GXF-3064

Curtis Fuller - Two Bones

Released - 1980

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, January 22, 1958
Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton, trombone; Sonny Clark, piano; George Tucker, bass; Charlie Persip, drums.

tk.2 Pajama Tops
tk.3 Slide's Ride
tk.6 Loquacious Lady
tk.10 Mean Jean
tk.14 Fuss Budget
tk.15 Oatmeal Cookie
tk.17 Da-Baby

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Fuss Budget	C. Fuller	January 22 1958
Oatmeal Cookie	C. Fuller	January 22 1958
Da-Baby	C. Fuller	January 22 1958
Side Two
Pajama Tops	C. Fuller	January 22 1958
Slide's Ride	S. Hampton	January 22 1958
Loquacious Lady	C. Fuller	January 22 1958
Mean Jean	C. Fuller	January 22 1958

Liner Notes

Buried treasure is what I call it, this newly found record date from the Blue Note vaults, unearthed by Michael Cuscuna. The end of the '70s has seen Cuscuna bring to light sessions from the golden age of that revered label when Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff were recording a lot more material than any of us realized.

Having worked, as a free-lance writer, with those two iazzloving émigrés from Berlin, I was aware of some specific studio sessions that were never released but even I didn't realize how deep the Blue Note reservoir was.

Why Lion didn't see fit to issue certain dates remains a mystery. Obviously, some didn't come up to his exacting standards, but when one hears the excellent results of Two Bones one's wonderment seeks different avenues of conjecture. Did Alfred feel it was too close to J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding as a sound? Jay and Kai had disbanded in 1956, and they only got together in 1958 for a tour of Great Britain. Whatever the reason, more than twenty years after it was taped we finally have Two Bones.

There is no doubt of the giant influence of J.J. Johnson on the trombonists who followed in the wake of his slide from those first revelatory Savoy recordings of 1946. Two of the men who were inspired by Jay were Curtis Fuller and Slide Hampton with the former really into Johnsonian doctrines when he came to New York from Detroit in 1957. Fuller not only espoused Jay's style but his sound as well.

While listening to a cassette of this date with Hampton, Slide remarked that Curtis had built a solid foundation by emulating Johnson. "It's good advice for young trombonists," he said, turning to the members of his World of Trombones ensemble who were listening along with us. "If you really follow the right people, you'll grow much faster."

"The thing that's really important," Slide continued, "Is that twenty years ago Curtis' concept was already so mature — his compositions and everything. His writing and playing are exceptional."

Hampton was as quick to put down his playing from that faraway day as he was to praise Fuller but, in reality, how could he be blowing badly when what he plays dovetails beautifully with Curtis' solo efforts and their ensembles blend so well. Although the left-handed Slide is also out of Johnson and was raised in Jay's hometown of Indianapolis, his stylistic link is not as directly connected as Fuller's. "I was into many areas at the time," he explains.

Writing and arranging were uppermost among Slide's priorities in those days. When this recording was made, he was establishing his reputation as a member of the Maynard Ferguson band with such charts as The Fugue and Frame For The Blues. The following year he was to form the first of his dynamite octets. At times his prowess as an arranger has tended to overshadow his abilities as a trombone soloist.

Curtis Fuller, before 1957 was over, had not only done two dates for Prestige (one of them did not come out until many years later on New Jazz) but did two albums as a leader for Blue Note and one each, as a sideman, with Bud Powell and John Coltrane. He has also worked briefly with Miles Davis.

So on January 22, 1958, the just-turned-23 Fuller and the 25-year-old Hampton met in the famed Hackensack, New Jersey studio of Rudy Van Gelder, along with a sterling rhythm section manned by pianist Sonny Clark, bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood. Of the three, only the steady Harewood is still living and he hasn't been too visible in the late 70s.

The brilliant Sonny Clark, after a troubled career, died in 1963 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 31. He had a lot more piano to play. George Tucker, who seemed to insure the success of any record date to which he lent his talent and spirit, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 37.

Although Hampton is the better-known composer, since this was Fuller's date Curtis has the lion's share of the compositions and they are very attractive.

Fuss Budget starts things off in a minor groove with call and response between the bones. Slide solos first for two choruses followed by Curtis for two. After Sonny's outing of a like length, Slide and Curtis return for a chorus apiece. Slide, with his brasher approach, kind of plays Kai to Curtis' Jay.

A sweet waltz is Oatmeal Cookie. The bonemen have a chorus each with Curtis leading off this time around. Clark and Tucker also use the loping meter to advantage in solo.

Da-Baby is da blues, down and funky as inaugurated by Tucker. Curtis has the first four, marching along in a manner not unlike the famed Miles Davis Walkin' of 1954. Sonny then articulates the blues in a most clarifying way, opening a path for Slide who gets pretty essential. Tucker talks through his strings prior to the return of the horns.

Side two begins with Pajama Tops, a boppishly pretty theme that features Slide first for a chorus, followed by Curtis for one and Sonny, who stretches out for two, showing some of his Hamp Hawes roots before ending with a semiquotation from Bud Powell. George again plucks one prior to the out chorus.

Slide's Ride, Hampton's only written contribution to the date, is our old friend, the I Got Rhythm changes. It's an up tempo outing with the composer leading off and Curtis following Sonny. Harewood get his licks in among the riffing bones in the final chorus as they go rousingly out.

Fuller's Loquacious Lady is eloquent in her loquacity which may be a contradictions in terms but if the woman Curtis is describing had a tendency toward garrulity, certainly the stately melody and warm solos do not. Slide and Curtis have four bar solos in that order before Sonny's bit. Then they reverse order in their final solo stints.

Mean Jean is a Bags' Groove type of number. Curtis opens for 16 bars and then Slide has 16, ending with a Savoy Sultan quote. Sonny and George add their comments. Then the bones return for 16's and 4's with Slide leading off this time. Harewood has the last half before the bones have the last laugh.

Here are two of the important trombone voices in jazz demonstrating that even 20 years ago they were formidable forces. Like I said, buried treaure. It's nice to have it gleaming in the light of day.

— IRA GITLER

75th Anniversary CD Reissue Notes

Curtis Fuller once told me that 1957 was one of the luckiest years of his life. He came to New York City, made three albums for Prestige and three for Blue Note ("The Opener," "Bone And Bari" and "Curtis Fuller-Art Farmer"). But he said that what made it so special was that Alfred Lion hired him to be the only trombonist who recorded with Bud Powell, Jimmy Smith and John Coltrane.

Of course, Fuller would go on to co-found the Jazztet with Benny Golson and become an important member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers among other achievements. In 1958 he did make a fourth Blue Note album as a leader, but it sat in the vaults for decades. Like his first three albums, it featured a different instrumentation in the front line. This time it was two trombones and the other trombonist was the amazing Slide Hampton, a trombone virtuoso who would soon make his name as an arranger with Maynard Ferguson's orchestra and his own octet.

With a first-class rhythm section (Sonny Clark, George Tucker and Charlie Persip), these two soloists would collaborate on six Fuller originals and one Hampton tune. A rare meeting of two great masters of the trombone.

Michael Cuscuna