Budd Johnson

[king ubu]

Does anyone else here know his recordings on Clark's All American? I have mentioned it in a few threads over the years and don't remember anyone responding. It is included in this Prestige 2fer cd:

Just had a listen - the sound Oliver Nelson gets from only four horns is amazing! Johnson's solos are enthusiastic - the themes are typical for a broadway show and a little superficial, but what these guys make out of it is very good music.

Yes, that's about my opinion... nice soloing, good writing, lacklustre (to put it midly) material.

Will dig it out, soon, too!

[Clunky]

I really like Budd but this late entry is a poor ambling record on which Budd sounds well past his best .

[jazztrain]

My recollection of the "All American" album is that it's rather tepid. Haven't played it in a very long time.

Budd Johnson can be heard to good effect on several of the JPJ Quartet albums, on which Oliver Jackson was the other "J" and Bill Pemberton was the "P." If memory serves, Dill Jones was on piano for many of the albums.

Budd Johnson very much had his own style. Although you can hear definite influences on his playing, no one else really sounds like him.

Another recommendation for Budd Johnson courtesy of stereojack: He shows up on a session or two with Count Basie on the Mosaic Roulette (live session) box.

Lots of respects for Budd Johnson whom I was privileged to meet when I was allowed to attend the first rehearsals of the Quincy Jones big band in Paris in 1959. What a nice man he was! And what a band it was!

I have that Clark Terry 'All American' Moodsville LP (cover design by Don Schlitten). Good arrangements by Oliver Nelson:

Also highly recommended are the albums he recorded for the Black and Blue label:

- Mr Bechet (with Earl Hines)

- Ya! Ya! (with Charlie Shavers)

- The Last Session (under Shavers' name)

[Joe]

Love Budd Johnson's work, partly as a matter of local pride. LET'S SWING I consider to be a small masterpiece.

Any recommendations for a collection of Budd's work with the Hines orchestra? I have bits and pieces here and there, but have never been able to locate a single compilation or even a comprehensive overview of that material.

Finally, never heard it, but have always wondered about the late date with Phil Woods on Uptown.

[Larry Kart]

Even Duke Ellington had problems making a successful album out of the show material!

No great thanks to Adams and Strouse, but Ellington's "All-American" is a superb album. Gonsalves on "I've Just Seen Her," of course, but virtually every track is a gem. Also, FWIW, eight of the ten tracks are Strayhorn charts according to Walter van de Leur's "Something To Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn."

[paul secor]

Some of my favorite late period Budd Johnson is found on this one:

edit - just checked and this is the same record that BeBop listed under a different title and label in post #6.

Edited September 28, 2011 by paul secor

[golfcrazy1984]

He is also one of the tenor soloists on "The Count meets The Duke" Columbia records 1961? On the Mosaic Count Basie Live Roulette recordings he plays a great solo on "Segue in C" and also "Discommotion".

[Pete C]

When I was a teen in the '70s the JPJ Quartet often appeared on local NYC TV shows. I think the people at Master Jazz Records might have been good at getting their artists on TV, as Earl Hines and Roy Eldridge often seemed to pop up at that time too.

[mikeweil]

Budd Johnson can be heard to good advantage on Benny Carter's "Live And Well In Japan", a Pablo album of a 1977 live concert featuring (besides Carter and Johnson) Joe Newman, Cat Anderson, Britt Woodman, Cecil Payne, Nat Pierce, Mundell Lowe, George Duvivier and Harold Jones.

I see two albums with that title and different tracklists - can someone explain ...

Another fine album is "Blues A La Mode" on Felsted, that can be obtained as part of the Complete Felsted box sets by Solar or Fresh Sound respectively (the session is also on a Lonehill reissue called "The Stanley Dance Sessions").

I'm glad I bought any of the JPJ Quartet LPs when I spotted one of them - a very underrated band, playing excellently and not simply a retro swing group, much more than that. These guys were playing!

Same for any Hines Quartet recordings with Johnson.

Edited September 28, 2011 by mikeweil

[Pete C]

Does anybody know when Johnson first recorded on soprano?

[Dan Gould]

Finally, never heard it, but have always wondered about the late date with Phil Woods on Uptown.

I enjoyed it but if you have an aversion to Woods your mileage may vary.

[Larry Kart]

Haven't heard it for a good while, but my memory is that the Riverside four-trumpet date was a classic example of a less than it should have been/could have been Orrin Keepnews production.

Edit: I see now that the date was Cannonball's idea but don't know whether Keepnews was in the studio. Listening to a track on the Internet, I hear what I recall hearing before -- rather airless too close-up sound (on Budd and bassist Joe Benjamin in particular) and less than ideal drum work from Herbie Lovelle.

[brownie]

Keepnews is not mentioned anywhere' in the liner notes (by Chris Albertson)! Maybe Chris knows more about it?

[Pete C]

Keepnews is not mentioned anywhere' in the liner notes (by Chris Albertson)! Maybe Chris knows more about it?

Maybe Chris believes if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything.

[Chuck Nessa]

That session is one of the Cannonball Presents deals.

[Larry Kart]

If Keepnews wasn't there, his favorite recording engineer of the time, Ray Fowler, was.

[Joe]

Finally, never heard it, but have always wondered about the late date with Phil Woods on Uptown.

I enjoyed it but if you have an aversion to Woods your mileage may vary.

Woods is definitely a YMMV player for me, but I'm more forgiving of his excesses than some other board members. How's the rhythm section on this date?

[Dan Gould]

Its been a while since I last listened but I recall it as solid. I like Richard Wyands in a supporting role so ...

[king ubu]

It's been a while, but I enjoyed the Uptown album with Woods!

Budd Johnson can be heard to good advantage on Benny Carter's "Live And Well In Japan", a Pablo album of a 1977 live concert featuring (besides Carter and Johnson) Joe Newman, Cat Anderson, Britt Woodman, Cecil Payne, Nat Pierce, Mundell Lowe, George Duvivier and Harold Jones.

I see two albums with that title and different tracklists - can someone explain ...

I'd be interested in that, too!

Got the one pictured on the right (Japanese CD in my case) and it's good!

[jazztrain]

Good question. Earliest I can find so far is November 1960 with Gil Evans.

Does anybody know when Johnson first recorded on soprano?

[JSngry]

Budd Johnson? That sound. Not just a tone, but a sound!

[Joe]

Its been a while since I last listened but I recall it as solid. I like Richard Wyands in a supporting role so ...

Thanks. Richard Wyands is enough to sell me...

The Hines "reunion" records are uniformly excellent, but I tend to forget about them for some reason.

For more prime Budd from the 70's, there's also Eldridge's NIFTY CAT date and the Basie GET TOGETHER, where he's paired with / against Lockjaw.

[marcello]

Masterful tenor ballad paying here!

[paul secor]

Its been a while since I last listened but I recall it as solid. I like Richard Wyands in a supporting role so ...

Thanks. Richard Wyands is enough to sell me...

The Hines "reunion" records are uniformly excellent, but I tend to forget about them for some reason.

For more prime Budd from the 70's, there's also Eldridge's NIFTY CAT date and the Basie GET TOGETHER, where he's paired with / against Lockjaw.

Forgot about The Nifty Cat - real good one.

Edited September 29, 2011 by paul secor

[Christiern]

Keepnews is not mentioned anywhere' in the liner notes (by Chris Albertson)! Maybe Chris knows more about it?

Maybe Chris believes if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything.

That should be obvious, by now.

Apropos Budd, Maynard Ferguson once told me that his most embarrassing moment as a performer occurred at Birdland.

Maynard had invited his in-laws down to hear the band, and given them a front table and introduced them from the bandstand. At one point, Budd delivered a particularly torrid blues solo, which prompted Maynard's father-in-law to exclaim, rather loudly, "Listen to that ni...ger go!"

I don't recall my liner notes for the Riverside album, but Ray Fowler was always the engineer and I would be surprised if Orrin wasn't present. Had he written the notes, he would have been mentioned at least once in the text!

Budd was, indeed, a very sweet guy—as Chuck said. We shared a memorable, somewhat bizarre day in Scranton back in 1962 I write about it (and give an audio sample) on my blog.