GERALD WILSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945-1946 | The Chronogical Classics – 976 (1997) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

These are the first recordings to appear under the name of Gerald Wilson. Schooled at Cass Technical College in Detroit and seasoned on the road with Jimmie Lunceford, Wilson started leading his own excellent big band in 1944, employing many of the most promising young musicians in the Los Angeles area at that time. Wilson may be heard blowing his trumpet along with Hobart Dotson, Emmett Berry, Fred Trainor, and Snooky Young. During a lovely version of Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday," trombonist Melba Liston takes her very first solo on record. Saxophone soloists include Eddie Davis (not "Lockjaw"), Floyd Turnham, and beefy-toned tenor Vernon Slater. All nine instrumentals are exceptionally fine big-band swing performances. Note that "Puerto Rican Breakdown" is exciting but contains no discernible Caribbean characteristics. As for vocalists, Wilson made some interesting choices. Pat Kay, who sings "Moonrise," sounded substantial, as did Estelle Edson and Betty Roche. Dick Gray was at his best when he wasn't trying to out-vibrate Billy Eckstine. "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues" contains his strongest moments. The Thrasher Sisters were a better act than a lot of other harmonizing vocal trios on the scene during the 1940s. They were without a doubt considerably hipper -- less corny -- than the Andrews Sisters. Even so, after all of those vocals the last four tracks -- instrumentals -- are especially satisfying. For here listeners get to enjoy the 1946 Gerald Wilson Orchestra at its very finest, swinging hard on themes borrowed from the Basie and Calloway bands, and glowing with the beauty of Melba Liston's original composition "Warm Mood." One cannot help but consider the impact of this band and the L.A. jazz scene of the mid-'40s upon two creative musicians who would so radically alter the course of modern music -- Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy. arwulf arwulf  
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GERALD WILSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946-1954 | The Chronogical Classics – 1444 (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

After leaving Detroit and arriving in Los Angeles, Gerald Wilson formed his first big band in 1944. By 1946 he was firmly established as a fine trumpet player, arranger, and composer, and was developing a style fit not only for modern jazz, but also eventually film scores. The dramatics apropos for both formats is evident on this second installment of Wilson's chronological recordings for the Classics reissue label, culled from recordings originally on the Black & White, United Artists, Excelsior, Federal, King, and Audio Lab labels. There are five different mid-sized orchestras with musicians from L.A., all quite literate and displaying different areas of expertise, and Wilson writes with each player's individual sound in mind. Of course they work as a unified whole, and you get to hear a lot of Wilson's trumpet work. The Black & White sessions from 1946 have the band swinging very hard on the happy bop-bop "Et-ta," while hoppin' and barkin' for "The Saint." The opposite slow side is shown on "Pensive Mood" and the sad, dreary "The Moors." These tracks feature then-young trombonist, composer, and arranger Melba Liston, who of course would go on to great acclaim. Recordings from 1947 for United Artists and Excelsior feature vocalist Dan Grissom and there's a finger-snappin' group vocal with Grissom, Liston, and Trummy Young, "Va-ance," that approaches the territory of the Modernaires. Four more for Excelsior in 1949 reveal Wilson moving into film noir, hinted at by the spy movie piece "Dissonance in Blues" from the 1947 cuts, but more pronounced here. Wilson is assertive on his horn, and ramps up the dramatic tension on the stairstep motif of "The Black Rose" while also offering an expanded version of "Guarachi-Guaro," the second section infusing expansive oboe and flute. Here the outstanding West Coast alto saxophonist Buddy Collette also enters the fray. Jumping up to 1954, Wilson offers up three two-part pieces all prominently showcasing the exotic vibrato flute sound of Bill Green -- the hot and spicy "Mambo Mexicano," dynamic up-and-down desert dune caravan-ish "Algerian Fantasy," and slow-as-sunset "Lotus Land." These are much more provocative, but in addition, the band is loaded with all-stars like trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Britt Woodman, tenor saxophonists Paul Gonsalves and Teddy Edwards, and a very young Jerry Dodgion on alto sax. These cuts use pronounced world music elements in a way that Duke Ellington hinted at, and all are exuberant and levitating. The remaining pieces are the contradictory titled hard bopper "Romance," Khachaturian's famous Spanish classical ballad "Bull Fighter," and a different "Black Rose" (unknown author) than the one written by Wilson heard earlier on the CD. This collection really drives home how this group, unique unto itself, was able to stretch stereotypical big-band jazz and take it into a new arena, fueled by the vast imagination of Gerald Wilson. The only unsolved mystery: unattributed credits about various clearly audible Latin percussionists who are never identified. Michael G. Nastos  
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MAXINE SULLIVAN – 1938-1941 | The Classics Chronological Series – 991 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The second Classics CD in their Maxine Sullivan series has all of the subtle singer's recordings from a 2½-year period. Since "Loch Lomond" had been such a big hit, Sullivan was persuaded to record quite a few Scottish folk songs in a similar light swing style. Included on this CD from that idiom are such numbers as "I Dream of Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair," "Drink to Me With Thine Eyes," "Turtle Dove," "If I Had a Ribbon Bow," "Molly Malone," and "Barbara Allen." Although those performances are enjoyable, the actual high points of this release are such tunes as "It Ain't Necessarily So," "Ill Wind," "The Hour of Parting" and "What a Difference a Day Made." Sullivan, who was in her early prime during this era, is accompanied by five different units, including the John Kirby Sextet, Benny Carter's big band (for two numbers), such players as Bobby Hackett and Bud Freeman, and an octet that includes two clarinets, a bass clarinet, bassoon and Mitch Miller on oboe. Recommended, if not as essential as Sullivan's previous 1937-38 Classics CD. Scott Yanow  
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