Requisites
Scope ~ Buck Hill Quartet | By Eddie Carter
This week’s choice from the library is from Buck Hill, the wailing mailman from Washington, D.C. He delivered mail during the day and performed at night in the city’s jazz clubs. The Buck Hill Quartet enters the spotlight of this discussion with Scope (SteepleChase Records SCS-1123). It was his second album as a leader, and the follow-up to This Is Buck Hill, his debut from a year earlier. Buck’s capabilities as a composer are also on display as the tenor saxophonist wrote all the tunes. His bandmates again are Kenny Barron on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. My copy is the original 1979 Danish Stereo pressing.
Side One starts at a speedy clip with the title tune, Scope. Buck and company begin the melody quickly; then, the saxophonist flies out of the gate in a rapid opening solo. Kenny follows with an electrically charged reading while Buster and Billy propel them toward a brisk climax. Ballad Repeter slows the tempo down for the foursome’s tender theme, which is repeated with melodic beauty. Barron takes the lead with a delicately pretty reading that’s beautifully structured. Hill continues this serene sequence with warmth and sensitivity in the following interpretation, matched by the charming compliment of Williams and Hart into the saxophonist’s passionately elegant reprise and ending.
Blue Bossa, a Latin-flavored original, ends the first side on an upbeat note and grabs the listener from the start of the quartet’s infectious melody. Buck kicks off the solos with a festive presentation, then Kenny provides a happy showcase on the subsequent reading ahead of the closing chorus. Side Two gets underway with Beast Beautiful. It’s taken at a lively pace, and the saxophonist steps up first to give an energetic performance. Barron meets the challenge in the following interpretation with a youthful spirit and feeling. Williams significantly contributes to the final reading preceding the song’s abrupt climax.
The Sad Ones is a gorgeous ballad with a haunting poignancy in Buck’s delivery of the melody. The opening solo by Buck is a stunning showcase of warmth and tenderness that beautifully illustrates his creativity as a ballad composer. Kenny compliments the saxophonist with an emotionally moving presentation sustained by Buster and Billy’s gentle accompaniment into Buck’s delicate finale. Funk Dumplin’ is a blues that comes to life with the ensemble’s brisk theme. Hill starts the opening solo with a spicy flavor, then Barron spreads his wings in the following reading. Williams takes an exhilarating walk next, and Hart delivers a fascinating finale leading to the ensemble’s exit.
Nils Winther produced Scope, Elvin Campbell recorded the album, and Freddy Hansson was the mixing engineer. The sound quality is so good the listener will think they’re in the studio as the musicians are recording. The soundstage is stunning, and the record is silent until the music starts. If you’re a fan of Buck Hill or enjoy the tenor sax, I happily recommend and invite you to check out Scope by The Buck Hill Quartet on your next vinyl excursion. It’s an excellent album that will appeal to any novice or seasoned jazz fan and whet their appetite to hear more by the wailing mailman from Washington, D.C.
~ This Is Buck Hill (Steeplechase Records SCS 1095) – Source: Discogs.com © 2023 by Edward Thomas Carter
More Posts: choice,classic,collectible,collector,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jimmy Vass was born March 31, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and acquired his first saxophone at age 18. After honing his chops on the local club scene, he relocated to New York City in 1963, working a series of day jobs while moonlighting as a musician.
Vass first appeared on record in 1968 via Sunny Murray’s Hard Cores. With 1971’s Soul Story, he began an extended collaboration with the great soul-jazz organist Charles Earland. His most notable partnership paired him with avant-jazz pianist Andrew Hill, beginning with 1975’s Divine Revelation.
He played on Roberta Flack’s Feel Like Makin’ Love. He also lent his talents to recording sessions with Muhal Richard Abrams, Rashied Ali, Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Ronnie Boykins and Woody Shaw. Never leading a recording date of his own, in the autumn of his career Jimmy worked as a music instructor and led his own New York-based group playing standards and originals.
Alto and soprano saxophonist and flutist Jimmy Vass, who emerged as one of the premier jazz sidemen of the 1970s, transitioned on September 21, 2006, at the age of 69.
The Jazz Voyager
This week the Jazz Voyager is on his way to landing in Kansas City, Missouri and going to Liberty, Missouri to experience the ambience of Johnnie’s Jazz Bar and Grille. Named after the owner’s daughter, who wanted a son, she was always the life of the party, selling tickets at the theater they owned and loved playing bridge.
The venue offers pub eats, ample bourbons and live music in a cozy club setting named for a female piano player. Johnnie, so named, by the way, since her father had selected Johnny as a boy’s name, was playing at The Lyric Theater in Salisbury, Missouri when Elmer Bills bought the location in 1924. Smitten by her natural charm, love of life, and youthful exuberance, Elmer fell in love and the two married a few years later. Their son Elmer Bills, Jr. would join forces with Sterling Bagby to formally create B&B Theatres.
This week I’ll be listening to a talented saxophonist by the name Herschel McWilliams who grew up and is a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas. The son of musicians, a drummer father and pianist mother, he was introduced to many musical influences at an early age. He started learning piano at 8 and alto saxophone when he was ten years old. He serves on the Board of Directors for Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors as well as running his own jazz website LiveJazzKC.com.
The club is located at 1903 Victory Drive, Liberty, MO 64068 and the number is 816-792-2675. For more info visit notoriousjazz.com/event/herschel-mcwilliams-trio.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Eric “Big Daddy” Dixon was born on March 28, 1930 in New York City, New York. Although he played bugle as a child,he switched to the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. Following a stint as a musician in the US Army from 1951 to 1953 he played in groups that sometimes included Mal Waldron, with whom he would later record.
In 1954, he played with Cootie Williams and the following year with Johnny Hodges. In 1956, he performed and recorded with Bennie Green and also took up the flute.
The late Fifties had him spending four years in the house band led by Reuben Phillips at the Apollo Theatre in New York. At the end of the decade he toured Europe and recorded with the Cooper Brothers.
He also worked with Paul Gonsalves, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, Jack McDuff, Joe Williams, Frank Foster, and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, but is probably best known for his tenure in Count Basie’s band, which lasted almost two decades. Dixon continued to play in the ghost band after Basie’s death.
Tenor saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger Eric Dixon, who has been credited on as many as 200 recordings, transitioned on October 19, 1989 in New York City.
More Posts: arranger,composer,flute,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
MARK RUSSO
Join us, as trumpeter, educator, and composer, Mark Russo, takes us on a musical journey throughout the “The Blue Note Era”, with his jazz quartet.
Line-up: Mark Russo: Trumpet, A.J. Kluth – Tenor Sax, Ian Kinnaman – Bass, Jonathan Hooper – Piano, Ricky Exton – Drums
A freelance jazz trumpet player and educator in the greater Cleveland area. He holds degrees in Music Performance In Jazz Studies From Bowling Green State University and a Music Education from Kent State University (Magna Cum Laude) and is currently the director of bands at Constellation Schools: Parma Community High School.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel,trumpet