Archive for the ‘Budd Johnson’ Category
Clark Terry: Color Changes (1960 – Candid Records)
This is one of flügelhornist Clark Terry’s finest albums. Terry had complete control over the music and, rather than have the usual jam session, he utilized an octet and arrangements by Yusef Lateef, Budd Johnson, and Al Cohn. The lineup of musicians (C.T., trombonist Jimmy Knepper, Julius Watkins on French horn, Yusef Lateef on tenor, flute, oboe, and English horn, Seldon Powell doubling on tenor and flute, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Joe Benjamin, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy) lives up to its potential, and the charts make good use of the sounds of these very individual stylists. The material, which consists of originals by Terry, Duke Jordan, Lateef, and Bob Wilber, is both rare and fresh, and the interpretations always swing.
Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)
Original Release Date: November 19, 1960 – Label: Candid Records
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The Gil Evans Orchestra – Out of the Cool (1960 – GRP)
Out of the Cool, released in 1960, was the first recording Gil Evans issued after three straight albums with Miles Davis — Sketches of Spain being the final one before this. Evans had learned much from Davis about improvisation, instinct, and space (the trumpeter learned plenty, too, especially about color, texture, and dynamic tension). Evans orchestrates less here, instead concentrating on the rhythm section built around Elvin Jones, Charlie Persip, bassist Ron Carter, and guitarist Ray Crawford. The maestro in the piano chair also assembled a crack horn section for this date, with Ray Beckinstein, Budd Johnson, and Eddie Caine on saxophones, trombonists Jimmy Knepper, Keg Johnson, and bass trombonist Tony Studd, with Johnny Coles and Phil Sunkel on trumpet, Bill Barber on tuba, and Bob Tricarico on flute, bassoon, and piccolo. The music here is of a wondrous variety, bookended by two stellar Evans compositions in “La Nevada,” and “Sunken Treasure.” The middle of the record is filled out by the lovely standard “Where Flamingos Fly,” Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht’s “Bilbao Song,” and George Russell’s classic “Stratusphunk.” The sonics are alternately warm, breezy, and nocturnal, especially on the 15-plus-minute opener which captures the laid-back West Coast cool jazz feel juxtaposed by the percolating, even bubbling hot rhythmic pulse of the tough streets of Las Vegas. The horns are held back for long periods in the mix and the drums pop right up front, Crawford’s solo — drenched in funky blues — is smoking. When the trombones re-enter, they are slow and moaning, and the piccolo digs in for an in the pocket, pulsing break.
Things are brought back to the lyrical impressionism Evans is most well known for at the beginning of “Where Flamingos Fly.” Following a four-note theme on guitar, flute, tuba, and trombone, it comes out dramatic and blue, but utterly spacious and warm. The melancholy feels like the tune “Summertime” in the trombone melody, but shifts toward something less impressionistic and more expressionist entirely by the use of gentle dissonance by the second verse as the horns begin to ratchet things up just a bit, allowing Persip and Jones to play in the middle on a variety of percussion instruments before the tune takes on a New Orleans feel, and indeed traces much of orchestral jazz history over the course of its five minutes without breaking a sweat. “Stratusphunk” is the most angular tune here, but Evans and company lend such an element of swing to the tune that its edges are barely experienced by the listener. For all his seriousness, there was a great deal of warmth and humor in Evans’ approach to arranging. His use of the bassoon as a sound effects instrument at the beginning is one such moment emerging right out of the bass trombone. At first, the walking bassline played by Carter feels at odds with the lithe and limber horn lines which begin to assert themselves in full finger popping swing etiquette, but Carter seamlessly blends in. Again, Crawford’s guitar solo in the midst of all that brass is the voice of song itself, but it’s funky before Johnny Coles’ fine trumpet solo ushers in an entirely new chart for the brass. The final cut, “Sunken Treasure,” is a moody piece of noir that keeps its pulse inside the role of bass trombone and tuba. Percussion here, with maracas, is more of a coloration device, and the blues emerge from the trumpets and from Carter. It’s an odd way to close a record, but its deep-night feel is something that may echo the “cool” yet looks toward something deeper and hotter — which is exactly what followed later with Into the Hot.
Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
1. La Nevada (15:33)
2. Where Flamingoes Fly (5:11)
3. Bilbao Song (4:10)
4. Stratusphunk (8:00)
5. Sunken Treasure (4:15)
6. Sister Sadie (6:57)
Personnel:
Gil Evans (piano & conductor)
Johnny Coles & Phil Sunkel (trp)
Keg Johnson & Jimmy Knepper (tromb)
Tony Studd (trom)
Bill Barber (tuba)
Bob Tricarico (fagot, flute & piccolo)
Ray Beckenstein & Eddie Caine (saxo alto, flute & piccolo)
Budd Johnson (saxo tenor & saxo soprano)
Ray Crawford (guitar)
Ron Carter (bass)
Charlie Persip & Elvin Jones (Drums & percussion)
Colorado Jazz Party "Live at Dick Gibson’s" (1971, Vinyl – BASF)
It is surprising that the music on this LP has not been reissued yet on CD for there are many exciting performances. Taken from Dick Gibson’s 1971 Colorado Jazz Party, there are mini-sets from four separate groups. Trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry “Sweets” Edison lead a six-horn nonet (which includes Zoot Sims’ tenor) for spirited versions of “On the Trail” and “The Hymn.” Terry gets a chance to stretch out with tenor-saxophonist Flip Phillips in a quintet while a similar-sized group showcases the underrated trombonist Carl Fontana and James Moody on tenor. Finally there is a four-trombone septet (with Fontana, Kai Winding, Urbie Green and an effective Trummy Young) performing long versions of “Undecided” and “Lover, Come Back to Me.” Fans of straightahead jazz who run across this two-fer will not need to be told twice to get it.
Scott Yanow
01. Just Squeeze Me
02. The Hymn
03. On the Trail
04. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You
05. Georgia On My Mind
06. Billie’s Bounce
Personnel:
Clark Terry, Harry Edison, Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Zoot Sims, Budd Johnson, Vicotr Feldman, Lyn Christie, Alan Dawson… play On the Trail; The Hymn;
Clark Terry, Flip Phillips, Victor Feldman, Lyn Christie & Cliff Leeman play Just Squeeze Me; I’m Getting Sentimental Over You / Georgia on My Mind / Billie’s Bounce.
(A live Concert recorded in 1971, but not on CD yet)
Across Rhythm 