The Three Sounds Play Jazz on Broadway

Ahmad Jamal - The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1956-62 (2010) {9CD BoxSet Mosaic MD9 246}
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© 2010 Mosaic Records / UMG | MD9 246
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Piano

Miles once said, "All my inspiration today comes from Ahmad Jamal." These recordings are the reason why. The mid fifties was a fertile time for jazz; fresh, original ensembles were taking shape all over the country. The Modern Jazz Quartet, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, The Jazz Messengers and the Ahmad Jamal Trio immediately come to mind. Among musicians, each group had its imitators and its creative disciples who took its innovations one step further.

This particular Original Album Classics release contains five albums issued by George Benson through the Warner Bros. label: Breezin' (1976), Weekend in L.A. (1977), Give Me the Night (1980), Tenderly (1989), and Big Boss Band (1990). This is a rather arbitrary assortment; Benson made several other significant albums during the span covered here, and the stylistic differences between the earliest and latest sets are stark…

Charles Mingus - Mingus Three (1957) {Roulette 724385715525 rel 1997}
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© 1957, 1997 Roulette / Capitol Records | 724385715525
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Blues / Bass / Piano Trio

Most often heard in large ensembles and rarely in a trio context, Charles Mingus joined forces with pianist Hampton Hawes for this 1957 studio date. It features four standards, two originals by the bassist, and a jam by the group credited to Hawes. While there's nothing particularly arresting or startling about the date, the relationship between the two ostensible co-leaders is a good case study in group dynamics when deference between two strong-willed individualists turns into a certain amount of compromise.

The sound of Coleman Hawkins remains, after all these years, as immediately recognizable as his direct and compelling ability to swing. No jazzman played with more fire the uptempo tunes and no one could be more persuasive on ballads. With the fluent support of his then-regular rhythm section, he made these four excellent albums. Three Good Old Broadway, No Strings, Make Someone Happy which include jazz versions of Broadway show tunes, are from Prestiges Moodsville series. The fourth, Today and Now, made for Impulse, explores everything from gentle, moody ballads and bluesy, mid-tempo pieces to some Hawk originals. Overall, this 2-CD set is an interesting mixture of classics and undeservedly lesser-known compositions…

Don Elliott - Double Trumpet Doings (1955) {Jazzland OJCCD-1925-2 rel 1999}
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© 1955, 1999 Jazzland Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1925-2
Jazz / Cool / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet

Originally issued under the slightly more esoteric title “New Counterpoint for Six Valves” this is a disc dominated mainly by the frequent dialogues between its two principle soloists. Elliott and Dedrick make a disparate pair and their contrasting sounds are prime reason for the program’s more interesting outcomes. Elliott was a follower of bebop and renowned more for his talents as a vibraphonist than as a brassman. A collaborator at various times with the likes of George Shearing, Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich his artistic enterprises also moved beyond the realms of jazz into Broadway musicals and novelty tunes. Dedrick was more the product of a swing upbringing and his tone is shaped by a mellower, less overtly complicated approach.