Old Blue Eyes with Cole Porter's From This Moment On (Remastered) Arrangement by Nelson Riddle

Frank was not a Jazz singer, so Nelson Riddle's arrangement swings it for Old Blue Eyes.

The Jazztet - Hard Bop at Its Refined Best

© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The Jazztet was formed in 1959, and evolved from a series of associations in several contexts involving trumpeter Art Farmer, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson and trombonist Curtis Fuller. Two of these players, Golson and Fuller, also put in time in the ranks of Art Blakey's outfit, but The Jazztet is not consistently identified as a group in quite the same way as the Jazz Messengers these days (both the All Music Guide to Jazz and the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD simply list their records under Art Farmer, presumably on the rather non-analytical basis of alphabetical order).

Nonetheless, and despite considerable fluctuation of personnel around the core pairing of Farmer and Golson, The Jazztet created their own sophisticated sound within a basic hard bop framework. Farmer and Golson had worked briefly together in 1953 in Lionel Hampton's band, and again in 1957 with Oscar Pettiford. The trumpeter played on Golson's New York Scene (Contemporary) in 1958, and the saxophonist returned the compliment on Farmer's Modem Art (United Artists) the same year.

All three backed Abbey Lincoln on her It's Magic album for Riverside in 1958, and Golson and Fuller made several recordings together, including Golson's The Other Side of Benny Golson (Riverside), Gone With Golson, Groovin’ With Golson and Gettin’ With It (all Prestige New Jazz), and Fuller's Blues-ette (Savoy), as well as a date with Philly Joe Jones on Drums Around The World (Riverside), and Farmer's Brass Shout (United Artists), a brass tentet session for which Golson supplied the arrangements. Farmer also played on Fuller's third date for Blue Note in December, 1957.

The trombonist assembled a sextet with Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley for Sliding Easy (United Artists) in March, 1959, with some Golson arrangements. The Jazztet name first appeared on record on a Curtis Fuller album for Savoy, Curtis Fuller Jazztet featuring Benny Golson, recorded on 25 August, 1959, but with Lee Morgan on trumpet (a second Savoy session in December, Imagination, also featured a sextet, but not under the Jazztet name this time, and with Thad Jones on trumpet).

The official debut of The Jazztet took place three months later on 16 November, 1959, playing opposite the Ornette Coleman Quartet at the Five Spot in New York. Curtis Fuller, who would leave the band within months, recalled the circumstances of its formation in a Down Beat interview in March, 1981: 'Benny Golson and I had a quintet. That's how it started. He was leaving the Messengers and I was leaving Quincy Jones's band. Anyway, we formed this group and I called it The Jazztet; but there was a little shakeup there. Art Farmer and Benny Golson, being older and the two real musicians of the group, were the power brokers. We got McCoy [Tyner] out of Philadelphia and that made it a sextet. Before that, Lee Morgan and I had been playing in the John Coltrane sextet, so this was in the works anyway - the jazz sextet.'

The Coltrane sextet which he mentions here had recorded the saxophonist's classic Blue Train in 1958, his only date for Blue Note. Miles Davis's great sextet with Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley was also active at this time, but with a front line of trumpet and two saxophones rather than trombone (Miles had dabbled with a trombone in several short-lived bands, including a line-up which briefly included Fuller). Golson had already featured a sextet on his album The Modern Touch for Riverside in 1957 (with Kenny Dorham and J. J. Johnson as the brass players), and the idea of a new working unit in that format was in his mind when he left The Jazz Messengers in 1959, having played a major role in restructuring both the band and its book.

He had been playing regularly in a quintet with Fuller, and the pieces fell neatly into place for the new band, as he described in a Down Beat interview in May, 1960: 'It was very sudden. I was planning to start a sextet last fall. And I heard that Art was leaving Gerry Mulligan. I planned to ask him to join the sextet, In the meantime, unknown to me, he was planning a quintet, and he was thinking of asking me to join him. When I called him, he started laughing. So we got together and consolidated our plans.'

The new band made their studio debut for Argo in February, 1960. Meet The Jazztet featured the three horn men with a rhythm section of McCoy Tyner on piano, Art Farmer's twin brother, Addison Farmer, on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums, but the band was never to achieve much stability of personnel beyond the key Farmer-Golson association at its heart (a reality already reflected in their more prominent billing on the cover).

As the All Music Guide suggests, this album is a genuine hard bop classic. It included three of Golson's best known compositions, the first recorded version of Killer Joe, and the band's takes on I Remember Clifford and Blues March. The principal soloists are in disciplined but inventive mood throughout, while Golson's arrangements add interest beyond the routine ensemble heads of the period, but without tying up the music in overly elaborate fashion. The overall effect is both less driving and more thoughtful than the general run of hard bop.

By their second date for Argo in September, 1960, only Farmer and Golson remained from the earlier line-up. Fuller had left the band in not entirely amicable fashion in June (Down Beat reported that the trombonist 'pulled out without giving notice at the end of a one-day engagement at the Brooklyn Paramount theater'), to be replaced in quick succession by Willie Wilson, Bernard McKinney and, by the time of the record date, Tom Mclntosh.

McCoy Tyner had joined John Coltrane (Golson has told the story of how his old Philadelphia buddy had helped rescue a stranded Tyner when he broke down en route to New York to join The Jazztet, then promptly 'stole' him for his own band, although Coltrane had the pianist in mind prior to his arrival in New York in any case), to be replaced firstly by Duke Pearson, then Cedar Walton. Tommy Williams had taken Addison Farmer's place on bass, and Tootie Heath, another Philadelphian, occupied the drum seat.

That version of the band recorded Big City Sounds in September, and the game of musical chairs settled down long enough for the same personnel to record two more albums for the label. In December, 1960, they met up with pianist John Lewis for a session released as The Jazztet and John Lewis. It featured six of Lewis's own compositions which he had arranged specifically for the date, including versions of Django, Milano and 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West. They closed their account at Argo with The Jazztet at Birdhouse, a live set recorded at the Chicago club of that name on 15 May, 1961.

Big City Sounds again foregrounded Golson's skills as a composer and arranger, including four of his own tunes, The Cool One, Blues on Down, Bean Bag, and the evocative Five Spot After Dark. His subtle harmonies and voicings again lent a sophisticated air to the music, providing both attractive ensemble passages and a productive framework for the soloists. Golson described his aims as a composer in the original sleeve notes for the record: ‘I don't want to venture too far out. I don't want to be too complex. Basically I'd like to stay simple. I'd like to write melodically, and pretty harmonically. I'm not looking for anything that's going to revolutionize music. I like, most of all in writing, beauty.'

Farmer, on the other hand, was an infrequent composer - he had contributed one tune, Mox Nix, to Meet The Jazztet (it had previously appeared on Modern Art), but none on this session. The other selections include a sparkling version of Randy Weston's Hi-Fly, with Walton in scintillating form, their interpretations of Dizzy Gillespie's Con Alma and J. J. Johnson's Lament, and the standards My Funny Valentine and Wonder Why.

Mclntosh is not Fuller's equal as a soloist, but holds his own, while Farmer and Golson vie with one another to produce the most fluent, lyrical soloing, and trade glowing exchanges in Five Spot After Dark. The live setting on the Birdhouse disc allows the band to stretch out, notably on an extended version of Farmer's Farmer's Market and Monk's ‘Round Midnight, both arranged by Golson, and an arrangement by J. J. Johnson of his own Shutterbug.

At their best, The Jazztet leavened the visceral, earthy appeal of hard bop with a more sophisticated approach to arranging, and achieved a highly effective balance between the two. While their command of uptempo material was exhilarating, one of the most vivid examples of their approach is found in their live version of ‘Round Midnight from the Birdhouse set.

Golson's arrangement opens unexpectedly, with a single declamatory brass note. Walton begins an atmospheric introduction which glides into Farmer's opening statement of the melody on flugelhorn, eventually harmonised by a lovely voicing on the other horns. Golson comes in with a warm, romantic tenor statement, quickening the pace in deft fashion just ahead of another declamatory ensemble statement. Farmer's bold second entry is on trumpet, again supported by delicate horn fills, and provides a striking contrast with his earlier contribution.

Golson's tenor solo is the centrepiece of the performance, a buoyant, lyrical creation which gradually deepens and darkens, growing in both invention and emotional intensity. It is as good a statement of his gifts as a soloist as exists on record. Farmer returns on flugelhorn, imposing a reversion to a gentler mood, and generating an evocative late-night atmosphere within another impeccably controlled narrative.

Walton opts for a bluesy feel in keeping with Farmer's mood, expanding his original idea in a short but inventive solo. Mclntosh is more prosaic in his own solo, but retains the evolving feel of the piece, and the other horns again weave subtle background statements around his trombone, leading into the concluding ensemble finale, which supplies a quietly dramatic ending to a quietly epic performance. As an example of the way in which they were consistently able to marry imaginative soloing with meticulous structural integrity, it can hardly be bettered.

The band made only two more records in this first phase of their existence, both for Mercury. Here and Now was recorded in February and March, 1962, and Another Git Together followed in May and June. Both featured another new version of the group, in which Farmer and Golson were joined by Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Harold Mabern on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass and Roy McCurdy on drums. The other notable change on these discs is the increasing use of flugelhorn, an instrument which Farmer quickly came to favour over trumpet.

Both these sessions produced strong albums, but The Jazztet did not succeed in making any real financial success, and the co-leaders decided to call it a day. The two principals went in contrasting directions.”   [Sources Argo and Mercury LP insert notes and Kenny Mathieson’s Cookin’].”

Leo Wright: Alto Sax and Flute with Verve and Vigor

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

One of the most pleasurable experiences in Jazz is finding a musician who is new to you and whose music “speaks to you.”

Alto saxophonist and flutist Leo Wright was one, such discovery for me.

He was appearing at a club in Hollywood with Dizzy Gillespie’s quintet along with pianist Lalo Schifrin, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Chuck Lampkin.

Diz was making a West Coast swing shortly after the release of his Gillespiana LP, a 5-part suite that Lalo had composed for him and a large orchestra. All of the musicians in Diz’s group that night had also played on this recording.

Although Leo’s playing on Gillespiana really intrigued me, it in no way prepared me for what greeted me when I heard him in person.

I was sitting at a table close to the bandstand and the force of Leo’s sound on alto saxophone almost blew me away, such was its intensity and power.

This guy could blow and he sounded like nobody I’d ever heard before – the latter being the ultimate Jazz achievement – three or four bars and he is instantly recognizable.

He tore into his solos with a fierceness and reckless abandon that snapped your head back.

Leo sound was huge; it was so rich and muscular that it was difficult to believe it was coming through an alto saxophone.

He was a perfect compliment and complement to Dizzy that night as both adopted a take-no-prisoners attitude in their solos. Each egged the another on, much to the delight of an enraptured audience who innately knew that they were in attendance at a moment-in-time experience.

Thankfully, Leo was to remain a part of Dizzy’s quintet for about three years and make a number of recordings with him as well as a handful under his own name on the Atlantic label.

And then, just like that, he disappeared from the scene and like the music itself, he went to Europe to live.

Sadly, I was able to find very little about Leo in the Jazz literature.

Gary Carner prepared this overview of the highlights of his career for The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Barry Kernfeld, Ed.:

“Wright, Leo (Nash) (b Wichita Falls, TX, 14 Dec 1933). Alto saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist. He studied saxophone with his father and John Hardee.

He made his first recording with Dave Pike (1958) and performed with Charles Mingus at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959. From 1959 to 1962 he played in Dizzy Gillespie's quintet and big band, appearing at the Monterey, Newport, and Antibes-Juan-les-Pins festivals and recording several albums. He also recorded with Richard Wil­liams (1960) and Eldee Young (1961), and in New York as the leader of bop quartets and quintets (1960-63); his sidemen included Junior Mance, Art Davis, Charli Persip, Williams, Kenny Burrell, and Ron Carter.

After leaving Gillespie, Wright recorded with Lalo Schifrin and Brother Jack McDuff (both 1962) and Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Johnny Coles (all 1963).

In Europe he worked as a freelance and recorded with George Gruntz (1965) and with Lee Konitz in the all-star group Alto Summit (1968). After settling in Berlin he played with the studio band of Sender Freies Berlin and other groups, and appeared at jazz festivals in Germany, Switz­erland, and Finland. He later lived in Vienna and retired from music for a period from 1979; he first played again in 1986, recording an album of duets with his wife and performing with Nat Adderley, Grachan Moncur III, and Kenny Drew in the Paris Reunion Band.

A versatile instrumentalist, Wright was strongly influenced as a saxophone player by Johnny Hodges; his timbre on the alto instrument and the bluesy character of his solos show evidence of this. His flute sound, supported by a superb technique, is airy and resonant.”

And, as is so often the case, Leonard Feather offers detailed background explanation and musical analysis in the insert notes he wrote for Leo’s first album on Atlantic, Blues Shout [1358], which was issued in 1960:

“To anyone who has followed the flow of jazz through the veins of the last generation, it should come as no surprise that Leo Wright is a discovery of John Birks Gillespie. Aside from his contribution as a definitive instrumentalist, composer and arranger, not the least of Birks' works has been his talent for find­ing sidemen of exceptional ability.

Historians and fans may have overlooked the fact, but it was as a sideman with Dizzy's combo that Charlie Parker made his first vitally influential records in 1945. The list of stars who at one time or another have been members of the various Gillespie groups since then is almost endless. The entire personnel of the original Modern Jazz Quartet was composed of Gillespie alumni — John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke. James Moody was the first of many saxophonists heard in the larger Gillespie ensembles. Quincy Jones, and many of the men heard in Quincy's most recent orchestra, were members of the big band fronted by Diz (and assembled for him by Quincy) in 1956-7. One of Quincy's 1960 sidemen was the guitarist and flutist Les Spann; it was Spann's chair that was taken over in the Gillespie Quintet, in August of 1959, by the slight, quiet-mannered young man who makes his leader debut on the present sides.

Leo Nash Wright was born December 14, 1933 in Wichita Falls, Texas. His father was an alto saxophonist who played with the band of a drummer named Clifford "Boots" Douglas (the group was called "Boots and His Buddies") that worked out of Houston. —Dad was a close friend of the musicians from Sherman, Texas," says Leo, —including Buddy Tate; also the brothers Budd and Keg Johnson from Dallas." Later, the senior Wright moved to San Francisco, where he became a merchant seaman; it was in the Bay Area that Leo was reared and first stud­ied saxophone with his father during the early 1940s.

Leo returned to Wichita Falls, where saxophonist John Hardee (heard on a few records around that time) had taken over the high school band and instructed him during his senior year. There were later studies at a Texas college, to which Leo had won a scholar­ship, and in San Francisco, where he spent a couple of years job­bing around before resuming his schooling.

"After one semester at San Francisco State, I had to stop again — the Army got me. That was in 1956, and as it turned out, it was one of my greatest musical experiences. I was part of a group of more than a hundred musicians and entertainers that played every kind of music all around Germany. I was in a symphony orchestra; I played with Porgy and Bess; I was put in charge of a jazz group. I met some fine musicians, including Cedar Walton and Don Ellis and Eddie Harris. I'd only fooled around a little with flute before the Army, but I got a good chance to develop as a flutist in the service. Altogether I was in for 21 months, then I went back to San Francisco State, majoring in music education."

While in the service, Leo had met the drummer Lex Humphries, who was then in the Air Force. When Humphries played in San Francisco as a member of the Gillespie group, he arranged for Leo to sit in with Dizzy. This turned out to he of con­siderable value later, for after Leo's money had run out he was compelled to give up his studies and, at the advice of some friends, decided to try his luck in New York. After he had worked with Charlie Mingus at the Half Note and at Newport, he received a wire from Dizzy asking him to join the group in Chicago.

Hearing Leo soon after this at a couple of jazz festivals, and later in New York at the Metropole and several other spots, I was impressed with the remarkable degree of maturity achieved by this young musician. Only 25 when he joined Diz, he displayed not mere­ly the superficial fluency of a schooled but mechanical musician, his qualities included a communicative, thoughtful approach and an evi­dent self confidence that belied his modest offstage personality.

For the first recording session under his own name, Leo was teamed on one session with Richard Williams, the remarkable young trumpeter who came to prominence during 1960 with var­ious small combos at Birdland as well as with Ernie Wilkins' big band on records. On the other date, his front-line partner was Harry Lookofsky, the amazing ex-symphony man who stopped in mid-career to develop a technique and style as a jazz violinist. Lookofsky masterminded a unique album, Stringsville (Atlantic 1319), that was one of the most successful efforts ever undertak­en in the difficult field of swinging-strings work. —I hadn't met Harry before" says Leo, "but I was glad Nesuhi Ertegun suggest­ed him for the date."

To compensate for the comparatively light, high-pitched sound of the front line, Leo says, "I decided I wanted a real bot­tom in my rhythm section. So I got Dizzy's bass player, Art Davis, who has a big, strong, full sound; and Junior Mance, who also was in Dizzy's group when I joined it; and another of Diz's former men, Charlie Persip, who I think is much more of a combo drum­mer than people give him credit for, even though he's worked just as successfully in big bands. …

Leo Wright's comment on his first album is characteristic of the man. "I'm not trying to be way out. What I wrote and what I played is a reflection of theory as I know it and as I apply it to my ideas. No twelve-tone rows, nothing like that. But I was hoping that someone might find it a little interesting."

It is considerably more than that. The evidence is persuasive­ly and pulsatingly at hand.”

Leonard had this to say about A Night in Tunisia, the track from Blues Shout that comprised the audio track on the following video tribute to Leo:

“A Night In Tunisia, which Leo has played hundreds of times as a sideman working for the composer, has a slightly different guise here, the first six bars of each eight in the main phrase being played in a rather complex meter that might best be called 6/4. For the rest, it's the traditional routine, though even the bridge from first to second chorus is subjected to a rhythmic telescoping that gives it a fresh quality. Everyone solos —alto, piano, trumpet, drums, bass. The minor sixth with the ninth top at the end is strictly from Dizzy.”

Nardis - Jack DeJohnette [1942-2025] R.I.P.

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