Back in the mid 50s, big bands were having a tough time finding themselves, being overlooked in favor of the “cool” sounds of the West Coast or the more complex sounds of bebop or Third Stream music. Here, you get Charlie Barnet alumnus Larry Sonn taking his trumpet and bringing together a collection of swingers with a collection of fresh tunes and charts on this 2 disc set of a handful of albums.
You get here a mix of concert and studio sessions from 1955-56,and the charts include section work and solos by the likes of Phil Woods/as, Al Cohn/ts, Milt Hinton/b, Gus John son/dr, Nat Pierce/p, Munddell Lowe-Freddie Green/g just for starters. The charts are delivered by Al Cohn, Nat Pierce and Bob Brookmeyer as well as Sonn, and they sound like something that would keep Woody Herman up at night in a jealous fit. These guys are SWINGERS!!!
Yes, there are some standards such as “Darn That Dream,” “My Heart Stood Still” and “King Porter Stomp,” but they are goosed up and sound marvelously modern. “Lulu’s Back in Town” is as sharp as fins on a ’61 Caddie, while “I’m Glad There Is You” is marvelously oozy. What feels as fresh as morning shower are the pieces by Manny Albam such as “Ida Bridges Falling Down” and “Zanzy” while Al Cohn’s tunes like “ From A to Z” and “Frank But Earnest” make you wonder why you’ve never heard them before. Brookmeyer’s cooler tones on “Levy’s Leap” and “Music For Drowning Your Troubles” includes a formidable sax section in Phil Woods, Gene Quill, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Gen Allen and they are as fluid as sorghum molasses.
The band swings like it’s Kansas City on Freddie Green’s “Down For Double” and Tony Scott, Charlie Shavers and Georgie Auld make the Swing Era sound modern on ”Scott’s Tape” and “The Great Lie.” All of the songs are around 2-4 minutes, the solos are concise and lyrical and the rhythm sections make you want to DANCE. Isn’t that what jazz was initially created for?
Fresh Sound Records