GEORGE AULD – 1940-1945 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1322 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Smooth and sometimes flashy tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld was heavily featured with Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, and Artie Shaw, whose band Auld attempted to front after Shaw, suffering psychological distress at finding himself mobbed by hyper-appreciative fans, retreated to Mexico in order to obtain some sort of privacy. Eight sides from January and February 1940 sound a lot like the previous Shaw orchestra; Kay Foster's vocals sweeten up five of these, while "This Is Romance," "Juke Box Jump," and "Sweet Sue" are solid, danceable big-band instrumentals. The orchestra was not a success and soon threw in the towel, partly because, unlike Shaw's previous material, these records came out on the little Varsity label rather than Victor's Bluebird imprint. Cut to the spring of 1944, and music of an entirely different sort. A "saxtet" co-led by Auld, Ben Webster, and Coleman Hawkins makes four sides for the progressive Apollo label, with Charlie Shavers, Israel Crosby, and Specs Powell in the band, among others. Hawkins naturally steers, with Webster riding shotgun. "Porgy" and "Uptown Lullaby" are languid ballads, while the exciting "Pick-Up Boys," with its off-mike vocal interjections, is perfectly matched by "Salt Peanuts," which in 1944 placed these musicians on the cutting edge of new jazz. This exquisite session makes the whole package worth having. The rest of the chronological survey shows Auld leading his orchestra in an up-to-date fashion. Five sides were recorded for Apollo only five days after the "saxtet" date, now bolstered with groovin' arrangements by Budd Johnson. The presence of Al Cohn and Howard McGhee doesn't hurt, either. Auld shows off a bit on a luxuriant "Concerto for Tenor" and steams up the place during "Taps Miller." "I Can't Get Started," bifurcated so as to fit on either side of a 10" record, is essentially Auld's homage to Coleman Hawkins. In February and March of 1945, Auld gathered together an exceptionally hot band for a brief spate of recordings issued on the Guild label. Auld's perceptive personnel choices included Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Butterfield, Freddy Webster, Trummy Young, Al Cohn, Manny Albam, Chubby Jackson, Erroll Garner, and Shadow Wilson! Patti Powers had a pretty little voice while Gordon Drake, whose droopy balladeering bordered on the soporific, served as a sort of laudanum poultice on "I Fall in Love Too Easily." Not surprisingly, the instrumentals ("Georgie Porgie," "In the Middle," and "Co-Pilot") provide more excitement and gratification. arwulf arwulf
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