A Decade Of Jazz - Volume Two - 1949-1959
Released - 1973
Recording and Session Information
WOR Studios, NYC, May 1, 1951
Bud Powell, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Max Roach, drums.
BN384-0 A Night In Tunisia
WOR Studios, NYC, July 23, 1951
Sahib Shihab, alto sax; Milt Jackson, vibes; Thelonious Monk, piano; Al McKibbon, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
BN393-0 Criss-Cross
WOR Studios, NYC, April 7, 1952
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Milt Jackson, vibes; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
BN424-2 tk.8 Bags' Groove
WOR Studios, NYC, June 22, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Jimmy Heath, tenor, baritone sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
BN508-0 tk.14 Get Happy
Audio-Video Studios, NYC, August 28, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto sax, flute; Charlie Rouse, tenor sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
BN527-1 tk.21 Cherokee
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 6, 1954
Miles Davis, trumpet; Horace Silver, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
BN553-1 tk.12 It Never Entered My Mind
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, November 10, 1956
Donald Byrd, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Louis Hayes, drums.
tk.12 Senor Blues
Manhattan Towers, NYC, February 12, 1957
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Art Blakey, drums.
tk.10 Yardbird Suite
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 1, 1957
Donald Byrd, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; John Coltrane, tenor sax; Sonny Clark, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Taylor, drums.
tk.7/6 Speak Low
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 15, 1957
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; John Coltrane, tenor sax; Kenny Drew, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums.
tk.6 Moment's Notice
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 22, 1957
Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Wynton Kelly, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.
tk.5 Tune Up
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, July 28, 1958
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Herman Foster, piano; Peck Morrison, bass; Dave Bailey, drums; Ray Barretto, congas.
tk.15 Blues Walk
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, October 30, 1958
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Benny Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
tk.4 Moanin'
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Artist | Title | Recording Date |
| Bud Powell | A Night In Tunisia | May 1 1951 |
| Thelonious Monk | Criss Cross | July 23 1951 |
| Milt Jackson | Bags' Groove | April 7 1952 |
| Jay Jay Johnson | Get Happy | June 22 1953 |
| Clifford Brown | Cherokee | August 28 1953 |
| Side Two | ||
| Miles Davis Quintet | It Never Entered My mind | March 6 1954 |
| Horace Silver Quintet | Senor Blues | November 10 1956 |
| Jimmy Smith | Yardbird Suite | February 12 1957 |
| Side Three | ||
| Sonny Clark | Speak Low | September 1 1957 |
| John Coltrane | Blue Train | September 15 1957 |
| Side Four | ||
| Sonny Rollins Quartet | Tune Up | September 22 1957 |
| Art Blakey | Moanin' | October 30 1958 |
| Lou Donaldson | Blues Walk | July 28 1958 |
Liner Notes
By the end of the 1940's some writers, influenced by the fact that Dizzy Gillespie had broken up his big band, committed to print the idea that "Bop has come to the end of it's road." In reality the music founded by Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk in the early 1940's had just passed through a classic period, consolidated its main body of style and idea and was ready to proliferate. From the chamber jazz of the Modern Jazz Quartet to the "funk" of Horace Silver and Art Blakey this music was heard in many jazz forms, even reaching the Hollywood studios and the jingle mills of television and radio. Along with the original ground-breakers like Monk and Bud Powell, who continued to play important music, came second-generation giants such as Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. Men like Miles Davis, Milt Jackson and J.J. Johnson, star sidemen in the 1940's, began to develop their full potential and win wide acclaim. Indeed, it was in the 1950's that Monk won recognition beyond the musicians' inner circle.
If volume one of Blue Note's 30th anniversary commemorative series finds the company entering a modern phase by the last four tracks of a 21-gun salute to the 1940's, volume two reveals a continuation of a policy that sought out the new musicians, finding the significant with a high degree of incidence. Horace Silver, Clifford Brown and Jimmy Smith all made their debuts as leaders in this manner, as did Lou Donaldson, like Silver, still a Blue Note artist in the 1960's.
The 1950's was a rich and variegated decade for jazz. In this two-record set, one can trace it chronologically and stylistically as musicians move from sidemen to leader status. Milt Jackson appears with Thelonious Monk on Criss Cross, and the, backed by his confreres in what became the Modern Jazz Quartet - John Lewis, Percy Heath and John Lewis - is heard in his classic blues, Bags' Groove. Lou Donaldson makes it a quintet, later blows on Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite with the boss of the Hammond organ, Jimmy Smith, and finally heads up his own quintet. The Lewis-Heath-Clarke triumvirate supplies the rhythm for J.J. Johnson's sextet of which Clifford Brown is a member, followed by Brownie with his own sextet. Horace Silver is on Miles Davis' track before he is revealed with his group, and John Coltrane blows with Sonny Clark before he rides on Blue Train. Art Blakey turns on the power for Monk, Brown and Smith as well as his own Messengers. There is an interaction from group to group that demonstrates how modern jazz was developing in New York during the 1950's. evolving through many similar but different combos.
In addition to the leaders there are the star sidemen like Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Sahib Shihab, Gig Gryce, Charlie Rouse, Jimmy Heath, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Drew, Wynton Kelly, Bobby Timmons, Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones, most of whom went on to lead groups at one time or another in the 1960's.
The history is all here as Blue Note recorded it. As presented in this set it is history that lives as it continues to instruct and entertain us.
-IRA GITLER
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