Time: 64:18
Size: 147.2 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz, Contemporary jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front
[3:33] 1. I Cried For You
[3:01] 2. Satin Wrap
[2:26] 3. Yesterdays
[3:06] 4. Riff Raff
[3:48] 5. Bee-Eyes
[3:14] 6. The Boy Next Door
[3:31] 7. These Foolish Things
[3:02] 8. Lollypop
[3:15] 9. Body And Soul
[7:21] 10. The Man I Love
[3:53] 11. Mamma-Daddy
[5:28] 12. Desert Sands
[6:27] 13. 31st And State
[2:56] 14. Lullaby Of The Leaves
[4:38] 15. Latin Quarters
[4:33] 16. Be-Ware
Twofer: Tracks #1-8 from "Johnny Griffin" (Argo LP 624). Johnny Griffin (ts), Junior Mance (p), Wilbur Ware (b) and Buddy Smith (d). Recorded in Chicago, 1956. Tracks #9-16 originally issued as Wirbur Ware's "The Chicago Sound" (Riverside RP 12-252). Johnny Griffin (ts), John Jenkins (as), Junior Mance (p), Wilbur Ware (b), Wilbur Campbell or Frank Dunlop (d). Recorded in Chicago, 1957.
Griffin's first date featured the saxophonist in the company of Junior Mance on piano, bassist Wilbur Ware, and session drummer Buddy Smith. The program features eight tunes that were fairly standard fare for jazzmen in 1956, such as "These Foolish Things," Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays," and the Youmans-Greene nugget "The Boy Next Door." These are played with the requisite verve and mastery of harmony, rhythm, and melodic changes [...] What does stand out in this program are Griffin's originals, such as "Satin Wrap," which has since been covered by any tenor player worth his mouthpiece. It's a funky blues number that does not fall headlong into the hard bop swinging that would be so pervasive in the tenorist's style. Instead there are more formalist notions that suggest Paul Gonsalves and Coleman Hawkins. In addition, the album-closer, "Lollypop," comes out swinging hard with an R&B hook that digs in. Mance propels Griffin with fat, greasy chords that suggest a Chicago bar-walking honk frenzy, but Griffin's own playing is too sophisticated and glides like Lester Young around the changes. Also notable here is Ware's beautiful bop run "Riff Raff." The bassist knew not only how to write for but arrange for horns. Mance and Griffin are in it knee-deep, note for note, with Mance adding beefy left-hand clusters to the melody as Ware and Smith play it straight time until the solo. It's got the hard bop blues at its root. This recording is brief, as it originally came out on a 10" LP, but is nonetheless a necessary addition to any shelf that pays Johnny Griffin homage. ~Thom Jurek
Bassist Wilbur Ware's only recording as a leader (which has been reissued on CD) mostly features Chicago musicians. Although Ware heads the set and contributed two originals, he does not dominate the music and delegated plenty of solo space to altoist John Jenkins (who also brought in two tunes), tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, and pianist Junior Mance; Wilbur Campbell or Frank Dunlop on drums complete the group. This fine hard bop date (which also has versions of "Body and Soul," Stuff Smith's "Desert Sands," "Lullaby of the Leaves," and "The Man I Love") was a fine debut by Ware. It seems strange that in his remaining 20-plus years the bassist never led another album. ~Scott Yanow
Griffin's first date featured the saxophonist in the company of Junior Mance on piano, bassist Wilbur Ware, and session drummer Buddy Smith. The program features eight tunes that were fairly standard fare for jazzmen in 1956, such as "These Foolish Things," Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays," and the Youmans-Greene nugget "The Boy Next Door." These are played with the requisite verve and mastery of harmony, rhythm, and melodic changes [...] What does stand out in this program are Griffin's originals, such as "Satin Wrap," which has since been covered by any tenor player worth his mouthpiece. It's a funky blues number that does not fall headlong into the hard bop swinging that would be so pervasive in the tenorist's style. Instead there are more formalist notions that suggest Paul Gonsalves and Coleman Hawkins. In addition, the album-closer, "Lollypop," comes out swinging hard with an R&B hook that digs in. Mance propels Griffin with fat, greasy chords that suggest a Chicago bar-walking honk frenzy, but Griffin's own playing is too sophisticated and glides like Lester Young around the changes. Also notable here is Ware's beautiful bop run "Riff Raff." The bassist knew not only how to write for but arrange for horns. Mance and Griffin are in it knee-deep, note for note, with Mance adding beefy left-hand clusters to the melody as Ware and Smith play it straight time until the solo. It's got the hard bop blues at its root. This recording is brief, as it originally came out on a 10" LP, but is nonetheless a necessary addition to any shelf that pays Johnny Griffin homage. ~Thom Jurek
Bassist Wilbur Ware's only recording as a leader (which has been reissued on CD) mostly features Chicago musicians. Although Ware heads the set and contributed two originals, he does not dominate the music and delegated plenty of solo space to altoist John Jenkins (who also brought in two tunes), tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, and pianist Junior Mance; Wilbur Campbell or Frank Dunlop on drums complete the group. This fine hard bop date (which also has versions of "Body and Soul," Stuff Smith's "Desert Sands," "Lullaby of the Leaves," and "The Man I Love") was a fine debut by Ware. It seems strange that in his remaining 20-plus years the bassist never led another album. ~Scott Yanow
The Chicago Sound
