Newborn

Other than two numbers cut for the Progressive label in Houston a couple years earlier (and thus far never reissued), this Atlantic session (put out as a Koch CD in 1999) was the recording debut for the remarkable Phineas Newborn. The 24-year-old pianist's playing on this trio/quartet date with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke (and occasionally guitarist Calvin Newborn) is virtuosic to say the least, on Oscar Peterson's level if not Art Tatum's. Newborn rips through the repertoire (which is highlighted by "Barbados," "Celia," "Daahoud," and "Afternoon in Paris"); try to tap your foot to "Celia" without breaking your ankle!

This recording lives up to its title. In his prime, Phineas Newborn had phenomenal technique (on the level of an Oscar Peterson), a creative imagination, and plenty of energy. These trio sessions (with Leroy Vinnegar or Sam Jones on bass and either Milt Turner or Louis Hayes on drums) feature Newborn displaying plenty of heat and fresh ideas on compositions by Bud Powell, Bobby Timmons, Benny Golson, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis (along with two of his own). This is piano jazz at its highest level.

We Three, recorded in a single session on November 14, 1958, was the first American studio date as a bandleader for the diminutive and legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, although with pianist Phineas Newborn on board (along with bassist Paul Chambers), it really is a set dominated by Newborn, whose busy, two-handed technique here works in tandem balance with Haynes' cool refinement. Newborn was all about amazing and dazzling piano runs that on some dates created simply too much flash and clutter to allow pieces to flow and breathe properly, but Haynes has always been about grace and flow throughout his career (if a drummer's style can said to be elegant, Haynes fits the bill), and here he rubs off on Newborn, who exercises just enough restraint to keep him in the proper orbit, resulting in a fine album…

A later issue of material recorded in the late 60s by Phineas for Contempoary - tunes from the sessions for the album Please Send Me Someone To Love, but which didn't make the cut at the time - and are here issued a decade after the original recordings! The group on the set features Ray Brown on bass and Elvin Jones on drums - a slightly strange lineup for the record, given that Phineas is exploring the keys in a relatively traditional mode - a format that works well with the round, careful tones of Brown, but which is sometimes oddly punctuated by Jones' more forceful drum work.

Recorded in 1961 and released by Contemporary Records the same year, “Maggie's Back in Town!!” Is the second album released on the label by jazz trumpeter Howard McGhee. Also featured are the players Phineas Newborn Jr, Leroy Vinnegar and Shelly Manne. This new edition features remastered hi-res audio from the original tapes.