The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager has selected from the shelves in his library and dusted off an album by Art Farmer recorded in 1962 titled Early Art. The album features two sessions recorded in 1954 which was originally released on LP on the New Jazz label in 1962.

The album was produced by Bob Weinstock and recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on January 20 (tracks 1-3, 5) and November 9 (tracks 4, 6-10). The cover design and photography was by Don Schlitten and the liner notes were written by Joe Goldberg.

The programming differs from what is listed, with Soft Shoe (which should have been the opener) is actually appearing fifth and the songs listed as appearing second through fifth have moved up to first through fourth. The Jazz Voyager is pleased to present this work by Farmer and is still practicing social distancing and wearing his mask.

1. Confab in Tempo ~ 3:54
2. I’ll Take Romance (Oscar Hammerstein II, Ben Oakland) ~ 4:57
3. Wisteria ~ 4:32
4. Autumn Nocturne (Kim Gannon, Josef Myrow) ~ 4:05
5. Soft Shoe ~ 4:59
6. I’ve Never Been in Love Before (Frank Loesser) ~ 3:49
7. I’ll Walk Alone (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) ~ 3:55
8. Gone With the Wind (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) ~ 4:07
9. Alone Together (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) ~ 3:59
10. Pre Amp ~ 3:35

• Art Farmer ~ trumpet
• Sonny Rollins ~ tenor saxophone (tracks 1-3,5)
• Horace Silver (tracks 1-3, 5), Wynton Kelly (tracks 4, 6-10) ~ piano
• Percy Heath (tracks 1-3, 5), Addison Farmer (tracks 4, 6-10) ~ bass
• Kenny Clarke (tracks 1-3, 5), Herbie Lovelle (tracks 4, 6-10) ~ drums

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager has been combing the stacks of music in his library for the right album and has selected For Swingers Only by vocalist Lorez Alexandria that was released by the Argo label in 1963.

A stylized, disciplined, soulful, and satisfying session, the recording of this album took place over two days on January 2 & 3, 1963 at Ter Mar Recording Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The session was produced by Esmond Edwards.

1. Baltimore Oriole (Hoagy Carmichael, Paul Francis Webster) ~ 3:11
2. Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) ~ 3:34
3. All or Nothing at All (Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence) ~ 4:55
4. Traveling Down a Lonely Road (Nino Rota, Michele Galdieri, Don Raye) ~ 3:45
5. Mother Earth (Peter Chatman) ~ 3:03
6. Love Look Away (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) ~ 3:49
7. The End of a Love Affair (Edward C. Redding) ~ 2:49
8. That Old Devil Called Love (Alan Roberts, Doris Fisher) ~ 3:54

• Lorez Alexandria – vocals
• Ronald Wilson – tenor saxophone, flute
• John Young – piano, arranger
• George Eskridge – guitar
• Jimmy Garrison – bass
• Phil Thomas – drums

• Cover Design ~ Don Bronstein
• Cover Photography ~ Roger Marshutz
• Engineer ~ Eddie Rio
• Liner Notes ~ Leonard Feather

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

If you don’t know what to do by now to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy, there’s nothing else I can say to change your perspective. So, with that said, this week the Jazz Voyager is pulling from the stacks a 1965 hard bop studio album titled Spunky released by Monty Alexander. The session was produced by Richard Bock and recorded at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles, California and Plaza Sound Studios in New York the year of its release. It was offered on Pacific Jazz LP record ST-20094 in stereo and PJ-10094 in mono.

• Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
• Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
• Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
• Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
• Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
• Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
• Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)

• Cover design by Woody Woodward
• Cover Photography by Les McCann
• Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
• Liner Notes written by Paul Compton

1. Spunky (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:39
2. Naturally (Nat Adderley) ~ 3:35
3. Jamaica Shake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:25
4. Heart Strings (Milt Jackson) ~ 3:33
5. Taggie’s Tune (Junior Mance) ~ 4:14
6. Rattlesnake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:30
7. Whisper Not ( Benny Golson) ~ 3:58
8. I’m An Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:32
9. Little Children Of Peru (Scott Turner) ~ 2:50
10. Spirit Of Foo (Monty Alexander) ~ 4:45

• Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
• Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
• Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
• Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
• Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
• Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
• Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)

• Cover design by Woody Woodward
• Cover Photography by Les McCann
• Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
• Liner Notes written by Paul Compton

1. Spunky (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:39
2. Naturally (Nat Adderley) ~ 3:35
3. Jamaica Shake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:25
4. Heart Strings (Milt Jackson) ~ 3:33
5. Taggie’s Tune (Junior Mance) ~ 4:14
6. Rattlesnake (Monty Alexander) ~ 2:30
7. Whisper Not ( Benny Golson) ~ 3:58
8. I’m An Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:32
9. Little Children Of Peru (Scott Turner) ~ 2:50
10. Spirit Of Foo (Monty Alexander) ~ 4:45

• Monty Alexander: piano (all tracks)
• Victor Gaskin: bass (all but 4, 6)
• Bob Cranshaw: bass (tracks 4, 6)
• Paul Humphrey: drums (all but 4, 6)
• Bruno Carr: drums (tracks 4, 6)
• Gene Bertoncini: guitar (tracks 4, 6)
• Scott Turner: guitar (track 9)

• Cover design by Woody Woodward
• Cover Photography by Les McCann
• Back Cover Photography by Eddie Rio
• Liner Notes written by Paul Compton

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

A simple statement: You know what to do to remain safe and healthy. The fat lady hasn’t begun to warm up because it’s not over.

This week I am featuring an album by an understated vocalist who recorded some two dozen albums. I’ve selected from the library. I Just Dropped By To Say Hello is a studio album by jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman, released on Impulse! Records. It was his second and next-to-last album on the label, after his highly successful collaboration with John Coltrane which produced John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, recorded a few months earlier.

Tracks 1 & 6 were recorded on October 9, 1963 and the balance of the songs were recorded on October 17, 1963 at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It was produced by Bob Thiele, The album was mastered at Longwear Plating and released in 1964. Tracks 1~6 were on the A side of the album and 7~11, the B side of the original album.

1. Charade (from Charade) (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) ~ 2:38
2. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Bob Hilliard, David Mann) ~ 2:49
3. A Sleepin’ Bee (Harold Arlen, Truman Capote) ~ 2:15
4. Don’t You Know I Care (Or Don’t You Care To Know) (Mack David, Duke Ellington) ~ 4:14
5. Kiss & Run (Rene Denoncin, William Engvick, Jack Ledru) ~ 3:35
6. If I’m Lucky (Eddie DeLange, Josef Myrow) ~ 2:52
7. I Just Dropped by to Say Hello (Sid Feller, Rick Ward) ~ 4:10
8. Stairway to the Stars (Matty Malneck, Mitchell Parish, Frank Signorelli) ~ 3:09
9. Our Time (Stanley Glick, Johnny Hartman) ~ 3:00
10. Don’t Call It Love (Ronnell Bright) ~ 2:07
11. How Sweet It Is to Be in Love (George Cardini, Danny DiMinno) ~ 2:20

• Johnny Hartman ~ vocals
• Illinois Jacquet ~ tenor saxophone
• Kenny Burrell ~ guitar (tracks 2-5, 7-11)
• Jim Hall ~ guitar (tracks 1, 6)
• Hank Jones ~ piano
• Milt Hinton ~ double bass
• Elvin Jones ~ drums

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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

Contrary to the announcement that the pandemic is over and the unmasking the country has clearly exhibited, a variant is still present and this Jazz Voyager is getting out remains distant from crowds and enclosed spaces. So we will continue to listen to great music.

My selection this week is the Complete Studio Recordings, a two compact disc set whose songs were recorded between 1956 and 1958 by the Curtis Counce Quintet composed of Counce, Jack Sheldon, Harold Land, Carl Perkins and Frank Butler went into the studio of Contemporary Records and recorded twenty-four songs. Though the group was short~lived, their impact produced a powerhouse two-disc set of music comprising the main recordings on the Contemporary label.

The group’s expressed purpose was to develop a West Coast answer to the soulful, hard-bop East Coast sound. Each of the musicians was among the most gifted on his instrument, yet the focus was always on a collaborative result that would reflect undiscovered possibilities within a familiar post-bop idiom. Seldom does a group of musicians come together and play so seamlessly that they sound like one voice speaking. The contribution of each of the five principals, therefore, invites close scrutiny.

The beauty of the recorded disc is that it is a lasting tribute to the musicians who performed on this recording. Lester Koenig at Contemporary Records was known for extremely high audio standards and turned out some of the best-sounding records of the day thanks to the expertise of engineer Roy DuNann. The audio on these Contemporary dates is rich in depth and detailing, allowing the listener to pick out each of the subordinate motifs and subtle moving harmonies. The engineering created a naturally ambient soundscape inviting the listener to partake of the worthy.

The caveat is that this music appeared on previously released albums by Curtis Counce and this is an opportunity to pick up the excellence of 24 tracks of music in a one~stop shop. This represents African-American indigenous art of the highest order. Released by Gambit Records in 2007 and definitely one for the collector.

Track Listing | 150:00+

1. Landslide (Harold Land) ~ 8:37
2. Time After Time (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne) ~ 6:32
3. Mia (Carl Perkins) ~ 4:55
4. Sarah (Jack Sheldon) ~ 11:38
5. Fifth For Frank (Gerald Wiggins/Cal Tjader) ~ 7:14
6. Big Foot (Charlie Parker) ~ 9:07
7. Sonar (Kenny Clarke/Gerald Wiggins) ~ 7:28
8. Stranger In Paradise (Robert Wright/George Forrest) ~ 7:04
9. Woody’n You (Dizzy Gillespie) ~ 6:18
10. Pink Lady (Jack Sheldon) ~ 4:41
11. Councelation (Curtis Counce) ~ 6:05

1. Love Walked In (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin) ~ 4:56
2. Too Close For Comfort (Larry Holofcener) ~ 5:38
3. How Deep Is The Ocean (Irving Berlin) ~ 6:37
4. Complete (Curtis Counce) ~ 5:52
5. Nica’s Dream (Horace Silver) ~ 8:00
6. How Long Has This Been Going On (George Gershwin/Ira Gerswin) ~ 3:18
7. Mean To Me (Fred E. Ahlert/Roy Turk) ~ 4:31
8. I Can’t Get Started (Vernon Duke/Ira Gershwin) ~ 8:01
9. Larue (Clifford Brown) ~ 5:04
10. Carl’s Blues (Carl Perkins) ~ 5:54
11. Night In Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie/Frank Paparelli) ~ 8:17
12. Love Walked In (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin) ~ 2:55
13. Sophisticated Lady (Duke Ellington) ~ 4:10
14. Fifth For Frank (Gerald Wiggins/Cal Tjader) ~ 1:56
15. The Butler Did It (Frank Butler) ~ 4:39

Personnel

• Jack Sheldon ~ trumpet
• Harold Land ~ tenor saxophone
• Carl Perkins ~ piano
• Curtis Counce ~ bass
• Frank Butler ~ drums
• Gerald Wilson ~ trumpet (replaces Sheldon on three tracks of disc 2)

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