Jazz Haus Records has been uncovering some wonderful lost sessions for the past year or so, and this latest pair is a delightful mix of two more obscure artists that will be true joys for the collector.
At one time, bassist Oscar Pettiford was THE bebop bassist, and before his untimely death in 1960 from a car accident he was on the throes of redifining the use of the instrument. Here, just a bit over a year before meeting with his fate he is teamed up in a variety of settings with US jazz pioneers Lucky Thompson/ss and Kenny Clarke/dr as well as Europeans like Hans Hammerschmid/p, Jimmy Pratt/dr, a very Getz-sounding Hans Koller/ts, and a woody Rolf Kuhn/cl among others for some creative readings of standards and originals. Thompson’s sax is trasluscent on a stunning “Sophisticated Lady,” and “A Smooth One” has some gorgeous clarinet work. Koller’s tenor on “The Nearness of You” will make your jaw drop, while Pettiford shows what a bass can do on “Yesterdays” and “All the Things You Are.” Manna from heaven!
Pianist Jutta Hipp had a Quixotic career. She actually put out a few discs on Blue Note, one a real beaut with Zoot Sims, and then she essentially dropped out of the scene to become a seamstress. Go figure! She’s got a Hampton Hawes Gerald Wiggens touch straight out of mainstream bop, and handles the collection of standards with aplomb, showing some Garnerisms on “Erroll’s Bounce” and working with trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff on “What’s New” and the luscious tenor of Hans Koller on “Moonlight in Vermont.” Her own creative touch is observant on “Blues After Hours” a delivery that makes you wonder why she could walk away from the ivories. We are the lesser for it.
Jazz Haus Records