8-23213-2

Lee Morgan - Standards

Released - 1998

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 13, 1967
Lee Morgan, trumpet; James Spaulding, alto sax, flute; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Mickey Roker, drums; Duke Pearson, arranger.

tk.2 Blue Gardenia (alternate take)
1816 tk.6 Blue Gardenia
1817 tk.20 God Bless The Child
1818 tk.24 Somewhere
1819 tk.39 If I Were A Carpenter
1820 tk.41 A Lot Of Livin' To Do
1821 tk.46 This Is The Life

Track Listing

Title	Author	Recording Date
This Is The Life	C. Strouse-L. Adams	January 13 1967
God Bless The Child	A. Herzog Jr.-B. Holiday	January 13 1967
Blue Gardenia	B. Russell-L. Lee	January 13 1967
A Lot Of Livin' To Do	C. Strouse-L. Adams	January 13 1967
Somewhere	L. Bernstein-S. Sondheim	January 13 1967
If I Were A Carpenter	Tim Hardin	January 13 1967
Blue Gardenia (Alternate Take)	B. Russell-L. Lee	January 13 1967

Liner Notes

I GUESS the question most of you have while you are holding this CD in your hand is, what took so long for this album to see the light of day? There are many reasons, but it is mostly because of Blue Note's recording policies in the sixties. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff were very supportive of their artists, and they were well aware of the financial difficulties most jazz musicians face. The more they brought their artists into the studio, the more the artists were paid and were able to keep afloat. Lion and Wolff also recognized when artists were at a creative peak and wisely recorded them as often as possible during that time. Lee was one of Blue Note's most creative and popular artists. As a result, he was in the studio quite often during the period when he recorded this album. He recorded four albums as a leader in 1965, three in 1966, and four (including this one) in 1967. Since Blue Note released about one album a year for each artist, you can see how there would be a bit of a backlog. Fortunately this meant that there were a number of fine albums in the can at the time of Lee's untimely death. Many have been released sporadically over the years, and now / finally, you have this one.

This album was the brainchild of pianist/arranger and Blue Note A&R director Duke Pearson. I guess it was conceived as a way to bring a kinder, gentler Lee Morgan to the masses. The tunes that were picked were mostly popular tunes from the day; either from Broadway hits or pop hits. The tasty, swinging arrangements are by Duke Pearson. They feature a four-horn front line with three saxophonists backing Lee. Pearson Uses his little saxophone section to great effect, creating the perfect atmosphere for Lee's melody statements on each tune. On the ballads, he voices the saxes in lush three-part harmony, creating a broad palette for Lee to play over. On the swing tunes, he has the saxes playing rhythmic figures to set up Lee's entrances, and when Lee states the melody, the saxes effectively fill the holes by answering all of Lee's phrases with tasty fills of their own. The result is a relaxed, swinging session, the saxophone accompaniment never getting in Lee's way or cluttering up the music.

The musicians on this session were all recording regularly for Blue Note at the time of this recording. Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock were both Blue Note recording artists at the time. Wayne would record his classic album Schizophrenia two months later (using many of the same musicians from this session). James Spaulding recorded with the label frequently as a sideman, most prominently with Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. Pepper Adams was the baritone saxophonist of choice on nearly every large ensemble Blue Note recording. Ron Carter was one of Blue Note's house bass players, appearing on well over 30 albums for the label. Mickey Roker was one of Duke Pearson's favorite drummers, appearing on most of Pearson's projects for Blue Note, as well as recording with Stanley Turrentine, Donald Byrd, and Horace Silver for the label. This was his first recording with Lee, but he would soon become the regular drummer in Lee's working band and appeared on Lee's Live at the Lighthouse recording, which captured this exceptional working band at its best.

"This is the Life" is taken from the popular Broadway show Golden Boy. Lee recorded this tune once before, with Art Blakey on his Golden Boy album. The tune is taken here at a bouncy, medium tempo and has a jubilant, swinging quality to it. After a brief bluesy introduction, Lee takes the melody. He is alone at first but is soon joined by the saxes, who respond to each of his phrases with a short phrase of their own. Wayne takes a solo that is somehow both melodic and slightly off-kilter at the same time. Lee follows with a fiery, melodic solo. Both Lee and Wayne refer to the melody quite often during their solos, something that was not prevalent in their solo styles during this period. Perhaps they were being respectful of the commercial aspirations of the date, but what ever the reason, it works to great effect here.

"God Bless the Child" was written and made famous by Billie Holiday. The tune is a perfect vehicle for Lee' expressive, bluesy style. Taken here at a slow ballad tempo, the saxes are used to basically add color, holding long tones underneath Lee's melody statement. Herbie solos first and shows why he is so perfect for this album. Besides being a brilliant accompanist, he is a master at creating a certain mood for his solos with his beautiful chord voicings and use of space. This is enhanced by Ron Carter's accompaniment. Ron and Herbie had been playing with Miles Davis for three years at the time of this recording, and the telepathy between them is clearly evident. Lee follows with a beautiful solo, once again showing off what a great ballad player he was.

"Blue Gardenia" was made famous by Nat King Cole and was also performed often by Dinah Washington. It is taken here at a medium tempo with the saxes supporting Lee with a full, lush harmony that gives the tune an almost romantic quality, like an old movie score, except this version really swings. Lee's solo again shows off his melodic side, but still retains the brash, fiery style he's known for. Wayne follows, and again sticks close to the melody in his lyrical solo. At this period in his career, Wayne's playing was at a particularly adventurous stage, yet here he is able for the most part to put that aside and play beautiful/ melodic solos, a testament to what a complete musician he is.

"A Lot of Livin' to Do" is from the Broadway hit Bye Bye Birdie. The introduction used here by Pearson is very similar to one he used on his arrangement of a Hank Mobley tune called "A Slice of the Top," from the album of the same name. The intro has the horns playing a rhythmic vamp figure with the rhythm section that continues after Lee begins the melody. The A sections are divided between the vamp figure and the swing sections, and the bridge swings throughout. The contrast between the two sections is used to great effect here; the vamp section builds in intensity that is released in the swing section. This is the only up-tempo tune on the album, and it spurs the soloists into some of their most adventurous playing. Wayne's solo is still quite melodic in spots, but there is also a frequent use of altered pentatonic lines throughout. Lee starts slowly, choosing to build his solo, instead of coming in blazing, but soon enough he is swaggering through his solo with the cocky exuberance he's known for.

"Somewhere" is from Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story. The tune is a waltz, taken here at a fairly slow tempo. Lee starts the melody alone with the rhythm section playing sparsely behind him. The horns enter in the second A section and play a countermelody led by Spaulding on flute. Wayne takes the melody on the last A section. Lee again starts with his solo slowly, tossing out a few short melodic phrases that soon turn into longer phrases that begin to build in intensity as the solo progresses. The rhythm section is right with him here. They too start sparsely and build with Lee. The time feel remains loose throughout Lee's solo, and they don't play strictly in time until Wayne enters with his solo. Wayne's solo here is brief and once again he sticks close to the melody. But here he is more playful, first toying with a few key notes of the melody and then creating arpeggiated runs off the melody.

Because of the huge success of The Sidewinder, Lee was obligated to include a funky tune on all his subsequent albums. This album was no exception. "If I Were a Carpenter," composed by Tim Hardin but made famous by Bobby Darin, was a big hit at the time of this recording. Here it gets the obligatory funk treatment the baritone sax doubling the bass line in key spots for emphasis. The key to the tune's success, however, is Herbie Hancock's funky piano fills. Lee is no stranger to this type of groove, and contributes a soulful, funky solo.

As a bonus, we'•ve added an alternate take of "Blue Gardenia." This is an earlier take than the master take, and its strong performances warrant its inclusion here.

What a treat it is to have, 25 years after his death, a new Lee Morgan album and to be reminded what an important voice he was in this music. It's also a reminder of what a vital, creative period this music was recorded in. This album holds up with any jazz album being released today, a fairly easy task considering most of today's young jazz stars are in retro mode. Lee Morgan came up emulating Clifford Brown, but grew into one of the finest, most influential jazz trumpet players ever. There are many young trumpet players out there now emulating Lee Morgan. Will we be celebrating the discovery of an unreleased session by one of these musicians 30 years from now? For the sake of the music, I hope so.

—DAVID WEISS