The Mastersounds on Fresh Sound

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“With almost the same instrumentation as the Modern Jazz Quartet, The Mastersounds burst on the late 1950s scene when the MJQ was already established as the pre-eminent small group in jazz. But they were no imitators. Where the MJQ was all seriousness and sophisticated classical borrowings, the Mastersounds set out to get feet tapping, aided by the distinctive sound of Monk Montgomery's Fender bass. It worked. After securing a three-month booking at a club in Seattle during January 1957, the group went to play at San Francisco's Jazz Showcase, where producer Dick Bock discovered them. They were on their way, becoming the most successful quartet since the MJQ's advent. (... voted best new small combo in Down Beat's critics poll). … This CD presents their debut recordings, redolent of the time when they first caught the moment.”

- Jordi Pujol, Fresh Sound Records

One of the earliest pieces to appear on these pages was about The Mastersounds. It dates back to May 31, 2008.

The editorial staff at JazzProfiles revised it and re-posted it on October 16, 2013 to celebrate the issuance of a compact disc that contained music from a reunion of the group in the recording studios of Fantasy Records on August 10 and November 2, 1960 and the two albums that group made on these dates [Fantasy 3305 and 8862] which were combined and issued as Fantasy FCD 24770-2.  The cover art for this CD by Ray Avery was used as the graphic lead-in to that article.

But sadly, even at this later date, none of the Pacific Jazz recorded legacy of the Mastersounds had found its way onto compact disc.

The music The Mastersounds recorded for Dick Bock’s Pacific Jazz [later known as World Pacific] fell primarily into two categories: [1] the ubiquitous, for the times, Jazz interpretation of Broadway shows, in this case, The King and I, Kismet and The Flower Drum Song and [2] their arrangements of Jazz standards [e.g. an entire album devoted to Horace Silver tunes] and their interpretations of the Great American Songbook; the albums in this category consisting of both studio and in concert recordings.

Now for the good news as implied in the title of this feature - Jordi Pujol, the owner-operator of Fresh Sound Records has done the Jazz world a huge service by issuing two CDs that encompass The Mastersounds entire Pacific Jazz Jazz Standards and Great American Songbook output.

The first of these Fresh Sound CD releases in entitled Introducing The Mastersounds: Water’s Edge [FSR-CD 500] and you can locate CD or Mp3 order information about it as well as sample tracks via this link.

The second offering - The Mastersounds Play [FRS-CD 621-622] is even more impressive as it combines 3 LPs on 2 CDs including The Mastersounds Play The Music of Horace Silver, The Mastersounds Play Blues and Ballads and The Mastersounds in Concert, all of which are also available for order and track sampling via this link.

By way of background, the Mastersounds were formed in 1957 and included Charles Frederick “Buddy” Montgomery on vibes, Richie Crabtree on piano, William Howard “Monk” Montgomery on bass [originally a Fender electric bass, but later an upright string bass] and Benny Barth on drums. The Montgomery Brothers were natives of Indianapolis, IN as was their more famous guitar playing brother Wes, who was to join with them on two of their group LPs.

Monk Montgomery developed the idea for the combo while living in Seattle after he got off the road with the Lionel Hampton Big Band in 1956. According to Ralph J. Gleason, a down beat columnist at that time: “Monk, from his experience in Seattle, was convinced a good jazz group would have a chance to work in that city and he was right.”

The Mastersounds opened at Dave’s Blue Room on January 14, 1957 for a successful three month engagement. However, a dearth of work followed prompting the group to pool its meager resources and send Monk Montgomery on a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles looking for gigs and a recording contract.

Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, Monk Montgomery stopped by The Jazz Showcase, a then newly formed club on venerable Market Street with a unique “soft drink only” policy. Dave Glickman and Ray Gorum, owner and manager of the club, respectively, upon hearing the Mastersounds tapes Monk Montgomery had brought along, booked the group into the room beginning in September, 1957 for an unlimited engagement.

The fairy-tale quality of Monk Montgomery’s California trip was to get even better when he continued his ‘quest’ down to Hollywood.  There he met fellow bassist Leroy Vinnegar whose immediate reaction to listening to the Mastersounds demo tapes was to call Dick Bock, president of World Pacific Records. Upon hearing them, Bock signed the group to a contract that would result in six albums being produced for the World Pacific/Pacific Jazz Series until The Mastersounds disbanded as a performing group in December, 1959.

The following are the liner notes from the World Pacific 12” Jazz Showcase Introducing the Mastersounds LP [WP-1271] by the noted Jazz columnist are writer, Ralph J. Gleason [1917-1975].

“There is a really terrifying tendency today, particularly in the music field, to believe that success can be bought, that talent and hard work count less than connections and "the hype."

And of course there are occasions when this seems to be true. Everyone connected with jazz has seen times when one group or one musician seems to have advanced far beyond true value merely because of the favor of someone with power and connections in the business.

The persistent talk of "payola," the fact that as a jazz musician pursues his career he will find, on occasion, a disc jockey who will take his money, a manager or an A&R [Artists and Repertoire] man who will want a piece of his original tune, merely makes the cynicism understandable.

Actually these events are the exception rather than the rule, as one eventually learns. "The hype" cannot sell something, in jazz, that is not intrinsically of value; or at least cannot sell it on any long-range, substantial basis. For every success which, rumor has it, was produced by the power of money rather than talent, there is a Dave Brubeck who, throughout his career, has operated without benefit of press agent, "payola" or personal manager.

And there's also the more and more frequent story of a good group which was able to be heard, to launch its career and to start the climb to financial success by straight life methods, aided along the way by men of good will.

The Mastersounds are such a group and the story of their success and this album is a beautiful illustration of all the truths that the cynics deny.

One day in the summer of 1957, Leroy Vinnegar called Dick Bock, president of World Pacific Records, and said "I have a tape I want you to hear. It's a terrific group." It was just as simple as that. Bock heard the group and this is the LP.

But there's a background to this which needs telling. The Mastersounds didn't spring forth full blown, full swinging, a success. They worked for it first. And hard.

In the winter of 1956, William Howard "Monk" Montgomery returned to his native Indianapolis for a visit. He had been living in Seattle for a few months following several years on the road with Lionel Hampton. With Hamp, Monk played bass—Fender bass, that electronic, oversized guitar-shaped bass.

When Monk came back from Seattle he was burning with the idea of starting a jazz group. He and his brother, Charles Frederick "Buddy" Montgomery, had always wanted to do this and on that winter 1956 visit they decided to go ahead. For drummer they chose another Indianapolis jazz player, Ben Caldwell Barth, who had played with them previously. For piano they sought out Richard Arthur Crabtree whom they remembered from jam sessions when the Johnny "Scat" Davis band had passed through town.

So the Mastersounds were born. The name, incidentally, was suggested by Buddy Montgomery's wife, Lois Ann.

Monk, from his experience in Seattle, was convinced a good jazz group would have a chance to work in that city and he was right. On January 14, 1957 they opened a three month engagement at Dave's Blue Room in Seattle. The group was set up as a co-operative one (it still is). "The whole idea was Buddy's," Monk says, "with each man in charge of one department." Monk, for instance, acts as spokesman for the others; Richie handles the book-work and the uniforms; Buddy sets the tempos and calls the tunes, and Benny is in charge of the rehearsals, among other duties.

After the initial success in Seattle, the group was prepared for anything but the drought of the next three months. "We just struggled after that, playing wherever we could," Monk says. "We were so far from home, there was nothing else to do but fight it out." They tried contacting record companies, musicians they knew — everything. But nothing worked. Then they made a demo tape, pooled their money and sent Monk on a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles to look for a job and to try to get a record date. "It was just about the last gasp, took all our money," Monk says, "but waiting it out with the right fellows you don't mind it so much."

On the way to Hollywood, Monk stopped off in San Francisco and met Ray Gorum who was managing the Jazz Showcase", a non-alcoholic nightclub on Market Street. Gorum heard the tapes and decided immediately to book the group into the club.

Thus, from a real "scuffle" in Seattle, The Mastersounds were transported to San Francisco, a featured spot at a nightclub and a record contract with a jazz label. All without the benefit of a press agent, a manager, "payola" or any of the things some cynics consider necessary.

"It's still almost unbelievable," Monk says. "I never thought it would happen like this. All I can say is that we are so grateful."

The Mastersounds' instrumentation is the same as that of the Modern Jazz Quartet but there is no similarity in sound or approach. Their originality is so pronounced that they are able to play some of the same tunes as the MJQ does without leaving themselves open to charges of imitation.

Their approach is based on the concept of swinging ("The first thing is it must swing," Monk says) and on working out arrangements (they have almost 100 numbers in the book, each of them planned arrangements).

However, they seldom work from music, relying on heads and voicings worked out in rehearsals. Their repertoire includes original numbers by the group and by Wes Montgomery, Buddy's and Monk's guitar-playing brother. Both Buddy Montgomery and Richie Crabtree contribute extensively to the book and it all has the benefit of Monk's road time experience with Lionel Hampton. "I learned a lot from Hamp," he says, "and we've been so lucky so far."

On hearing the Mastersounds in person you are at once struck by the odd-looking bass Monk plays. He began playing on an upright bass but switched to the Fender bass when he joined Hampton. "You can make it swing," Monk says. "It won't replace the upright bass, and I'm a long way from mastering it after playing it five years, but it has advantages. For one thing, I don't get tired playing it. It's so much less work, it's more accurate and you have more speed. I can't play a tempo that's too fast for it. And I can't run a clear scale on a big bass!" Of the sides on this LP, Wes Montgomery arranged "Wes’ Tune" (which he also wrote) and "Dexter's Deck" (written by Dexter Gordon). Bud Powell's arrangement of "Un Poco Loco" is used and Richie Crab-tree arranged his own composition "Water's Edge" for the group. Otherwise all the arrangements are by Buddy Montgomery who also wrote "Drum Tune."

Here are capsule biographies of these four young men: Charles Frederick "Buddy" Montgomery: vibes, born 1/30/30, Indianapolis, Ind., hobby is checkers, favorite artists include Tatum, Milt Jackson, Garner, Wes Montgomery, Earl Grandy (a blind Indianapolis pianist). William Howard "Monk" Montgomery: bass, born 10/10/21, Indianapolis, Ind., has played with Lionel Hampton, Georgie Auld, Art Farmer, Jerry Coker; digs Percy Heath, Johnny Griffin and says he "just picked up" bass. Richard Arthur "Richie" Crabtree: piano, born 2/23/34, Sidney, Montana; has worked with Conte Candoli, Johnnie Davis; says painting and reading and writing are his hobbies; digs Bird, Diz, Miles, Bud, Philly Joe, Sonny Rollins, Ray Brown and wants "to play good someday." Ben Caldwell "Benny" Barth: drums, born 2/16/29, Indianapolis, Ind.; attended Butler University and, he says, "Indiana Ave. School of the Blues"; also plays trumpet and tap dances; has played with Lennie Niehaus, Conte Candoli, Lee Katzman, Slide Hampton, his hobbies are tennis, records, fishing and eating; digs Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Diz, Vinnegar, Basie, Max, Bird, Buddy Rich, Pres, Clifford, says his inspirations have been Krupa, Dave Tough, Jo Jones, and Big Sid and that his ambition is to be either a fish and game warden or a jazz disc jockey and critic!”

—Ralph J. Gleason Down Beat columnist Editor, JAM SESSION (Putnam's)

The sixteen-foot speaker displayed behind the Mastersounds on the cover is, according to Bill Loughborough, the world's largest—photographed in Sausalito, California by William Claxton.

As noted at the outset, the second Fresh Sound CD offering - The Mastersounds Play [FRS-CD 621-622] combines 3 LPs on 2 CDs including The Mastersounds Play The Music of Horace Silver, The Mastersounds Play Blues and Ballads and The Mastersounds in Concert,

Here are the original liner notes from the 12" World Pacific Records album The Mastersounds Play Compositions of Horace Silver at the Jazz Workshop (Stereo-1284)

Speaking as a composer, it's a great thrill to listen to another artist or group of artists interpret your composition. Every artist will give them a new and different concept. I am especially thrilled that The Mastersounds have chosen to do an album of my composition because I have long admired the group. I've listened to them at Birdland and at the Newport Jazz Festival, and they are a well-rehearsed, well arranged (but not over arranged), swingin', blowin' group.

I'm sure that everyone who hears this album will be as pleased with the interpretations given my composition as I am, and equally pleased by the solos.

- Horace Silver

“The Mastersounds at the Jazz Workshop have come to be something of a San Francisco institution. Shortly after the success of their second album for World-Pacific (Rogers & Hammerstein's The King And I), recorded late in 1957, they played their first engagement at the famed North Beach jazz club. Although the group has played across the country from the Blue Note in Chicago to Birdland in New York, and up to Newport for the Jazz Festivals, they spend much of their playing time at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, the city of their adoption (Monk, Buddy and Benny hail from Indianapolis, Indiana; Richie is from Sidney, Montana).

The music of Horace Silver provides a perfect vehicle for The Mastersounds to project their very earthy yet sophisticated jazz conception. The group has never been recorded in better form. This performance points up how well integrated these four sensitive musicians have become. The arrangements stem from the imagination of Richie Crabtree, with the spontaneous assistance of the rest of the players. All of the group's arrangements eventually become a group project, usually starting from a point suggested by Buddy or Richie. I have yet to see any written scores within the group. The arrangements, as they develop, become indelibly impressed on each musician's consciousness.

The Mastersounds have reached a jazz maturity that has developed from over three years of playing together. This collection of the music of Horace Silver, one of jazz' greatest new composer-arrangers, represents a high point in The Mastersounds' career.” —Richard Bock

Below are Jon Hendricks original liner notes from the 12" World Pacific Records album Ballads & Blues (Stereo-2019)

When I first got the gig to write Album Notes for this MASTEROUNDS album, I was goin' along coolin' at the prospect of having a "captive audience" — an audience before which I could say things that would get me arrested from a soap box, but which, on the back of an album, would be hailed as "entertaining and informative." Then I began to wonder how I could say anything at all about the MASTERSOUNDS without comparing them with the MODERN JAZZ QUARTET.

Both groups use the same instrumentation, except for the basic difference between Monk Montgomery's Fender electric fiddle and Percy Heath's wood. Both groups consist of a vibraphone surrounded by rhythm. They must sound somewhat alike. Comparisons are inevitable. At the same time, comparisons usually denote competition, and there really is no competition called for in jazz. Although Buddy Montgomery loves "Bags" out loud and Richie Crabtree pays musical respect to John Lewis on occasion, they are imitating no more than two preachers preaching the same sermon. The MASTERSOUNDS are as fresh as they want to be. If they sound like anyone else it's because they want to—and don't mind spreadin' the word.

Concerning the MASTERSOUNDS' work, Monk Montgomery, who acts as spokesman for the group, says, "The first thing, it must swing." This it does, as the success of their other albums for World-Pacific indicates. The group is a cooperative one in every sense, and was Buddy Montgomery's idea. This is a further indication of the more mature outlook of jazz musicians in general, for only in a cooperative group can the full potential of each individual be realized. It also serves to hold a group together longer, giving each of them the invaluable opportunity to become thoroughly aware of the artistic attributes of the others — thereby paving the way for a pure give-and-take rapport that is a joy to see and hear. As one deeply and vitally interested in jazz and its practitioners, I am happy that the MASTERSOUNDS have chosen this cooperative approach. It exemplifies the true spirit of jazz much more than the leader-sideman relationship. And most important of all — it gives each man a feeling of dignity in his work. This is something jazz musicians sorely need to offset the sometimes undignified surroundings in which they must perform. As we say in the vernacular, "It's a way it 'po'd t'be."

If there are those among you who will hear the MASTERSOUNDS for the first time, you have a refreshing musical treat in store. For those of you who already know and appreciate them, Ballads and Blues will be a welcome addition to your collection. I shall not make pointed comments on specific aspects of the music herein by calling your attention to the 4th bar in the second 8 bars of the third chorus, or any such thing as that — because by the time you go to all that trouble you'll be so confused you won't listen. And that's all you really have to do.”

And finally, these liner notes were written by C. H. Garrigues for the 12" World Pacific Records album The Mastersounds in Concert (Stereo-1026)

The release of "The Mastersounds in Concert" marks another very important step in the solution of a problem which these four very remarkable musicians set for themselves at the beginning of their careen the problem of producing jazz which is delicately dynamic, subtle in melodic content, rich in harmonic development—and which yet swings freely and unrestrainedly.

When I first heard them at the Jazz Showcase in San Francisco in the summer of 1957 there was no doubt that they were swingers. Their best number—one which always brought cheers from the crowd and kept the Showcase jammed night after night—was a romping, roaring, tempestuous version of Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco": a version much more loco than poco and one which never failed to delight.

But even then they had a problem. It was all very well to play uptempo numbers—but a group which cannot swing at medium and ballad tempos is only half a group. Yet, how could a group consisting of vibes, bass, piano and drums play delicately, play subtly, play ballads and blues, without either becoming "soft" and ceasing to swing or, alternatively, invading the territory of the Modern Jazz Quartet? How, in other words, could they enter this area—voiced as they were—and still manage to be completely themselves?

The history of their recordings—climaxed by this one—is the story of how well they have succeeded, a step at a time, in solving that problem.

Their first LR "Introducing the Mastersounds (WP-1271) was made a few weeks after Richard Bock, President of World-Pacific discovered them at the Showcase. It showed them a thumping jumping gang who could bring a crowd to its feet cheering but which would hardly be celebrated for its subtlety and nuance.

A few months later, though, something wonderful happened. Whether by some curious insight, or through the simple fact that show tune albums were selling well, Buddy Montgomery asked Bock for permission to do a jazz version of "The King and I." Agreement was reached. The Mastersounds came up with a hit record (WP-1272): a beautifully conceived, beautifully executed LP which will go down in history as one of the loveliest sets of songs and ballads ever recorded.

In the excitement, few took the trouble to note that there was very little pure jazz in "The King And I" (though Ralph J. Gleason, writing the liner notes, pointed it out); there was melody, there were arrangements of sheer loveliness but it wasn't the jazz as jazz that the listener remembered.

Next came "Kismet" (WP 1243) and "The Flower Drum Song" (WP 1252) each was a step in the further integration of the opposite tendencies shown in (say) "Un Poco Loco" and "The Puzzlement." Each was a popular and critical success. But in neither, perhaps, was there a complete unfolding simultaneously of both the excitement of the Showcase album and the delicacy of "The King and I."

That, however, was soon to come. Late in 1958 the Mastersounds boldly tackled the problem of proving that the field of delicacy and nuance in the vibes quartet was by no means preempted by the MJQ. The album was called "Ballads and Blues" (WP 1260), and as though to emphasize a declaration of independence which was never really needed, they chose John Lewis' "Fontessa," long a hallmark of the MJQ, as one of the tunes on their blues medley.

This record, too, was an immediate and continuing success—so much so that Bock decided to record them "live" in a program of jazz standards where they could display the degree of continuing maturity since their 1957 debut. By this time the Mastersounds were on the road almost constantly; a tour of the Midwest culminating in a successful engagement at Chicago's Blue Note was succeeded by a long SRO run at San Francisco's Jazz Workshop. But when they returned to Southern California early in 1959 for an engagement at Jazzville and a college concert tour, Bock picked their concert at Pasadena Junior College on April 11 as the date to record.

The record within this envelope is the result. From the delicately romping opening of "Stompin"' through the charming, tongue-in-cheek sentimentality of "In a Sentimental Mood," into the flying carpet of "Love for Sale," through the thoughtfully lyric development of "Two Different Worlds"... it would be difficult to find any area of sincere jazz feeling in which they are not at home.

To pick out any particular moment for comment would be to slight many others. But, just for taste of the whole, take the openingfigures of "Stompin"'—notice how gently Buddy's vibes come in to overlay Richie's piano and take the solo away so gracefully that you fancy you hear the ghost of Richie's fingers still tripping behind Buddy's mallets. But notice, too, how Benny's firm, insistent rhythm {and a little later, Richie's chopping, staccato chords) break up any tendency for the lyricism to become over-sentimental. Note, too, a similar development in "Star Eyes"; then observe how deftly Benny's drums continue to develop the melody after Benny's first solo... and note how different are Benny's propulsions and patterns behind Buddy and behind Richie. Listen to Monk's fine solid anchor support... and then listen again and hear his electric bass wandering like a third hand among the lower piano chords. You will agree, I think, that the answer to their problem has been found: the swinging of "Un Poco Loco" and the delicacy of "Something Wonderful" have come together into the same number. After completing these tracks, the Mastersounds took off for a successful engagement at Birdland—punctuated by an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Such is the measure of success.

—C. H. Garrigues