If you listen to things like Sirius radio, you probably think the same things I do: where does the dj find all of this amazingly obscure material. I mean, I think I’ve got a pretty good collection and knowledge of music, but like those djs, UK based AVID records comes up with things that I never even knew COULD HAVE existed. Do these guys have pasty white skin and just linger around used album bins all day under fluorescent lights? However they find this stuff, they deserve some sort of medal. Here’s the latest mother lode:
Terry Gibbs first made his name with vibe-ing for Benny Goodman and then with Buddy DeFranco, but he also led some hopping bands of his own. The first disc has him in quartet settings in 55 & 56 with Terry Pollard/p, Herman Wright/b and Bert Dale-Jerry Segal/dr bopping on swing pieces like “Seven Come Eleven,” “Dickie’s Dream” and “Mean To Me” as well as going all out on Gibbs’ own “Nothing To It” and “Gibberish.” A 1955 big band which includes Hal McKUsick-sax provides feathery framework on “Autumn Nocturne” and a kitschy “Adios” , while “Mood Indigo” sounds just about right. But, nothing prepares you for the 1957 vibe summit with Gibbs, Vic Feldman and Larry Bunker as they sound like John Henry hammering down the Trans Continental Railroad with Lou Levy/p, Max Bennett/b and Mel Lewis on a happening “Dipsy Doodle” and Neopolitan traffic jam of “Broadway.” Marimbas, vibes and xylophones mingle and tingle with the piano and ride cymbal to create sounds that sound like the shootout at OK Corral. YEAH!
Few artists had as unique and identifiable sound as clarinetist/tenor saxist Jimmy Giuffre, who almost single handedly defined the “cool school.” His most popular environment was the trio format, as on the 1959 session with subtoned Jim Hall/g and Red Mitchell/b. His lower register tone on the stick is in full force on “Happy Man” bops with understated authority on “Song of the Wind.” In the same year, he got together with Jimmy Rowles/p, Mitchell/b and Lawrence Marable/dr and he cha chas with joy on “I Got Those Blues” and a wonderfully liquid “Stella By Starlight.” The next year he keeps Hall, and adds some muscle with Buell Neidlinger/b and Billy Osborne/dr for a gig at New York’s Five Spot, where they all stretch out a bit, with Giuffre and Neidlinger creating some sparks on “My Funny Valentine” and some snapping blues on breathy tenor on “Wee See.” Most interesting is a trio of tunes from a 1958 The Four Brothers Sound that has Giuffre overdubbing sax parts (with occasional support by Brookmeyer/p and Jim Hall/g) for some attention getting versions of “Four Brothers” and the moody “Ode to Switzerland” which mixes counterpoint with thoughtful harmonies. Why is nothing being played these days as adventurous and attractive?
Hundreds of artists have tried to “swing the classics” or “classicize the swingers” but pianist Jacques Loussier did it best. First, he makes the wise decision to stick to baroque period (namely, Bach) for his jazz permutations, which works perfectly, since bebop essentially came from this format. Ever hear of “Moose the Mooche”? It’s a total rip from Johanne Sebastian! Three of the four albums he recorded in 60-61 have him in with Christian Garros/dr and Pierre Michelot/b and together they essentially sound like The Modern Jazz Quartet without Milt Jackson on vibes. There is some wonderfully sublime interplay here, with material such as “Prelude #1” returning to your head after knowing it since childhood. A 1962 session has the trio doing the Kurt Weill songbook, and the material such as “ Stay Well” or “La Complainte de Mackie” is fantastically hip and relevant. You’ll be surprised how much you like this guy!
Clark Terry had an illustrious career playing the trumpet and flugelhorn for Basie and more famously with Ellington as well as leading a slew of small groups and big bands. He’s caught in a plethora of environs on these 4 sessions. From 1955, he leads a band with Cecil Payne/bs, Jimmy Cleveland/tb, Horace silver/p, Oscar Pettiford/c-b, Wendell Marshall/b and Art Blakey/dr and as you can guess, the music is hard bopping and assertive. “Swahili” jabs with a right, while other pieces such as “Slow Boat” and “Kitten” emphasize intriguing blends of horns, while Pettiford picks like Earl Scruggs. As a sideman for drummer Dave Bailey in 1960, Clark is heard with Junior Cook/ts, Curtis Fuller/tb, Horace Parlan/p and Peck Morrison all stretching out for three songs of ten, eleven and nineteen minutes, respectively. A take of Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t” hits all of the angles just right, which makes sense, since a ’58 session with Thelonious himself shows up and feels about as good as it can get. Terry sounds like a real hipster along with Monk and Sam Jones/b and Philly Joe Jones/dr with the Spherical One sounding wonderfully cheerful, challenged and insouciant and pushed out of his comfort zone on the buoyantly bopping “In Orbit”, the clippety clopping “One Foot in the Gutter” and the shifty “Very Near Blue.” Great session here, and the ’61 meeting with Ellington alumni jimmy Hamilton/ts-cl, Britt Woodman/tb as well as Tommy Flanagan/p, Wendell Marshall/b and Mel Lewis/dr on a happily swinging session that has Hamilton on his gruffy tenor for half the time, a welcome rarity. Terry has some fun with his horn with an other wordly solo on “Two For One,” but that’s the joy of jazz-always a surprise here and there. Hard to beat!
AVID Records
www.avidgroup.co.uk