Paul Gelder

Lee Morgan - Volume 3 (1957) {2007 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 306 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
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© 2007 EMI / Blue Note | 0946 3 92746 2 8 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop / Trumpet

Vol. 3 is Lee Morgan's final recording from a series done in the spring of 1957, an important year not only for the teenage trumpeter, but for the dominant hard bop sound that swept the landscape of modern jazz. Morgan preferred the sextet format at this time, recruiting alto saxophonist Gigi Gryce and retaining tenor player Benny Golson, while grabbing bassist Paul Chambers and pianist Wynton Kelly from the Miles Davis/John Coltrane combo. The selection of lesser-known but very talented drummer Charlie Persip for this date is a wise choice, as he is more homogeneous to the composed jazz of Golson, which comprises this entire set. Because of the Golson factor, the music is consistent, but not the hard bop blowing session some may have expected.

Lee Morgan - City Lights (1957) {2006 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2006 EMI / Blue Note | 0946 3 62676 2 3 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop / Trumpet

Lee Morgan was only a tender 19 years of age when he led this 1957 Blue Note date, but his technique surpassed most of the more seasoned trumpeters on the scene. Technically agile and possessed of a bright, clear tone (he clearly belongs to the lineage of Dizzy Gillespie), Morgan shines on CITY LIGHTS, and his sidemen–including saxophonist George Coleman, trombonist Curtis Fuller, and bassist Paul Chambers–are no slouches, either. Strong writing from jazz composer Benny Golson makes this a thoroughly enjoyable hard-bop session. The 2006 reissue boasts beautifully remastered sound.

Lee Morgan - The Cooker (1957) {2006 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2006 EMI / Blue Note | 0946 3 62643 2 5 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop / Trumpet

Lee Morgan was a tender 19-year-old when he recorded 1957's THE COOKER for Blue Note. While Morgan wouldn't truly hit his stride until a few years after this release, his duties as leader here are mighty impressive, nonetheless. A stellar personnel line-up that includes drummer Philly Joe Jones, bassist Paul Chambers, pianist Bobby Timmons, and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams keeps the musicianship at a remarkably high caliber, and the ensemble's performance on standards like "A Night in Tunisia" and "Just One of Those Things" sizzle, as do their takes on Morgan's two originals. THE COOKER isn't a landmark release, but it is a very solid hard-bop outing that showcases dynamic group chemistry and the formative first steps of Morgan's dazzling trumpet chops.

Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag (1960) {2003 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 443 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
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© 2003 Capitol / Blue Note | 7243 5 42303 2 5 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

By the late 1950's, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean had shaken off any comparisons to Charlie Parker (or other Parker followers), and had become a distinctive performer in his own right. JACKIE'S BAG, assembled from a couple of 1959 sessions, is a fantastic set of hard bop originals with hints of modality (think Miles Davis from this period) and the avant-garde (think Ornette Coleman, who later recorded with McLean). The original release bolstered by three bonus tunes, BAG is full of surging, moody and ominous-sounding jazz with plenty of wonderful solos from McLean, trumpeter Donald Byrd, and the under-recorded saxophonist Tina Brooks.

John Coltrane - Black Pearls (1958) {2008 Prestige Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 272 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 89 Mb
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© 2008 Concord / Prestige | 0888072306578 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop

In addition to their positions of importance in the Miles Davis quintet of the mid-fifties, John Coltrane and Red Garland a series of studio dates for Prestige in 1957 and '58. Here, as in several of the others, Paul Chambers is the bassist and Arthur Taylor is the drummer, with Donald Byrd on trumpet making it a quintet.

There are only three numbers, the title song "Black Pearls", an extremely swift version of "Lover Come Back To Me", and the fast "Sweet Sapphire Blues" which begins with Garland soloing from the gitgo in a long, upbeat exploration before Trane unfurls his "sheets of sound". Byrd gets into that rapid fire mode, in and among his evenly-cadenced lines and Chambers (plucked) and Taylor (brushes into sticks) solo before Garland ends it with a riff credited to Prestige's then-president, Bob Weinstock.

The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane - Dig It! (1958) {2009 Prestige Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2009 Concord / Prestige | 0888072315921 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

The quintet represented on this album is widely regarded as being one of the most exciting and effective of the Fifties, even though the majority of its work did not come to light until that decade was over. The apparent paradox in that statement is resolved by the fact that this was primarily a recording unit, and although its participants have appeared together publicly in various combinations (most notably Red Garland and John Coltrane), a Red Garland quintet such as is represented here on this record was never a regular working unit.

Freddie Redd - Shades of Redd (1960) {2008 BN Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2008 Blue Note | 50999 5 14375 2 7 | 24-bit Remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

SHADES OF REDD is part of the seemingly endless stream of bop and post-bop albums released on Blue Note in the 1960s, and as such is easy to overlook. That, however, would be a mistake, as SHADES OF REDD is a gleaming gem of a find. With saxophonists Jackie McLean and Tina Brooks in the front line, pianist Freddie Redd leads a rhythm section through nine blues-inflected bop numbers of his own composition. Cool, elegant, and with plenty of swing factor, SHADES OF REDD might sound, theoretically, like any other disc from the period, but this is one of the sets where the elements came together perfectly. Jazz fans of nearly any stripe would do well to pick this up.

Miles Davis - The Musings Of Miles (1955) {2008 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2008 Concord / Prestige | 0888072306516
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

This was a forerunner of the Miles Davis Quintet as it was his first session with Red Garland and Philly Joe Jones. Up to then his Prestige dates had been of the "all star" variety. (Oscar Pettiford fills that bill here.) By the fall, John Coltrane and Paul Chambers would come aboard to help form the first of a continuum of great Davis working groups. On "A Night in Tunisia" Philly Joe used special sticks with little cymbals riveted to the shaft.

Miles Davis - Collectors' Items (1953-56) {2009 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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© 2009 Concord / Prestige | 0888072312227
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

From the new liner notes: “The session of March 16, 1956 is one of most beautiful, laid-back, floating-on-a-cloud experiences one can have. The first time I listened to it, I replayed it three times. Side note: ‘Vierd Blues’ is the same piece that appears on Miles’s Trane’s Blues, and there credited to John Coltrane, as it was when Trane first recorded it on a Kenny Drew session, years before. Until it was combined with the 1956 date, the Miles-Bird-Sonny session lay in the vaults. Meanwhile, on May 15, 1953 Bird and Dizzy Gillespie recorded their famed Massey Hall concert in Toronto. When that record was issued ‘Charlie Chan’ was used as Bird’s pseudonym. That’s how it came to be used for Collectors’ Items.” (Ira Gitler)