Conte Candoli - Modern Sounds From The West

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:34
Size: 141,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:29) 1. The Blindfold Test No. 1
(3:42) 2. Culver City
(2:54) 3. Van Nuys Indeed
(3:56) 4. Burbank Bounce
(4:47) 5. Santa Monica
(4:07) 6. The Blindfold Test No. 2
(4:03) 7. Here's Pete
(3:59) 8. No Love, No Nothin'
(3:17) 9. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(2:42) 10. Come Love
(2:55) 11. T.N.T.
(3:31) 12. Thank You, Judge
(4:32) 13. Santa Anita
(3:34) 14. Hooray For Hollywood
(4:30) 15. The Blindfold Test No. 3
(4:27) 16. Arcadia

Best-known as the trumpet section leader in Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Band, Conte Candoli was a fine all-around jazz stylist most at home in the worlds of bop and West Coast cool jazz. Younger by four years than his similarly accomplished trumpet-playing brother Pete, Conte was born Secondo Candoli in Mishawaka, IN, on July 12, 1927. He first patterned himself after players like Harry James, Roy Eldridge, and Dizzy Gillespie, later discovering Miles Davis and Clifford Brown.

His first job came at age 16, when brother Pete recommended him for a summer gig with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd; after graduating high school, he joined full-time. He went on to play with several other bands, including Stan Kenton, whom he left in 1954 to form his own band. After leading some recording dates, he soon found a more comfortable existence, moving to Los Angeles and taking session jobs in between gigs with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars.

After about four years, he left in 1960 to work with drummer Shelly Manne, while he and Pete both enjoyed top-dog status in the L.A. session community. In 1968, Candoli took a part-time gig with the Tonight Show Band and joined permanently in 1972, when the show officially moved to Burbank.

During the '70s, he was also a member of Supersax, among other L.A. all-star outfits, and also continued his periodic collaborations with his brother. Candoli retired from the Tonight Show along with Johnny Carson in 1992, and continued to play until a battle with cancer slowed his activities. Candoli died in a convalescent home on December 14, 2001.By Steve Huey https://www.allmusic.com/artist/conte-candoli-mn0000100990/biography

Personnel: Conte Candoli / trumpet; John Graas / flute; Charlie Mariano / alto sax; Marty Paich / piano; Monty Budwig / bass; Stan Levey / drums; Buddy Collette / alto sax, flute; Jimmy Giuffre / clarinet, tenor sax,bass sax; Gerald Wiggins / piano; Howard Roberts / guitar; Curtis Counce / bass; Hank Jones / piano; Barry Galbraith / guitar; Milt Hinton / bass; Osie Johnson / drums; Harry Edison / trumpet; Herb Geller / alto sax; Bob Enevoldsen / valve trombone, tenor sax; Lorraine Geller / piano; Joe Mondragon / bass

Modern Sounds From The West

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Peggy Connelly - Hollywood Sessions

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:56
Size: 108,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. You Make Me Feel So Young
(2:42)  2. Trouble Is a Man
(3:08)  3. Where Did the Gentleman Go
(2:26)  4. I Have Said Goodbye to Spring
(2:54)  5. What Is There to Say
(2:30)  6. Trav'lin' Light
(3:18)  7. Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye
(3:17)  8. Alone Together
(2:42)  9. I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'
(2:25) 10. Fools Rush In
(2:10) 11. Ev'rytime
(2:47) 12. Gentleman Friend
(4:27) 13. It Never Entered My Mind
(2:59) 14. Why Shouldn't I
(3:14) 15. That Old Black Magic
(2:45) 16. He Was Too Good to Me

By the time she was 15, Peggy Connelly (1931-2007) had a lovely voice that won her jobs singing with competitive big bands in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. At 18, she went in search of work as a model and singer, and after a difficult start, she moved to Hollywood. Once there, she landed two significant opportunities. The first involved her appearance in motion pictures and TV shows. The second and more important opportunity was the start of her career as a single recording artist. When she sang, Connelly put to good use her beautiful, round tone and commendable lack of artifice to project the intent of any song with lucidity. She was Frank Sinatra’s girlfriend for over two years, and their relationship opened many doors for her with musicians and the Hollywood studios. Even though Connelly had few significant opportunities in her career to show off her talent as a singer, the times she did resulted in these magnificent recordings. Sinatra, not very fond of praising his colleagues, had no qualms about praising Connelly. When he first heard her sing Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye, he said: “Hi, beautiful lady, you are wonderful.” https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/peggy-connelly/6707-hollywood-sessions.html

Personnel:  Peggy Connelly (vcl), Marty Paich, Russell Garcia (dir), Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli, Stu Williamson (tp), Russ Cheever (ss), Charlie Mariano (as), Bill Holman (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (bs), Al Hendrickson (g), Jimmy Rowles (p), Harry Babasin, Max Bennett (b), Roy Harte, Stan Levey (d), Jack Costanzo, Ramón Rivera, Willy Gallardo (perc)

Hollywood Sessions

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Jimmy Giuffre Quartet - Skylines

Styles: Cool Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:56
Size: 179,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:59)  1. Two For Timbuctu
(7:56)  2. The Boy Next Door
(7:56)  3. My Funny Valentine
(6:30)  4. What's New
(9:29)  5. The Quiet Time
(8:27)  6. The Crab
(9:22)  7. Wee See
(6:33)  8. My Funny Valentine - Short Version
(5:27)  9. Two For Timbuctu - Short Version
(9:14) 10. Mack The Knife

Reedman and composer Jimmy Giuffre was born in Dallas, TX. He started his musical education at age 9 learning the clarinet and within few years he was proficient enough to give solo clarinet recitals at local functions. After high school he attended North Texas State University receiving a B. A. in music. During his college years he played in local bands. Soon after graduation he enlisted in the Army and was a member of the official Army band. After discharge he became a professional arranger for several big bands including Boyd Raeburn's, Buddy Rich's, Jimmy Dorsey’s and most famously in Woody Herman’s where he also played tenor sax. During his tenure with Woody Herman’s big band he composed the classic “Four Brothers” in 1947. In the early 1950s Jimmy Giuffre moved to LA and studied for a while at UCLA and played with the bands of Shorty Rogers and Howard Rumsey. He also added baritone sax to his repertoire. He was introduced by one of his colleagues to music teacher, poet and composer Dr. Wesley La Violette. From the later he learned the concept of classical counterpoint; a linear style of composing that freed one of chord structures. From 1954-1958, Jimmy Giuffre recorded several classic albums for Capital and Atlantic including the 1956 landmark record Clarinet. His, unusual for the time, groups were drummerless/pianoless trios initially with Jim Hall on guitar, and Ralph Pena on bass and then with Jim Hall and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, creating an unusual lineup for its time. The first incarnation of the trio appeared participated on KABC “Stars of Jazz” tv show where he met his future wife. In the late 50s his trio changed format and he replaced the guitar with Paul Bley's piano and the valve trombone with Steve Swallow’s bass. From this trio comes the 1962 classic Free Fall. This album also marked a transition in his musical style from what he had called “blues-based folk jazz” to a new free jazz. His trio changed personnel again in the mid 1960s with Don Friedman at the piano and Barry Phillips on bass.

Late 60s brought another innovation to Jimmy Giuffre's music: the introduction of drums with the percussionist Randy Kay. His clarinet, bass drum trio recorded a few albums of the introspective and free jazz music he had started composing. In the 1970s he moved to the east coast and taught at New York University, Rutgers, the New School of Social Research and the New England Conservatory. In order to supplement his income he also composed music for theatre, dance companies, films and TV commercials and also acted as a hand model in some of the commercials. In the 1980s Giuffre started exploring a more electric sound by adding to his clarinet and Kay’s drums electric bass and electronics. The quartet recorded a few albums for Soul Note that have gone out of print. In 1988 he recorded a series of reed duets with his student Andre Jaume called Momentum. This CD is currently available on Hat Hut. In the 1990s there was a resurgence of interest in the Free Form music that led to a reunion of the Paul Bley, Steve Swallow and Jimmy Giuffre trio and a European tour. Parkinson Disease started taking a toll on his health so in the early 2000's he retired from teaching and touring and settled in rural Massachusetts. He passed awa on April 24, 2008. https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/jimmygiuffre

Skylines

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Bill Evans & Lee Konitz - Play The Arrangements Of Jimmy Giuffre

Styles: Piano And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:29
Size: 172,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:08)  1. Palo Alto
(5:02)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone
(9:50)  3. Cork'n' Bib
(4:29)  4. Somp'm Outa' Nothin'
(3:36)  5. Someone To Watch Over Me
(3:55)  6. Uncharted
(3:59)  7. Moonlight In Vermont
(5:08)  8. The Song Is You
(1:58)  9. Darn That Dream
(4:48) 10. Ev'rything I've Got (Belongs To You)
(4:19) 11. You Don't Know What Love Is
(4:00) 12. I Didn't Know About You
(3:57) 13. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(4:11) 14. You're Driving Me Crazy
(4:08) 15. You're Clear Out Of This World
(3:39) 16. The More I See You
(4:12) 17. You Are Too Beautiful

Merged from two brilliant 1959 studio sessions, this disc is, just as the title and artist credits suggest, a showcase for three immense talents. Those expecting to hear the snap-crackle of Roy Haynes' snare or Bob Brookmeyer's punctuated counterpoints after reading the all-star lineup may be surprised to hear them relegated to the background, but any disappointment will end there. The brilliant playing of Konitz and Evans, paired with Jimmy Giuffre's sensitive arrangements, is enough to satisfy any true jazz lover. Assembled for the album Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre, the first band, a quintet of saxophones backed by the rhythmic underpinnings of Evans, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Ronnie Free, immediately shows its musicality on the angular, quasi-atonal "Palo Alto. After a rundown of the pointillistic Giuffre arrangement, Konitz jumps in and alternately toys with and floats over the buoyantly swinging rhythm section and airy horn backgrounds. Konitz and Evans solo at length on "Somp'm Outa' Nothin', which can only be described as a blues that has a hard time getting off the "one" chord. The arrangement is quintessential Guiffre, with its dense tone clusters and recurring rhythmic pedal; Evans takes incredible liberties with the harmonic structure and shows an early affinity for Monk. Following a chamber-jazz reworking of "Darn That Dream, in which Giuffre masterfully exploits the subtle harmonic movements using a quintet of saxophones, the album is rounded out with a number of tracks from the '59 album You And Lee. Recorded five months after the initial Konitz/Giuffre studio session, this date finds a trio of trumpets and trombones replacing the saxophone section and adding a distinct edge to the music. Konitz is clearly the leader here; his probing, inventive solos are featured throughout the lineup of reworked standards, and the comping work is split by Evans' piano and the earthy guitar of Jim Hall. The tunes, especially "You Don't Know What Love Is, show Konitz at his best. He dazzles the listener with his sensitivity and invention and revels in the shimmering, transparent beauty evoked by Giuffre's arrangements. ~ Matthew Miller https://www.allaboutjazz.com/play-the-arrangements-of-jimmy-giuffre-bill-evans-lone-hill-jazz-review-by-matthew-miller.php?width=1920

Personnel: Band 1: Lee Konitz, Hal McKusick: alto saxophone; Ted Brown, Warne Marsh: tenor saxophone; Jimmy Giuffre: baritone saxophone/arrangements; Bill Evans: piano; Buddy Clark: bass; Ronnie Free: drums.

Band 2: Marky Markowitz, Ernie Royal, Phil Sunkel: trumpet; Eddie Bert, Billy Byers; trombone; Bob Brookmeyer: valve trombone; Lee Konitz: alto saxophone; Bill Evans; piano; Sonny Dallas: bass; Roy Haynes: drums; Jimmy Giuffre: arranger, conductor.

Play The Arrangements Of Jimmy Giuffre

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Herb Ellis - Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:53
Size: 92,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:05)  1. Goose Grease
(5:57)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone
(7:43)  3. Remember
(4:06)  4. Patricia
(5:06)  5. A Country Boy
(4:32)  6. You Know
(3:32)  7. My Old Flame
(4:49)  8. People Will Say We're In Love

"Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre presents an unusual team. It is an album with involved arrangements, as opposed to a jam session format, and the only solo voice heard here is Ellis guitar with the exception of the tune "Remember", on which some short solos by the horns are heard. Not even Giuffre solos, as he contented himself with writing all of the arrangements and playing on the elaborate ensemble passages." https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/herb-ellis-albums/5238-herb-ellis-meets-stan-getz-roy-eldridge-art-pepper-jimmy-giuffre-2-lp-on-1-cd.html

Personnel:  Guitar – Herb Ellis, Jim Hall;  Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Arranged By – Jimmy Giuffre;   Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper, Bud Shank; Bass – Joe Mondragon; Drums – Stan Levey; Piano – Lou Levy; Tenor Saxophone – Richie Kamuca

Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

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Woody Herman - Keeper Of The Flame

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:21
Size: 137,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:04)  1. That's Right
(2:52)  2. Lemon Drop
(3:14)  3. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
(3:07)  4. I Ain't Gettin' Any Younger
(3:12)  5. Early Autumn
(3:05)  6. More Than You Know
(3:03)  7. Keeper Of The Flame
(3:14)  8. The Crickets
(3:13)  9. More Moon
(3:11) 10. Detour Ahead
(3:12) 11. Jamaica Rhumba
(2:53) 12. Not Really The Blues
(2:57) 13. Tenderly
(2:42) 14. Lollipop
(2:37) 15. I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You
(3:13) 16. You've Got A Date with The Blues
(3:10) 17. Rhapsody In wood
(2:57) 18. The Great Lie
(3:14) 19. In The Beginning

Subtitled The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Four Brothers Band, this CD contains 19 selections from Herman's Second Herd, including three songs never before released. Top-heavy with major soloists (including trumpeters Red Rodney and Shorty Rogers; trombonist Bill Harris; tenors Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Gene Ammons; and vibraphonist Terry Gibbs; not to mention Herman himself), this boppish band may have cost the leader a small fortune but they created timeless music. Highlights include "Early Autumn" (a ballad performance that made Stan Getz a star), the riotous "Lemon Drop," and Gene Ammons' strong solo on "More Moon." 

~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/keeper-of-the-flame-the-complete-capitol-recordings-mw0000075785

Personnel:  Clarinet – Woody Herman;  Alto Saxophone – Sam Marowitz, Woody Herman;  Baritone Saxophone – Serge Chaloff;  Bass – Chubby Jackson (tracks: 1 to 7), Joe Mondragon (tracks: 13 to 19), Oscar Pettiford (tracks: 8 to 12);  Drums – Don Lamond (tracks: 1 to 7), Shelly Manne (tracks: 8 to 19);  Piano – Lou Levy;  Tenor Saxophone – Al Cohn (tracks: 1 to 7), Buddy Savitt (tracks: 8 to 19), Gene Ammons (tracks: 8 to 19), Jimmy Giuffre (tracks: 8 to 19), Stan Getz (tracks: 1 to 7), Zoot Sims (tracks: 1 to 7);  Trombone – Bart Varsalona (tracks: 8 to 19), Bill Harris, Bob Swift (tracks: 1 to 7), Earl Swope, Ollie Wilson ; Trumpet – Al Porcino (tracks: 8 to 19), Bernie Glow (tracks: 1 to 7), Charlie Walp (tracks: 8 to 19), Ernie Royal, Red Rodney (tracks: 1 to 7), Shorty Rogers, Stan Fishelson;  Vibraphone – Terry Gibbs (tracks: 1 to 7, 10 to 19);  Vocals – Mary Ann McCall (tracks: 1 to 9), Woody Herman

Keeper Of The Flame

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Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow - Fly Away Little Bird

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:29
Size: 175.1 MB
Styles: Post bop, Modern Creative
Year: 1992/2003
Art: Front

[ 6:35] 1. Fly Away Little Bird
[ 3:39] 2. Fits
[ 4:49] 3. I Can't Get Started
[ 5:38] 4. Qualude
[ 6:38] 5. Possibilities
[ 6:20] 6. Tumbleweed
[ 6:30] 7. All The Things You Are
[ 3:14] 8. Starts
[ 4:34] 9. Goodbye
[ 0:27] 10. Just Dropped By
[ 5:13] 11. Lover Man
[ 4:51] 12. Postlude
[ 6:26] 13. Sweet And Lovely
[11:26] 14. Bats In The Belfry

Jimmy Giuffre, soprano sax, clarinet, voice; Paul Bley, piano; Steve Swallow, electric bass.

Recorded a year before this trio's final record in ’93, Fly Away Little Bird delivers a more grounded, earthy performance than Conversations With a Goose. Here, Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, and Steve Swallow explore their blues roots, particularly Giuffre. And, in addition to their trademark spontaneous inventions, they lovingly render five standards and a surprisingly strong composition by Juanita Odjenar Giuffre, Mrs. Jimmy. This was their third album for Owl after a 27-year hiatus.

Giuffre’s credited with the title track, a wistful group piece with Jimmy on clarinet. The three musicians easily revolve in and out of their solos and supporting roles. “Fits” gives Swallow a solo run that carries a vaguely Spanish flavor with classical counterpoint. All three give a heartfelt reading to Vernon Duke’s “Can’t Get Started.” After Jimmy’s mournful turn, Swallow bends his notes bluesy, and Bley takes a theatrical interlude. Bley goes solo on “Qualude,” working a walking bass line through some minor harmonies. The modal inventions that follow are pure Bley, some deceptively simple ideas the build into a complex off-kilter blues. Juanita Giuffre’s “Possibilities” starts with a rubbery throbbing Swallow and Giuffre making short statements on soprano. Bley plays the progression in a clipped style, before blowing it apart. Giuffre goes on one of his amazing solo excursions on “Tumbleweed,” a clarinet workout that includes extended techniques, vocals sounding like Italian operetta, and sweet bluesy musing.

Kern and Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are” gets a stiff intro from Bley and Giuffre, then Swallow enters in hyper-swing mode, and everyone gets on his bus. Bley manages to tweak his chords enough to keep it from being a totally straight interpretation. “Starts” continues Swallow’s solo exploration, this time less jaunty, less Spanish, but no less contrapuntal. The Gordon Jenkins composition, “Goodbye,” originally showed up on the trio’s second album for Verve, Thesis in 1961. Giuffre’s clarinet sings the sad song, with Swallow and Bley finishing his and each other’s phrases. Swallow’s unique bass approach creates a call and response role with the clarinet. The long group improv “Bats in the Belfry” begins with a few lines from Giuffre on soprano that echo back from Bley and Swallow, and the variations commence. After various changes, Giuffre switches to clarinet, and in one sequence Bley sounds as if he’s playing prepared piano. ~Rex Butters

Fly Away Little Bird mc
Fly Away Little Bird zippy

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The Jimmy Giuffre 3 - The Easy Way

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:54
Size: 91.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Cool jazz
Year: 1959
Art: Front

[5:53] 1. The Easy Way
[4:51] 2. Mack The Knife
[4:29] 3. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[6:27] 4. Careful
[6:56] 5. Ray's Time
[2:07] 6. A Dream
[4:38] 7. Off Center
[1:48] 8. Montage
[2:40] 9. Time Enough

Bass – Ray Brown; Guitar – Jim Hall; Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet – Jimmy Giuffre. Recorded New York City, August 6-7, 1959.

Jimmy Giuffre's jazz has got to be among the sparsest ever laid down; you can see a whole lot of daylight between the notes. But the sketch-like quality of his music belies a quiet intensity that has an almost hypnotic attraction. This is not jazz that jumps out at you and grabs you by the lapels. It is, rather, jazz that trickles out in droplets, coalescing into music midway between the eardrum and the subconscious. For those who have come under its spell (guilty!), it is as irresistible as it is inscrutable. Giuffre's relative neglect may be attributable to his music's elusiveness, but it has not been aided by his former labels, who have yet to reissue many of his classic recordings. Most of these were made with the Jimmy Giuffre 3: initially with guitarist Jim Hall and either bassist Ralph Pena or valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer; later with pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow. Verve's new reissue of The Easy Way, a 1959 session that captures the transition between the two trio configurations, is a most welcome addition to the bins. The earlier trios with Hall explored a kind of "folk jazz," music with a front-porch casualness exemplified by Giuffre's most famous tune, "The Train and The River." The Bley/Swallow trio was considerably more abstract and exploratory, as can be heard on the epochal Verve albums Fusion and Thesis, reissued by ECM as 1961. The Easy Way, with Hall and guest bassist Ray Brown, falls midway between these two groups, and thus provides a fascinating insight into Giuffre's development.

The first five tunes on the disc are the most straightforward. Three blues, one unaltered (the swinging "Ray's Time") and two modified (the loping title track and Hall's intricate "Careful"), stand alongside two standards ("Mack The Knife" and "Come Rain or Come Shine"). The way Giuffre picks up on Brown's melodic runs and rhythmic cadences in "The Easy Way" demonstrates his empathetic collective approach. Standards are not what this group was about, but they adapt these two well; "Mack the Knife" cleverly introduces each solo with an arranged unison statement by rotating pairs of musicians. The last four brief tunes introduce the approach Giuffre was to take with his next version of the 3. "Dream" is aptly titled: an ethereal, disquieting gossamer construction of unresolved tones. "Off Center" is charmingly so, but still propulsive; in "Montage," however, the abstraction is nearly complete.

The almost psychic interplay here between Giuffre and Hall is typical of the 3, but Brown is a real surprise. He sounds glad to be liberated from the relative stricture of Oscar Peterson's trio, fitting seamlessly into Giuffre's conception while still providing a strong, swinging pulse. The remastering lets through some hiss but captures the music with impressive clarity, the audible sax key clicks and verbal encouragements bringing the listener across 44 years and into the studio. This is a fine reissue and an ideal introduction to two of Giuffre's classic periods. ~Joshua Weiner

The Easy Way mc
The Easy Way zippy

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Ray Brown - Bass Hit!

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:38
Size: 124,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Blues For Sylvia
(4:00)  2. All Of You
(4:28)  3. Everything I Have Is Yours
(3:42)  4. Will You Still Be Mine
(4:52)  5. Little Toe
(4:46)  6. Alone Together
(2:30)  7. Solo For Unaccompanied Bass
(4:09)  8. My Foolish Heart
(5:36)  9. Blues For Lorraine
(2:50) 10. After You've Gone
(4:49) 11. After You've Gone (Complete Takle)
(3:01) 12. After You've Gone
(2:44) 13. After You've Gone (Complete Takle)

Since he played on some of the earliest Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker records in 1945, Brown is regarded as the father of modern bass playing. He made his name at that time with the groundbreaking role he played on Gillespie's One Bass Hit. He has been a leading virtuoso for half a century and his tone and dexterity are still something to wonder at, as was shown in an unforgettable master class that he gave to students for a BBC television broadcast. His "Solo for Unaccompanied Bass" here is another dazzling performance. Elsewhere, he's in an unusual setting before an all-star West Coast big band playing a set of arrangements by Marty Paich. Brown bites powerfully into his featured role, notably in an incredibly fast "After You've Gone," and he's helped by key soloists like trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison (reprising his role on Sinatra's albums) and clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre. If you're a bass player, be careful with this album. It might make you want to give up. ~ Steve Voce https://www.amazon.com/Bass-Hit-Ray-Brown/dp/B00000JNP2

Personnel: Ray Brown (bass); Marty Paich (arranger, conductor); Jack Dulong, Herb Geller (alto saxophone); Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Bill Holman (tenor saxophone); Harry "Sweets" Edison, Conrad Gozzo, Ray Linn, Pete Candoli (trumpet); Herbie Harper (trombone); Jimmie Rowles (piano); Herb Ellis (guitar); Mel Lewis, Alvin Stoller (drums).

Bass Hit!

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Various - Atlantic Jazz: West Coast

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:18
Size: 126.6 MB
Styles: Bop, West Coast jazz
Year: 1986/2005
Art: Front

[ 2:56] 1. Eddie Safranski - Sa-Frantic
[ 4:56] 2. Shorty Rogers - Not Really The Blues
[ 4:03] 3. Jack Montrose - Paradox
[ 5:52] 4. Conte Candoli - Cheremoya
[ 8:00] 5. Shorty Rogers - Martians Go Home
[ 3:57] 6. Jimmy Giuffre - The Song Is You
[11:27] 7. Jimmy Giuffre - Topsy
[ 7:44] 8. The Red Mitchell-Harold Land Quintet - Triplin' Awhile
[ 6:19] 9. Shelly Manne - You Name It

Part of Atlantic's by-genre-and-instrument jazz series, Atlantic Jazz: West Coast spotlights some of the giants from the land of the Central Avenue breakdown and fog-bound bridges. On the high-profile end, such stellar players and bandleaders as Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne contribute tasty sides, while the obscure quotient is nicely covered by Eddie Safrinski. Taking up the middle ground, tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose, the duo of Harold Land and Red Mitchell, and Conte Candoli contribute fine cuts as well. Maybe not the best introduction to those West Coast jazz sounds, but a fine selection of sides all the same. ~Stephen Cook

Atlantic Jazz: West Coast

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Various - Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:19
Size: 156.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz, R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[ 4:36] 1. The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
[ 2:48] 2. Chris Connor - All About Ronnie
[ 7:56] 3. Shorty Rogers - Martians Go Home
[ 6:45] 4. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Evidence
[ 4:41] 5. Lavern Baker - Back Water Blues
[ 5:46] 6. John Coltrane - Cousin Mary
[ 3:32] 7. Jimmy Giuffre - The Train And The River
[ 7:16] 8. Big Joe Turner - Wee Baby Blues
[10:33] 9. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
[ 5:21] 10. David Newman - Fathead
[ 5:21] 11. Lennie Tristano - You Go To My Head
[ 3:39] 12. Ray Charles - Come Rain Or Come Shine

Although there were plenty of early-'50s examples of Atlantic's commitment to jazz, the Ertegun brothers allegedly didn't get serious about establishing a full jazz line until 1955 when the twelve-inch LP was starting to take hold. Hence the half-decade span of this Rhino sampler that helped launch its repackaging of the Atlantic jazz caatalogue in 1993. In the space of one disc, Rhino touches upon most of the leading Atlantic jazz folk of the time, beginning with Shorty Rogers' inimitable "Martians Go Home" and running through to Chris Connor's live "All About Ronnie." Along the way, we hear samples of the MJQ (though there is no solo Milt Jackson), Art Blakey, LaVern Baker, John Coltrane ("Cousin Mary"), Jimmy Giuffre, Joe Turner, Charles Mingus, David "Fathead" Newman, Lennie Tristano, and some string-laden Ray Charles ("Come Rain Or Come Shine"). If quibble we must, there is nothing of the Dixieland resurgence that Atlantic was cultivating then, and most glaring of all, there is no Ornette Coleman, whose first two groundbreaking Atlantic albums were made in 1959. Otherwise casual jazz shoppers will find much to stimulate their appetites in this collection, better described as "best of the late-'50s." ~Richard S. Ginnell

Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

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Herb Ellis - Ellis In Wonderland

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:18
Size: 83.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Guitar jazz
Year: 1956/2006
Art: Front

[4:44] 1. Sweetheart Blues
[4:51] 2. Somebody Loves Me
[3:43] 3. It Could Happen To You
[4:43] 4. Pogo
[4:00] 5. Detour Ahead
[3:48] 6. Ellis In Wonderland
[6:17] 7. Have You Met Miss Jones
[4:09] 8. A Simple Tune

Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano; Bass – Ray Brown; Drums – Alvin Stoller; Guitar – Herb Ellis; Piano – Oscar Peterson; Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet – Jimmy Giuffre; Trumpet – Harry Edison. Recorded December 1955 and January 1956 in Hollywood.

In the midst of his tenure with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Herb Ellis had the chance to turn the tables on his boss and employ him as a sideman, though the keyboard virtuoso strangely reigns in his chops and pretty much stays in the background. This pair of sessions was first issued on a Norgran LP and finally reissued as a Verve CD in early 2006. The first four tracks add Jimmy Giuffre (alternating between baritone sax, tenor sax, and clarinet) and trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, along with fellow Peterson sideman Ray Brown and drummer Alvin Stoller. Ellis' originals include the easygoing "Sweetheart Blues" and the cooking bop vehicle "Pogo," where both the leader and Edison eclipse Giuffre's efforts on sax. "It Could Happen to You" focuses exclusively on Ellis, with Peterson and Edison sitting out and Giuffre adding some background color on clarinet. Alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano is added for the latter date. The well-known "Detour Ahead" (jointly credited to Ellis and his former Soft Winds bandmates Lou Carter and Johnny Frigo, though Frigo has long maintained that it was his composition alone) has a chamber-like setting, with the band primarily providing background for Ellis, though Ray Brown gets in a snappy solo toward the end. The session picks up with the bubbly "Ellis in Wonderland" and a snappy rendition of "Have You Met Miss Jones?" Giuffre's loping "A Simple Tune" reflects Ellis' Texas roots in a bluesy setting, with Peterson finally getting a chance to stretch out for a chorus. This early album by Herb Ellis is well worth acquiring. ~Ken Dryden

Ellis In Wonderland

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Bobby Scott - The Compositions Of Bobby Scott

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:21
Size: 105,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:38)  1. Dot
(2:57)  2. Kwan Youen
(3:49)  3. Moon Tan
(4:16)  4. Betty
(4:10)  5. Aunt Sarah
(4:09)  6. Cerebellum
(2:19)  7. Wigwam
(4:03)  8. The Creed
(2:59)  9. Table Cloth Stomp
(2:59) 10. A Parable
(2:35) 11. The Wig
(2:45) 12. Count Bill
(4:36) 13. Makin' Whoopee (bonus track)

29 January 1937, New York City, New York, USA, d. 5 November 1990, New York City, New York, USA. Scott was a pianist, singer, composer, arranger, teacher and record producer. He also played several other instruments such as cello, bass, vibraphone, accordion and clarinet, but was mainly known for his jazz piano work and vocals. He attended Dorothea Anderson Follette’s School of Music, and then in 1949 studied composition with Edward Moritz, a former pupil of Claude Debussy. Despite his early classical training, Scott turned to jazz in his teens, and played with small bands led by the likes of Louis Prima, Tony Scott and Gene Krupa, with whom he cut some sides for Verve Records. From 1954, he recorded under his own name for labels such as Bethlehem, Savoy, Atlantic and ABC, and in 1956 had a US Top 20 hit with ‘Chain Gang’, written by Sol Quasha and Hank Yakus (not the Sam Cooke song). In 1960, Scott wrote the title theme for Shelagh Delaney’s play A Taste Of Honey, which became popular for pianist Martin Denny and, when Ric Marlow added a lyric, for Tony Bennett. It was also included on the Beatles’ first UK album. The song won a Grammy in 1962, and three more when Herb Alpert took it into the US Top 10 in 1965. In the early 60s Scott was the musical director for Dick Haymes for a time, and, as a pianist, arranger and record producer for Mercury Records, also maintained a close working relationship with Quincy Jones. Scott played piano on most of Jones’ Mercury albums, and accompanied Tania Vega and John Lee Hooker on Jones’ soundtrack music for the film The Color Purple (1986). As a producer, Scott supervised sessions for important artists such as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Darin, Harry Belafonte and Sarah Vaughan. He discovered and recorded guitarist/vocalist Perry Miller, who changed his name to Jesse Colin Young, and he is also credited with taking singer Bobby Hebb back to Mercury, although Scott left the label before Hebb released his biggest hit, ‘Sunny’, in 1966.

Scott’s compositions included ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ (lyrics by Bob Russell), a hit for Neil Diamond (in 1970) and for the Hollies a year earlier and again in 1988, when it featured impressively in a UK television commercial for Miller Lite Lager; ‘Where Are You Going?’ (with Danny Meehan), sung by Joe Butler in the film Joe (1970); and ‘Slaves (Don’t You Know My Name?)’, performed by Dionne Warwick in the movie Slaves (1969). Scott also composed incidental music for the play Dinny And The Witches, and several pieces for harp and string trios, including ‘The Giacometti Variations’, so-called because it was part-used as a radio advertisement for the Giacometti Exhibition held at the New York Museum of Modern Art. His compositions for guitar included ‘Solitude Book’ and ‘The Book Of Hours’, the latter recorded with Brazilian guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima. For Sentimental Reasons displayed Scott simply as an accomplished pianist, who also sang. He died of lung cancer in the year of its release. http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Bobby-Scott.html

Personnel: Bobby Scott (arranger, piano); Hal McKusick, Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone); Bill Holman (tenor saxophone); Al Epstein, Jimmy Giuffre (baritone saxophone); Ronnie Woellmer, Conte Candoli (trumpet); Eddie Bert, Frank Rosolino (trombone); Milt Hinton, Max Bennett (bass); Osie Johnson, Stan Levey (drums).

The Compositions Of Bobby Scott

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Jimmy Giuffre - Western Suite

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:25
Size: 85,8 MB
Art: Front

( 5:52)  1. Western Suite: Pony Express
( 4:17)  2. Western Suite: Apaches
( 3:01)  3. Western Suite: Saturday Night Dance
( 4:28)  4. Western Suite: Big Pow Wow
(11:24)  5. Topsy
( 8:20)  6. Blue Monk

In late 1957, jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and iconoclast Jimmy Giuffre broke up the original Jimmy Giuffre 3 with Ralph Pena and Jim Hall. In early 1958, for a recording session, he formed a new trio without a rhythm section. For the album Trav'lin' Light, his new trio included Hall on guitar and the underrated trombone giant Bob Brookmeyer. For a year, they gigged together up and down the West Coast and played summer festivals, recorded, and even played clubs in New York. They became a trio of adventurous musicians for whom form was not an obstacle to creativity. As the year wound down, Giuffre wanted to document the trio once more, sensing its life was coming to an end. He composed the four-movement "Western Suite" with the trio's strengths in mind, as a way of documenting how they had come together as a band during that year. The piece itself stands as a crowning achievement in a career that included discovering the talents of Steve Swallow and Paul Bley and making the truly revolutionary recording Free Fall for Columbia three years later. The roots of that thinking lie in this set. Jim Hall's playing was dark, funky, ambiguous, sounding like drums and voices all at the same time particularly in the fourth movement. Brookmeyer became the pace setter. 

His lines were played as stage settings for the other two players to dialogue and narrate against. Giuffre, ever the storyteller, advanced the improvisation angle and wrote his score so that each player had to stand on his own as part of the group; there were no comfort zones. Without a rhythm section, notions of interval, extensions, interludes, and so on were out the window. He himself played some of his most retrained yet adventurous solos in the confines of this trio and within the form of this suite. It swung like West Coast jazz, but felt as ambitious as Copland's Billy the Kid. The record is filled out with two other tunes, one of Eddie Durham's, "Topsy," and the final moment of mastery this band ever recorded, the already classic "Blue Monk." The easy stroll of the front line with Brookmeyer's trombone strutting New Orleans' style is in sharp contrast to Giuffre's clarinet playing. Which carries the bluesy melody through three harmonic changes before he solos and then plays three more. Hall keeps it all on track, and somehow the piece sounds very natural this way, though unlike "Monk," there are no edges here everything is rounded off. This is as solid as any of the earlier or later Jimmy Giuffre 3 records, and two notches above Trav'lin' Light in that it reveals a fully developed sense of the responsibilities, possibilities, and freedoms of reinventing jazz for the trio. ~ Thom Jurek http://www.allmusic.com/album/western-suite-mw0000530642

Personnel:  Jimmy Giuffre - clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone;  Jim Hall – guitar;  Bob Brookmeyer - piano, valve trombone

Western Suite

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The Jimmy Giuffre 3 - Trav'lin' Light

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:32
Size: 85,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Trav'lin' Light
(5:36)  2. The Swamp People
(3:07)  3. The Green Country (New England Mood)
(6:17)  4. Forty-Second Street
(5:44)  5. Pickin' 'Em Up And Layin' 'Em Down
(3:56)  6. The Lonely Time
(4:41)  7. Show Me The Way To Go Home
(2:41)  8. California Here I Come

In 1958, Jimmy Giuffre led one of the most unusual groups ever, a trio comprised of his reeds (clarinet, tenor and baritone), valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and guitarist Jim Hall. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/travlin-light-mw0001881103

Personnel:  Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Jimmy Giuffre;  Guitar – Jim Hall;  Trombone – Bob Brookmeyer

Trav'lin' Light

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Jimmy Giuffre Quartet - The 1960 Jazz Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:56
Size: 178.4 MB
Styles: Cool jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[9:14] 1. Mack The Knife
[7:56] 2. My Funny Valentine
[9:23] 3. Wee See
[5:26] 4. Two For Timbuctu
[6:30] 5. What's New
[7:54] 6. The Boy Next Door
[8:27] 7. The Crab
[9:29] 8. The Quiet Time
[6:33] 9. My Funny Valentine
[7:00] 10. Two For Timbuctu

Controversial, misunderstood, and underappreciated, Jimmy Giuffre was an unlikely candidate to break as much ground as he did in the art of free improvisation. A swing orchestra veteran, Giuffre made his name as part of the West Coast school of cool jazz, but his restless creative spirit drove him to push the boundaries of texture, dynamic shading, counterpoint, and improvisational freedom in surprisingly avant-garde ways, despite maintaining a cool, cerebral exterior. Born in Dallas in 1921, Giuffre studied music at North Texas College and subsequently played tenor sax in an Army band; upon his discharge, he took jobs with orchestra leaders like Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, and Buddy Rich. In 1949, he joined up with Woody Herman, for whom he'd penned the classic composition "Four Brothers" two years earlier. He then moved to the West Coast, where he learned clarinet and baritone sax, and played with groups like Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars and Shorty Rogers' Giants. Giuffre began leading his own sessions in 1954, with groundbreaking albums like Four Brothers and Tangents in Jazz exploring bluesy folk-jazz and third stream fusions. In 1956, he formed the first version of the Jimmy Giuffre 3, which featured guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ralph Pena; in 1958, the bassist was replaced by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, resulting in the highly unorthodox-sounding albums Trav'lin' Light, Four Brothers Sound, and Western Suite, as well as a classic version of Giuffre's hit "The Train and the River" in the Newport film Jazz on a Summer's Day. In 1961, Giuffre formed a new trio featuring pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow; it was with this group, on the albums Fusion, Thesis, and the 1962 landmark Free Fall, that Giuffre really began to explore the subtler, more spacious side of free improvisation (mostly on clarinet). Unfortunately, the trio's music was too advanced to gain much of a reception, and they disbanded in 1962. Giuffre became an educator, and recorded off and on during the '70s; he experimented with electric instruments in the '80s, reunited his 1961-1962 trio in 1992, and continued to record for several avant-garde-oriented labels, most frequently Soul Note. In his later years Giuffre suffered from Parkinson's disease and no longer performed or recorded; he died of pneumonia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 2008 at the age of 86. ~ bio ny Steve Huey

The 1960 Jazz Sessions

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Jimmy Giuffre - The Music Man

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:06
Size: 91.8 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:20] 1. Iowa Stubborn
[3:02] 2. Goodnight My Someone
[3:24] 3. Seventy-Six Trombones
[2:55] 4. Marian The Librarian
[3:54] 5. My White Knight
[4:29] 6. The Wells Fargo Wagon
[3:54] 7. It's You
[3:07] 8. Shipoopi
[3:53] 9. Lida Rose (Will I Ever Tell You)
[3:13] 10. Gary, Indiana
[3:49] 11. Til There Was You

Controversial, misunderstood, and underappreciated, Jimmy Giuffre was an unlikely candidate to break as much ground as he did in the art of free improvisation. A swing orchestra veteran, Giuffre made his name as part of the West Coast school of cool jazz, but his restless creative spirit drove him to push the boundaries of texture, dynamic shading, counterpoint, and improvisational freedom in surprisingly avant-garde ways, despite maintaining a cool, cerebral exterior. Born in Dallas in 1921, Giuffre studied music at North Texas College and subsequently played tenor sax in an Army band; upon his discharge, he took jobs with orchestra leaders like Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, and Buddy Rich. In 1949, he joined up with Woody Herman, for whom he'd penned the classic composition "Four Brothers" two years earlier. He then moved to the West Coast, where he learned clarinet and baritone sax, and played with groups like Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars and Shorty Rogers' Giants. Giuffre began leading his own sessions in 1954, with groundbreaking albums like Four Brothers and Tangents in Jazz exploring bluesy folk-jazz and third stream fusions. In 1956, he formed the first version of the Jimmy Giuffre 3, which featured guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ralph Pena; in 1958, the bassist was replaced by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, resulting in the highly unorthodox-sounding albums Trav'lin' Light, Four Brothers Sound, and Western Suite, as well as a classic version of Giuffre's hit "The Train and the River" in the Newport film Jazz on a Summer's Day. In 1961, Giuffre formed a new trio featuring pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow; it was with this group, on the albums Fusion, Thesis, and the 1962 landmark Free Fall, that Giuffre really began to explore the subtler, more spacious side of free improvisation (mostly on clarinet). Unfortunately, the trio's music was too advanced to gain much of a reception, and they disbanded in 1962. Giuffre became an educator, and recorded off and on during the '70s; he experimented with electric instruments in the '80s, reunited his 1961-1962 trio in 1992, and continued to record for several avant-garde-oriented labels, most frequently Soul Note. In his later years Giuffre suffered from Parkinson's disease and no longer performed or recorded; he died of pneumonia in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 2008 at the age of 86. ~ bio by Steve Huey

The Music Man

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Stu Williamson - The Trumpet Artistry Of Stu Williamson

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:22
Size: 134,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:11)  1. Lady Is A Tramp
(5:37)  2. Stu's Due Blues
(2:48)  3. Things We Did Last Summer
(3:47)  4. Yardbird Suite
(2:35)  5. Autumn In New York
(3:26)  6. Pee Jay
(6:07)  7. Hongry Child
(3:46)  8. Darn That Dream
(4:27)  9. Big Red
(4:55) 10. Rose Bud
(3:16) 11. Talk Of The Town
(5:02) 12. Red Cross
(4:22) 13. Just Friends
(3:55) 14. Oom's Tune

Cherry-picking highlights from his mid-'50s dates for the Bethlehem label, The Trumpet Artistry of Stu Williamson represents a superb introduction to this underappreciated West Coast jazz great. A remarkably supple, nuanced trumpeter, Williamson captures the absolute essence of the left-coast sound. His solos are expansive yet efficient, speaking volumes in a minimum of phrases. Brother Claude plays piano on all 14 cuts, while Charlie Mariano, Jimmy Giuffre, and Bill Holman rotate guitar duties. All are in top form, crafting soulful renditions of "Yardbird Suite," "Red Cross," and "Darn That Dream." ~ Jason Ankeny  http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-trumpet-artistry-of-stu-williamson-mw0000704063

Featuring: Stu Williamson (tp), Charlie Mariano (as), Bill Holman (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (bs), Claude Williamson (p), Max Bennett (b), Leroy Vinnegar (b), Mel Lewis (d), Stan Levey (d)

The Trumpet Artistry Of Stu Williamson

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Stu Williamson - Stu Williamson

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:08
Size: 89,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:24)  1. Pee Jay
(4:21)  2. Just Friends
(3:45)  3. Darn That Dream
(6:05)  4. Hungry Child
(4:26)  5. Big Red
(5:01)  6. Red Cross
(3:15)  7. Talk Of The Town
(3:53)  8. Oom's Tune
(4:54)  9. Rose Bud

The younger brother of pianist Claude Williamson, Stu Williamson was a fixture on West Coast jazz dates of the 1950s. He moved to Los Angeles in 1949 and spent periods playing with Stan Kenton (1951), Woody Herman (1952-1953), and Kenton again (1954-1955), in addition to shorter stints with Billy May and Charlie Barnet. The mellow-toned Williamson, best-known for his association with Shelly Manne (off and on during 1954-1958), was on a countless number of sessions up until 1968 when he dropped out of the music scene. A drug addict, Stu Williamson spent most of his last two decades struggling outside of music. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stu-williamson-mn0000526195/biography

Personnel:  Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano;  Baritone Saxophone – Jimmy Giuffre;  Bass – Leroy Vinnegar;  Drums – Mel Lewis;  Piano – Claude Williamson;  Tenor Saxophone – Bill Holman;  Trumpet – Stu Williamson

Stu Williamson

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Shelly Manne - 'The Three' & 'The Two'

Styles: Cool, Hard Bop
Year: 1954
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:32
Size: 111,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:00)  1. Flip
(4:31)  2. Autumn in New York
(4:38)  3. Pas de trois
(5:10)  4. Three on a row
(3:20)  5. Steeplechase
(3:36)  6. Abstract no. 1
(4:04)  7. The sound effects Manne
(4:19)  8. Everything happens to me
(4:11)  9. Billie's bounce
(3:51) 10. With a song in my heart
(3:26) 11. A slight minority
(4:21) 12. Speak easy

These two sets for the Contemporary label (reissued on CD by the OJC label) are a couple of the more unusual sessions led by drummer Shelly Manne in the 1950s. "The Three" feature trumpeter Shorty Rogers; Jimmy Giuffre alternating on clarinet, tenor, and baritone; and Manne there is no piano or bass. Some of the six performances (particularly the four originals) are quite free, particularly the completely improvised "Abstract No. 1." Although these selections were not influential, they rank second in chronological order (behind Lennie Tristano's performances of 1949) among free jazz records. The remainder of this set is a duet between pianist Russ Freeman and Manne ("the Two"), and is also quite advanced in spots, although in general it is a more swinging session while still being unpredictable. Overall, a very interesting reissue. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-three-and-the-two-mw0000276488

Personnel: Shelly Manne (drums); Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Shorty Rogers (trumpet); Russ Freeman (piano).

'The Three' and 'The Two'

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