During an era when jazz is on the fringe of the fringes in terms of popularity, it’s almost impossible to believe and appreciate the era from 1942-1960 that had jazz artists filling up giant concert halls with sounds of swing, bebop and mainstream hardbop. This popularity was due mostly to one man, Norman Granz, who was a founding father and producer for labels Mercury, Cleff, Norgram and Verve during these halcyon days. During this period, he signed up artists ranging from Nat “King” Cole to Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Anita O’Day, Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie for tours under the banner of Jazz at the Philharmonic and recording these concerts to make popular long-playing albums and 78 rpm singles. This four disc set captures the artistic allure of the period, breaking the music into concise and definable eras.
Disc One from 1942-48 mostly consists of sizzling concert performances in various halls in Los Angeles. The classic “Blues” with Nat “King” Cole, Illinois Jacquet/ts, Jack McVie/ts, Les Paul/g at the forefront is a jam session tour de force with wailing tenors reaching the stratosphere, while Dexter Gordon bops in on “I Blowed and Gone.”You get to hear master of the tenor sax Coleman Hawkins back to back with heir apparent Lester Young along with bebop progenitor Charlie Parker and drummer Buddy Rich during a 13 minute “I Got Rhythm” while Coleman goes solo on a highly influential studio rendition of “Picasso.”
Disc Two features the Oscar Peterson “trio” of him with Herb Ellis/g, Ray Brown/b and either Joe Morello, Buddy Rich or Louie Bellson on drums in support of Buddy Franco on “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and “Easy Living” with even Fred Astaire swinging with deft on “No Strings” and dancing away on “Slow Dances.”
Disc Three includes latter day Billie Holiday with pianist Bobby Tucker on “I Thought About You,” which compares richly with same piece done by Ella Fitzgerald with the Frank DeVol Orchestra. The two go divergent, as Ellas is coy with Louis Armstrong on a joyful “Can’t We Be Friends” and Holiday is slowly wearing away on “What A Little Moonlight Can Do.” Old time Swing Era artists like Lester young, TeddY Wilson, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Lawrence Brown and Lionel Hampton get a place in the sun as otherwise forgotten stars are featured on albums that have stood the test of time.
The final Disc Four has Granz with his Verve label, with a wide range of music that goes from sophisticated sounds from The Modern Jazz Quartet on “D and E Blues” and drifty reeds from Hal McKusic/as, Lee Konitz/as, Jimmy Giuffre with Bill Evans in support on “Somp’M Outa’ Nothin’” to bopping vocals by Blossom Dearie on “If I Were A Bell.” Mainstream swingers like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Budd Johnson and Roy Eldridge groove together on “Budd Johnson,” Stan Getz starts his reign of the king of the mellifluous tenor on “It Never Entered My Mind” and beboppers Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins tear apart “On the Sunny Side of the Street” like hungry dogs.
The allure of this wonderful set is that you get to hear the wide ranging palate of jazz during its last hurrah. Swing, bebop, hard bop, mainstream, artsy big bands and a plethora of wonderful vocalists are all featured and in splendor, making you wonder what would have happened to American music, and culture, if the barbarians of rock and roll hadn’t stormed the gates. This is the music that dreams are made of.
www.vervelabelgroup.com