Requisites
Reflections ~ Frank Morgan Allstars | By Eddie Carter
I discovered Frank Morgan in the 80s while living in Cincinnati, Ohio and listening to WNOP 740 AM, the city’s then jazz station. This morning’s album from the library was his eighth release as a leader and seventh for Lester Koenig’s label. Reflections (Contemporary Records C-14052) by the Frank Morgan Allstars is the only album the group recorded together and isn’t a loose, thrown-together blowing session. The sextet is a powerhouse group of musicians: Frank Morgan on alto sax; Joe Henderson on tenor sax; Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone; Mulgrew Miller on piano; Ron Carter on bass; and Al Foster on drums. I own the 1989 U.S. stereo release.
The first side gets underway with Old Bowl, New Grits by Mulgrew Miller. The sextet’s easy-flowing melody gives way to Joe’s opening solo, inviting us to settle in. Bobby follows with a blissfully happy reading, then Frank continues motoring along next. Mulgrew gets the final word ahead of the theme's restatement and fade-out. The title track, Reflections by Thelonious Monk, shifts the energy toward Frank and Joe taking center stage for the enticingly delicate theme. Frank shows a tender vulnerability in the first interpretation. Joe takes over with a gracefully emotional response, then Bobby takes a sensitive, poignant turn, leading to the theme’s return and gorgeous ending.
Starting Over by Bobby Hutcherson picks the beat back up with a lively opening ensemble. Bobby comes out swinging hard first, then Frank dives into the second solo with surgical precision. Joe jumps right into the third reading next, then Mulgrew provides the exclamation point, soaring cheerfully into the ensemble’s vigorous reprise and climax. Side Two opens with the rhythm section’s introduction to Black Narcissus by Joe Henderson, segueing into a compelling front-line dialogue between Frank and Joe. Frank paints a delicate palette first, then Joe adds a few more elegant colors. Bobby infuses the third statement with tender beauty, and Mulgrew saves the best for last in a gorgeous finale before the close.
Sonnymoon for Two by Sonny Rollins affords everyone solo space and begins with the trio’s introduction to the sextet’s medium melody. Frank’s first solo is a great example of relaxed lyricism. Bobby follows with a bounce that’s pure artistry. Joe sets up the next reading perfectly, then Mulgrew keeps the line moving forward. Ron takes a short, satisfying walk before Al brings the curtain down, preceding the closing chorus. O.K. by Ron Carter is his tribute to album producer Orrin Keepnews, and the ensemble opens with a leisurely paced theme. The solo order is Frank, Joe, and Mulgrew before the melody’s reprise and Bobby, who gets the last word in a gentle fade to nothingness.
Orrin Keepnews produced the album; Danny Kopelson managed the recording console, and George Horn mastered the album. The recording is fantastic, with an exceptional soundstage and outstanding detail that emerges through your speakers with exceptional fidelity. Reflections by the Frank Morgan Allstars is a gorgeous album with an all- star lineup and a wonderful selection of tunes. If you’re a fan of the alto saxophonist and in the mood for a terrific blend of bop and modal jazz, I invite you to check it out on your next record shop visit. I’m sure it’ll be a welcome addition to your library, and you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!
© 2026 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Gene M. Roland was born September 15, 1921 in Dallas, Texas and learned to play several instruments, such as trumpet and piano. He received a degree in music from the University of North Texas College of Music, first hooked up with Stan Kenton in 1944, playing fifth trumpet and contributing arrangements. He worked briefly with Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder, and then rejoined Kenton in 1945 as a trombonist and writer, arranging the hit “Tampico”.
In 1946 Roland played piano and wrote for a group that included Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre and Herbie Steward , and would lead Woody Herman‘s Four Brothers Second Herd. By the late 40s, he played trombone with Georgie Auld, trumpet with Count Basie, Charlie Barnet and Lucky Millinder and contributed charts for the big bands of Claude Thornhill and Artie Shaw. He led a giant rehearsal band in 1950 that included Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, wrote for Kenton in 1951, Dan Terry in 1954, and Woody Herman from 1956-58, for whom he contributed 65 arrangements.
Gene was a major force in Kenton’s mellophonium band of the early 1960s, not only writing for the ensemble, but also performing as one of the mellophoniums, occasionally doubling on soprano sax with the orchestra. He provided the robust vocal on “Hawaiian Teenage Girl”, and remained active as a writer in the 1960s and 70s, working with Copenhagen’s Radiohus Orchestra and playing trumpet, piano and tenor with his own groups.
Arranger, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Gene Roland, who was the only arranger to write for Kenton in all four decades of the band’s existence, passed away on August 11, 1982 in New York City.
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Leonard Geoffrey Feather was born on September 13, 1914 in London, England and learned to play the piano and clarinet without formal training and started writing about jazz and film by his late teens. At age of twenty-one, Feather made his first visit to the United States and after working in the U.K. and the U.S. as a record producer finally settled in New York City in 1939, where he lived until moving to Los Angeles, California in 1960.
His compositions have been widely recorded, including “Evil Gal Blues” and “Blowtop Blues” by Dinah Washington, and what is possibly his biggest hit, “How Blue Can You Get?” by blues artists Louis Jordan and B. B. King, and some of his own recordings as a bandleader are still available. But it was as a journalist, critic, historian, and campaigner that he made his biggest mark as one of the most widely read and most influential writer on jazz, and having written the liner notes for hundreds of jazz albums.
Leonard wrote the lyrics to the Benny Golson jazz composition “Whisper Not” which was then recorded by Ella Fitzgerald on her 1966 Verve release of the same name. He was co-editor of the Metronome Magazine and served as the chief jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times until his death on September 22, 1994 in Sherman Oaks, California at age eighty.
He leaves a legacy of a talented daughter, vocalist Lorraine Feather, a couple of dozen albums and several books such as The Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz in the Sixties, Inside Jazz and From Satchmo to Miles among others.
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John Malachi was born on September 6, 1919 in Red Springs, North Carolina and was the pianist for the epochal Billy Eckstine Bebop Orchestra in 1944-45 and again in 1947. He worked with Illinois Jacquet in 1948, Louis Jordan in 1951, and a series of singers including Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Al Hibbler, and Joe Williams.
Malachi is credited with creating the nickname “Sassy” for Sarah Vaughan, working with her both in the Eckstine Orchestra and later during her solo career. He was also fond of categorizing jazz pianists into “acrobats” and “poets,” classifying himself among the latter.
John opted out of the traveling life of the touring jazz musician in the 1960s, living roughly the last decade and a half of his life in Washington, D.C. freelancing, playing with touring bands and artists when they stopped through, and leading music workshops at clubs like Jimmy MacPhail’s Gold Room and Bill Harris’s Pig’s Foot.
Always the educator, Malachi’s generosity towards younger musicians was legendary. One of the musicians he helped influence recalls that younger players referred to his workshops as “The University of John Malachi”. On February 11, 1987 jazz pianist John Malachi passed away in Washington, D.C.
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Richie Powell was born on September 5, 1931 in New York City, the older brother of bebop-icon Bud Powell. He studied piano at City College of New York and played in the bands of Paul Williams, Johnny Hodges and for two years was a member of the group led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach
Pianist McCoy Tyner, who grew up next door to Richie and brother Bud in Philadelphia, purportedly got some of his inspiration to develop his pentatonic chord voicings because he heard the Richie voice left-hand chords in fourths.
In 1956, after an informal gig at a Philadelphia store called Music City, Powell and Brown were being driven overnight by Powell’s wife Nancy to an engagement in Chicago. During the dark rainy night Nancy lost control of the vehicle on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, heading for Cleveland, and in the early hours of June 26, 1956 all three occupants were killed.
Although sometimes considered less gifted than his brother, he was a respected musician and was beginning to achieve recognition at the time of his death. He left behind a small discography, playing on albums with Dinah Washington, and Sonny Rollins but mainly with Max Roach and Clifford Brown.
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