The Serge Chaloff

While Miles Davis and Stan Getz were doing their cool things, there was another Yank chasing the pack - John Haley 'Zoot' Sims from California.
From four 1950s albums - The Four Brothers…. Together Again, From A To Z, Zoot and Whooeeee, we get the chance to hear arguably the best of Sims' work from the era, and maybe his long and illustrious career. ~ AllGigs

Harvard WHRB radio station has been on the air for nearly 80 years. In the 1940s, it transmitted to Harvard dormitories only. In the 1950s, the station obtained an FM license and become the first source for exciting, entertaining, classical music, jazz, news, and sports broadcasts to the entire Boston area. Harvard Radio’s daily broadcast explored a great repertoire of music left largely untouched by other commercial stations.

This issue of Buddy DeFranco's recordings as a leader of both a quintet and an orchestra between 1949 and 1952 is a welcome one. The material on these 24 cuts is standard fare from the swing era, which was way over by 1949, but it proves that DeFranco knew how to lead a big band and swing hard as a soloist in a quintet setting - especially with the company he kept. Some of his crew on these sides include Serge Chaloff, Teddy Charles, Teddy Kotick, Lee Konitz, Max Roach, Jimmy Raney, and Al Cohn, just to name a few. Arrangements for these tunes were done by DeFranco, George Russell, and Manny Albam, which gives the listener a taste of the varied sonic interests of the great clarinetist. The sound on these sides is a tiny bit thin, but that's a minor complaint. The material swings no matter the arrangement or the size of the band. This is an intimate look at an often overlooked jazz great.

Boyd Raeburn - Boyd Meets Stravinsky (1946) {Savoy–Atlantic 92984-2 rel 2000}
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© 1946, 2000 Savoy / Atlantic | 92984-2
Jazz / Bebop / Big Band

The Boyd Raeburn Orchestra never achieved much popularity with the general public, but it was admired by many top musicians of the bebop era as one of the most innovative large ensembles, on a par with the more well-known Stan Kenton band. Among the prominent musicians to have played with Raeburn were trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Harris; saxophonists Johnny Bothwell, Al Cohn, and Serge Chaloff; drummers Don Lamond and Shelly Manne; and bassist Oscar Pettiford. This superb album is comprised of tracks recorded by the band at its creative peak in the mid-'40s. The arrangements and original compositions by pianist George Handy acknowledge developments in 20th-century classical music up to that time, melding poly-tonality, shifting meters, and irregular rhythms with bebop and contemporary big band techniques.

Bob Gordon - Quintet/Sextet with Herbie Harper & Jack Montrose: Complete Recordings (2004) {Lone Hill Jazz LHJ10126 rec 1954-1955}
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© 1954-55, 2004 Lone Hill Jazz | LHJ10126
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

This outstanding edition contains the complete recorded discography of Gordon’s collaboration with trombone giant Herbie Harper and composer/arranger/tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose. Drawing from 7 legendary sessions and containing over 149 minutes of music this is unarguably the most definitive compilation of Bob Gordon’s outstanding music to date. “It is now generally recognized that Gordon, Jimmy Giuffre, and Gerry Mulligan, are the best baritone saxophonists to have emerged since Harry Carney.” – Richard Heffner, Downbeat.

This trio session by Steve Kuhn includes classical works and pieces adapted into pop songs decades ago. He initially studied classical music as a young man with the mother of baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff, so he is well grounded in the music. With bassist Dave Finck and Billy Drummond accompanying him, Kuhn's driving, boppish treatments of "Till the End of Time" (based upon Chopin's Polonaise No. 53) and "Stranger in Paradise" (taken from Borodin's Plovetzian Dance) sizzle with energy.