JAMES MOODY – 1949-1950 | The Chronogical Classics – 1169 (2001) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Whether you think you're already hip to James Moody, or if you aren't hip to him at all, be sure and check this stuff out! It's rare, it's beautiful and the solos are extraordinary. What you have here is essentially Moody's European tour journal. This phonographic diary takes us through Stockholm towards the end of 1949 and then to Paris in February and April of 1950. Moody is hanging with the French and the Swedes. They have been carefully studying the twists and turns of American bop. The arrangements are intricate and very contemporary. Don't worry about the goofy titles. "Three Bop Mice" and "Flight of the Bopple Bee" are actually fine pieces of work, hot and busy, composed and executed by this formidable sax and flute man from Georgia who got his start working with Dizzy Gillespie. Much of what we know about Moody comes from a stream of American records issued and reissued over a span of more than 50 years. His early European recordings are of inestimable value in their own light and as context for the rest of his work. "Three Bop Mice" seems to refer to the front line of three wicked tenor saxophones. Good thing this jam runs for nearly six minutes! It gives the guys kicking room. When Moody approaches a ballad, the results are often stunning. "Laura" is exquisite and "Body and Soul" pulsates with Moody's personal blend of languid urgency. "I'm in the Mood for Love" is the divine original take of a set of variations that would help to spawn the entire vocalese tradition, bearing forever the altered title "Moody's Mood for Love." Some will involuntarily detect echo-premonitions of Eddie Jefferson as the improvisations effortlessly unwind. Who would have guessed that the lovely upper register chorus, which Eddie would always sing in a disarming falsetto, was originally devised by the Swedish pianist Thore Swanerud? "Lester Leaps In" turns out to be the blueprint for Jefferson's wonderful vocalese outing "I Got The Blues." He obviously owned each of these Swedish records and learned them by heart. A pity he didn't get a chance to devise note-for-note lyrics to Moody's improvisations on "Indiana" "Dexterious" and "Good Bait," as these too are brilliant. The next jaw-dropper is "Blue and Moody," which proves to be the record that Eddie Jefferson turned into "Birdland Story," that exciting number heard on the 1956 Flute 'N the Blues album. This one CD holds the key to so many of James Moody's greatest records. Two 1950 Parisian sessions led by pianist Jack Dieval explore unusual harmonic realms, presenting ideas and tonalities that would take root over the next ten years. This is progressive music, unusually advanced for its day. Annie Ross sings in her most bizarre, pleasantly disorienting manner during "Le Vent Vert." Next, the Ernie Royal All-Stars punch out a five-minute "Period Suite." Russell Procope blossoms during a six-and-a-half-minute excursion through "Perdido," neatly bisected during Pierre Michelot's bass solo. Everybody ought to own a copy of this glorious disc. It is a glowing emerald deeply set in the precious lapidary of James Moody's music, surely some of the greatest music the world will ever hear. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

JAMES MOODY – 1950-1951 | The Chronogical Classics – 1263 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

April in Paris, 1950. James Moody is making records with a band led by trumpeter Ernie Royal. While two originals by Royal are based on textbook bop themes, Moody's own "Date With Kate" shows greater depth of invention. "Mean to Me" prances at a healthy clip and "Embraceable You" is presented as a slow-dance delicacy. Jumping to July of 1950, Moody leads his own "Boptet" through four remarkable exercises in modernity. Marshall "Red" Allen, who subsequently worked for decades with Sun Ra, is heard in Moody's band playing alto saxophone. These must be Allen's earliest appearances on record. "Delooney" surges ahead with peculiar chords that do in fact slightly resemble what Ra's Arkestra would be playing by 1957. "Real Cool" features the celeste and piano of Raymond Fol and some lovely bass work by Buddy Banks. "In the Anna" is a slow and harmonically altered stroll through "Back Home Again in Indiana." Moody sings a chorus of rapid-fire bop scat on "Voila." After he blows his horn for a bit, several voices sing a background chorus, which continues during a fadeout, that new effect just beginning to occur on records in 1950. Moody's last Parisian session focuses tightly upon his tenor sax backed by apparent Bud Powell devotee Raphael "Raph" Schecroun, Pierre Michelot, and the amazing Kenny "Klook" Clarke, whose solo on "Riffin' and Raphin'" is a pleasure. Hot tracks invigorate, and ballads bring on the coolest of reveries. Moody's fluidic improvisations are always full of pleasant surprises. "St. Louis Blues" gets a modern, sophisticated treatment, slipping with progressive ease into the traditional tango chorus. There are no less than three distinct renditions of "Embraceable You" on this CD. Maybe we're inside a movie and this is the recurring theme song, always returning to assist in the story line's continuity: five months in the life of James Moody. The home stretch takes listeners back to Stockholm. Backed by seven Scandinavians and bolstered by cushy arrangements, Moody delivered six gorgeous performances for the Prestige label. His balladeering is always astonishing. "How Deep Is the Ocean" has the power to reassure. So does "I'll Get By." Each of these little three-minute records should be cherished like a vision of a better world. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :