Here’s another rare Muse
Records LP. This time it is particularly important to honour the recent passing
of Jon Hendricks, aged 96. He was a gifted vocal improviser in his own right,
Mr. Hendricks was best known for adding words to the improvisations of others.
He took pieces recorded by jazz ensembles like the Count Basie Orchestra and
the Horace Silver Quintet and, using their titles as points of departure,
created intricate narratives and tongue-in-cheek philosophical treatises that
matched both the melody lines and the serpentine contours of the instrumental
solos, note for note and inflection for inflection. Mr. Hendricks did not
invent this practice, known as vocalese - most jazz historians credit the
singer Eddie Jefferson with that achievement - but he became its best-known and
most prolific exponent, and he turned it into a group art. ~ New
York Times. This album is a great example of his work, Enjoy!
Muse Records, MR 5258, 1982
Recorded August, 1981
(#A4,B3) At P-D Recorders, Hollywood, California;
Sept & Nov,
1981 (#A5,B2,B4,B5) At Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco;
and January & February,
1982 (#A1-A3,A6-B1) At Sundragon Studio, NYC
Personnel:
Jon, Judith and Michele Hendricks;
Leslie Dorsey, Bob Gurland - Vocalists
Harry "Sweets"
Edison - Trumpet (#A4,B3)
Jerome Richardson - Tenor
Saxophone (#A4,B3)
David Hazeltine - Piano
(#A1-A3,A6,B1)
Jimmy Smith - Piano (#A4,B3)
Eric Doney - Piano
(#A5,B2,B5)
Jon Burr - Bass (#A1-A3,A6,B1)
John Williams - Bass (#A4,B3)
James Leary - Bass
(#A5,B2,B5)
Marvin Smith - Drums
(#A1-A6,B1-B3,B5)
Tracks:
A1. Royal Garden Blues
{Cootie Williams} (3:06)
A2. Bright Moments {Rahsaan
Roland Kirk} (3:38)
A3. Willie's Tune {Randy
Weston} (4:32)
A4. Good Ol' Lady {Jon
Hendricks} (3:28)
A5. Lil' Darlin {Neal Hefti}
(4:22)
A6. I'll Die Happy {Jon
Hendricks} (2:03)
B1. Love [Berkshire Blues]
{Randy Weston} (4:37)
B2. Tell Me The Truth {Jon
Hendricks} (3:36)
B3. The Swinging Groove
Merchant [Groove Merchant] {Jerome Richardson} (5:30)
B4. Angel Eyes {Matt Dennis}
(4:29)
B5. In A Harlem Airshaft
[Harlem Airshaft] {Duke Ellington} (2:55)
Note:
Michele Hendricks - Solo
Vocals (#B4)
Credits:
Producer - Jon Hendricks
Recording Engineer (#A4,B3) -
Robert Grogan
Recording Engineer
(#A5,B2,B4,B5) - Richard Greene
Recording (#A1-A3,A6-B1)
& Mixing Engineer - Buddy Pollock
Assistant Engineer - Germahn
T. Santiago, Glenn Dubois
Mastering Engineer - George
Piros (Atlantic Recording Studio, NYC)
Photography - Heidi McGurrin
Album Design - W. Dale Cramer
