COLEMAN HAWKINS - 1953-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1416 (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Following someone's career session by session reveals the best and the very worst in performance, repertoire, production, and general working conditions. The segment of Coleman Hawkins' time line beginning with the material he waxed for Al Benson's Parrot record label in Chicago during August of 1953 and ending halfway through his superb Jazztone All Stars date on November 8, 1954, is a case in point. At the end of the summer of 1953, Hawkins was working a steady gig at Chicago's Toast of the Town club. Accepting Benson's invitation to make records, Hawkins waded through a dozen titles, four of which would be released as 78 and/or 45-rpm singles, with "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" mistakenly entitled "I'll Follow My Sacred Heart." The remaining eight tracks from this date were eventually bought up by Savoy and issued on LP. Coleman Hawkins was a brilliant improviser, an archetype, and a gentleman. Surrounded by modestly able, well-intentioned players, he swung dutifully through this session, sounding as strong and sure as ever in less than optimum circumstances. Les Strand's boppish organ noodling casts a peculiar pallor over the proceedings, soon to be exacerbated by a weird vocal choir and an unidentified pianist who attempts to coax music out of a preposterous upright piano that sounds as though it had been dragged out of a broom closet at the last minute. The general effect might be compared with the kind of a malaise that could be brought on by cheap rye whiskey cut with lukewarm tap water. Following on the heels of this mess, the six tracks that close this portion of the Classics Coleman Hawkins chronology have the texture and flavor of gourmet cuisine and rare port wine. Flanked by trumpeter Emmett Berry and trombonist Eddie Bert and backed by Billy Taylor, Milt Hinton, and Jo Jones, Hawkins was able to relax and blow some honest jazz with his dignity intact. These recordings -- expanded to durations in excess of five and six minutes on the new LP format -- are especially valuable for the presence of Emmett Berry, a warm and gifted balladeer, as he demonstrates beautifully during nearly seven minutes devoted to "Out of Nowhere." arwulf arwulf    Tracklist + Credits :

JOHNNY GRIFFIN - J.G (1956-2004) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

As a CD reissue, it's a crime that this very first outing by Johnny Griffin as a leader is only available from Japan in an irritating paper sleeve that comes apart down the center. OK, enough bitching. Here's the skinny: Griffin's first date featured the saxophonist in the company of Junior Mance on piano, bassist Wilbur Ware, and session drummer Buddy Smith. The program features eight tunes that were fairly standard fare for jazzmen in 1956, such as "These Foolish Things," Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays," and the Youmans-Greene nugget "The Boy Next Door." These are played with the requisite verve and mastery of harmony, rhythm, and melodic changes, but they don't really stand out. What does stand out in this program are Griffin's originals, such as "Satin Wrap," which has since been covered by any tenor player worth his mouthpiece. It's a funky blues number that does not fall headlong into the hard bop swinging that would be so pervasive in the tenorist's style. Instead there are more formalist notions that suggest Paul Gonsalves and Coleman Hawkins. In addition, the album-closer, "Lollypop," comes out swinging hard with an R&B hook that digs in. Mance propels Griffin with fat, greasy chords that suggest a Chicago bar-walking honk frenzy, but Griffin's own playing is too sophisticated and glides like Lester Young around the changes. Also notable here is Ware's beautiful bop run "Riff Raff." The bassist knew not only how to write for but arrange for horns. Mance and Griffin are in it knee-deep, note for note, with Mance adding beefy left-hand clusters to the melody as Ware and Smith play it straight time until the solo, when the middle breaks up and everybody goes in a different direction. It's got the hard bop blues at its root. This recording is brief, as it originally came out on a 10" LP, but is nonetheless a necessary addition to any shelf that pays Johnny Griffin homage.
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Tracklist :
 1     I Cried for You 3'37
Gus Arnheim / Arthur Freed / Abe Lyman
2     Satin Wrap 3'05
Johnny Griffin
3     Yesterdays 2'31
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
4     Riff-Raff 3'10
Wilbur Ware
5     Bee-Ees 3'52
Johnny Griffin
6     The Boy Next Door 3'18
Otto Harbach / Vincent Youmans
7     These Foolish Things 3'36
Harry Link / Jack Strachey
8     Lollypop 3'03
Johnny Griffin
Credits :
Bass – Wilbur Ware
Drums – Buddy Smith
Piano – Junior Mance
Tenor Saxophone – Johnny Griffin