Frank Foster - New Faces - New Sounds
Released - 1954
Recording and Session Information
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, May 5, 1954
Benny Powell, trombone; Frank Foster, tenor sax; Gildo Mahones, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
BN560-2 tk.7 Little Red
BN561-4 tk.8 Gracias
BN562-0 tk.9 How I Spent The Night
BN563-1 tk.12 Blues For Benny
BN564-0 tk.13 The Heat's On
BN565-0 tk.14 Out Of Nowhere
Session Photos
 |
| Bennie Powell, Frank Foster |
Photos: Francis Wolff
Track Listing
| Side One | ||
| Title | Author | Recording Date |
| Little Red | Frank Foster | May 5 1954 |
| How I Spent The Night | Frank Foster | May 5 1954 |
| Blues For Benny | Frank Foster | May 5 1954 |
| Side Two | ||
| Out Of Nowhere | Green-Heyman | May 5 1954 |
| Gracias | Frank Foster | May 5 1954 |
| The Heat's On | Frank Foster | May 5 1954 |
Liner Notes
THE big parade of new faces taking their place in the Blue Note gallery of distinguished jazz personalities earns two important new recruits with the release of this LP. Both of them have come to the forefront during the past year by virtue of their work with that perennial star incubator, the Count Basie orchestra.
Frank Benjamin Foster, presented here for the first time as leader of his own recording group, is a product of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was born Sept. 23, 1928. After playing saxophone and clarinet at high school and at Wilberforce University, he moved to Detroit in 1949, worked for a while with another great tenor man and Basie alumnus, Wardell Gray. Frank was withdrawn from musical circulation in 1951, when the Army took him for a trip. He was not deposited back into the stockpile of civilian star material until May 1953. Shortly after that, he was recommended for a job with Count Basie. Since the recommendations came from such distinguished people as Ernie Wilkins, alto man and arranger with the Count, and Billy Eckstine, a former bandleader and astute judge of talent, the Count was duly impressed. Frank joined the band in July 1953. Since then he has toured both the United States and the European continent. Basie fans who have been led to expect the best from Count — especially in a tenor sax chair previously occupied by Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Don Byas et al — were convinced, upon hearing Frank Foster, that the great tradition was being carried on.
Frank's tenor sound represents a healthy compromise between the heavy, lush tone of such early stars as Coleman Hawkins or Ben Webster, and the smaller, cool edges of the tone initiated by Lester Young and carried further by the Stan Getz school. He leans a little in favor of the former group; in style and phrasing, too, he is emphatically of the extrovert school, speaking out in bold, mature lines while managing never to descend into the banalities of stomping-and-honking. A grace note here, an appogiatura there, attest to the fact that his solos in this set could not have been recorded before the new jazz generation arose, for he has absorbed the basic qualities of the veteran tenor men while adding more youthful ingredients of technical skill.
The second new sound between these covers belongs to an even younger rising star. When such trombone immortals as Jack Teagarden and Benny Morton were already established favorites in person and on records, Benjamin Cordon Powell was busy being born. The exact date was March 1, 1930, and the place another world-famed cradle of jazz, New Orleans. After playing drums in grammar school at the age of eight, Bennie got his first trombone in 1942 and made his professional debut on New Year's Day of 1944. He later attended Alabama State College and toured with the King Kolax orchestra in Texas and Ernie Fields' band around Oklahoma.
Most of Bennie's important name band experience was gleaned with Lionel Hampton, whom he joined in 1948 for a 3% year hitch. After living briefly in Ottawa, he reentered the scene, as a Basie-ite, in October 1951.
Bennie, like Frank Foster, is clearly a product of the newer developments in jazz improvisation. His briskly phrased yet smoothly flowing solos are at times reminiscent Of J. J. Johnson, occasionally of Frank Rosolino and of Benny Green. Not surprisingly, Bennie names these three as his preferred musicians on the horn, while selecting Vic Dickenson and Trummy Young as his favorites among the older stylists.
Supporting the two horns in this set are a powerful rhythm team. Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke need no introduction to Blue Note collectors, while Gil Mahones is familiar to those who have followed his work as a permanent sideman with Lester Young.
Five of the six numbers presented here are Frank Foster originals. Little Red is a swinging theme with an attractive kickoff phrase, featuring Foster, Powell, Mahones and Clarke in solo roles. How I Spent The Night offers a tasteful sample of Frank's work as writer and exponent in the slower, melodic vein. Blues for Benny jumps consistently, with Klook's drumming a compelling, cogent factor.
The second side opens with Powell's muted melodic treatment of Out Of Nowhere, sole standard tune in the set, while Frank weaves both harmony and countermelody around him. Gracias (thanks) introduces an attractive rumba theme in which all three members of the rhythm section play an intriguing part. Finally The Heat's On, a middle-tempo blues in C, offers a first theme leaning heavily on G Flat, whereafter Bennie chimes in with a secondary theme, played against Frank's original motif, in the second chorus.
As a footnote to this delightful set of performances we may add that no small part of the success of this LP can be credited to the instrumentation. As so many musicians have observed, no finer blend of sound can be found for a swinging quintet than tenor sax, trombone and rhythm, in the right hands. And we're sure you'll agree that the hands were never more confidently capable than in the Frank Foster Quintet.
—LEONARD FEATHER
(Down Beat Magazine)
Cover Design by JOHN HERMANSADER
Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF
Technical Data: The Wide Range recording characteristic includes frequencies from 20 to 18.000 cycles. Multiple microphone technique was employed, utilizing Telefunken microphones and Ampex Series 300 tape recorders. Mastering equipment included Fairchild variable pitch lathe, Grampian cutter and Thermo-Stylus.
