Oscar Peterson + Harry “Sweets” Edison + Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (1986) [vinyl>flac]

All Star Mainstream Jazz

This is a top notch, grade A, disc of Mainstream Swing Jazz. Not complicated. Straight ahead in your face. Shades of Duke Ellington (represented here with "Satin Doll"). State the theme, improvise, state the theme. Jazz standards, up-tempo, and slow. The Oscar Peterson Trio (with Dave Young and Martin Drew), and 2 of the greatest players that ever were; Harry "Sweets" Edison and Joe Pass. Surprisingly, the player who absolutely carries this session is Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on alto. His solos make this disc. Just terrific playing. "Cleanhead" was a blues player and singer, but listen to him in this Jazz context. As great as everyone is, he stands out. The disc just rolls along from Coleman Hawkins' "Stuffy" at the start to "Satin Doll" at the end, with the theme inverted to make a very different reading. No bebop here, straight ahead from the swing era played by small ensemble. If you are a Jazz person you really will enjoy this. If you are a fan of improvised music you really will enjoy this. If you are new to Jazz, this is a great education of how they used to play it. Old time Jazz played by great players. Anyone who buys this disc will be very surprised. This is one of these discs that is undiscovered. Get this while you can. ~ by Steven Meyerson, Amazon, 2001

The "Gray Lions" Don't Disappoint

Many of the recordings featuring aging jazz musicians are disappointing because the players are naturally facing diminished capacity. But not this one. Recorded in 1986 when most of the headliners here - Edison, Peterson, Vinson and Joe Pass on guitar (who for some reason fails share the top billing) - were in their 60's or 70's, this Pablo (ie. Norman Granz) session is tight, well-conceived and swings with abandon. Everyone sounds great, no stragglers. It's just amazing. There are two medium tempo pieces (Stuffy and Satin Doll), two barn burners (This One's for Jaws and Broadway), two ballads (Everything Happens to Me and What's New) and a slow blues (Slooow Drag). Nice mix. If you like small group swing and blues executed by some of the legends of the swing era, this one's highly recommended. ~ by William Fauston, Amazon, 2000

Source: Top Amazon Customer Reviews

Pablo Records, 2310-927, 1987

Recorded 12^th November, 1986 At Ocean Way Studio, Hollywood, California

Personnel:

Oscar Peterson - Piano

Harry "Sweets" Edison - Trumpet

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson - Alto Saxophone

Joe Pass - Guitar

Dave Young - Bass

Martin Drew - Drums

Tracks:

A1. Stuffy {Coleman Hawkins} (9:10)

A2. This One's For Jaws {Miles Davis, Harry "Sweets" Edison} (4:52)

A3. Everything Happens To Me {Tom Adair, Matt Dennis} (4:35)

A4. Broadway {Billy Bird, Ray Henderson, Teddy McRae, Henri Woode} (5:12)

B1. Slooow Drag {Harry "Sweets" Edison, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson} (10:33)

B2. What's New? {Johnny Burke, Bob Haggart} (4:26)

B3. Satin Doll {Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Billy Strayhorn} (7:30)

Credits:

Producer, Artwork, Design, Layout Design - Norman Granz

Recording Engineer - Allen Sides

Mastering Engineer - George Horn (Fantasy Studios, Berkeley)

Artwork, Design, Layout Design - Sheldon Marks

Photography - Phil Stern

Count Basie - Basie Rides Again

 I really must insist you read the album notes for a great overview of this album. These sides really display everything that made the Basie band so legendary.  We are also treated to some not-so-typical scenarios... 1) Basie directing w/ Oscar Peterson on piano and 2) Oscar Peterson on piano & Basie on organ.  Al Hibbler handles vocals which is another treat.  Overall a really fun time.

I spent top dollar on this US original, it's absolutely minty. This glorious mono recording is what hi-fi is all about and I challenge those of you with remasters to compare.  The dynamics of the full band are enough to bring tears of joy to my eyes.  The brass has such incredible impact - that true musical reach that punches you in the chest.This was ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC.  I hope it helps to shape your weekend... enjoy!!!

Stuff Smith ~ Dizzy Gillespie ~ Oscar Peterson (1957)

This exemplary reissue from 1994 is long out of print and I can't imagine that it will see a reissue except on some European out of copyright label - excellent sound from the original master tapes, full discographical info, liner notes, artwork - all praise to Polygram!

Stuff Smith - Have Violin Will Swing (Verve MGV 8282)

Carl Perkins (piano) Stuff Smith (violin) Curtis Counce or Red Callender (bass) Frank Butler or Oscar Bradley (drums)
Capitol Tower Studios, Hollywood, CA, January 21 & February 5, 1957

1-01 - It's Wonderful
1-02 - Comin' Thru The Rye
1-03 - Ja-Da
1-04 - (Back Home Again In) Indiana
1-05 - Calypso
1-06 - Blow, Blow, Blow
1-07 - I Wrote My Song
1-08 - Oh, But It Is
1-09 - Stop, Look
1-10 - Would You Object
1-11 - Crazy Rhythm

Stuff Smith (Verve MGV 8206)

Oscar Peterson (piano) Barney Kessel (guitar) Stuff Smith (violin) Ray Brown (bass) Alvin Stoller (drums)
Glen Glenn Studios, Hollywood, CA, March 7&12, 1957

1-12 - Desert Sands.
1-13 - Soft Winds.
1-14 - Things Ain't What They Used To Be.
1-15 - Time And Again (Aka 'don't You Think').
1-16 - I Know That You Know.
2-01 - It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).
2-02 - In A Mellotone.
2-03 - Heat Wave.
2-04 - Body And Soul.

Dizzy Gillespie And Stuff Smith (Verve MGV 8214)

Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) Wynton Kelly (piano) Stuff Smith (violin) Paul West (bass) J.C. Heard (drums)
NYC, April 17, 1957

2-05 - Rio Pakistan.
2-06 - It's Only A Paper Moon.
2-07 - Purple Sounds.
2-08 - Russian Lullaby.
2-09 - Oh, Lady Be Good!.



Review by Richard Palmer, Jazz Journal, February 1995:

This handsome and generous package collates three of Stuff Smith's finest IPs, recorded within three months of each other—Have Violin, Will Swing, Stuff Smith and Dizzy Gillespie and Stuff Smith. The first named, in particular, has long been a £50-plus collector's item, so to have it available with its two splendid companions for under £15 is welcome indeed.
In my view, Stuff was and remains by some distance the finest violinist jazz has produced, Amongst his rivals, only Nance and Ponty got anywhere near his marvellous sound—sonorously melodious, yet resonating with the kind of joyously sneering insolence that one associates with tenorist Lockjaw Davis. In addition, while nobody has remotely approached him for virility of swing or harmonic imagination, he had subtler qualities that captivate always, without slipping into the kind of saccharinity that jazz violin can be prone to. Stuff was a very special talent noticeably under-recorded almost throughout his career, and jazz owes Norman Granz a very large round of thanks for resuscitating his career when and in the way he did.
The two-and-a-half hours' music on offer is remarkably consistent in both inspiration and delivered satisfaction. All three pianists are marvellous: Perkins, especially, is a revelation, and it is sad to reflect on how little studio work he got, too. Particularly rewarding tracks from this date are Rye, where Stuff switches from blithe lyricism to red-blooded stomping with insouciant mastery, and virtually all the cuts with the great Red Callender—most of them Smith's own compositions that reflect his no-nonsense yet intriguingly sophisticated personality. The Peterson tracks are flawless, with Brown's remastered sound colossal and Kessel at the very top of his game: Desert Sands and Soft Winds are the pick here, though the three * tracks are valuable additions.
Nearly 40 years on, the Gillespie session still strikes one as breathtakingly audacious. Dizzy was from the start one of the most catholicly literate musicians jazz ever produced (only Ellington surpasses him in boldness of range and sure-footed encyclopedic eclecticism); even so, a trumpet-violin front line was taking quite a chance, and put a burden on Kelly which that wonderful West Indian shoulders triumphantly. Rio is I think the outstanding track, with Heard magnificent and the two horns exceptional both in solo and in partnership, but Lullaby and Moon are hardly less fine. The final cut with the Gordon Family's added vocalising isn't too bad, all things considered, but it is a pronounced anti-climax, and the only thing on the entire double-CD that in retrospect looks like a mistake. By then, however, it doesn't really matter.
Verve's releases over the last 18 months or so have been the best and noblest possible tribute to the man who founded the label and who is synonymous with all that is best in modern-mainstream. There could be no better or more fitting tribute to Norman Granz's enterprise, daring and imagination than this particular reissue, and it would also be hard to think of a more enjoyable and instructive one. A 1995 Top Ten choice for sure.