traced on his albums for Prestige and Blue Note among others. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jackie made no records. His very welcome return was signalled by his first SteepleChase LP, 'Live at Montmartre' (SCS-1001), taped in August 1972. He now makes an annual trip to Denmark to play the Montmartre and record for SteepleChase.

"Dexter Gordon (born Los Angeles, February 27, 1923) worked in the big bands of Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Lionel Hampton and Billy Eckstine before branching out as a star small group soloist. Dexter cast a giant shadow over the tenor sax in the 1940s and such diverse musicians as John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins all owed a stylistic debt to Gordon. His many recordings for Savoy, Dial, Bethlehem, Jazzland, Blue Note and Catfish are essential listening. Since moving to Europe in September 1962 Dexter has played all over the Continent, but he returns regularly to New York for festival dates and recording sessions. Gordon has been resident of Copenhagen, a city he loves, since the mid-1960s.

"Kenny Drew (born New York, August 28, 1928) has lived in Copenhagen since January 1964, having settled in Europe three years earlier. Kenny, on of the best pianists in the Bud Powell tradition, worked with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Brew Moore and Buddy DeFranco in the early 1950s. Later he was with Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and a host of other groups. Drew has played extensively with Dexter in Europe, but they have an association that goes back to their days in California around 1955-56 (Drew played on Dexter's Bethlehem LP 'Daddy Plays the Horn' and his Blue Notes 'Dexter Calling...' and 'One Flight Up'). Kenny has known Jackie since they were youngsters, too, and he was the pianist on McLean's Blue Note sides 'Blueswalk' and 'Jackie's Bag'. Drew can be heard as leader on 'Duo' (SteepleChase SCS-1002), 'Everything I Love' (SCS-1007) and the forthcoming 'Duo, Volume 2' (SCS-1010).

"Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (born Osted, Denmark, May 27, 1946) is just about everyone's favourite bassists; he seems to get better and better. Having made his first records at the age of 15 (with Bud Powell), Niels-Henning has since been heard with a staggering array of American start from Albert Ayler to Dizzy Gillespie. In the last year or so he has gained great exposure with Oscar Peterson who features him prominently. With his wonderful sound and incredible technique, Niels-Henning emphasies that the electric bass is a redundant invention.

"Alex Riel (born September 13, 1940) is a considerable exciting drummer who was inspired to become a percussionist at the age of 15 by hearing Zutty Singleton's work on the Fats Waller recording of 'Moppin' and Boppin'. Like Niels-Henning, he has backed numerous Americans - Sahib Shihab, Brew Moore, Archie Shepp, Ben Webster, Paul Gonsalves, Kenny Dorham, Stuff Smith, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, etc. He has recorded under his own name (with Drew and Niels-Henning) for Fona. He was on Jackie's 'Live at Montemartre' and will be heard on Ken McIntyre's forthcoming SteepleChase collection.

"I do not propose to describe in detail the music on these sides. Its high quality is readily apparent.  The brisk 'All Clean' is 17 minutes of pure unalloyed joy. Dexter is the first soloist and is followed by Jackie, Kenny, Niels-Henning (he gets into a remarkable groove). Then come the chorus exchanges between Jackie (always in the left channel) and Dex.

"Sahib Shihab's 'Rue de la Harpe' is a typical, robust hard bop line, the sort Jackie does so well. According to the composer: 'This is a very small street in the Latin Quarter in Paris.' Jackie really stretches here, Dexter holds sway as only he can, and Kenny creates the sort of nimble solo for which he is renowned.

"In 'Sunset' there are lengthy, feeling-filled, declarative statements by Jackie and Dexter, a mellifluous Drew passage and then back to the haunting theme. For a more intimate version of this melody hear Kenny playing it solo on his 'Everything I Love' record.

"Ferdie Grofe's 'On the Trail' has been a firm favourite with musicians since Jimmy Heath re-discovered the tune which has a definitive 'out West', loping feel to it. Jackie handles the theme, Dexter bursts forth, riding the range at a relentless canter. McLean's solo in this well known movement from Grofe's 'Grand Canyon Suite' bristles with fiery ferocity. Kenny digs into a swinging veing and his lines are positively mercurial.

"That's 'The Meeting' - a summit meeting of two jazz superstars. Are you ready for 'The Source'? Can you bear the suspense of waiting that long? Get set for 'Half Nelson', 'I Can't Get Started', 'Another Hair-do' and 'Dexter Digs In'! (Mark Gardner. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Jackie McLean (a-sx), Dexter Gordon (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bs), Alex Riel (dr)

1. Introduction By Jackie Mclean

2. All Clean

3. Rue De La Harpe

4. Callin'

5. Sunset

6. On The Trail

mp3/320kbps

Art Farmer - Farmer's Market

Enjoyable outing from a pre-Jazztet Art Farmer. Hank Mobley appears on tenor on all but two tracks (the ballad 'Reminiscing' and muted vamp 'By Myself') and Farmer's trumpet is backed by the always terrific Kenny Drew on piano, be-bop mainstay Addison Farmer on bass, and an early appearance from Elvin Jones on drums; the latter should need no introduction. The mood here is light, airy and has all of the carefree hustle and bustle the title suggests. Even the more sombre numbers have the comfort in them of a breezy weekend afternoon. 

Performers: Art Farmer (tp), Hank Mobley (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Addison Farmer (bs), Elvin Jones (dr)

 

A1. With Prestige

A2. Ad-Dis-Un

A3. Farmer's Market

B1. Reminiscin'

B2. By Myself

B3. Wailin' With Hank

mp3/320kbps