Body and Soul Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones
64 down, only 121 to go, maybe.
The current (7/15/04) top downloads are:
Volume 1
Benny Goodman - from "The King of Swing"
Bill Evans & Toots Thielemans - from "Affinity"
Billie Holiday - from "Blue Billie"
Coleman Hawkins - from "Jazz Masters"
Eric Dolphy
Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond - from "Quartet"
Jason Moran - from "Modernistic"
Mel Torme
Nicholas Payton - from "Live Jazzfestival Bern"
Sonny Rollins - from "Brass Trio"
Stan Kenton - from "Street of Dreams"
Sun Ra - from "Holiday for Soul Dance"
Volume 2
Arturo Sandoval - from "Flight to Freedom" [AMG]
Birelli Lagrene - from "Standards" [AMG]
Cal Tjader - from "
The Grace Cathedral Concert" [AMG]
Carmen McRae
Chet Baker - from "Jazz After Dark" [AMG]
Dexter Gordon - from "Live at the Montmartre Jazzhus, Copenhagen" [AMG]
Erroll Garner - from "Jazz Piano Anthology"
Hot Club Quintet - from "Hot Club of Paris"
Joe Pass - from "Apassionato" [AMG]
John Coltrane - from "Coltrane's Sound" [AMG]
Louis Armstrong from "The Very Best of Louis Armstrong"
Tete Montoliu - from "Catalonian Fire" [AMG]
Volume 3
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers featuring Donald Harrison from "Jazz by
Candlelight" (Note: As far as I can tell, this album is out of print. Check a
Blakey discography for other versions that may be in print.)
Johnny Griffin from "Live Leipziger Jazztage 1998" (Note: This is a live version that most likely has never been
officially released.)
Johnny Smith from "
Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions" (Disc 4)
Keith Jarrett from "
The Cure"
Lester Young from "
Small Group Sessions 1942-44" (Note: The indicated album is apparently out of print, although I've provided a link to an
in-print album containing the same track.)
Oscar Peterson from "
Oscar Peterson Quartet No. 1" (Note: Amazon doesn't have the complete track listing for this disc, although it
can be found elsewhere.)
Sarah Vaughan from "
The Complete Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 1: Great Jazz Years (1954-1956)"
Stephane Grappelli from "
The Grappelli Story" (Disc 1) (Note: Grappelli lived for over 90 years and his discography - most of which
is out of print - is huge. He almost certainly performed this song many times on many albums and compilations.)
Woody Herman from "
Verve Jazz Masters 54"
Volume 4
Benny Carter from "
Montreux '77"
Bobby Short from "
Celebrating 30 Years at Cafe Carlyle"
Charles Mingus from "
In a Soulful Mood"
Charlie Haden from "
Quartet West"
Chris Potter from "
Gratitude"
Diana Krall from "
Steppin' Out"
Gary Burton from "
For Hamp, Red, Bags and Cal"
Jim Hall & Bob Brookmeyer from "
Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival"
Art Pepper from "
Complete Galaxy Recordings" (Disc 15)
Stan Getz & Jimmy Rowles from "
The Peacocks"
Volume 5
Ella Fitzgerald from "Ella and Louis" (Disc 3) (Note: I can't locate the disc this is on.)
Duke Ellington from "
Centennial Edition" (Disc 9, Take 1)
Etta James
Gene Krupa from "
Live!! at Town Hall, NYC, June 9, 1945"
Joe Henderson from "
The Standard Joe" (Take 1)
Joshua Redman (Note: This is probably from his "
eponymous album".)
Maynard Ferguson (Note: This may be from his out-of-print album "
Body and Soul".)
Roy Eldridge from "Jazz Masters - 100 Ans De Jazz" (Note: I can't locate the indicated album, but a version is available
on his "
After You've Gone" album.)
Sonny Stitt from "
New York Jazz"
"The liner notes of one album called him a "saxophonologist supreme" - grammatically suspect, but absolutely true. Sonny Stitt was a ferocious competitor: if there was a good band behind him and tunes he could sink his teeth into, he would blow hard all night, leaving all but the best in the dust. A frequent partner with Gene Ammons, his style was cut from the same cloth: simple, brash, and fierce. Despite critical dismissal (accused of being a Parker copycat, he switched to tenor because of it) and personal problems, his power shone through on nearly everything he did.When he was seven, Edward Boatner was adopted by his stepfather, who gave him their family name of Stitt. Both of his parents were music teachers, and he learned the alto from an early age. His early models were Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges, and he joined Tiny Bradshaw's R&B group while still a teenager. While he was with Bradshaw, Stitt developed his style, supposedly with no knowledge of Charlie Parker. ("Now I didn't have the slightest inkling of how Bird sounded; except for those short solos on two or three numbers with the Jay McShann band I hadn't even heard him on records.") He met Parker for the first time in 1942, jammed with him for an hour, after which Bird said "Man, you sound too much like me!" Thus started a friendship which continued throughout Parker's life.
After the stint with Bradshaw, Stitt joined the Billy Eckstine band - filling the alto chair vacated by Charlie Parker. A stay with Dizzy Gillespie followed, and in 1950 Stitt made a recording session which would influence the rest of his career. His co-leader was Gene Ammons, a gruff tenor; the tune was "Blues Up and Down", which became a hit. The two toured a while to promote the song, and then decided to form a regular group. When Stitt switched to tenor sax, his tone was similar to Ammons'; this lent itself well to sax battles, both on record and in concert. Stitt left the group in 1951, and with two brief exceptions (Clifford Brown-Max Roach in 1954, Dizzy in the late Fifties) he spent the rest of the decade as a single, recording for many companies in a wide variety of settings. However, one thing remained constant: the competitive spirit fostered by Gene Ammons.
The 1960s may have been Stitt's busiest era. He started the decade in the Miles Davis band, replacing John Coltrane. He freelanced for several companies, including a Gene Ammons reunion for Prestige - all on top of his constant touring. In about 1966 he endorsed the Varitone attachment, a combination amplifier/effects box for saxophones. (It can be heard on several albums from this period; he stopped using it around 1972.) At around the same time he formed an organ trio with Don Patterson and Billy James, recording several albums for Prestige. Stitt remained with this group for a longer time than any other band in his life.
The Seventies were less hectic for Stitt, though not by much. He had married and purchased a house in Washington - his first permanent residence in years. When Gene Ammons left prison in 1969, he made some reunion albums with Stitt, the last of which in 1973. The organ group broke up around 1971; Stitt signed a new contract with Muse, resulting in a long series of albums, often with Barry Harris. His level of playing had fallen somewhat, but the beauty was still there in certain moments. When his teeth were repaired in 1981, his embouchure was greatly improved; his 81 gig at the Keystone Korner shows an enthusiasm often lacking in his later work. His final albums for Muse came in early 1982, weeks before a tour of Japan. Ill health forced him to cancel the tour, and he died of a heart attack on July 22, 1982. His force and imagination are still missed." - Jazz Improv
Wes Montgomery from " The Complete Riverside Recordings" (Disc 4, Take 2)
" Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. He achieved great commercial success during his last few years, only to die prematurely.It had taken Wes a long time to become an overnight success. He started to teach himself guitar in 1943 (using his thumb rather than a pick) and toured with Lionel Hampton during 1948-50; he can be heard on a few broadcasts from the period. But then Montgomery returned to Indianapolis where he was in obscurity during much of the 1950s, working a day job and playing at clubs most nights. He recorded with his brothers vibraphonist Buddy and electric bassist Monk during 1957-59 and made his first Riverside album (1959) in a trio with organist Melvin Rhyne. In 1960 the release of his album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery made him famous in the jazz world. Other than a brief time playing with the John Coltrane Sextet (which also included Eric Dolphy) later in the year, Wes would be a leader for the rest of his life.
Montgomery's recordings can be easily divided into three periods. His Riverside dates (1959-63) are his most spontaneous jazz outings, small-group sessions with such sidemen as Tommy Flanagan, James Clay, Victor Feldman, Hank Jones, Johnny Griffin and Mel Rhyne. The one exception was the ironically titled Fusion, a ballad date with a string section. All of the Riverside recordings have been reissued in a massive 12-CD box set. With the collapse of Riverside, Montgomery moved over to Verve where during 1964-66 he recorded an interesting series of mostly orchestral dates with arranger Don Sebesky and producer Creed Taylor. These records were generally a good balance between jazz and accessibility, even if the best performances were small-group outings with either the Wynton Kelly Trio or Jimmy Smith. In 1967 Wes signed with Creed Taylor at A&M and during 1967-68 he recorded three best-selling albums that found him merely stating simple pop melodies while backed by strings and woodwinds. His jazz fans were upset but Montgomery's albums were played on AM radio during the period, he helped introduce listeners to jazz and his live performances were as freewheeling as his earlier Riverside dates. Unfortunately at the height of his success, he died of a heart attack. However Wes Montgomery's influence is still felt on many young guitarists." - Play Jazz Guitar
Volume 6
"Throughout his career, Zoot Sims was famous for epitomizing the swinging musician, never playing an inappropriate phrase. He always sounded inspired, and although his style did not change much after the early 1950s, Zoot's enthusiasm and creativity never wavered.Zoot's family was involved in vaudeville, and he played drums and clarinet as a youth. His older brother Ray Sims developed into a fine trombonist who sounded like Bill Harris. At age 13, Sims switched permanently to the tenor, and his initial inspiration was Lester Young, although he soon developed his own cool-toned sound. Sims was a professional by the age of 15, landing his first important job with Bobby Sherwood's Orchestra, and joined Benny Goodman's big band for the first time in 1943; he would be one of BG's favorite tenormen for the next 30 years. He recorded with Joe Bushkin in 1944, and even at that early stage, his style was largely set.
After a period in the Army, Sims was with Goodman from 1946-47. He gained his initial fame as one of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" during his time with the Second Herd (1947-49). Zoot had brief stints with Buddy Rich's short-lived big band, Artie Shaw, Goodman (1950), Chubby Jackson and Elliot Lawrence. He toured and recorded with Stan Kenton (1953) and Gerry Mulligan (1954-56). Sims was also a star soloist with Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band of the early 1960s and visited the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman in 1962. A freelancer throughout most of his career, Sims often led his own combos or co-led bands with his friend Al Cohn; the two tenors had very similar sounds and styles. Zoot started doubling on soprano quite effectively in the 1970s. Through the years, he appeared in countless situations, and always seemed to come out ahead. Fortunately, Zoot Sims recorded frequently, leading sessions for Prestige, Metronome, Vogue, Dawn, Storyville, Argo, ABC-Paramount, Riverside, United Artists, Pacific Jazz, Bethlehem, Colpix, Impulse, Groove Merchant, Famous Door, Choice, Sonet, and a wonderful series for Pablo." - Verve
Cassandra Wilson from "Live in Munich"
Clark Terry from "Ritter Der Ronneburg"
"Possessing one of the most distinctive trumpet sounds ever, Clark Terry worked in the background for decades before showing his talent as a showman. A reliable section presence in the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington (he played the role of Puck in Duke’s Such Sweet Thunder) he played on dozens of albums before making his first as a leader. One he had the spotlight, there was no stopping him: showing facility with a variety of mutes, playing self-duets with a horn in each hand, singing blues parodies in a great gravelly voice. At all times a blistering competitor, Terry continues to teach and play with the same intensity as ever.Clark Terry played music at an early age, getting his start in a St. Louis drum and bugle corps. (He continues to support such bands, offering instructional clinics for young buglers.) He learned valve trombone while in high school, and played his first professional gigs on a riverboat band going down the Mississippi River. He served World War II in the Great Lakes Naval Training Station band, and worked a bit for Lionel Hampton upon his release. He traveled to the West Coast with Charlie Ventura, joined the Count Basie band (at the time reduced to an octet) and in 1951 signed with Duke Ellington, a job that lasted until 1959. He began playing flugelhorn in the mid-‘50s, becoming one of the first jazz musicians to play this instrument. He also began a big schedule as a studio musician, playing behind an impressive roster of jazz greats.
Terry began recording as a leader in the mid-‘50s, but didn’t gain major notice until 1964. Playing with Oscar Peterson on Trio + One was a highlight for both men; it also got Terry invited to the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, where he stayed many years. The ‘Seventies were spent recording for Pablo in several groups, and in leading The Big Bad Band, an exciting, if short-lived ensemble. He now records for several labels, and will still appear as a sideman, most recently with the Hugh Ragin Trumpet Ensemble. His time is currently divided between teaching, clinics (two a year at the University of New Hampshire, which holds a yearly jazz festival in his honor), and a still-active tour active tour schedule. Clark Terry has truly done it all … and continues to do it." - Jazz Improv Magazine
Elvin Jones & Michael Brecker from "Blue Note, NYC, 9/9/99"
Frank Sinatra from "Best of Columbia Years"
Red Allen
"On January 7, 1908 Henry "Red" Allen was born in New Orleans bound to be one of the premier jazz musicians of his time. Allen eventually became known for his success as a black American jazz trumpeter and singer. He gained most of his initial musical instruction from his father, Henry Allen, Sr. in whose brass band young Allen played. He continued playing in various New Orleans' bands until he became 19 years old. At this point he decided to move to St. Louis where he joined Joe "King" Oliver's Dixie Syncopators in 1927.Playing with the band gave him the opportunity to travel to New York for the first time in his musical career where he recorded with Clarence Williams. Then, having moved back to New Orleans, he joined pianist Walter "Fats" Pichon and Fate Marable, playing on Mississippi riverboat bands. Little did Allen know, however that his career was about to make a turn for the better. Wanting to offset the success of Louis Armstrong and Okeh, his music label, representatives of the Victor company hired Allen. He travelled to New York where he immediately recorded four sides in July of 1929 with Luis Russell's orchestra (see Pictures). Jazz musicians were quite impressed with Allen's talent which boosted his popularity as he continued as lead trumpet in the band from 1929-32. Working with old friends, Allen recalled, "It was the happiest band I ever worked in... It was also the most swinging band in New York - it put the musicians in an uproar!"
In the years following, he played with Fletcher Henderson (see Pictures), Coleman Hawkins, and with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band (see Pictures). Allen was establishing himself as a premier soloist of the early swing period with his recordings with these various bands. In 1937, he rejoined the Russell band which was now fronted by Louis Armstrong. This took Allen out of the spotlight for a little while and he seemed to have lost some of the direction in his career. In 1940, he left the band to join the New Orleans Revivalist movement. He had decided to focus on leading his own bands and work on his solo career.
At this point, he formed his own sextet which included Ed Hall, J.C. Higginbotham, and Ken Kersey among others. The sextet found reasonable success and they worked steadily for the next 14 years. They worked mainly in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and New York. In the late 1940's and 1950's, Allen had refound his status as one of the best trumpeters whileleading his own groups and recording frequently and successfully with musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey, Kid Ory, Pee Wee Russell, and J.C. Higginbotham. By 1954, Allen found himself working regularly at the Metropole in New York. The Metropole being a bar in which Allen, Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey and J.C. Higginbotham played most nights. Here, "Allen's approach... was refining itself into something wonderful: a collage of blues phrases, rocket-flares, subterranean rumbles, growls and flutters, often delivered ina determined whisper."
Allen played in the metropole from approximately 1954 until 1965 while touring occasionally in Europe. His first trip to England had was in 1959 with Kid Ory and the following tours where in '64, '66, and '67. Shortly after his arrival from England in 1967, he died from pancreatic cancer on April 17, 1967 in his hometown of New Orleans." - Duke jazz pages
Nick Brignola Sextet from "Baritone Madness"
"Baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola's impressive talents have long vaulted into maturity. He can be readily accounted as a forerunner on stretching the range of the instrument. His particular contributions add to the lively potential of the baritone.By no means a sophomore to the jazz scene Brignola, who was born in 1936 in Troy, New York, gained early attention when he was awarded the first scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston; he was touted as a teen-age phenomenon. It was in 1958 when I first caught him sitting in with Cal Tjader (along with Vince Guaraldi, Al McKibbon and Willie Bobo) at San Francisco's old Blackhawk. It was here, too, drummer Dick Berk and Brignola met as aspiring young players.
As a sideman and leader, Brignola's associates make up a long roster of jazz luminaries--Clark Terry, Wes Montgomery, Woody Herman, Elvin Jones, Buddy Rich, Chet Baker among many others. However, It has been his alliance with trumpeter Ted Curson beginning in 1967 which has provided him with the most effective exposure.
Although the baritone is his instant identification, Brignola has masterful command of a veritable arsenal of a dozen different woodwind instruments. Aside from leading his own quartet around his home base in Troy, unsurprisingly he is an active clinician and teacher; he serves on the jazz education faculties of Albany Slate University, Flussell Sage College, Union College and the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock.
"When I start playing, swinging is automatic," Brignola notes, "and I like playing long interesting lines utilizing substitute chord changes." Brignola's solos are fiery and animated; his rich ideas pour out fluidly. "Nick's ideas are unending," Bill Watrous said. The character of his playing includes personalizing every note--whether the notes are part of a brief comment or of an elongated musical essay.
Reflecting his direct transference of Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond's tenet of emphatically strong melodic lines, Brignola is also a gifted melody player. Consequently, if you freeze a Brignola solo and review the pattern of notes, they are all essentially strings of melodies. Add to this, another Brignola asset--his strong rhythmic trademark, and we arrive at a communicative brand of swing.
Gary Smulyan--Woody Herman's current baritone player made a descriptive comment: "Nick doesn't just blow into his horn--he screams into it! And he should have been out front on the scene over ten years ago." Physically, the baritone is, of course, a large, imposing horn. Brignola has forged a resilient psyche allowing him to transcend this contest. "Everytime I pick up the big horn, I'm challenging it as it challenges me. I have to conquer it and prove that I can play it with force and conviction," Brignola says. This is precisely the way he plays it. This album represents as boldly fine an example of Nick Brignola's unraveling strengths as anything else he has on record." - Herb Wong
Serge Chaloff from "Jazz Classics" (Disc 1)
"In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Serge Chaloff was considered by many to be the greatest modern baritone saxophonist. But with the popularity of Gerry Mulligan in the mid-1959s and his own personal problems, Chaloff's star faded. This is unfortunate because he was a brilliant player, a fiery improviser with a rich, deep tone that in itself was a thing of beauty. But with the release of a Mosaic box set (which included all the sides recorded by him under his own name) and his induction into the New England Hall of Fame, hopefully his neglect by most jazz fans will be rectified.Chaloff was born in Boston on Nov. 24, 1923 to parents who were both involved in music education. He at first studied piano but at age 12 switched to the baritone sax. His first great influences were Harry Carney and Jack Washington, the respective stalwarts of the Ellington and Basie bands. He considered himself largely self-taught because, as he told Leonard Feather, "Who could teach me? I couldn't chase Carney all around the country."
After he became a professional musician, he pursued a journeyman career in several big bands, including those of Ina Rae Hutton, Shep Fields and Jimmy Dorsey. Then he joined Georgie Auld's group which frequently played on New York's legendary 52nd Street. It was with this group that Chaloff first began to gain recognition as a soloist. Perhaps even more importantly, it was there that he first heard Charlie Parker who became his greatest influence after Carney and Washington. But his big break came in 1947 when he joined Woody Herman's Second Herd. The sax section of that very popular band became known as the "Four Brothers" and besides Chaloff included Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Stan Getz, and all four saxophonists became jazz stars. Chaloff began winning first place baritone in many of the magazine polls of that time, and it seemed as if he was about to launch a major career. Unfortunately, this was a time when heroin was becoming rampant in the modern jazz world and in particular the Herman band. Chaloff got hooked and his addiction would affect the course of his short life.
After leaving the Herman band in 1949, Chaloff moved to New York in order to establish his career as a leader. At one point, he led a group that included the trombonist Earl Swope and Bud Powell (unfortunately it was never recorded). But despite this promising start, Chaloff's solo career collapsed, probably due to his erratic behavior. He returned to the Boston area, getting whatever gigs he could find. He continued to record when he could, using the best of the local modernists such as pianist Dick Twardzik, trumpeter Herb Pomeroy and alto sax man Charlie Mariano. His most famous recording of this time was Boston Blow-Up, a loose but often exciting session that was produced by Stan Kenton.
Chaloff left the Boston area for Los Angeles, hoping to give his career a kickstart. This was at a time when "West Coast Jaz" was at its height and perhaps Chaloff thought he could fit into that scene. Sadly, he developed a tumor on his spine and suffered through several operations which left him partially paralyzed. However, despite being in a wheel chair, he continued to play, and it was in this period in 1956 that he recorded his greatest album, one that would be considered one of the finest jazz records of the 1950s, Blue Serge. Chaloff was fortunate to have a masterful rhythm section for this session: Sonny Clark, Leroy Vinnegar and Philly Joe Jones, and he responded to the challenge with some magnificent playing. It is an absolutely indispensable album.
Unfortunately, the cancer spread and on July 16, 1957, Chaloff passed away. He was not quite 34 years old. But the accomplishments he left behind should never be forgotten. More than any other baritone saxophonist, he adapted the concepts of bebop to his horn. And even more importantly, he created some thrilling and beautiful music." - Eric Nisenson
Szaksci from "Straight Ahead"
""Szakcsi" Lakatos Bela [piano] was admitted to the Bartok Bela Musical Conservatory at age of 12. By his 16th birthday he played regularly with the best jazz players in Budapest. This was in the 60's when in Hungary, under the communist suppression, jazz was just barely tolerated. Although he was admitted to study at the prestigious Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Szakcsi decided to dedicate his life to jazz. As a young artist he won several prizes at jazz festivals. When he was able to travel to New York, Szakcsi was accepted by some of the most notable musicians. During this period he heard for the first time the rock and jazz fusion, and immediately decided to embrace it in his own music. In Hungary he established several bands and taught jazz at the Conservatory. Szakcsi is also an established composer of several popular jazz tunes, several musicals, one rock-opera and one ballet. He has recorded several albums with great success for GRP records, which are distributed by BMG. In recent years he has performed solo appearances or with his Trio, fine-tuning his music, which may be best described as "fusion-gypsy-jazz"." - Hungarian Culture Center
Jan Wallgren from "Standards and Blueprints"
"Jan Wallgren (1935-1996) was born in Oslo and grew up in Stockholm. He devoted himself for many years mainly to jazz and toured with his own trio as well as playing in several different jazz orchestras, and his piano playing and compositions marked the quartet that Bengt Ernryd led during the middle of the 60s. Jan has appeared as a soloist and composer with among others the Swedish Radio Jazz Group and the Polish Radios Big band, andhe is documented both on LP and CD.Aside from working as a piano soloist, orchestra leader, and theatre musician, Jan taught singers and musicians, classically trained pianists, and music students. He wrote theatre and film music, and composed an opera, "Balagantjik," that was premiered at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1986. Among several important compositions, his Requiem, "Foer levande och doeda" (For Living and Dead), set to texts by the poet Tomas Transtroemer, stands out.
Jan's final composition for The Stockholm String Quartet, "Vandring," with texts taken from Dag Hammarskjoel's book "Vagarken" (Markings), was finished in April 1996, two months before his death." - Nosag
Warne Marsh & Kenny Drew from "I Got a Good One for You"
"Warne was from Los Angeles born in 1927 to a musical family (his mother was a professional violinist). He began studying accordion very early but switched to tenor saxophone in his mid-teens in hopes of becoming a Hollywood studio musician. In those days Warne was a big fan of Ben Webster, Tex Beneke and Duke Ellington' band. In 1946 he went into the army where he met a trumpeter who told him about a brilliant jazz pianist named Lennie Tristano who he was studying with in New York. Shortly after Warne was transferred to an army base in New Jersey he sought out the blind pianist to take some lessons with him. Tristano immediately changed Warne's listening habits and encouraged him to check out Lester Young and Charlie Parker and to listen with more care. Lennie also taught him that you shouldn't imitate your idols but instead take the responsibility to find your own way. He also taught him to look towards 20th century European music for new ideas especially to Bartok. Tristano saw that Bartok had taken the most advanced conventional harmony and meter and rhythm and began compounding them adding harmonies to harmonies, meters to meters and rhythms to rhythms creating poly-harmonies, poly-meters and poly-rhythms. Warne's incredible talent helped him to quickly absorb these complex new ideas and soon he became a member of Tristano's band. In 1949 Warne took part in a historic Tristano recording along with Lee Konitz when they recorded two pieces Intuition and Digression which were completely improvised with absolutely nothing preconceived. This was the first recording of free jazz. I was amazed when I first heard these pieces that they sounded so beautiful and not unlike the other precomposed compositions on the recording. This group obviously had played together many times before and as it turns out they had been experimenting with free improvisation for quite a while even trying to do this on gigs. This was not the free improvisation styles of Ornette Coleman or Cecil Taylor or Sun Ra of the 50's but a more melodic and harmonic one that lighted the path for the free improvisations of Keith Jarrett in the 70's. (The multi-instrumentalist and free improviser Anthony Braxton lists Warne as one of his heroes and on numerous occasions has recorded some of Warnes compositions and has publicly proclaimed him as a major influence on his free improvisation style).Warne stayed with Tristano for three years and like Lennie, Warne went on to become a teacher, as there just wasn't enough performing gigs to pay the bills. It was very sad for me to find out that this great musical genius was forced into manual labor as a swimming pool cleaner to survive. To me this is exactly what happens in a country that doesn't put any value on creativity and talent in the arts. And of course we all know great musicians or artists who are stuck in some dumb job just to pay the bills that should be out in public sharing their talents with the world. Anyway Warne just kept on playing when he could, working occasionally with Tristano or Konitz and with a group called Supersax that arranged Bird solos for an ensemble of saxophonists. He also toured Europe once in a while and had the occasional gig at the Village Vanguard but he never was given the credit he deserved as one of the most unique improvising saxophone players in the history of jazz.
Fortunately there are a number of recordings available for you to hear how great Warne was. Check out the recordings he did with Tristano of course but also look for a great recording called Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz Live at Club Montmartre (1975) on the Storyville label or one he did for Criss Cross entitled Star Highs (1982) with Hank Jones or another fantastic one he recorded with pianist Bill Evans on Fantasy called Cross Currents (1977). A recent reissue shows Warne in top form in 1957 on the VSOP label with the title Music For Prancing and another great one on Criss Cross with Chet Baker called Blues For a Reason (1984).
Warne Marsh died in 1987 on stage at Dante's a club in L.A. while playing one of his favorite standards Out Of Nowhere. I feel very fortunate to have gotten a chance to play with Warne and will always remember the many times we got together and experimented with his incredible musical ideas. I hope those of you out there that haven't heard of him will go out and check out some of his recordings." - Peter Madsen
"Kenny Drew was born in New York City in August of 1928. At the age of 5, he began studying classical piano with a private teacher and at 8, gave a recital. This early background is similar to that of Bud Powell, the man who later became his main inspiration as a jazz pianist. After digging Fats Waller, at 12, and then Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, Drew attended the High School of Music and Art. He was known as a hot boogie woogie player but passed through this phase before graduation.Kenny's first professional job was as accompanist at Pearl Primus' dance school. At the same time, he was alternating with Walter Bishop Jr. in a neighborhood band that included Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Art Taylor. In this period, he used to hang-out on 52nd Street to listened to Charlie Parker and Powell and began sitting in at various jam sessions around town. I remember how he impressed me, the first time I heard him at a private session, playing with Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan in the summer of 1949.
In January of 1950, Drew made his first appearance on record. Howard McGhee was the leader and the other featured soloists were Brew Moore and J.J. Johnson. One of the six sides released was "I'll Remember April." The label, in addition to stating "Howard McGhee's All Stars", further read, "Introducing Kenny Drew." This was Drew's spotlight number and as with many other important jazz debuts, the label was Blue Note.
Later, in 1953, Kenny made his first album as a leader. Again it was Blue Note who recorded him, this time in a trio with Curly Russell and Art Blakey. A 10-inch LP, it was composed mainly of standards.
But Kenny opted to settle in Los Angeles for the next few years. There in 1955, he formed a wonderful quartet with the late Joe Maini, Leroy Vinnegar and Lawrence Marable. The quartet first recorded together on November 18, 1955 for Pacific Jazz under Jack Sheldon's nominal leadership. In December, Jazz West, a subsidiary of Aladdin Records, brought the quartet as is into Capitol's recording studios for Talkin' & Walkin'.
In February of '56, Kenny's band and arrangements were used for another Jazz West release, this one by vocalist Jane Fielding. A month later, Drew, John Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones made the great Chambers' Music for the same label, which is now reissued on Blue Note.
In early 1957 Kenny made his way back to New York as accompanist for Dinah Washington. That September, he participated in John Coltrane's monumental masterpiece Blue Train, but his association with Blue Note did not heat up again until 1960 when he made his own Undercurrent as well as Jackie McLean's Bluesnik and Jackie's Bag, Kenny Dorham's Whistle Stop, Dexter Godon's Dexter Calling, Grant Green's Sunday Mornin' and a couple of Tina Brooks dates all within the space of a year.
Although Kenny was active on the recording and club scenes in New York and even subbed for Freddie Redd for a while in the successful Off-Broadway run of The Connection, he eventually chose to migrate to Europe. But he again popped up on a classic Blue Note date, Dexter Godon's One Flight Up, done in Paris in 1964.
Kenny became a major star in Europe and Japan although his music was sadly neglected at home. Hopefully, these reissues will increase awareness in his great and long-standing pianistic and compositional contributions to jazz." - Ira Gitler and Michael Cuscuna
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