Terry Gibbs Dream Band: Vol 7 The Lost Tapes 1959 (Whaling City Sound WCS 143)
Economics precipitated the end of the big-band era at least 10 years before Terry Gibbs formed his Dream Band. By the mid-50s, for instance, Count Basie’s 16-piece band was being paid the same amount as Dave Brubeck’s quartet. Gibbs’ decision therefore might have seemed something of a risk but the Dream Band was unlike any other. It did not tour but spent all its time playing two- or three-night engagements at local Los Angeles clubs at scale – $15 per night. Over the years it established a solid word-of-mouth reputation that resulted in winning the 1962 Downbeat critics’ award in the new-star category. Packed with big-band veterans capable of sight-reading difficult material, the ensemble just happened to be blessed with top-drawer soloists in every section too.
The three most important chairs in a band are the lead trumpet, lead alto and the drummer. The Dream Band had the very best in their fields. Al Porcino had established a stellar reputation as a top lead trumpet man with Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnet, Count Basie and Woody Herman. Bill Perkins once told me that he felt Joe Maini “to be the greatest, most dynamic jazz-oriented lead alto” he had played with. Mel Lewis’s laid-back sense of time impressed Connie Kay so much that he considered him to be “the best big band drummer” he’d ever heard.
The leader’s Hampton-inspired vibes with bebop overtones illuminate the charts and soloists Joe Maini (Moonglow), Conte Candoli (Let’s Dance) and Bill Perkins (After You’ve Gone) deserve special mention. One of the regulars, the great Frank Rosolino, was missing on this recording. Incidentally Med Flory’s Supersax began life as part of this band. Gibbs used to announce them as “Joe Maini and the maniacs!”
Buddy Collette and Teddy Edwards Quartets: The Crown Sessions (Fresh Sound Records FSR-CD 1154)
Jordi Pujol’s sleeve-note highlights the impressive detective work involved in tracking down this obscure 1959/60 material. He says “All the tunes included here were originally released in compilations by the Crown label, spread across a series of albums under various artists’ names but without any personnel or composer information.” Buddy Collette and Teddy Edwards do not actually play together here.
I first became aware of Buddy Collette when I acquired an album by the controversial Chico Hamilton quintet which included a cello in its line-up. He played alto, tenor, clarinet and flute and contributed two outstanding originals to the repertoire – one was Buddy Boo, an infectiously cute examination of the blues with Collette on tenor, and the other was the evocative Blue Sands. He performed the latter on flute at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, where the quintet received a standing ovation. When he left the group he became a member of Nelson Riddle’s studio orchestra but was not lost to jazz, although his 1956 recording of Cycle was notoriously dismissed by Miles Davis in Downbeat with “All those white tenors sound the same to me… unless it’s Zoot Sims or Stan Getz.”
Over the years Fresh Sound has released better examples of Collette’s artistry than the material assembled here, which is really for completists. Try An Original Westcoaster (FSR 2250), Cool, Calm & Collette (FSR 2249) or Buddy Collette And His West Coast Friends (FSR 2248).
The 22-year-old Teddy Edwards is famously credited with recording the first bop solo on tenor in 1946 with Howard McGhee on Up In Dodo’s Room. A year later he stood toe-to-toe with Dexter Gordon on The Duel and in 1949 he sat next to Buddy Collette in Benny Carter’s saxophone section. In 1954 he briefly became a member of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach quintet which was one of the music’s finest ever small groups. He recorded with them at a Pasadena concert that included his own Sunset Eyes.
The quartet featured here with Edwards (Joe Castro, Leroy Vinnegar and Billy Higgins) was a working group in the late 50s. They performed at the Falcon’s Lair owned by Castro’s partner Doris Duke – “the richest girl in the world”. They appeared on the Stars Of Jazz TV show and recorded Sunset Eyes (Avid AMSC1179CD) Teddy’s Ready (Fresh Sound FSRCD 615) and possibly their very best, Groove, Funk, Soul (Sunnyside SSC1393CD). Miss Beat is a theme-less romp on the familiar I Got Rhythm changes, allowing the group to really stretch out inventively in true blowing-session fashion. I’ll Get Away is an attractive ballad with a descending chord-sequence that sounds familiar but my tin-ear has been unable to identify its source. Edwards was obviously reluctant to pay royalties because his blues selection The Grind is another original that lacks a theme.
Vince Guaraldi: You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown (Lee Mendelson Film Productions LM24NEO2)
This was the soundtrack album for a 1972 CBS Peanuts Television Special and remembering Vince Guaraldi’s evocative 1963 hit Cast Your Fate To The Wind, I was looking forward to receiving it for review. His work in the 50s as a sideman for Woody Herman, Cal Tjader, Richie Kamuca and others had also left a lasting impression. Tom Harrell’s name in the personnel added a sense of anticipation too. Things immediately changed as I listened to the repertoire which flies by in the blink of an eye. The average playing time for the 25 titles is one minute and a half. Many of the themes, like Incumbent Waltz, Cookin’ Snoopy, Oh Good Grief and Joe Cool are well worth developing but just as the music gets interesting, the next track begins.