BEST RECORDINGS OF THE HARD BOP ERA

THE JAZZTET f/BENNY GOLSON & ART FARMER

Calvin H. Neal, Jr.

December 22, 2016

      

       Founded in 1959 by tenor saxophonist/composer Benny Golson and trumpeter Art Farmer, The Jazztet, is seldom mentioned in the hard bop pantheon. Despite several different lineups accompanying Golson and Farmer, The Jazztet’s six session discography from 1960 to  1962 is an excellent representation of top flight hard bop.

       Their recordings, four for Argo Records and the final two for Mercury Records featured three different aggregations. Their debut, Meet The Jazztet, recorded in February 1960, along with Golson on tenor and Farmer on trumpet, includes Curtis Fuller on trombone, 21-year old McCoy Tyner on piano, Farmer’s twin brother Addison on bass and drummer Lex Humphries. Their next three recordings, Big City Sounds, The Jazztet and John Lewis and The Jazztet At The Birdhouse, all featured the same musicians, trombonist/composer Tom McIntosh, Cedar Walton on piano, bassist Thomas Williams and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums. The final hard bop era recordings from The Jazztet were on their new label, Mercury. The Jazztet Here and Now, recorded in New York in February and March, 1962 and Another Git Down,  recorded in May and June of the same year this time find Golson and Farmer, who now featured prominently on flugelhorn as well as trumpet, joined by a young Grachan Moncur III on trombone, “Memphis Mafia” member Harold Mabern on piano, Herbie Lewis, bass and Roy McCurdy on drums. Mixing original compositions by band members with jazz and pop standards, all incarnations of this group could hold its own with hard bop’s more recognized bands. The recordings of The Jazztet are well worth seeking. As I do not own a copy of Big City Sounds, a contribution of its artwork would be greatly appreciated.

THE JAZZ CRUSADERS – THE PACIFIC JAZZ RECORDINGS

The Jazz Crusaders recorded prolifically for Dick Bock and Pacific Jazz Records, from 1961 until 1970 they recorded 16 sessions, 11 studio and five live, with four of the live sessions recorded at the famed Lighthouse, in Hermosa Beach, California. When discussing hard bop, the Jazz Crusaders are never mentioned, yet they were the group whose core members never changed over the course of 16 sessions for Pacific Jazz. All Houston natives and childhood friends, Wayne Henderson on trombone, Wilton Felder, tenor sax, piano giant  Joe Sample and Nesbert “Stix” Hooper were one of the most formidable hard bop groups of the era. The distinct sound of the two horn front line of Henderson’s trombone, paired with Felder’s tenor, gave the Jazz Crusaders a unique and instantly recognizable sound. Jimmy Bond, Bobby Hayes, Victor Gaskin and Buster Williams were a few of the bassists employed by the group during their time with Dick Bock and Pacific Jazz. Favorite sessions include Freedom Sound, recorded May 24, 1961 in Bock’s Pacific Jazz Studio in Los Angeles, which featured the anthemic title track; Lookin’ Ahead, recorded in the same studio on January 7, 1962. This session produced one of the most well known Jazz Crusader hits, the Wayne Henderson-penned classic, Young Rabbits; Live At The Lighthouse, from August of 1962 and the first of four Pacific Jazz sessions they recorded live from the Hermosa Beach hot spot, which has a swinging rendition of the Jackie McLean composition, Appointment In Ghana. Mosaic has issued an anthology of the Pacific Jazz Studio session, which is a required purchase.

The Jazz Crusaders discography can be found here: http://www.jazzdisco.org/the-jazz-crusaders/discography/

All reviews by JFOP staff unless otherwise indicated.

WALTZ FOR DEBBY

BILL EVANS TRIO

recorded at The Village Vanguard, NYC

June 25, 1961

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek 

Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro's death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions -- and the two following LaFaro's death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) -- a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell: Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as "My Foolish Heart" and "Detour Ahead." There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in "Milestones," with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio's most impressive interplay is in "My Romance," after Evans' opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian's brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans' deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio.