One World Ben

Ben Webster contemplates the implications of smoking with a cigarette holder while Abbey Lincoln makes a point sometime in the late '60s. Unknown photographer

Columbia has never known as a particularly adventurous record label, but in the late '50s the company did embark on a visionary experiment that resulted in scores of interesting and unusual albums being issued. While many of the sessions were picked up from other companies, Columbia actually recorded quite a few of the sides themselves. The series was called, appropriately enough, "Adventures in Sound." It featured music from around the world, in all styles and varieties. "World music," in other words. It was one of the first serious efforts in that direction.

But this is a jazz blog, so where's the jazz? Well, jazz is in the world and it's a music. So Columbia released a jazz record on its "Adventures" label. Just to make it more of a "world" recording, Irving Townsend, the producer, decided to record portions of the date in various locations around the globe with jazz players from the world over. Then he decided he'd mix the whole thing together into one happy whole back in the studio. 

Accordingly, he started in New York, and then journeyed to London, Stockholm and Paris, capturing jazz soloists as they added their choruses to the Big Apple-based rhythm section that played the original tracks. The result, appended here, is a lot less stultified than you might expect. It actually works, much to Mr. Townsend's credit.

The interesting thing is, to my ears anyway, this sounds like a Ben Webster record. Three of the tunes are vehicles for the Gentle Giant, and he plays a significant role in the remaining three. So think of this recording as an obscure and overlooked entry in the Webster discography, and I think you'll be more than pleased that you downloaded it before the link invariably fails.

The files come, as always, from the original vinyl with no cleaning of the sound needed. The photo on the cover, by the way, is by Art Kane. It's not very good, but Kane was a hotter-than-hot art director in those days. You may remember him as the guy who took that famous photo of 50+ jazz musicians all standing on or around a Harlem brownstone stoop back in the late '50s. Mr. Webster was one of them.

One World Jazz
Ben Webster and Others
Columbia WL 162

Clark Terry, Roger Guerin, tp; J.J. Johnson, George Chisholm, Aake Persson, tbn; Roy East, as; Ben Webster, Bob Garcia, ts; Ronnie Ross, bar; Stephane Grappelly, vi; Hank Jones, Martial Solal, p; Kenny Burrell, g; George Duvivier, b; Jo Jones, d.
New York, London, Paris, Stockholm; May 19, June 22, July 1, 3, 1959

1. Cotton Tail
2. Misty
3. Big Ben's Blues
4. International Blues
5. Nuages
6. In a Mellotone

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?56ltt5m4119qgmj

Battle of the Sexes

Norma Carson and Clark Terry go blow for blow in a promo shot, possibly taken around the time of the recording featured in this posting. Photographer unknown

I don't know about you, but I'm not a real fan of concept albums. The organizing conceit usually causes the music to play second fiddle, with the resulting whole often sounding less than the sum of its parts (if that makes any sense). But this record piqued my interest when I saw it offered at shopgoodwill.com and I had to pick it up. Girls vs. boys in a best-of-four jazz donnybrook? Find out which sex plays better jazz!

Ridiculous, I know. But still, haven't you always wondered what a direct performance comparison between male and female jazz players would sound like? No? Well, me either until I got this disc. After listening, I was surprised to find that the differences were ... essentially nil. Each group swings, plays well together and solos with conviction. That was a surprise, especially considering the line-up for the guys' team. Clark Terry? Lucky Thompson? Horace Silver, Urbie Green, Tal Farlow, Percy Heath AND Kenny Clarke? That just didn't seem fair. 

But I love Mary Osborne, the little I've heard of her playing (there isn't much), and I've always appreciated Terry Pollard and Beryl Booker (the little I've heard of their playing – not much of that either). So maybe the match-up was more equal than it first appeared.

As I was listening, I did a little research into the feminine side of the personnel – and came away very impressed! Terry Pollard, for instance. I knew she played with Terry Gibbs, but not much more. Check this out:

Wiki says she also performed with Coltrane, Bird, Miles, Duke, Nat, Dinah and Ella. I can see why. It's a mystery that we don't have more recordings from her. But then, with this record we do.

Then there's Corky Hecht. Or maybe I should say Merrilyn Hecht. Or Corky Hale. I'd heard her name before and knew she played harp (she's on an obscure Kitty White record that I have), but that was about it. Turns out she's a monster talent on multiple levels: harpist, pianist, singer, actress, producer – and centerfold! At nearly 40, she did some demo work for the songwriting duo Lieber & Stoller and wound up marrying Mike Stoller. Around that time, she was a regular on Johnny Carson. Dig:

Mary Osborne we all know (or should). She got her chops directly from Charlie Christian, sitting in with him long before Benny Goodman had ever heard of him. Here's Mary with a few of the boys in an excerpt from Art Ford's Jazz Party in 1958:

And then there's Beryl Booker and Norma Carson, both veterans and both very underrated players. You get to hear them go up against the fellas, tune for tune. Producer Leonard Feather has other critics act as judges and they wind up calling the match a draw. I would agree. See what you think.

This LP was originally issued as an EP with just the "cats vs. chicks" material. When MGM repackaged it as a 12-inch album, they added six more tunes featuring Terry Pollard in trio and quartet settings. She plays both piano and vibes in an impressive set of standards and originals. A most welcome addition.

So here's a concept album that I think we all can appreciate. As always, these files come right from the original vinyl with very little cleaning of the sound required. 

Cats vs. ChicksClark Terry, Terry PollardMGM E3614
Cats: Clark Terry, tp; Lucky Thompson, ts; Urbie Green, tbn; Horace Silver, p; Tal Farlow, g; Percy Heath, b; Kenny Clarke, d.Chicks: Norman Carson, tp; Terry Pollard, vbs; Corky Hecht, harp; Beryl Booker, p; Mary Osborne, g; Bonnie Wetzel, b; Elaine Leighton, d.New York, NY, 1958
1. Cat Meets Chick (Cats)2. Cat Meets Chick (Chicks)3. Mamblues (Cats)4. Mamblues (Chicks)5. The Man I Love (Chicks)6. The Man I Love (Cats)7. Anything You Can Do (Both)
Terry Pollard, vbs, p; Terry Gibbs, p; Ernie Farrow, b; Frank DiVito, d.New York, NY, 1958
8. Good Bait9. I Remember You10. Terry's Blues11. That Feeling12. Terry's Romp13. Emaline
Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?homa8suwxp1fy8x

Our Kind of Jazz

Tony Scott in the late '70s, during his Yul Brynner tonsorial period. At this point, the clarinetist had been in the jazz biz for almost four decades. He died in 2007 at age 85. Photo from "Jazz: A Photo History"

Here's another jazz player who labored long and hard in the vineyards but never received his due. Antony Sciacca, known in music circles as Tony Scott, made numerous records with many of the jazz greats beginning way back in 1945 without ever attracting much attention. Maybe it was because he played clarinet, an instrument that belonged stylistically to an earlier generation? Dunno, but the guy's largely a footnote today.

Tony Scott does, however, get credit for spreading the jazz gospel abroad. Not long after this record was made, he decamped from New York and headed off to the mysterious East. In the '60s he lived variously in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and other exotic locales in Asia. Wherever he went, he proselytized for jazz and won numerous converts for America's greatest cultural export. He also delved into zen meditation and other Eastern spiritual practices, releasing several albums having those experiences as a central theme. He was successful enough abroad that as early as 1960 Japanese jazz fans voted him best clarinetist in one of Down Beat's polls. Of course, that's an honor he'd already won in the United States four times.

This recording comes to Gems via eBay – a source that I usually try to avoid because I'm much too cheap to pay their prices. But the LP went for all of ninety-nine cents, so even with the shipping it was a bargain. It was recorded in 1957 for the ultra-obscure Perfect label (the liner claims it was a division of Epic Records, itself a division of Columbia). It is notable for several reasons.

Evans, like Tony Scott, was from
New Jersey. They made several
excellent records together for
RCA in addition to this one.

The first is the presence of pianist Bill Evans. These sessions capture Bill just months before he joined Miles Davis and emerged onto the national stage. He exhibits here many of the unusual chord voicings and unorthodox lines that later came to define his style, both with Miles and with his famous Evans-LaFaro-Motian trio. And coincidentally, Paul Motian is the drummer on these sides (or maybe not so coincidentally – Evans and Motian worked regularly in Tony Scott's groups in 1956 and '57).

The other reason to grab this recording is the presence of trombonist Jimmy Knepper. One of the unheralded greats on his instrument, Knepper had just started his on-again-off-again association with Charles Mingus in 1957. On this LP he exhibits a dynamism that may have been inspired by the bassist's own aggressive approach to music and composition. 

For added interest are Clark Terry on one number and baritonist Sahib Shihab on two others (all the other baritone solos are by Scott himself). And this may be legendary bassist Henry Grimes' first recording. (Actually, it was Henry's third recording session, preceded by dates with Shahib Shihab and Lee Konitz – this info courtesy of Margaret Davis Grimes. Thanks, Margaret!). 

So here is Tony Scott on clarinet, with his characteristic scratchy tone and cascade of notes. All the compositions are his – with the obvious exception – and some are more than a bit quirky. You'll note that the back cover offers an incomplete listing of the tunes, but Gems has corrected it in the download. As always, these tunes were ripped from the original vinyl with only a minor tidying up of the sound.

My Kind of Jazz
Tony Scott

Tony Scott, cl, bar; Clark Terry, tp (3); Jimmy Knepper, tbn (1); Sahib Shihab, bar (2);
Bill Evans, p; Henry Grimes (4) or Milt Hinton, b; Paul Motian, d.
New York, NY; November 16, 1957 (1, 2, 5), other titles 1957; Perfect PL 12010 
 
1. Villa Jazz (1)
2. Zonk (1)
3. Blues for Fives (1)(2)(4)
4. Third Moon (3)
5. For Pete’s Sake (1)
6. Just One of Those Things (2)(4)

Find it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?ww1ujfszedwmzdd