Gerry Mulligan, 'Rebirth of the Cool' - 1991

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

“When the seminal gatherings for the Miles Davis Orchestra first took place in 1947, Gil Evans was the old man at thirty-five; Miles Davis was twenty-one; and Gerry Mulligan was still only twenty years old.  He had already contributed excellent arrangements to the Elliot Lawrence and Gene Krupa bands, and, as has been mentioned earlier, one of his charts, "Disc Jockey Jump," had become a hit after having been recorded by the Gene Krupa Orchestra.  Even at that early age Mulligan was circulating among the best of the swing and modern musicians, including Charlie Parker.  Both his performing talent and his precocious genius were clearly recognized by his colleagues.

Mulligan, like Evans, gained his compositional skills and arranging craft not at a college or conservatory but on his own, for he left high school for the road. His performance abilities as the premiere baritone saxophone soloist are well known by most jazz fans, but it is a lesser known fact that he was also a truly versatile single-reed instrumentalist, playing other saxophones as well as the clarinet at a remarkably high professional level. ….

Of the twelve numbers recorded by the Miles Davis Orchestra for Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950, the largest number—six—were arranged by Mulligan, three were composed by him, and he also played on all the tracks. In addition, he composed and arranged another piece for the band, ")oost at the Roost." On the basis of these accomplishments, he must be credited as a major architect of the Miles Davis nonet and as a founding father of the style and movement called cool jazz. In the immediate period after these recordings, he, like Miles Davis, faced a difficult time artistically and financially, and in 1951 he hitchhiked from New York to California while seeking greater opportunities in jazz.  His chance soon came, just as did Davis's, but these two men, who remained friends over the years, followed dissimilar musical paths from this point on.”

• Frank Tirro, The Birth of the Cool of Miles Davis and His Associates [2009]

“The phrase ‘jazz repertory’ has many definitions and dimensions. Perhaps the most basic is: the study, preservation and performance of the many diverse musical styles in jazz. In recent years, the phrase most often applies to big bands and jazz ensembles performing classic and new music written for reeds, brass, and rhythm section in various sizes and combinations.” 

- Jeffrey Sultanoff, Bill Kirchner, ed., The Oxford Companion to Jazz [p.512]

“There has been some rewriting of the history books on behalf of Mulligan and pianist/arranger John Lewis vis-a-vis the original Birth Of The Cool. Mulligan is on record as feeling that the project was subsequently hijacked in Miles Davis's name. Though Miles 'cracked the whip', it was Lewis, Gil Evans and Mulligan who gave the music its distinctive profile. In 1991, Mulligan approached Miles regarding a plan to re-record the famous numbers, which were originally released as 78s and only afterwards given their famous title. Unfortunately, Miles died before the plan could be taken any further, and the eventual session featured regular stand-in Roney in the trumpet part. With Phil Woods in for Lee Konitz, the latter-day sessions have a crispness and boppish force that the original cuts rather lacked. Dave Grusin's and Larry Rosen's production is ultra-sharp  …. An interesting retake on a still-misunderstood experiment, Re-Birth sounds perfectly valid on its own terms.”

• Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.

Interestingly, the first decade of Gerry’s career ended with his major involvement in what collectively came to be famously known as The Birth of the Cool recordings. The last year of his career began with recordings that he labeled The Rebirth of the Cool. 

Whatever the back story or, if you will, motivation, Gerry’s enduring friendship with Dave Grusin, co-owner of GRP Records along with Larry Rosen, resulted in a four-decades-later make-over of the 1949 Birth of the Cool recordings with some additions and subtractions in both the compositions and the personnel.

As explained in the commentary that opens this piece, Gerry had approached Miles Davis about a reunion to produce a new and different version of the original recordings. Of course, we can only surmise how this revisit by two of the principals associated with the original recordings might have turned out, but in a way, Miles’ ultimate declination and subsequent death brought forth other possibilities.

As Richard Cook and Brian Morton note - “Phil Woods in for Lee Konitz, the latter-day sessions have a crispness and boppish force that the original cuts rather lacked. Dave Grusin's and Larry Rosen's production is ultra-sharp  …. An interesting retake on a still-misunderstood experiment, Re-Birth sounds perfectly valid on its own terms.”

And David Badham in the 1992 November edition of Jazz Journal was pleased to note “ … that this reprise of Miles Davis's landmark session was 38 percent longer than the original. Almost exactly 43 years after the original Move date for Capitol, these come up absolutely fresh and vital, and quite as good as anything produced since in this vein. Personally, I have always regarded the original sessions as Gerry Mulligan’s not Miles Davis’s since he arranged seven of the 12 numbers and was by far the most impressive solo voice! If anything he is even better now, so I wel­come this issue wholeheartedly.”

More information about how and why The Rebirth of the Cool came about is contained in these liner notes by Leonard Feather that accompanied the GRP CD [GRD-9679].

“It all began in a basement room behind a Chinese laundry on West 55th Street in New York. Gil Evans, who lived there in the late 1940s, was a magnet for some of the forward-looking musicians of the day: Charlie Parker ("Bird"], the composers Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, George Russell and John Carisi, saxophonist Lee Konitz, and, of course, Miles Davis.

"Everyone seemed to gravitate to Gil's place," Gerry Mulligan recalls. "We all influenced one another, and Bird influenced us all."

Bebop had brought startling innovations to jazz. Gerry, Miles, Gil and others foresaw the possibility of a new dimension that would allow an orchestral vision integrating bop's characteristics with written elements.

As Gerry pointed out, "We wanted the arrangers to have useful orchestral colors to work with, at the same time retaining the lightness and freedom of a small band." After much deliberation, this is the instrumentation Gil and Gerry decided on.

"One of the things that made it practical to use instruments such as tuba and French horn in the ensemble was that there were players who were already trying to adapt their instruments to a new approach. When Gil first told me about Bill Barber, he said Bill liked to transcribe Lester Young solos for tuba!"

Much of the inspiration stemmed from the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, to whose library both Evans and Mulligan had contributed. In fact, it was Gil who brought the, then, 19 year old Mulligan into the Thornhill orbit.

But it was Miles Davis who, as Gerry explained it, "...put the theories to work, called the rehearsals, hired the halls, and generally cracked the whip."

Move, Jeru, Godchild and Budo were recorded January 21, 1949, and were released as two 78s. Venus de Milo, Boplicity, Israel and Rouge were cut three months later, and the final session in March of 1950 yielded Moon Dreams, Deception, Rocker and Darn That Dream. In 1954, eight of the tunes were released on a 10 inch LP. Three years later a 12 inch LP, with all 11 instrumentals (omitting the vocal Darn That Dream), appeared under the Birth of the Cool title by which the sessions have been known ever since.

In the summer of 1991, in Rotterdam, Gerry told Miles he was planning to play the music again. Miles, who was very enthusiastic about the concert at the Montreux Festival two weeks before, (where he had played many of the great works Gil Evans had written for him, with an orchestra assembled by Quincy Jones), said to let him know when it was going to be. and maybe he would do it. Sadly, it was not to be.

With Miles' death the decision to find a suitable trumpet for this demanding role resulted in the selection of Wallace Roney, whose career had reached a high point when he joined Miles in an historic duet at the Montreux concert. Thus he was a logical choice for the "Re-Birth" project.

Gerry says, "He really understands something about Miles' melodic sense. He did some astounding melodic things on this album."

Gerry and Bill Barber were on all three of the original sessions, and John Lewis was on the last two. Gerry recalls, "John was Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist and it was just our bad luck that Ella was scheduled to record the same day as our first session!"

Lee Konitz, who was on all the early sessions, was originally scheduled to join the "Re-Birth" recording, but due to previous commitments that had him on the other side of the globe, it was impossible to get everybody together at the same place at the same time. "When Lee asked me who was going to take his place on alto, and I told him Phil Woods would like to do it, Lee laughed and said, 'I think you just invented the 'Birth of the Hot!"'

Gerry went on to say, "Phil told me he'd always wanted to play this music, so it was like a dream come true for him. He plays some absolutely fantastic solos and adds a great spirit to the whole project!"

Rounding out the "Re-Birth" group are trombonist Dave Bargeron and French hornist Dave Clark, both of whom were associated with Gil Evans in later years.

Gerry called on old friend and colleague Mel Torme to sing Darn That Dream, the one vocal in the collection. "Mel was happy to do this," Gerry says. "He always loved this instrumentation, and later on, my Tentet. In fact, he made an album with a similar instrumentation and we've talked for years about doing an album together along similar lines, which we'll get  around to eventually. When I told him we were doing this, he was eager to take part."

As these notes go to press, Gerry is planning a tour of the summer festivals with his Tentet, the instrumentation presented here, plus the addition of another trumpet and a clarinet. "We're introducing the band at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago (where Gerry is currently Artistic Director of their "Jazz in June" series), at the Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and Carnegie Hall in New York.

The Birth of the Cool concept (which, in fact, was by no means as cool as the name implied!) lives on, some 40 years after Miles and Gil and Gerry and their fellow dreamers put their innovative ideas on record. It might well be added that the cool was not reborn, since for anyone who recalls its pristine

glory, it never really went away!”

-Leonard Feather

And here is an in performance review of the music by John Pareles that appeared in the June 30, 1992 NY Times 

Review/Jazz Festival; From Gerry Mulligan, 'Rebirth of the Cool'

“Each jazz era finds its own ancestors. Now that many musicians and audiences are turning toward music that prizes structure as well as solos, it's appropriate that Gerry Mulligan has decided to revive the arrangements he wrote and played with the Miles Davis Nonet more than 40 years ago. The music was collected in 1957 on an album titled "Birth of the Cool," and on Friday night Mr. Mulligan and a "tentet" (the nonet's lineup plus an extra trumpeter and saxophonist) performed at Carnegie Hall for a JVC Jazz Festival concert called "Rebirth of the Cool."

At the end of the 1940's, Davis, Gil Evans, Mr. Mulligan and other musicians were looking for a next step after be-bop, which had depended on small groups and extensive solos. They wanted to create ensemble arrangements that would reflect the convoluted harmonies and whiplash rhythms that be-bop had wrought. With Davis as leader, they assembled a nine-piece group that played a few club dates between 1948 and 1950, to a largely indifferent response among nonmusicians. But the recordings, made in 1949 and 1950, have endured. Musicians including Mr. Mulligan and another member of both the original nonet and the current tentet, the alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, have both worked with similar groups in the intervening decades. The tentet also included Bill Barber, another nonet member, on tuba.

For "Rebirth of the Cool," which preceded a European tour by the tentet, Mr. Mulligan followed an established jazz-repertory approach. He used the original arrangements and tempos while adding new solos, some of them variants on the recorded ones.

The two sets covered half the "Birth of the Cool" album, including Johnny Carisi's modal blues "Israel," Mr. Mulligan's arrangements of George Wallington's "Godchild" and his own "Jeru," Evans's arrangements of Chubby MacGregor's and Johnny Mercer's "Moon Dreams" and Davis's "Boplicity," and John Lewis's arrangements of Bud Powell's and Miles Davis's "Budo" and Denzil Best's "Move." The concert also included pieces from Mr. Mulligan's own repertory, among them "Blueport" by Art Farmer, the tentet trumpeter who had the unenviable task of taking on Mr. Davis's solos.

Jazz repertory can bring to life compositions that were muffled by the limitations of early recording. But the "Birth of the Cool" recordings are relatively recent, and the tentet had Carnegie Hall's acoustics to contend with. The hall makes trouble for amplified music, even at the relatively restrained volume of the tentet. Compared with the intimate recordings, much of the detail of the arrangements was smudged.

Even so, a new chance to hear the music was welcome. Mr. Mulligan and Mr. Konitz were both in fine form, Mr. Mulligan gruff and swaggering on baritone saxophone, Mr. Konitz leisurely and oblique on alto. And even after 42 years, the arrangements remain enigmatic, a corrective to the brassy extroversion of the big-band era. They use saw-toothed lines and close, dense harmonies, often played by instruments clustered in the low and middle registers (and thickened with French horn and tuba); they mull over the tunes, occasionally opening up to let a soloist step forward. The Evans arrangements are oddest of all, wrapping gauzy timbres around dissonances few other arrangers would even try, much less get away with.

For an encore, the tentet played "Satin Doll," and its relaxed symmetry was a reminder of all that the "Birth of the Cool" had willfully and gracefully sidestepped. The tentet also included Rob McConnell on valve trombone, Mike Mossman (who took some pointed solos) on trumpet, Ken Soderblum on saxophone and clarinet, Bob Routch on French horn, Ted Rosenthal on piano, Dean Johnson on bass and Ron Vincent on drums.”

Finally, the following was from a time when Jazz, if it got mentioned at all in a major newspaper, got mentioned briefly. Hats off to Zan Stewart for trying.

Pop, Jazz Reviews : Mulligan Breathes Life Into Old Work at Ford

BY ZAN STEWART

JUNE 22, 1992 LA Times

“Gerry Mulligan’s performance with an 11-piece band before a sell-out crowd at the John Anson Ford Theatre on Saturday proved once again that a contemporary airing can breathe an amazing amount of life into a work composed long ago.

The renowned baritone saxophonist and composer went back 40 years, reviving selections transcribed from the memorable 1949 and 1950 “Birth of the Cool” sessions led by Miles Davis, and which Mulligan recently re-recorded. On those sessions, Davis, along with Mulligan and others, examined be-bop-based material with a fresh sound, pitting the higher timbres of trumpet and alto sax against such low brass as trombone, French horn and tuba.

Mulligan’s aggregation, which included such esteemed jazzmen as trumpeter Art Farmer and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, duplicated the instrumentation of the originals, except for the addition of an extra trumpet and a tenor sax-clarinet part. The band’s vibrant renditions of such well-preserved items as “Godchild,” “Boplicity” and “Moon Dreams” clearly demonstrated that these are not simply museum pieces, that they indeed have lasting power.

“Jeru” was distinctive for its dynamic climax, where the brass and reed sections tossed snappy lines back and forth. “Israel” began with the melody rendered by the low brass, then came the piercing brightness of trumpet and alto sax. Gil Evans’ dramatic arrangement of the oozingly slow “Moon Dreams” ended with a wall of soft sound, where instruments darted in and out, changing the work’s timbral color. The soloists were first-rate. Farmer’s ingenuity was quietly breathtaking as he took a series of brief phrases and strung them together into complex wholes. Konitz applied his one-of-a-kind sound, seemingly flat but really full of juice, to stretched-out notes and relaxed phrases that ran counter to the bubbling rhythm of a tune such as “Israel.” Mulligan swung with vitality and accessibility.”

THOMAS MOECKEL & RONNIE CUBER - JAZZ IN CONCERT 1990 (Part2)

Chuck Cecil: The Swingin’ Years [From The Archives]

© -Steven Cerra. Copyright protected; all rights reserved.

I first heard Chuck Cecil's radio program while tooling around greater Los Angeles in my yellow and white '55 Chevy with my buddies.  

In those days, we'd head out for a drive on one of the new freeways that seemed to open every other year as southern California expanded to accommodate it's every-growing population [we could sure use a few more of those, now]. 

It was fun to race across the newly laid surfaces at 65 mph with hardly another car in sight while grooving to the big band sounds of Charlie Barnet, or Stan Kenton or many of the others big bands from the Swing Era.

As of this writing in 2015, it was hard to believe that Chuck was still doing his radio program 67 years later.

At the age of ninety-one, he was as an inspiration to all of us to "do what you love and the rest will follow."

[by Charles Fleming writing for The Los Angeles Times 12.19.2013] 

"Chuck Cecil, [now 90 years old] went to his first big band show in 1939, driving with three high school friends in a Model A Ford to South Gate to see bandleader Jimmie Lunceford at the Trianon Ballroom.

The following year, he was at the opening of the Hollywood Palladium to see Tommy Dorsey and a skinny singer named Frank Sinatra.

Nearly three-quarters of a century later, Cecil is still swinging to the same music: His weekly big band radio show, "Swingin' Years," has been on the air almost continuously since it debuted in 1956.

It began as filler for an empty Saturday morning slot on Hollywood's KFI station and was later syndicated to more than 300 stations nationwide and broadcast internationally, on 240 ships and 170 military bases, by Armed Forces Radio Network. Though the show is now heard only on Long Beach's KKJZ and Long Island's WPPB, it reaches an average of 46,000 listeners a week.

His cheery Midwestern tones larded with corn-pone quips like "Let's split an egg and fry a watermelon," Cecil intersperses big band music with factoids about the songs and firsthand memories of the men and women who recorded them — the Detroit Tigers, for instance, were winning the World Series the day Bing Crosby recorded "Only Forever."

Now almost 91, the host seems a little mystified by the show's longevity — but not by the long-lived popularity of the music.

"It was an emotional time, and a hardship time, but it was a survival time," said the slim, white-haired Cecil, dressed in denim jeans and a chambray shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes. "That's why the music was so treasured. It did lift people's spirits during the Depression and the war."

Cecil was born the day after Christmas 1922 to a rancher who lost hundreds of heads of cattle and 650 acres of good Oklahoma land in the drought that brought on the Dust Bowl and preceded the Great Depression.

When his father couldn't feed his family of six anymore, he loaded them into a truck and drove to California, installing them in an apartment in Hollywood while he began building a house in what is now Sherman Oaks.

At Van Nuys High, he double-dated with local girls Jane Russell and Norma Jean Baker before they became movie stars (and Miss Baker changed her name to Marilyn Monroe). A drama teacher told him he had a good voice for radio.

During World War II, despite a childhood injury that left him with a lifelong limp, Cecil left a note for his mother saying he was going to enlist and might be late for dinner, and went off to join the Navy. He trained to fly Grumman Wildcats, and had just qualified for combat duty when the war ended.

By then, Cecil had already studied broadcasting at Los Angeles City College. Newly out of the service, he landed a job at a new station in Klamath Falls, Ore. The gig included doing a "remote broadcast" of a local performance by a 17-piece big band accompanied by a 16-year-old female vocalist.

Her name was Edna. When she turned 17, Cecil married her.

That was 1947. "Their" song was Perry Como's "They Say It's Wonderful."

When Cecil was hired by KFI in 1952, the big band years were already over. "Swingin' Years" was an exercise in nostalgia, right from its debut four years later.

"Big band music was in decline," Cecil said. "The big bands themselves were fading in popularity. It was vintage music."

But the show was a hit and became a weekly feature.

Chuck and Edna set up house in the San Fernando Valley, when it was still mostly orange groves, and raised four children. Cecil, by now a local celebrity, was made honorary mayor of Woodland Hills and asked to ride in open cars in local parades.

The show grew in popularity. Disneyland hired Cecil to do a series of "Swingin' Years" shows in 1961. Ronald Reagan did a "Swingin' Years" TV special in 1962. Cecil even hosted "Swingin' Years" cruises, sailing the Caribbean with bandleader Freddy Martin.

Cecil hung out with Harry James, lunched with Artie Shaw and Bing Crosby, and interviewed Peggy Lee in her boudoir. (He sat on the bed while the singer reclined.) Cecil recorded and archived the interviews, using them to introduce his listeners to the men and women behind the music.

Bandleader Shaw, Cecil remembers, invited him to his Newbury Park house and then insisted on doing the interview while driving to lunch. "It was the most terrifying drive of my life," Cecil said. "He was a wild driver."

The opportunity to interview Crosby arrived suddenly, when a record producer friend said, "I can get you in to see him, but you have to come while he's eating lunch." Cecil asked questions while Der Bingle ate a burger.

"This music is the voice of America, and he has documented it," said veteran deejay Bubba Jackson, who hosts an evening KJazz blues show. "Thanks to Chuck Cecil, that music will never disappear. He is one of the great historians of American culture."

Crooner Tony Bennett, who at 87 is three years younger than Cecil, called the radio host "a great jazz historian."

"I want to thank him for keeping the music alive," he said, "and for playing my records all these years!"

Today, the Cecils are spry and active, and walk a brisk three miles a day near their tidy Spanish-style home on a quiet Ventura street, where they moved 11 years ago.

"That's one of the reasons we moved to Ventura — because we can walk to the market, to the shops, to the doctor," Cecil said. "We can walk everywhere but the cemetery."

On Sunday, there's no walk. Instead, the Cecils attend church in the morning and go dancing in the afternoon.

Now almost 91, Chuck Cecil says big band music brings back good memories.

Cecil confessed he's no hoofer, though he and Edna did sign up for swing dance lessons a few years back.

"Radio announcers are like musicians," he said. "They generally can't dance."

Nevertheless, their Sunday ritual includes a circuit of big band-themed events at clubs in Ventura, Oxnard, Canoga Park and Simi Valley.

Each week, Cecil and his wife assemble "Swingin' Years" manually, without the aid of computers, for the Saturday and Sunday morning broadcasts. The recording studio is a back room of their home filled with casual photographs of the radio man sitting with jazz giants such as Woody Herman, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton and Bennett.

Working from a massive library of more than 30,000 78-, 45- and 33-rpm records, and his own personal library of interviews with 356 band leaders, singers and sidemen, Cecil mixes dance tunes, sentimental ballads, jazzy jumpers and novelty records. Often you can hear the sizzle of the needle on the platter.

Cecil said he sometimes tires of the 15 to 20 hours required to produce each week's "Swingin' Years" broadcasts. "I've done more than 20,000 hours of programming," he said. "Maybe that number has got my attention, but I've lost a little of my zip for the show."

Despite that, Cecil was planning to do a new "Swingin' Years" series on bandleaders and their theme songs — Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade," Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train" — and another on the lesser-known sidemen who worked for the famous bandleaders.

Almost none of the musicians Cecil admired or befriended are still alive.

"When you get past 90, people really start corking off," said Edna Cecil, who celebrates back-to-back birthdays with her husband, turning 84 on Christmas Day. "But not us!"

The Cecils' daughter Sherri recently returned to Ventura, moving in with her parents and bringing modern technology with her: the Internet.

As a result, Cecil was able to hear his own show for the first time since he moved to Ventura, which doesn't have a radio station that broadcasts "Swingin' Years."

A couple of Saturdays back, he and his wife tuned in to a live stream from WPPB in Long Island.

"I lit two candles and we sat there with sandwiches and wine and the music — for four whole hours," Edna Cecil said. "It was heaven."

She said her husband fails to appreciate his own contribution to the American music scene.

"He doesn't realize how important he has been," she said. "Many musicians tell him that — 'You kept the music alive.' But he doesn't have a clue.""

Dizzy Gillespie (1946) [NIGHT IN TUNISIA] - In the beginning

Brass Shout

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

The Mosiac Records boxed set  - The Complete Argo/Mercury Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet Sessions [MD7-225] - brought me back in touch with one of my all-time favorite recordings - the Argo LP Meet The Jazztet [664].

The period from 1945-1965 were exciting days for Jazz when combos seemed to form and reform on a regular basis and the Jazztet was one of the best groups to come around in quite some time [at least as far as my ears were concerned].

The original Jazztet was made up of Art Farmer, trumpet, Curtis Fuller, trombone, Benny Golson, tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyner, piano, Addison Farmer, bass and Lex Humphries, drums.

What really appealed to me about the Jazztet was the writing and arranging skills of Benny Golson who has composed so many memorable tunes over the years, many of which have become Jazz standards [I Remember Clifford, Whisper Not, Along Came Betty, to name but a few].

On Meet The Jazztet Benny was at it again with intriguing original compositions including Killer Joe, Blues March, and Park Avenue Petite, the latter a lovely ballad favored by many Jazz trumpeters as a vehicle for demonstrating the richness of their tone on the instrument.

According to Lawrence Koch in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz: “The group made six albums, most of which included compositions and arrangements by Benny Golson and one which consisted of the John Lewis. Although the arranged sections of the music were important to the group’s style, there was ample opportunity for solo improvisations, and this dichotomy resulted in balanced, interesting performances. The group disbanded in 1962 ….”

Around the same time that I was “meeting” the Jazztet, a friend, who was a trumpet player and who really favored Art Farmer’s style, loaned me a United Artist vinyl entitled Art Farmer: Brass Shout [UAL 4047]. The cover art contained this striking Hugo Bell photography with a design rendered by the Stephen Haas Studios.

What was especially delightful to me was that all of the tunes on the album were arranged, orchestrated and conducted by Benny Golson, including his intriguing original composition Minor Vamp.

I say “intriguing” because I’ve always been especially attracted to Jazz when its played in a minor key. To paraphrase Ted Gioia: “Benny Golson’s best work manages to convey both elegance and a subtle funkiness.” [The Jazz Standards, p.459] Perhaps it easier for this funkiness to manifest itself in minor keyes?

The album was subtitled seven moods in brass and Blanchard King explained the conceptual background for the recording and how the personnel of “The Art Farmer Tentet” were employed on each track in these excerpts from the original liner notes.

“Through the years, music lovers have had ample opportunity to thrill to the sombrely paced beauty of a Gabrieli brass work; to the roaring coda of a Sousa march; or to the shocking effect of massed brass in the compositions of William Shumann and Shostakovich. But, the lover of good music is rarely exposed to the many moods which dynamic and imaginative arrangements can evince from the basic jazz brass ensemble augmented with so-called miscellaneous instruments (so far as jazz is concerned) such as French horn, tuba, and baritone horn.

The seven moods of this album range from the Latin feeling of Nica's Dream to an almost Sibelian aura on Stella By Starlight, each score filled with a varying degree of shouting brass intensity. Brass Shout represents a seemingly successful attempt to bring the listener a diversified presentation of eight great jazz brass instrumentalists bulwarked by one of the most formidable rhythm sections, a presentation manifesting careful arranging, orchestration, and discipline, but preserving the basic freedom and flair of an inspired jazz performance.

Utilizing the haunting, pale tones of the French horn and the deep voice of the tuba (as a melodic rather than rhythmic device), arranger Benny Golson was able to add a new dimension of sound and a new agility to the basic trumpet-trombone voicing usual in jazz works. Julius Watkins and Don Butterfield represent the top of the mark in jazz virtuosity on French horn and tuba, respectively; Watkins playing highly articulate solos on the most difficult brass instrument, and Butterfield supplying a loosely muscled bottom sound with none of the gusty, gravelly tone of other would-be tuba stars.

Each participating artist was chosen with great care and with a definite function in mind. The solemn, intense musicianship of Art Farmer looms large in this album, in fact Golson would not undertake the project until completely assured that Art was available and willing to appear on the date.

The maturity, profound conception, and artistry increasingly associated with Farmer's work is well documented herein by a lilting, building improvisation on Nica's Dream, a moody; austerely beautiful handling of April In Paris; and tightly muted drive on Golson's classic Five Spot After Dark. Ernie Royal and Lee Morgan complete a stellar trumpet section. Royal of course can do anything on the trumpet, considered by many to be the best lead man in the business. Although chosen to act as straight-man for the section, Ernie contributes a very "down," grooving solo on Autumn Leaves; as well as marvellous lead work throughout the album. Lee Morgan was chosen for his fire. A competitor for the laurels once worn by the late Clifford Brown, Morgan is today's greatest threat to established trumpet ranks. Possessing superlative range and technique, endowed with a vivid, even prankish imagination, able to perform with the stamina of a 1st chair trumpeter, Lee needs only further development of his ballad style to insure enshrinement as one of the all time great brassmen.

The trombone section is an ideal blend of strong technical and improvisational skills. Curtis Fuller, newly crowned winner of the 1959 Down Beat Critics Poll-New Star category, plays with warm humor, big tone, and rough hewn "soul".

Constantly increasing his musical abilities, gaining stature as a composer of merit, Curtis is more than fulfilling the great promise he showed as long ago as 1955. Curtis, a hard swinger in the East Coast tradition, can be heard to fullest advantage on his new United Artists Album, Sliding Easy (Catalogue No. UAL 4041-Monaural; UAS 5041-Stereo) along with Lee Morgan.

Jimmy Cleveland was a phenomenon when I heard him in Nashville, Tennessee in 1948, where he was attending Tennessee State College. Both Diz and Hamp were extending him offers to join their bands every time they played Nashville, but Cleve stayed on to finish college. Now he is one of New York's most sought after studio musicians due to consistently high solo quality, keynoted by extremely wide range and the ability to "cut" any "chart", no matter how difficult.

Wayne Andre, a young professional, highly recommended by the 'ace musicians' contractor Chet Amsterdam, is known for his flawless performances in ensemble or as a one man section. In order to broaden and deepen the sound of the trombone section and to create the most effective blend with French horn and tuba, Golson wrote in a part for baritone horn on several selections: Minor Vamp, Moanin', Five Spot After Dark, and April in Paris. James Haughton, coming to jazz from the marching band tradition, performs robustly on that horn.

The rhythm section includes Percy Heath, the much acclaimed bassist with the Modem Jazz Quartet, and a brace of fabulously articulate drummers: Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones. (Elvin is heard on Autumn Leaves, Stella By Starlight, and Nica's Dream). Also, pianist Bobby Timmons plays a rollicking solo on his composition, Moanin', the album's only track with piano.

Any survey of jazz history will reveal the extraordinary importance of brassmen, particularly trumpeters and cornetists, in the evolution of the music. …

Brass Shout is a further realization of the great arranging skill of Benny Golson, who is certainly the outstanding jazz arranger of 1959.

In jazz review columns, Golson's rising importance as a source of original tenor sax improvisations is being constantly discussed. It seems fitting that he should lend his mellow, sometimes searing, comfortably traditional yet dramatically modem, but always exciting stylings to these arrangements. Herein are heard all of the Golson trade marks: the use of wind instruments instead of piano to "comp" behind soloists; thick, meaty textures exploiting the middle and lower ranges of ensembles; smoky atmospheres from which improvisations emerge and take form; special quiet effects utilizing a variety of mutes; and a pervasive feeling of concealed, coiled power and earthiness.

In the words of the arranger: ‘I tried to get a round, full sound out of the horns, instead of the usual brassy blare, employing very close voicings for warmth and togetherness; and dissonances for brilliance and freshness.’ His seven scores fit the multiple talents of an outstanding brass ensemble like fine gloves.”

In the November 26, 1959 edition of Down Beat magazine, Ralph J. Gleason gave Brass Shout a rating of **** ½ stars.

“The only reason that this LP does not draw * * * * * is that this reviewer would like to make that classification a little harder to achieve. It is certainly a better album than many that have been given ***** on these pages; it has class, order, a high degree of musicianship, and thoroughly moving solos. It is an excellent example of good work that is only a slight degree removed from being a major effort.

Golson rapidly is assuming his place as one of the most dexterous composers in jazz today. He has a remarkable gift for ordering the talents of others into composite works of his own. His settings for the appearances of Farmer and the other soloists in this excursion into brass textures are deftly handled, yet are not superficial; Golson has his roots where roots ought to be all along. As a writer of jazz tunes, his compositions, such as Minor Vamp, are almost all touched with the quality that lasts.

As a trumpet soloist, Farmer is about the most consistently effective man of his generation. He has a highly developed sense of taste that makes him, in a way, a sort of Hank Jones of the trumpet. On records he is a trifle more inhibited than in person, and the overwhelming gravity of his appearance seems to creep through somehow.

The rhythm section consistently swings beautifully on this LP, and the ballad interpretations are absolutely lovely.

- Ralph J. Gleason”

Toots Thielemans (1963) FIRST RECORDING [BLUESETTE]

"Bluesette" became a commercial commodity for Toots later in his career and good for him. There's nothing glamorous about the "starving" part of being a musician. It's wonderful to have a few schimolies in your pocket with which to buy food and pay the rent. This track was cut before all that happened. Check out the amazing lines that Toots lays down in unison with a guitar while whistling! Are you kiddin me?! I can't even hold a guitar pick without dropping it.

AAJ Jazz West Coast News Announcement

 AAJ Jazz West Coast News Announcement

Steven A. Cerra, who writes the Jazz West Coast column for AllAboutJazz.com, has put together three volumes of Readers that make the perfect companion for those who want more information about this style of Jazz.

Each volume contains over 40 chapters and 350 pages of interviews, articles and commentaries by a variety of noted Jazz authors and critics on the Jazz musicians who created Jazz on the West Coast from 1945-1965. Many of the writings are very rare.

Available as both paperbacks and eBooks exclusively through Amazon.com, the collections are perfect for today’s busy schedules as many of the features can be read in 10-15 minutes.

The books are reasonably priced and would make great holiday gifts for the Jazz fans among your family and friends.

After the initial costs of publication have been met, Steve is donating 50% of his royalties to the local school district to help individual students buy musical instruments.

Visit the author page at Amazon today to get your copies: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CLJYX9XL 

Mellophonium Memoirs - The Stan Kenton Orchestra

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

“Stan really wasn’t concerned about swinging at all. He wanted to hear colors in sound. Lots of colors and dynamics; anything associated with an orchestra, not a band. He got what he wanted because that’s what it always sounded like.”

- Dick “Slyde” Hyde, trombonist

Howard Lucraft: “Stan asked me to write some original compositions for the mellophonium band. In 1961, I scored a half-dozen things for their Las Vegas opening. They rehearsed them, Stan loved five out of the six, and threw out only one. Golden Earrings was one of the arrangements. Another was called Alta Drive, named after the street Stan lived on in Beverly Hills. It was a feature for saxophonist Sam Donahue. With his harmonics on the horn, Sam could play higher than even the trumpets. I was very pleased when Stan introduced me from the audience at the Riviera Lounge where they opened in Las Vegas

One thing should be said the about the actual instrument, the mellophonium. A complaint from everyone involved has always been that they were never in tune. I don't think it was a flaw of the instrument itself. Stan and Johnny Richards, who wrote a majority of those arrangements, would always write for the horns very high, which I disagreed with. They'd be in the French horn register, in high, unison lines. That's where part of the problem lay. I wrote for the instrument in the middle register, whether alone or in harmony. They didn't take this into consideration. That's just my opinion, but that's why I think the mellophoniums were out of tune.” - Howard Lucraft quotation in Steven Harris, The Kenton Kronicles

In their ever-continuing effort to honor the memory of Stan Kenton and his recorded music, Bill Lichtenauer, the owner operator of Tantara Productions recently released Mellophonium Memoirs - Stan Kenton Orchestra [TCD-1133/October 2017].

The CD is comprised of 19 tracks derived from performances at five venues over a period of two years beginning in June, 1961 and continuing through to June, 1963.

As is denoted in the CD title, the focus of these cuts is on music by the Kenton band that incorporated another layer of brass instruments - the mellophonium; a continuation of Kenton’s constant quest for neophonics - new sounds.

By way of background, Stan explained in a CBS radio interview: "At the beginning of the 1960, I became very restless with the sound that the band was getting. Johnny Richards and I both agreed it was time to work over the instrumentation of the band. We felt the development of new instruments and new tonal colors was long overdue."

Stan’s first thoughts were to expand the saxophone section, deleting the alto altogether, and have Gabe Baltazar on soprano lead. Stan experimented with a section of up to ten players, but unsurprisingly this proved unsuccessful.

So Stan then gave Gene Roland carte blanche to find a new brass instrument to add to the orchestra, and Gene put together a team of four E-flat (alto) trumpets, an idea that was also nixed, because according to Stan, "It was impossible to distinguish any difference between them and the conventional B-flat trumpet section. We then tried the miraphone —  something in the order of a German cornet — but we quickly abandoned that because of the muddled sound it produced. And after experimenting for two days with flugel horns, we were ready to give it up completely."

Finally, the Conn instrument manufacturers at Elkhart, Indiana, learned that Stan was interested in locating a new brass instrument, and came up with a possible solution. Since the mid-Fifties, initially at mellophone player Don Elliott's request, they had been working on a new version of the mellophone, which had the bell facing forward, rather than the traditional backward direction.

Conn's rather radical invention featured trumpet-style valves, but with the circular tubing of the mellophone and a forward-facing French horn bell, and thus had something in common with all three instruments. Pitched in the key of E-flat, the Conn people called their hybrid the mellophonium.

In consultation with Johnny Richards, Stan convinced Conn that if he was to feature their new instrument, they had to change the tuning slide to play in the key of F, which delivered a more distinctive sound. It also rendered the instrument almost impossible to play in tune, but Kenton was insistent, and conscious of the invaluable publicity Stan's use would bring their horn, with some misgivings Conn made the necessary alterations. Other than that adaptation, stories that abound to this day that Stan "invented" the mellophonium himself are totally untrue.

As Kenton himself said, "We had them send some instruments to us, and Johnny Richards and I became terribly excited with the sound of the mellophonium. It had an identity of its own, it was something that bridged the gap between the trumpets and the trombones, and we started to look for players.”

The following insert notes by Kenton authority Michael Spake provide more detail on the unique quality of the Mellophonium Memoirs - Stan Kenton Orchestra [TCD-1133] recordings.

Michael Sparke is the author of Stan Kenton, This Is An Orchestra, a Stan Kenton biography, which is available from Tantara Productions, select bookshops and internet suppliers, and directly from its publisher, The University of North Texas Press.

© -Michael Sparke/Tantara Productions, copyright protected; all rights reserved; used with permission.

“Never have the opinions of the fans differed more from those of the musicians, than in the case of the Mellophonium Orchestra. Audiences loved the new instruments. The musicians almost to a man hated them - even those called upon to play the strange-looking contraptions with the big bells. Bob Fitzpatrick's memorable quote has become part of Kenton folklore: "They sound like a bunch of stampeding, pregnant elephants!" Even Bob Curnow would say: "I know we were happiest when our [trombone] section was seated as far away from the mellophoniums as possible."

The reason was that the mellophoniums consistently played out of tune, and the cause of that was Stan Kenton. Manufacturers Conn had produced their new instrument in the key of E-flat, but to obtain the distinctive sound and the volume he required, Stan insisted this be changed to the key of F. Conn were hesitant, but the publicity to be gained from the Kenton orchestra featuring their hybrid instrument was too great to be ignored, and they reluctantly complied. Kenton reasoned correctly that so long as the four mellophoniums were in tune with each other, audiences would not notice any faults. But the musicians were acutely aware, and voiced their displeasure at every opportunity. As Gabe Baltazar explained, "When you're playing within the band, you hear things differently from what the audience hears."

Unhappiest of all were the trumpet players. Long regarded as 'top dogs' in a jazz orchestra, they were the loudest section, the most exciting, the icing on the cake. Now they had to suffer the nightly humiliation of being effortlessly topped by the mellophoniums, as their unique sound rose above the combined ensemble to highlight each thrilling orchestral climax. Conversely, the boss was ecstatic. Stan liked BIG, and the new instruments not only added a bright, new sound to the music, they looked impressive on the stand. As far as Kenton was concerned, the meltophoniums were here to stay.

Mainstays in the section which played the Moonlight Gardens [Coney Island Park, Cincinnati, Ohio] in June 1961 were ex-French horn player Dwight Carver on lead, and "Street Scene" soloist Gene Roland. Along with composer Johnny Richards, Roland had been in on the project from the very beginning, and was renowned for his ability to play most any instrument you cared to name. "Basically, Gene played in a blues style," reflected Gabe Baltazar. "He was not a fast, technical player, but he used a lot of blue notes, and he flowed easily, not like a bebop player. He was like a Lester Young of the mellophonium."

Dances remained a vital part of the itinerary in 1961, and Stan wrote the first set of ballads himself, emphasizing the mellophonium section sound. "I loved playing Stan's charts like 'All The Things You Are'," said Ray Florian. "They were so beautiful and full of emotion, they brought tears to your eyes while you were playing them." But overall, the musicians preferred the lighter, looser dance arrangements of Lennie Niehaus, who wrote extensively for the new band. "I really loved Niehaus' writing on tunes like 'It Might As Well Be Spring'," said Carl Saunders. "It was so melodic, and Lennie blended the mellophoniums with the other sections so well, that we sounded kinda nice at times."

Johnny Richards may have been a less prolific writer than Niehaus, but John brought something special to every chart he arranged, and the score from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" was one of his greatest achievements. Of the ten orchestrations, Stan's preferred choice was probably "Maria", though as here, he sometimes omitted his piano part altogether, perhaps choosing to sit back and simply revel in Johnny's mellophonium-driven orchestration.

But two of this band's finest achievements came not from the regular arrangers, but from independent writers, Marty Paich and Bill Holman. Many may agree that this is a definitive recording of "My Old Flame". The high-note shrieks of Sam Donahue's often over-the-top tenor add great excitement, in contrast to the under-stated trumpet lamentations of Marvin Stamm. The chart's symphonic structure combines with the band's fiery performance to create a work unique to the Kenton orchestra.

But if ever a chart caught Stan's attention, it was Bill Holman's "Malaguena". "One of the best arrangements ever written," opined Carl Saunders. Complete with all the passion, drama, and grandeur that Kenton most admired, the piece was featured at concerts until the end. Holman recalled that, "Stan asked me to write 'Malaguena'. He had the mellophoniums, so that added a theatrical layer, and the tune itself is kind of theatrical, so I took my cue from that, and said, 'Well, this can't be a swing chart, this is something different.' And I was newly in love, and I just poured all my emotions into it"

There was general agreement that the mellophoniums operated best in unison, rather than as a solo instrument. That is, until Ray Starling came along. Born in England in 1933, Ray had moved with his family to America when he was 16, and uniquely regarded the mellophonium as his primary instrument. Kenton appointed him lead player during band rehearsals in March 1962, and moved Dwight Carter to a different chair in the section.

"Ray Starling really felt the mellophonium was his voice," said Joel Kaye. "He was just so bold, so authoritative. Ray loved the mellophonium, and he played it like he loved it, you could tell. Ray's technique far outstripped Gene Roland's, and he had such a catalog of ideas that he could execute, any time. Ray was very conscious of the intonation, and he had the discipline and comfort level on the instrument where he could really do things. His solos were truly outstanding, and he was a real spirit."

The band was roaring at Michigan State University in August 1962, and the solos bring a fresh force into two favorite compositions. On "Blues Story" Bob Fitzpatrick tries to show that anything a mellophonium can do, a trombone can attempt as well, but it's the down-home, bluesy tenor sax of Charlie Mariano that impresses. Charlie doesn't really have a tenor player's tone, he was more at home on alto, but his solo brims over with passion and 'soul. Starling follows, his control enabling him to bring forth startling sounds that no other mellophonium player would even attempt.

Marvin Stamm is exceptional on "Waltz Of The Prophets", his playing an extension of the jerky tones of the theme, a succession of jumpy notes that nevertheless flow into a compelling stream of sound. Starling opens low-key, but soon develops into an exciting unpredictability that fully justifies Carl Saunders’ opinion that "Ray Starting was full of music. He could emphasize the lyrical side of the mellophonium, or he could solo with fire and intensity. He filled up his horn with music, and I thought he was great." Kenton agreed, telling me: "Ray Starling is a very talented writer, a great mellophonium player, and a monster pianist. Ray walks around on top all the time  -he's wild!" The special bonus track "What Is Love ?", probably recorded circa 1964 in New York, has no Kenton connection, but provides proof of Ray's piano skills, and a talent Stan neglected to mention: the ability to carry a tune vocally. Like a lot of gifted jazz players, Starling had a pleasing voice, and knew about pitch, and remaining in tune. A truly multi-talented musician!

The 1963 titles come from Brant Inn, Canada, and include songs by Stan's last full-time vocalist. The guys in the band adored Jean Turner. Intelligent, soft-spoken and charming, off-stage Jean was somewhat shy, causing the men to feel fiercely protective towards their star singer, especially as she had to endure all the slings and arrows directed towards black artists in 1960s America.

On-stage was another matter, and Jean sang with an authoritative ease and style which attracted both audiences and band-members alike. After two years with Kenton, Jean sang briefly with Harry James, but instead of pursuing a solo career, turned her back on show business in favor of a private, family life (in Denmark for a few years and now on the West Coast). We are the losers, because as John Worster said: "Jean was so special! It was just unfortunate that Nancy Wilson, also a Capitol Records artist, hit it big just the year before, because to me Jean was very similar - only BETTER!"

Brant Inn's bluesy TUXEDO JUNCTION is not the more familiar Gene Roland orchestration, but was written instead by Lennie Niehaus. Joel Kaye confirmed he has a copy of the chart with Lennie's signature at the top, adding : "It was written after the Tropicana date, but before Stan formed the mellophonium band." Most pre-1961 titles were not rescored to feature the new horns, though some, like PEANUT VENDOR, would include a mellophonium solo. Lennie is also the writer of 1961's upbeat BEGIN THE BEGUINE. "I didn't want to be the mellophonium soloist," Tony Scodwell reflected, "but there was truly no-one else. I managed to put some licks together that came out pretty nice, but I was never at ease playing the jazz chair." The Brant Inn date holds many treasures, not least Jiggs Whigham's jaunty solo on ARTISTRY IN BOSSA NOVA, a fitting conclusion to over an hour of mellophonium magic.

During the Seventies, Stan often said how much he'd like to bring the mellophoniums back, knowing full well he lacked both the finances to pay four extra salaries, and the energy to supervise their integration. Instead , we have the recorded legacy of those three magnificent years from the Sixties, when Stan accepted all the challenges thrown up by the mellophonium orchestra, and won. In the words of Dwight Carver, "It was really another of those innovational experiments that only Stan Kenton would have the balls to do."”

— Michael Sparke, London, October 2017

The following audio-only Soundcloud track features the Mellophonium Band’s exciting version of Bill Holman’s arrangement of Malaguena.