Late Posted January 12, 2005 Report Posted January 12, 2005 The Art Farmer Septet Plays the Arrangements and Compositions of Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones 1. Mau Mau (Jones-Farmer) 5:15 2. Work of Art (Jones-Farmer) 5:46 3. The Little Bandmaster (Jones-Farmer) 4:06 4. Up In Quincy's Room (Gigi Gryce) 4:00 5. Wildwood (Gryce) 2:55 6. Evening in Paris (Quincy Jones) 2:41 7. Elephant Walk (Jones) 3:25 8. Tiajuana (Gryce) 2:49 9. When Your Lover Has Gone (E.A. Swan) 5:10 on (1-4): Art Farmer: trumpet Jimmy Cleveland: trombone Cliff Solomon: tenor saxophone Oscar Estell: baritone saxophone Quincy Jones: piano, percussion Monk Montgomery: electric bass Sonny Johnson: drums recorded July 2, 1953; New York City engineer: Doug Hawkins on (5-8): Art Farmer: trumpet Jimmy Cleveland: trombone Charlie Rouse: tenor saxophone Danny Bank: baritone saxophone Horace Silver: piano Percy Heath: bass Art Taylor: drums recorded June 7, 1954; Hackensack, NJ engineer: Rudy Van Gelder on (9): Art Farmer: trumpet Barry Harris: piano Doug Watkins: bass Art Taylor: drums recorded August 3, 1956; Hackensack, NJ engineer: Rudy Van Gelder In light of the Fantasy catalog recently being purchased by Concord, I've been spinning a lot of OJCs lately. This recording always stands out to me as one deserving wider recognition. Not only does it have fine writing from the pens of Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones, but the septet line-ups offer some interesting combinations of players. Check out the first session, for instance — Monk Montgomery on electric bass! A somewhat unusual circumstance, it seems, for 1953, but the electricity here seems to serve a purpose, what with Montgomery's pizzicato lines (moving between walking and ensemble passages) being clearly projected through amplification. You also get to hear Cliff Solomon on tenor saxophone, whose fine playing I only know from this album. Listen to the first track, "Mau Mau." Is Quincy Jones the actual composer of "A Love Supreme"? I'm only partly kidding — the ostinato line (right around 1:41) that Solomon, Cleveland, and Estell play behind Farmer's solo appears to be the same, syllables and pitches: a-love-supreme, (a)-love-supreme. Craziness. The last track, from 1956, is appended to the album from Farmer's Two Trumpets session with Donald Byrd, so it doesn't really fit with the septet billing, but what a gorgeous way to close the record. Beautiful ballad playing by Farmer. I'll be interested to read what you all have to say about this one! Late AMG Review Quote
ghost of miles Posted January 13, 2005 Report Posted January 13, 2005 Listen to the first track, "Mau Mau." Is Quincy Jones the actual composer of "A Love Supreme"? I'm only partly kidding — the ostinato line (right around 1:41) that Solomon, Cleveland, and Estell play behind Farmer's solo appears to be the same, syllables and pitches: a-love-supreme, (a)-love-supreme. Craziness. AMG Review I believe this observation was also made in either Porter or Kahn's book--so you're not crazy! Don't know if Trane ever heard it, but yeah, there's a similarity. BTW, I think Monk Montgomery had started playing electric bass w/Lionel Hampton's band the year before... was he the first to use it in jazz? Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 13, 2005 Report Posted January 13, 2005 I was the one who brought the Mau Mau similarity to the attention of Porter and Khan. I believe I am appropriately noted in the Kahn book, the Porter I think had already been published. Monk was early, but not the first - Roy Johnson, his predecessor in the Hampton band played electric before him. Mike Quote
Late Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Posted January 13, 2005 Well, I have the Porter (haven't read it), and don't have the Kahn. Strange coincidence. Are the pitches identical? Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 13, 2005 Report Posted January 13, 2005 Here is my old mail on this: Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 17:57:47 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of the life and works of John Coltrane <COLTRANE-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU> Sender: Discussion of the life and works of John Coltrane <COLTRANE-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU> From: Michael Fitzgerald <fitzgera@ECLIPSE.NET> Subject: An interesting tidbit Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" While working on my Gigi Gryce book project, I decided to take a break from Gryce and listen to "the other part" of a record I've been digging into. The album: Art Farmer Septet (Plays The Arrangements and Compositions of Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones) The details: Prestige 7031 (OJC CD 054). The track: Mau Mau (Quincy Jones & Art Farmer) starting at about 1:44 The date: July 2, 1953 The tidbit: the middle section of this is darn close to the "riff" from Acknowledgment (the part that goes "A Love Su-preme"). It's at more or less the same tempo (not in the same key, though). It's most striking at the beginning when it's coming out of an Afro-Cuban vamp. The music is rather forward-looking, heavily Gillespie-influenced, but still neat to hear modal stuff this early. I checked with Lewis Porter because I was surprised that it didn't come up earlier. Particularly since source material is a specialty of his. Here's his response. >I'm listening to Mau Mau right now at your suggestion. Nobody has mentioned > this before?-good going Mike! Though I must agree with you that the basic Love > Supreme motive is rather generic and I'll bet you can find it in other Latin > pieces, so this isn't as surprising as it may seem. It's what Trane does with > it (of course). >lewis If this were done after ALS, I'd think it was a reference, unquestionably. But it's 11 years earlier so I was slightly shocked and amused, perhaps you will be as well. The album is great on its own merits, anyway. But the rest sounds like 1950's music and Mau Mau sounds way ahead of its time. Mike Quote
Late Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Posted January 14, 2005 If this were done after ALS, I'd think it was a reference, unquestionably. But it's 11 years earlier so I was slightly shocked and amused, perhaps you will be as well. The album is great on its own merits, anyway. But the rest sounds like 1950's music and Mau Mau sounds way ahead of its time. Mike Thanks for posting the e-mail, Mike. When I first heard that ostinato line, I was immediately struck, and laughed out loud. No one was home, but I yelled out "Quincy Jones wrote 'A Love Supreme'!" The cats may have given me an unbemused look, but that was about it. Of course, now that I know that Cliff Solomon's brother used to play pool with Coltrane in Philadelphia, well, that explains a lot ... But ... surely your man Gryce's composition "Up in Quincy's Room" doesn't sound like run-of-the-mill "1950's music," no? And how about Jones' "Evening in Paris"? Both these tracks sound a little more harmonically advanced to me than typical 1950's fare. Now, the track "Wildwood" — I could see how that might fit into something recorded at Webster Hall for RCA with Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, and Osie Johnson holding down the rhythm section. (I'm jumping the gun a little, but ... ) Does anyone else have this recording? Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 14, 2005 Report Posted January 14, 2005 The phrase "run-of-the-mill" was used by you, not me. Mike Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 14, 2005 Report Posted January 14, 2005 It is interesting to compare these dates to the Kenny Dorham sessions on Afro-Cuban. Quote
Late Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Posted January 14, 2005 (edited) The phrase "run-of-the-mill" was used by you, not me. Mike You're correct there. I thought that was what you were implying in your comment above. Your "ahead of its time" comment regarding "Mau Mau" had me think, conversely, that perhaps the other compositions weren't as "ahead" of their time. I was only suggesting that perhaps two other compositions were somewhat "ahead" as well. Edited January 14, 2005 by Late Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 14, 2005 Report Posted January 14, 2005 I think they sound like what I expect from Gryce in that period, but I'm the last person who would say that Gryce is run-of-the-mill. Mike Quote
Late Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Posted January 14, 2005 Absolutely. I just thought that "Up in Quincy's Room" was a little ahead of its time for 1953. I think we're on the same page here actually, it's just that I may not have communicated my ideas all that clearly. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 16, 2005 Report Posted January 16, 2005 (edited) I bought this as an OJC LP many years ago and still like it. Will try to sneak it in during the coming week. An underrated album - but I think it makes even better comparison with Clark Terry's EmArcy debut LP, than with Dorham's Afro-Cuban. Edited January 16, 2005 by mikeweil Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 16, 2005 Report Posted January 16, 2005 An underrated album - but I think it makes even better comparison with Clark Terry's EmArcy debut LP, than with Dorham's Arfro-Cuban. I think all 3 are worthy of comparison but I no longer have a copy of Terry's date. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 16, 2005 Report Posted January 16, 2005 Have no fear, now that it's 2005, Lonehill will get you a copy.............. Mike Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 17, 2005 Report Posted January 17, 2005 Have no fear, now that it's 2005, Lonehill will get you a copy.............. Mike Quote
Late Posted January 21, 2005 Author Report Posted January 21, 2005 Durn, I wish I'd picked up the Verve Elite Edition when I had the chance. I guess that it has (how many?) bonus tracks that the current Japanese edition doesn't. I'm in the same boat as Chuck. Quote
mikeweil Posted January 21, 2005 Report Posted January 21, 2005 The Verve Elite CD adds four tracks from the MGM Cats v. Chicks LP. Quote
JohnS Posted January 21, 2005 Report Posted January 21, 2005 Art Farmers been on my cd/turntable a lot recently but somehow I'd manged to overlook his Prestige recordings. This is a one is good place to start. A really enjoyable set, a good set of tunes, nice arrangements. The Love Supreme connection hadn't struck me before. Farmer seems pretty much his own man too at this stage in his career. I only have the OJC vinyl so I'm without the bonus track. Thanks to Fantasy for the very nice quality OJC pressings. I'll be digging out some more vintage Farmer over the next few days. Quote
Late Posted January 21, 2005 Author Report Posted January 21, 2005 The Verve Elite CD adds four tracks from the MGM Cats v. Chicks LP. Argh! Time to start searching that one out. Was this one of those Elite Editions that came in those strange slipcases? Quote
mikeweil Posted January 30, 2005 Report Posted January 30, 2005 Was this one of those Elite Editions that came in those strange slipcases? Yes - but they all were like that, IIRC. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 30, 2005 Report Posted January 30, 2005 No, only the first and second set came with those slipcases, I think. By the time things like the Blakey/Joe Gordon and Lee Konitz: Motion were released the case was gone. I own everything in the series. Mike Quote
mikeweil Posted January 30, 2005 Report Posted January 30, 2005 My copies of these two are just like the first ones - all plain cardboard with the disc slipped in on one side and the booklet on the other. Were these manufactured differently in the US and Europe? Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 31, 2005 Report Posted January 31, 2005 Apparently so - in addition to what you describe the US issues have an odd slipcase with perforated holes. Mike Quote
mikeweil Posted February 1, 2005 Report Posted February 1, 2005 Perforated holes?!?!? Never seen any of them, at last on Elite CDs . Quote
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