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

Papa and the Judge

Percussion discussion: Jo Jones entertains Art Blakey, left, and Elvin Jones with some fancy brushwork, probably in the early 1960s. Below, Milt Hinton at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 1980. Unknown photographers

There's no story with this Gem. I just saw this on eBay and had to get it so I could hear it. The price was reasonable and there seemed to be no other buyers, so I won the bid. Once I did hear it, I was amazed that such a recording could have been made in 1960. This sort of adventurous duet is something one would expect to hear from creative music practitioners – the AACM or BAG or one of the other post-bop traditons.

What sort of duet, you ask? Why, an entire record of bass and drums playing together by their lonesome. And not by just any bass player or drummer. Performing on this LP are two giants of the swing and modern eras in jazz – Papa Jo Jones and the Judge, Milt Hinton. 

What makes this record so remarkable – other than it wasn't the sort of thing anyone was recording in the '60s – is the fact that these two gents hearken back to the heyday of the big bands. Jones with Basie, Hinton with Cab Calloway. That they would make such an unusual recording is an eye-opener, for me anyway. I guess there is nothing new under the sun after all.

Everest Records, by the way, was an interesting label. One of the first to produce high-end stereo recordings, they had a strong jazz division and put out quite a few mainstream jazz recordings, including some very good ones by Basie arranger Ernie Wilkins and a number by Jo Jones and Sweets Edison. The company's owner, Harry Belock, used 35mm film stock to make his recordings, believing the movie material captured a higher quality of sound. I don't know if that's true, but the process cost him quite a bit more than conventional tape.

So here are Papa and the Judge, free-improvising in the studio (there are only two bonafide tunes). The sound quality is good, but there is some background noise which, as far as I can determine, was present in the actual recording. I've cleaned it up a bit, and I think you'll find it an interesting listen. From the original vinyl, of course!

 

Percussion and Bass

Jo Jones and Milt Hinton

Jo Jones, d; Milt Hinton, b.

New York, NY; May 11, 1960

Everest BR5110

1. Tom

2. Man and You

3. Coffee Dan

4. Love Nest

5. H.O.T.

6. Shoes on the Ruff

7. The Walls Fall

8. Blue Skies

9. Late in the Evenin'

10. Ocho Puertas

11. Tin Top Alley Blues

12. Little Honey

Find it here: https://www.mediafire.com/?9hnvdbhh3lcb4dc