Serge Chaloff

[slide_advantage_redoux]

By my own admission, I have never really checked out Serge Chaloff, but I just got this CD release on 1210 Music entitled "Fable of Mabel" (9003-2)

This is some great stuff! Anyone with a chance to pick up this CD shouldn't hesitate! Compositions by Mariani, Twardick, Chaloff himself plus a few standards nicely arranged.

I had just a little knowledge of Chaloff, mainly regarding his bad facets, how he was booted from the Herman band, etc. The liner notes on this production are very informative. I was shocked to learn that he died so young. (not yet 37 years old)

It is easy to see how he would be overshadowed in the era when Mulligan was garnering so much attention with his playing and writing, but Serge could PLAY! He was so facile and musical.

Check it out. It is worth the time.

[king ubu]

I'm a big fan of this one:

ubu

[slide_advantage_redoux]

Nice! I need to find a recording of that. When is the date of recording?

[wolff]

Nice! I need to find a recording of that. When is the date of recording?

March 14 1956

[bluesForBartok]

Fable of Mabel is a great record! Great tunes on there.

I studied w/ Herb Pomeroy and had a chance to interview him a few years ago for a small publication in Boston.

When I asked him about the session, he remembered it fondly and said Serge was on a borrowed bari. Apparently he pawned his or something.

His soloing is rough around the edges but he plays with so much intensity.

Blue Serge is also a classic as King Ubu stated. If you can I would recommend searching out the oop mosaic which includes both of these recordings and then some.

[P.D.]

I'm a big fan of this one:

ubu

Thats one beaten up cover. You must have played that a lot.

[Chuck Nessa]

Noting the exception of Harry Carney, Serge is my favorite bari player. Blue Serge first (Thanks for the Memory is an all time ballad classic), followed by Boston Blow Up and Fabel of Mabel. After digesting those you might want to move on to the Uptown cd I helped produce. Sound is not the best but the music is special.

[slide_advantage_redoux]

Thanks Chuck. BTW, I met you at JSangrey's house some months ago, and we discussed Albert Mangelsdorff. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Glad to be on board here finally! B)

[Chuck Nessa]

Thanks Slide - I didn't recognize your moniker! Thought of you today when I saw a picture of Dan in the IAJE mailing. Damn he looks old.

If you don't know the Chaloff Uptown, you should check out Milt Gold on the last 4 tracks. He's something else.

[king ubu]

I'm a big fan of this one:

ubu

Thats one beaten up cover. You must have played that a lot.

PDEE, I regret to inform you that this is not a scan of my cover. I have in on CD, but this is a nice and large reproduction of the cover...

I've taken it from an incredible site that has been mentioned here somewhere already: here (click "Jazz Record" on the left and let the fun begin...)

ubu B)

Edited November 20, 2003 by king ubu

[mikeweil]

Here's a better repro of the cover: My desert island baritone record!

[wolff]

I think he gets plenty of attention for someone with such a small recorded legacy.

As much as I like Blue Serge I do not rate him high at all do to his lack of production.

Just because he is one of a few to lead with a baritone is not a reason for me to recommend him to friends. Had he done 6 or 7 good records my thoughts would be different.

[J.A.W.]

I think he gets plenty of attention for someone with such a small recorded legacy.

As much as I like Blue Serge I do not rate him high at all do to his lack of production. 

Just because he is one of a few to lead with a baritone is not a reason for me to recommend him to friends.  Had he done 6 or 7 good records my thoughts would be different.

I couldn't disagree more! In my opinion the importance of a musician should be judged by the music he played, not by the number of recordings he made. Chaloff was one of the most significant improvisers on the baritone saxophone.

Edited November 20, 2003 by J.A.W.

[wolff]

I think he gets plenty of attention for someone with such a small recorded legacy.

As much as I like Blue Serge I do not rate him high at all do to his lack of production. 

Just because he is one of a few to lead with a baritone is not a reason for me to recommend him to friends.  Had he done 6 or 7 good records my thoughts would be different.

I couldn't disagree more! In my opinion the importance of a musician should be judged by the music he played, not by the number of recordings he made. Chaloff was one of the most significant improvisers on the baritone saxophone.

I agree, but I get I get tired of listening to his 2 or 3 good LP's over and over again. As far as a baritone led session nothing tops Blue Serge, but then what?

What he did on the baritone was pretty unique and I give him that, but I feel he was influenced by another sax player more than he influenced anyone else.

[RDK]

Bump 'cause I'm really enjoying Boston 1950 right now. I really dig hearing these live radio broadcasts, announcers and all, as it gives one such an impression of the time and place.

[Larry Kart]

I'll never forget the shock of listening to "Boston Blow Up" when it first came out, particularly Serge's incredible, Chaliapin-like "Body and Soul." But then that whole album had an alternate universe feel to it -- the Boston scene of that time was strange! Dick Twardzik didn't come from nowhere. About that "Body and Soul" BTW, do others feel that Serge's final agonized figures before the cadenza were a fairly set routine, perhaps the fruit of what happened on previous takes? It seems likely (paradoxical though that would be in emotional terms), given the way Pomeroy and Boots Musulli echo Serge immediately. Yes, they could just have been quick-witted there, but the alternative IMO is more probable. If so, perhaps the contrast between Serge's operatic emotionalism and the likelihood of pre-planning is a vital further part of the performance's gothic mood.

[MartyJazz]

By my own admission, I have never really checked out Serge Chaloff, but I just got this CD release on 1210 Music entitled "Fable of Mabel" (9003-2)

This is some great stuff! Anyone with a chance to pick up this CD shouldn't hesitate! Compositions by Mariani, Twardick, Chaloff himself plus a few standards nicely arranged.

I had just a little knowledge of Chaloff, mainly regarding his bad facets, how he was booted from the Herman band, etc. The liner notes on this production are very informative. I was shocked to learn that he died so young. (not yet 37 years old)

It is easy to see how he would be overshadowed in the era when Mulligan was garnering so much attention with his playing and writing, but Serge could PLAY! He was so facile and musical.

Check it out. It is worth the time.

An old friend, Vladimir Simosko, wrote the liner notes to the Mosaic box of Serge's complete studio recordings and also wrote "Serge Chaloff: A Musical Biography and Discography" (Scarecrow Press). The Mosaic box contains most of the recordings thus far discussed in this thread but is long OOP. However, you might want to check out the book.....if you can find it.

[LAL]

Recently obtained a partial set, discs 1 and 2 plus the booklet, direct from Mosaic. Can't wait to check them out. Disc 4 of the Mosaic has the exact same tracks as the Blue Serge disc. Also eyeing the Uptown release.

[Dave James]

With regard to recorded output, let's not lose track of the fact that Chaloff died when he was only 34 years old. Also, while the number of sessions he essayed as a leader were all too few, he did yeoman section work during the '40's in the big bands of Boyd Raeburn, Georgie Auld, Jimmy Dorsey and finally, as part of the Four Brothers in Woody Herman's Second Herd. His last album, "Four Brothers...Together Again!" recorded in 1957 and released several years ago on CD by RCA, was a reunion of the Second Herd sax section featuring Herbie Seward, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims in addition to Chaloff. By the time of that recording, Chaloff was so ill he had to play sitting in a wheelchair. I recall reading someplace that he was so weak, he was only able to play the solo parts and that another bari player whose name escapes me now, did the section work. This is not discussed on the liner notes that accompany the CD.

Count me firmly among those who hold Chaloff in the highest esteem. I can't think of too many others I'd rather see tackle the big pipe.

Up over and out.

Edited April 1, 2005 by Dave James