TOCJ-66083

 Ike Quebec - From Hackensack to Englewood Cliffs

Released - 26 January 2000

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, July 1, 1959
Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Edwin Swanston, organ; Skeeter Best, guitar; Sonny Wellesley, bass; Les Jenkins, drums.

tk.1 A Light Reprieve
tk.6 Blue Friday
tk.10 Zonky
tk.11 Blue Monday
tk.14 The Buzzard Lope
tk.16 Later For The Rock
tk.22 Sweet And Lovely
tk.23 Dear John

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, July 20, 1959
Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Edwin Swanston, organ; Skeeter Best, guitar; Sonny Wellesley, bass; Les Jenkins, drums.

tk.8 Uptight
tk.12 Cry Me A River
Latin Strain (incomplete)

See Also: Hackensack to Englewood

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Title	Author	Recording Date
A Light Reprieve	Ike Quebec	01 July 1959
Buzzard Lope	Ike Quebec	01 July 1959
Blue Monday	Sharp, Singleton, Fisher	01 July 1959
Zonky	Edwin Swanston	01 July 1959
Later For The Rock	Ike Quebec	01 July 1959
Sweet And Lovely	Arnheim, Tobias, Lemare	01 July 1959
Dear John	Ike Quebec	01 July 1959
Blue Friday	Edwin Swanston	01 July 1959
Cry Me A River	Arthur Hamilton	20 July 1959
Uptight	Ike Quebec	20 July 1959

Liner Notes

THE JULY 1.1959 SESSION

Ike's session mates on this date were some of the best musicians working the Harlem nightclub scene at the time, and one of them, the late Clifford "Skeeter" Best, was a guitarist of the highest caliber, having made many historic sessions, most notably a 1956 date with tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson and bassist Oscar Pettiford (for ABC-Paramount). While the rest of the rhythm section (Sonny Wellesley & Les Jenkins) are not that well known, they certainly acquit themselves well.

A LIGHT REPRIEVE introduces us not only to Ike Quebec, but also to the unique recording skills of Rudy Van Gelder, who has justly received much of the credit for the incredible "Blue Note Sound" which enhances all the music heard here. This is a swinging blues at a perfect tempo for the band to show off their elegant way with the beat. After the melody, Ike plays a short solo to get things moving before turning it over to Best, who makes the most out of the basic changes used on this blues. Notice the way the rhythm section shifts gears when the organ solo (by Edwin Swanston) starts - not only is there a change in texture, due to drummer Les Jenkins' taste in cymbals, but bassist Charles "Sonny" Wellesley plays a new bass line to change the mood a little. These are the kind of subtle variations that only the best musicians of any genre utilize. It happens again when Quebec returns for his second solo with a beautifully realized glissando. The chord instruments, (the organ and guitar) lay out, while the bass and drums 'stroll'; one of Ike's earliest solos, SWEET GEORGIA BROWN done while he was in Roy Eldridge's band in 1943, makes use of this same device. Quebec makes the most of it, and then we are on the way home again.

BUZZARD LOPE is a blues, slower than A LIGHT REPRIEVE, and with it's own character. Ike's solo here demonstates the tremendous control he had on the tenor saxophone, and also his great way with telling a story.' The double-time passages are played masterfully, and a good deal of the horn is used to it's best advantage. Bassist Wellesley must have been a Basie fan, for he uses some of Walter Page's devices here. I cant imagine a better accompaniment to Quebec's second solo than the one given here; it's simplicity gives the rhythm section a solid foundation on which to build.

BLUE MONDAY is a minor ballad - Monday must not have been too good - has anyone ever done this along with GLOOMY SUNDAY? Remember that these sides were being produced for issue on 45 - so they couldn't go much longer than six minutes. There are evocative solos by Swanston on the organ, and Best after which Ike returns. This tune really seems appropriate for the intended market of bars and taverns that had jukeboxes back in the late fifties-early sixties.

ZONKY is not Fats Waller's tune from the late 20's, but organist Edwin Swanston's imaginative blues original with some nice breaks included in it. With a nifty root-dominant bass figure behind him, Quebec conjures up some blues licks dating back at least as far as King Oliver (here SNAG IT) up to the 1950's Basie band (hear EVERY DAY). For anyone who has spent some time in Harlem's organ joints, the organ solo with entirely appropriate and unique rhythm background will bring those nights right back. Ike gets into some real 'talking' during the shout choruses - if this doesn't make you feel like dancing, nothing will.

LATER FOR THE ROCK makes a nice companion to A LIGHT REPRIEVE in that both are medium blues with plenty of free room and time for the musicians to blow in. The influence of Lester Young is heard during Quebec's solo - something not to be heard in his Blue Note sessions from the '40s. He seems to have matured and relaxed in the intervening years, and we'll hear more of this laid back side of Ike's style in the subsequent sessions - especially the one with Sir Charles Thompson (September 25. 1960).

There is no doubt that one of Quebec's strongest points was his unique ballad style. It can be heard on his master-piece, IF I HAD YOU on the aforementioned 1940's Blue Note sessions. This version of SWEET AND LOVELY marks another evolution in his approach to ballads. His tone is smoother at the beginning, more elastic than before, while just as intense. During his last bridge, Ike increases the intensity a bit, and then returns to a more reflective mood for the beautiful coda. It is also worth mentioning once again the tremendous admiration Quebec must have had for Herschel Evans - you can hear a piece of it here.

If you think you've heard DEAR JOHN before, you're quite right. It's a faster and extended version of LATER FOR THE ROCK. It would be instructive to patch together Ike's solos from both versions to get into the mind of a master improvisor. The material itself is not the most challenging harmonically or melodically - its the blues, and the success of the solo is left entirely to the players imagination, swing and feeling. The way that Quebec shuffles these various elements around is truly masterful. The tenor solo following the organ solo is one of the session's highlights. This time it is Ben Webster who is thought of by Ike - and once again, Quebec integrates the allusion masterfully into the story at hand.

The third, fourth and fifth choruses are especially thrilling; this is a realm of music that cannot be notated, taught or replicated by some electronic device. Miles Davis's WALKIN' riff is used effectively for the out choruses.

BLUE FRIDAY is organist Swanston's tune - and the band does as much as they can With it. This features the sound Ike exploited earlier in his career, and in contrast to his more relaxed playing on the session is quite effective.

Michael Cuscuna

CD Session Notes

Ike Quebec returned to Blue Note and his old friend Alfred Lion in 1958 as an A&R man and informal music director for the label. He'd hardly recorded in the fifties (just some singles sessions for Hi-Lo and Seeco in 1952 and '53). Apparently by July I, 1959, he felt ready and cut the session of 8 tunes that begin this CD for intended 45 single releases. "Blue Monday"/"Dear John" (45-1748) and "Blue Friday"/"Buzzard Lope" (45-1749) were issued and met with great response. In 1960, Ike did another singles session and recorded with Jimmy Smith and Sonny Clark. His confidence renewed and his artistic powers better than ever, he recorded prolifically for the label for twelve months beginning in November, 1961 before the cancer in his body made it impossible to play. He died on January 16, 1963.

Fittingly it was Ike's sessions that closed the Hackensack chapter of the Van Gelder Studio and opened the Englewood Cliffs chapter for Blue Note. The two tunes recorded on July 20 were probably more of an experimental session for Lion, Francis Wolff and Ike to get accustomed to Rudy Van Gelder's new studio. The change was considerable. The Hackensack studio centered around the living room of Rudy's parents home. The Englewood Cliffs facility was a spacious studio with walls of custom-made masonry blocks and a high, wooden cathedral ceiling, specifically designed by Van Gelder for recording.

The difference in sound is immediately evident. The new facility sounds cavernous by comparison. The sound on this first Englewood Cliffs session was refined considerably in the months that followed. Unlike the July 1 session, which featured shorter tunes for single release, Ike stretches out on two loosely performed tunes on the July 20 date and stops the session before they can even get a full take on a third tune "Latin Strain".

These two tunes are hardly the greatest Quebec ever committed to tape, but they help paint an aural bridge between the Van Gelder studios. And after all, Ike and Rudy were two of the most important contributors to the legacy of this great label.

Michael Cuscuna 1999