Johnny Griffin - A Blowing Session

“In the liner notes for his first Blue Note album (BLP 1533), Johnny Griffin was quoted as saying that he preferred to ‘make it at home’ (home being Chicago). Since the time of that LP’s release, Johnny has changed his mind at the urging of Art Blakey, and, with his presence in the drummer’s Messengers, he has swelled the group to sextet size.

“When the augmented Messengers came to New York, it so happened that several other of the top small groups were also in town, either playing or laying off. Most of the musicians in these combos are friendly with each other and enjoy playing together. When someone like Johnny Griffin comes to town and causes much comment, the others are quite anxious to blow with him. What you hear here is exactly that… a blowing session among the various leading lights of some of the East’s important jazz organizations.

“At the center of the session is the tenor sax triumvirate of Griffin, John Coltrane and Hank Mobley.

“Mobley is the former Messenger star who is now doing his shining with the Horace Silver quintet while Coltrane is the young man who rose to prominence in 1956 with the now disbanded Miles Davis quintet.

“The three have similar backgrounds in many ways. All of them have paid their dues in rhythm and blues bands. They also played with orchestras, Griffin with Lionel Hampton and Coltrane with Dizzy Gillespie. Trane also played with a Gillespie combo as did Mobley. Hank was with Max Roach before that and Griffin spent two fruitful weeks with Thelonious Monk in Chicago.

“Despite the fact that they grew up musically in the same environment and have been influence, in general, by some of the same musicians, the three tenors have very different conceptions, however forceful they may all be.

“Griffin is more extrovert in a raucous manner and his rapid fire delivery stamps him as one of ‘the fastest guns alive’. Mobley has a big, round-edged sound and an even, logical conception. Coltrane is the most unconventional of the three with his vocal tone and very personal idea patterns.

“To add some brass bit to the session comes Lee Morgan, the extremely youthful trumpeter from the Dizzy Gillespie band. Lee is a newcomer, but through his Blue Note records (BLP 1538, 1540, 1541, 1557) and solo appearances in the Gillespie organization he has already carved out a reputation for himself. He comes from the tough, brilliant side of the modern trumpet tree out of Gillespie, Navarro and Clifford Brown.

“Another member of the Gillespie organization who lends his ample talent in both solo and ensemble is pianist Wynton Kelly. Wynton, who has been with the Art Farmer-Gigi Gryce group and accompanist to Dinah Washington, is another of the many modern musicians who made their solo debuts on Blue Note. Here he offers several sparkling solos in the Bud Powell idiom and blends perfectly into the rhythm section sparked by Messenger chieftain Art Blakey and former Miles Davis bassist Paul Chambers.

“Two originals and two standards comprise the raw material for the blowing. As in any session, the standards are those which are familiar to all and facilitate improvisation. The originals are by Griffin.

“Johnny opens a breakneck tempo version of Jerome Kern’s ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ with a chorus of melody before going into three febrile improvisatory cantos. Lee has two swift, brassy one before Hank takes over for one quick chorus. Coltrane comes sailing in for two before Griffin and Art Blakey enter into a heated exchange that highlights each one’s virtuosity. Johnny then carries the theme out with the rhythm section coming to the top for the bridge.

“Coltrane has the first solo on ‘Ball Bearing’ and makes the most of the intriguing harmonic pattern. Morgan follows in a wonderful groove as the rhythm section lays down a straight and wide carpet to walk on. Griffin then has two choruses that will awaken your senses and Mobley continues the excellent mood. All the tenormen are in fine form on this one. Kelly, who has the next solo spot, is no less effective. After a short bit by Blakey, the last part of the theme is restated.

“Another Jerome Kern evergreen, ‘All the Things You Are’, opens side two. Griffin carries the melody chorus again in a medium up setting. He then has three choruses of improvisation, reaching a peak in number three. Coltrane follows with his singular interpretation and Morgan’s trumpet sings a couple before Mobley states his case clearly and emotionally. Kelly’s chorus is a joy both rhythmically and melodically. Chambers than has his first solo of the session before Griffin and Blakey have a brief word or two and Johnny takes it out.

“‘Smoke Stack’, a blue, has an introduction by Kelly followed by its simple line and an immediate catapult into action by Griffin who is both fast and funky. Morgan, cooking hotly, is next followed by eight choruses of Mobley and seven of Coltrane. Kelly has four before four by Chambers. Griffin and Blakey then converse tersely and the theme is riffed to completion.” (Ira Gitler. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Lee Morgan (tp), Hank Mobley/John Coltrane (t-sx), Wynton Kelly (pi), Paul Chambers (bs), Art Blakey (dr)

A1. The Way You Look Tonight

A2. Ball Bearing

B1. All The Things You Are

B2. Smoke Stack

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Jackie McLean - McLean's Scene

“You can take the word scene, man, and make it means almost anything you want. A scene can be a place, man; a scene can be a setting, man, or a scuffle. A scene can be active or static, moving or unmoving. A scene can evan be a thing. This scene is many of those things, man; this scene Jackie McLean’s Scene.

“I first became aware of Jackie McLean on night five or six years ago in one of New York’s upholstered gin-mills. The nightclub, which is named after a famous jazz alto saxophonist, was fast falling asleep. The waiters, with nothing to do, stood off in corners and griped about tips. The famous altoist, who, paradoxically, was self booked into the joint that bore his name, was on the bandstand to play his last set. Just then, a tall, rather lean kid with nervous mannerisms climbed unto the band stand. The kid played alto too. When he played he stood with his legs wide apart; his shoulders were hunched to such a degree that his neck disappeared into the cavern between them. He held his horn pointed down, and he wrestled with it, moving it from side to side and up and down with the inflections of the line he was playing. He played long ribbons of cascading eighth-notes, violent ‘blue’ notes and familiar ‘quotes’. It was embarrassingly obvious that he had listened to and watched Charlie Parker with avidity.

“Jackie was little more than a teenager then. He was the apprentice working side by side with his chosen ‘master’. And it’s quite natural for someone that young, and that impressionable to be overwhelmed by the huge ability, imagination and strength of Charlie Parker.

“The next, impressive, time I heard Jackie he was one of the front-line craftsmen in Charlie Mingus’ Workshop and Foundry. The difference in his playing was amazing; what had once been a rather aggressive reproduction of the sound and the fury of Charlie Parker had spread in all directions; even the sound of his horn had changed somewhat. This was roughly three years ago, when Mingus’ arrangements and compositions were sensitizing audiences and musicians alike with their unusual ferocity and moodiness. The overwhelming influence in every facet of Jackie’s playing was still Parker, but something else had happened. As Mingus said of him, ‘Jackie’s got some new things to play.’ I’m sure the Workshop must have been an awesome, a frightening and a frustrating thing for him, but playing with Mingus seemed to open Jackie’s ears a little more, and it gave him the assurance to take some harmonic chances.

“There’s much of the ‘hung lover’ in Jackie’s playing these days. This is a quality of feeling that has to do with loss, with hurt and with raw tenderness. In this respect, his playing has a relationship with the singing of Billie Holiday. Of course their individual approach to music is entirely different, but in their quality of feeling, in their emotional projection, both seem to be carrying a ‘torch’ for life.

“The quality of suffering that is projected in the music of both these artists is a quality that exists beneath the tough, worldly veneer that they musically affect. In Billie’s singing, this veneer is projected as a strange kind of stoicism; in Jackie’s playing, it’s an angry defiance. What’s underneath the sound and the style, in both cases, is something distinctly human, distinctly perplexed and perplexing. Their music is a crystalization of ‘hard’ living, of pleasure without joy, of disappointment and, in some respects, frustration. Underneath the hard and ‘jaded’ exterior of their music is a deep sensitivity for what’s right with the world through an expression of what’s wrong in the world.

“When Jackie plays, he expresses himself in hard clipped phrases that, superficially, act tough and rude, but that in themselves are an expresxsion of grief. He is asking, he is wondering, he is anxious. With the notable exception of ‘Old Folks’ tension is the main ingredient in his playing. The phrases push and pull; they climb and jab with a brittle vitality that has a sharp acuteness. His sound is that of a skirling piper who cries defiance, raw compassion and human frailty in one breath. This is McLean’s Scene as I hear it.

“‘Gone with the Wind’: Hardman, Chambers, Garland… Everyone solos. Bill Hardman makes some funny remarks, Jackie wails his lament with a high brittle quality.

“‘Our Love Is Here to Stay’: Waldron, Phipps and Taylor - Jackie’s sound has broadened somewhat here, he’s less aggressive, more contemplative.

“‘Mean to Me’: Hardman, Chambers and Garland are back again. Paul plays excellently on his plucked choruses, notice how he gets a ‘rhythm guitar’ sound on some of his notes, not only on this track on the others too.

“‘McLean’s Scene’: A blues by Jackie. Hardman, Garland, Chambers all solo at an easy, quick-step tempo. Jackie’s sound is looser, more pliable but he enunciates in an emphatic staccato fashion. Going out, the two horns blend splendidly.

“‘Old Folks’: This ballad has a broad nostalgic quality to it that is unusual for Jackie. There’s a plaintive wideness to his playing.

“‘Outburst’: An original by Jackie that should have been dedicated to all the Lord’s little ones. It has a hard, punching vitality at a mad tempo.

“Jackie McLean is a 27 year old New Yorker. He has played with Bud Powell, Mingus, Art Blakey and any other number of ‘name’ groups and musicians. He has appeared on Prestige with Miles, Gene Ammons, Hank Mobley and has four other albums of his own: ‘Lights Out’, ‘Jackie’s Pal’ (with Bill Hardman), ‘Jackie McLean & Co.’ and ‘Alto Madness’ with John Jenkins.

“Bill Hardman has played notably with Mingus and Blakey (both with Jackie). He too is 27, is from Cleveland and this is his third recorded excursion for the Prestige-New Jazz combine. The other two are on the ‘Pal’ and ‘McLean & Co.’ albums.

“Mal Waldron is something of a house pianist for Prestige. He has recorded with any number of different groups from Gene Ammons to Teddy Charles and has three albums of his own on Prestige and one on New Jazz. He’s from New York and will soon be 32.

“Red Garland is originally from Dallas, Texas; he was born there May 13, 1923. His most fruitful days were spent in Philadelphia, where he backed practically every kind of jazz style. He has played and recorded with Miles Davis on Prestige, has four albums of his own on Prestige, and has been an integral part of many dates on both Prestige and New Jazz.

“Art Taylor has had many dates with all sorts of Prestige and New Jazz outfits and one album of his own: ‘Taylor’s Wailers’. He is 30 and a New Yorker.

“Paul Chambers is from Pittsburgh, but moved early to Detroit. He plays with Miles most and records with many outfits from Prestige.

“Arturo Phipps (as he prefers to be known) has been in and around jazz since he first came to New York with the Three Bips and a Bop. This same group brough Babs Gonzales to national prominence. During those days he gigged all over 52nd Street, with as he puts it, ‘Just about everybody.’ Some of those people were Sonny Rollins, Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz; of a later date have been Don Elliott and Gigi Gryce. Arturo has a photography business of his own and still gigs all over New York. This is his first appearance on the current New Jazz series.” (Jack Maher. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Jackie McLean (a-sx), Bill Hardman (tp), Mal Waldron/Red Garland (pi), Paul Chambers/Arthur Phipps (bs), Art Taylor (dr)

A1. Gone With The Wind

A2. Our Love Is Here To Stay

A3. Mean To Me

B1. McLean's Scene

B2. Old Folks

B3. Outburst

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Jackie McLean - A Long Drink of the Blues

“For some reason, it has become traditional to apologise for the release of a blowing session. This is mostly due, I feel, to the growing influence on jazz of critics who judge the music by standards that have nothing whatever to do with it. Jazz has been judged, more and more increasingly, by standards that are most pertinent when the subject under discussion is European classical music, and it is only natural that it does not meet those standards. In the same way, if the great classical saxophonist Marcel Mule were to be judged by standards meant to apply to Jackie McLean, he would not measure up.

“All of which is to say that the little tune of the record, ‘A Long Drink of the Blues’, -is- a blowing date. As such, it is representative of the talents of the six musicians involved, how they felt at the time, and how well they played on the particular afternoon the session was recorded. The interest it holds is determined only by how well those six men play the blues. Curtis Fuller is one of the two or three of the young trombonists who have made any contribution to the instrument. Webster Young seems to have a greater understanding of Miles Davis than those countless young trumpeters who play like Miles simply because it is fashionable. Gil Coggins is a rarely recorded pianist, and this situation is somewhat inexplicable when you consider how much he has contributed to the few dates he has been on. Paul Chambers is, of course, one of the founders and the only remaining member of the great Miles Davis rhythm section. Louis Hayes is the drummer who has added so much to the groups of Horace Silver and Cannonball Adderly. And, in the area of special interest, Jackie McLean, of whom more in a moment, takes his first solo here on that instrument.

“You will also hear, under the guise of ‘A Long Drink of the Blues (take 1)’, something of what went on in the studio that afternoon. Obviously, formal organization of the type preferred by certain critics was not held in a very high esteem. Since Jackie McLean has made a very successful debut in ‘The Connection’, in which he revealed himself as an incisive naturalistic actor, it is with a certain amount of justifiable pride that we present here his first recorded performance in a speaking role.

“The other side of the LP requires, I think, slightly more extended commentary. It consists of three ballads performed by McLean on alto, Mal Waldron, Arthur Phipps and Art Taylor. Much has been made of musical empathy, and deservedly so, but apparently this quality is only considered worthy of discussion when it is possessed by recognized stars. Regardless of whether or not you happen to like their kind of music, it goes without saying that Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond play extraordinarily well together, one serving as perfect contrast for the other. And reams of copy have been written about the musical affinity that exists between Miles Davis and Gil Evans. It is my opinion that this quality, which is certainly to be desired, can be found nowhere more perfectly expressed than in the music of Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron.

“Both of them have a great understanding of dance music. Now I know that term is tossed around by writers when they wish to deprecate something (most often, they speak of a big band jazz date that didn’t quite come off as a good dance record), but the sense of dance is present in the music of some of our most important modern musicians: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins. The three ballads played here are, I think, much more danceable than many records specifically released for that purpose, and it is to the credit of McLean and Waldron that this should be the case.

“But their affinity goes much beyond that. Both men are as deeply committed to jazz as it is possible for musicians to be. As such, they have rejected certain stylistic elements that might have made their music more universally acceptable, but they have remained better jazzmen for it. Both of them, in sound and approach, project what can only be called a feeling of intense loneliness. It is that quality, I think, which is so grippingly attractive to some listeners and frightening to others. They do not play happy music, but certainly they do play an accurate reflection of the world in which they find themselves. In achieving this, they have abandoned some of what the critics are pleased to call ‘technique’, but they are both consummate musicians in that the style they have worked out is perfectly suited to the statement they have to make. This is something else they have in common with the previously mentioned Davis, Rollins and Coltrane (at an early point in his career, Jackie’s solos sounded like transcriptions for alto of Miles Davis trumpet phrases) as well as the musicians who have most directly shaped their styles: in Jackie’s case, that would be Charlie Parker; in Mal’s, without neglecting the influence of Bud Powell, it would be Thelonious Monk.

“Perhaps I have given the mistaken impression that these two men have been completely neglected in their careers. That is definitely not the case. At least part of Jackie’s situation has been a matter of personal difficulty, and for a time he was denied a New York cabaret card. But one does not need a card to perform in a theatre, and so he was able to join the cast of ‘The Connection’. Although the group which played that show was billed as the Freddie Redd Quartet, it was alto and rhythm, and it was Jackie who made the greatest impression, both as soloist and actor. Whatever merits the play itself may have had, it did prove that jazz could be an integral part of a theatrical evening, and, for once, the music used to prove such a point was uncompromising in its honesty. Surprisingly enough - or not, depending on your point of view - the critics (drama critics, this time) went for the jazz as much as for the play, and gave a much more accurate appraisal of both than the majority of jazz writers who commented on it. And one thing that was certainly accomplished was a turning point in Jackie McLean’s career.

“Mal Waldron’s is a different situation. For the last few years before her death, he was Billie Holiday’s accompanist. Although he learned much from that experience for which he is grateful, musically and otherwise, and although Billie always left a set open in the evening for Mal’s trio, the job did mean that he was absent for a while from New York’s battleground of young musicians. He is back now, and playing again, and has even more to contribute than before.

“When the smoke of the jazz battles have cleared away, when flash-in-pans have been forgotten and proper assessments have been made, I think it will be found that Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron have made some of the most valuable and durable music of their time. These three ballads will be an important part of that contribution.” (Joe Golberg. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Jackie McLean (t-sx), Webster Young (tp), Curtis Fuller (tb), Gil Coggins/Mal Waldron (pi), Paul Chambers/Arthur Phipps (bs), Louis Hayes/Art Taylor (dr)

A1. A Long Drink Of The Blues (Take 1)

A2. A Long Drink Of The Blues (Take 2)

B1. Embraceable You

B2. I Cover The Waterfront

B3. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)

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Elmo Hope - Informal Jazz

"Friday is Prestige Day at Van Gelder's. Either recording, tape editing or master cutting is carried on. The Friday that this particular session was cut, the gathering was an informal one. Many of the musicians had played together before and the ones who hadn't were familiar with each other's work.

"Donald Byrd and Hank Mobley had played together in the Jazz Messenger and John Coltrane, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones represent, numerically, a majority vote in the Miles Davis quintet. Elmo Hope and Joe are old buddies, having played together in Joe Morris' band and in countless sessions, then and since.

"No introductions were necessary between the players but to you, the audience, it would be an oversight if they were omitted.

"Elmo Hope, the nominal leader on the date, is a native New Yorker who grew up with Bud Powell. With the Joe Morris' band in the Forties, Elmo has done mostly free-lance playing in the Fifties appearing occasionally with Dud Bascomb. [...]

"Donald Byrd is another of the recent Detroit immigrants to New York. Still in his early twenties. Donald studied at famed Cass Tech High in Detroit and continued at the Manhattan School in New York. He first appeared with George Wallington at Cafe Bohemia in 1955 and later replaced Kenny Dorham in the Jazz Messengers. [...]

"Henry 'Hank' Mobley was born in Georgia but raised in New Jersey. Played with Paul Gayten's R&B band but first attracted attention with Max Roach's combo in the early Fifties. After playing with Dizzy Gillespie for most of 1954, he joined Horace Silver's quartet late in that year. This group evolved into the Jazz Messengers of which Hank was a regular member until he left midway in 1956.

"John Coltrane is from Philadelphia. Born in North Carolina, he moved to the Quaker City at an early age. In that city he studied at both the Granoff and Ornstein music schools. 'Trane', as he is known, played with Eddie Vinson in 1947-48, Dizzy Gillespie 49-51, Early Bastic 52-53, Johnny Hodges 53-54 nad has been with Miles Davis since 1955. [...]

"Paul Chambers. Born in Pittsburgh but spent most of his life in Detroit before coming to New Yorkin 1954. Worked with Bennie Green, Jay and Kai and George Wallington. With Miles Davis group since 1955. Considered to be -the- new star on his instrument, Paul is equally adept at plucked or bowed solos. Two of the latter are his contributions in this set. [...]

"Philly Joe Jones is, as you've surmised, from the City of Brotherly Love. As mentioned before, he was with Elmo in Joe Morris' band. Joe came to prominence in the Fifties with Tony Scott's combo and Tadd Dameron's band. Since late 1955 he has been swinging the Miles Davis quintet along with Chambers. [...]

"In keeping with the informal format, the tunes are mainly vehicles for blowing. The two originals 'Weeja' and 'On It' are by Elmo. Both are riffers which expedite the blowing. 'Weeja' has everyone 'confirming' Bird's word and 'On It' is a blues. 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams' has that after a love affair feeling - a kind of reminiscing over what no longer is but how wonder were those moments, nevertheless. 'Avalon' lends itself to swinging admirably. 'Weeja' and 'On It' revive the tenor battle which died when Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons broke up. It's still a stimulating tournament and Hank and Trane make it interesting because although they are both in a general idiom they are as different as two men in a similar area can be." (Ira Gitler. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Elmo Hope (pi), Donald Byrd (tp), John Coltrane/Hank Mobley (t-sx), Paul Chambers (bs), Philly Joe Jones (dr)

A1. Weeja

A2. Polka Dots And Moonbeams

B1. On It

B2. Avalon

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Johnny Griffin - The Congregation

"Johnny Griffin is a symbol of jazz energy. The most immediately obvious components of this energy are his extraordinary technical dexterity and hard, muscular sound. But what seems to generate this significant method of projection is a power plant which has roots in the traditional - primitive forms of jazz. Like his contemporary Sonny Rollins (who has had a strong influence on him), Griffin draws on basic jazz elements as the essence of his playing. His strident voice has a raw, virile quality and it shouts, at times, with a strength of expression in the Bessie Smith or Mahalia Jackson manner.

"It is this analogy in Griffin's music that lifts him above the classification of just 'hard bopper'. While there is a great deal of Bird in Griffin, his tenor sax conception relates more emphatically to an earlier era than bop. Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas and Lester Young have made no small impression on him and he seems also to have listened closely to Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray and Rollins.

"Thelonious Monk also draws 'especial bows' (as Joe Segal cited in his notes for Johnny's first Blue Note album, BLP 1533) and the reasons behind Griffin's predilection for Monk are understandable. Monk's awareness of his musical ancestry is evident in everything he plays and Griffin seems to be motivated by what are essentially the same factors. Johnny is going in the same general direction of Monk - carrying on the jazz tradition without losing sight of its basics.

"Now an intermittent member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Griffin, who was born and brought up in Chicago, has worked with, among other, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry and Monk. This is his third Blue Note LP, BLP 1559 featured expressive 'battles' with John Coltrane and Hank Mobley.

"Sonny Clark, the blues-influenced pianist from Pittsburgh, who, until recently, spent the bulk of his career in California with the Light House All-Stars and Buddy Delfranco, provides sympathetic and firm comping and solos in a consistently interesting fashion. He says his first two most important influences have been Monk and Bud Powell - stylistically the latter's impression, filtered through Horace Silver, is the more apparent.

"Paul Chambers, who recent 'Bass on Top' album (BLP 1569) elevated him to the realized high-potential class, is represented on almost a dozen Blue Note LPs. He is equally creative as both an arco and pizzicato soloist and is, on this record as always, a strikingly intuitive accompanist.

"Kenny Dennis is a Philadelphia-born drummer who makes his recording debut here. For some time an associate of Sonny Stitt's, Kenny shows himself to be a steady, working drummer of impressive skills.

"The title tune, 'The Congregation', by Griffin, has him bouncing along in a blues-happy, foot tapping, hand clapping groove. Clark, in a Silverish vein, and Chambers solo with similar effect. This tune proves that it is possible to be funky without being angry.

"John Jenkins, the Chicago altoist and another of the gifted reedmen (Griffin, Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore are only a few of the others) who have emerged from that aread within the past several years, contributed 'Latin Quarter' which has a melody line based on that of 'Tangerine'. After the Latinesque opening Griffin takes off on the changes with a strong-toned, moving solo. Clark and Chambers deliver a pair of typical statements before Johnny returns to wail some more before finishing up with an extended ending.

"The very pretty 'I'm Glad There Is You' is taken at an unusual medium tempo but retains the aforementioned quality. Johnny's pair of solos, which precede and follow a Clark statement, are stimulating and show a mature, cohesive flow of thought.

"'Main Spring' by Griffin is a down-home blues with Johnny blowing new life into what might have been just another down-home type blues. Clark, a well oriented exponent of this sort of thing, excells in the fashion of his school and Chambers succeeds him with one of his patented and absorbing bowed solos.

"'It's You or No One' is rendered a medium-up treatment and, as the closing number of the set, gives everyone a chance to stretch out a bit: Johnny, Clark, Chambers (bowed), then Johnny again to trade some fours with Dennis before taking it out.

"That Johnny Griffin's roots are immersed in the funky earth of spirituals and the blues (and have grown from there) is what provokes and enables him to make basic statements in what can be described as an 'up to date' way. Perhaps the primary fault with too many of today's musicians is that they are only concerned with contemporary concepts. But jazz did not begin with Bird, and Griffin along with a handful of other suggest that it will not end with him either." (Robert Levin. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Sonny Clark (pi), Paul Chambers (bs), Kenny Dennis (dr)

A1. The Congregation

A2. Latin Quarter

A3. I'm Glad There Is You

B1. Main Spring

B2. It's You Or No One

B3. I Remember You

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Kenny Dorham - Quiet Kenny

Released six years after 'Kenny Dorham Quintet' (see below), the increase in sophistication both in arrangements and musicianship is immediately obvious here from the off (the wonderfully arranged 'Lotus Blossom'). Dorham, leading a quartet this time around, is joined by a rhythm section of fantastic players who were in peak form in 1959: Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. With such world class backing, Dorham's musical ideas are propelled forward seamlessly and his incredible ear for understated soloing and melody shines through. This is the 1986 OJC LP reissue featuring the bonus track 'Mack the Knife'.

Performers: Kenny Dorham (tp), Tommy Flanagan (pi), Paul Chambers (bs), Art Taylor (dr)

1. Lotus Blossom
2. My Ideal
3. Blue Friday
4. Alone Together
5. Blue Spring Shuffle
6. I Had The Craziest Dream
7. Old Folks
8. Mack The Knife

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Red Garland - Moodsville Volume 6

Another of several fine recordings by Red Garland on the Moodsville label, this time with his trio (Volume 3, featuring solo ballads, can be found below). Paul Chambers and Art Taylor are certainly a winning combination anywhere, but with Garland they are truly at home. The interplay is as incredible to listen to as it is seamless, accenting the cool flourishes and complex, pained melancholy of the pianist's playing. 

Performers: Red Garland (pi), Paul Chambers (bs), Art Taylor (dr)

A1. I Love You Yes I Do
A2. Blues For Ann
A3. I'll Never Stop Loving You
B1. And The Angels Sing
B2. T'Ain't Nobody's Business
B3. Bass-ment Blues

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Hank Mobley - Workout

One of the high water marks of mid-50s early 60s hard bop. The mood here is beyond casual and effortless, with the sense of calm exertion the title suggests. The rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers and Jones is, of course, an historic combination, and as well as Mobley on top form (unhampered by the lung problems that sadly would affect his musical career significantly within a decade), you have Grant Green displaying meaty, ground chops that show him very much in his element, reaching stunning peaks and avoiding the showboating that could sometimes hamper his performance as a sideman.

Performers: Hank Mobley (t-sx), Grant Green (gt), Wynton Kelly (pi), Paul Chambers (bs), Philly Joe Jones (dr)

A1. Workout
A2. Uh-Huh
B1. Smokin'
B2. The Best Things In Life Are Free
B3. Greasin' Easy

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