BLP 5024

Howard McGhee - Volume 2

Released - 1953

Recording and Session Information

WOR Studios, NYC, May 20, 1953
Howard McGhee, trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto sax, flute #1-5; Horace Silver, piano; Tal Farlow, guitar; Percy Heath, bass; Walter Bolden, drums.

BN483-2 tk.3 Shabozz
BN484-2 tk.6 Tranquillity
BN485-1 tk.8 Futurity
BN486-1 tk.10 Jarm
BN487-1 tk.12 Ittapanna
BN488-2 tk.15 Goodbye

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Jarm	Howard McGhee	May 20 1953
Goodbye	Gordon Jenkins	May 20 1953
Futurity	Gigi Gryce	May 20 1953
Side Two
Shabozz	Gigi Gryce	May 20 1953
Tranquillity	Howard McGhee	May 20 1953
Ittapnna	Bolden	May 20 1953

Liner Notes

...

1998 CD Reissue Liner Notes

BETWEEN HOWARD McGHEE'S 1950 Blue Note sextet session and the 1953 affair enclosed here, he made no commercial recordings as a leader. But recordings from Seoul and Guam surfaced from the Oscar Pettiford band with McGhee and J. J. Johnson that toured Korea, Japan and various Pacific Islands in the winter of 1951-52 for the armed forces. At any rate, this date, McGhee's last for the label, is one of the standout recordings of his career, thanks in part to his impeccable taste in sidemen.

Gigi Gryce was an up-and-coming alto saxophonist, flutist and composer who grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. When Stan Getz plucked Horace Silver and Walter Bolden out of Hartford in 1951 to join him in New York, the tenor saxophonist took a handful of great Gryce compositions as well including "Mosquito Knees." Gryce would soon lend his considerable talents to Blue Note dates by trumpeters Clifford Brown, Thad Jones and Lee Morgan. He later co-led The Jazz Lab with Donald Byrd and had a quintet with Richard Williams before retiring to teaching in 1961. His compositions include "Hymn To The Orient, "Nica's Tempo" and "Social Call."

A guitarist of astonishing depth and facility, Tal Farlow had already made his name with Buddy DeFranco, Red Norvo and Artie Shaw before this session. He made his debut as a leader on Blue Note with the music that completes this CD. Throughout, he is playing brilliantly, but it was the 1956 trio he led with Eddie Costa and Vinne Burke that truly achieved greatness.

Horace Silver had already made his first Blue Note session by the time of this McGhee date and went on to change the face of modern jazz and the fortunes of Blue Note Records. The rich, earthy bass of Percy Heath was a familiar sound on many Blue Note sessions at the time. A year later, he would become part of the officially formed Modern Jazz Quartet.

Walter Bolden, who composed "Ittapnna" for the date, was a busy freelance drummer in New York for years working with Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn & Zoot Sims and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross among others. In 1978, he made an excellent album of his own for Nemperor with George Coleman and Harold Mabern among the cast.

MICHAEL CUSCUNA
1998

BLP 5012

Howard McGhee's All Stars

Released - 1952

Recording and Session Information

Apex Studios, NYC, October 11, 1948
Howard McGhee, Fats Navarro, trumpet; Ernie Henry, alto sax; Milton Jackson, vibes, piano; Curley Russell, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.

BN337-1 Boperation
BN336-3 The Skunk

WOR Studios, NYC, January 23, 1950
Howard McGhee, trumpet; Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Brew Moore, tenor sax; Kenny Drew, piano; Curley Russell, bass; Max Roach, drums.

BN370-2 Lo-Flame
BN371-1 Fuguetta
BN372-0 Fluid Drive
BN373-0 Meciendo
BN374-0 Donnellon Square
BN375-1 I'll Remember April

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Meciendo	Howard McGhee	January 23 1950
Lo-Flame	Kenny Drew	January 23 1950
Fluid Drive	Kenny Drew	January 23 1950
Boperation	Fats Navarro	October 11 1948
Side Two
I'll Remember April	DePaul-Reye	January 23 1950
Fuguetta	Kenny Drew	January 23 1950
Donnellon Square	Kenny Drew	January 23 1950
The Skunk	McGhee-Navarro	October 11 1948

Liner Notes

...

1998 Connoisseur Reissue Liner Notes

HOWARD McGHEE'S first professional associations (Lionel Hampton, Andy Kirk, Charlie Barnet and Count Basie) predate the rise of bebop. In fact, it was Louis Armstrong's playing that inspired him to switch from clarinet to trumpet in high school. But by the time he moved to California with Coleman Hawkins in 1944 (and made those great Hawkins Capitol sessions), the new music was his language. In Los Angeles, he led his own combo, the high point of which was the addition of Charlie Parker in early 1947 for a stint at the Hi-De-Ho and several Dial recording sessions. Later that year, McGhee co-led a wonderful Clef session with Flip Phillips and joined the ever-touring Jazz At The Philharmonic.

By 1948, McGhee was famous enough to cut sides in Chicago for Savoy, in Paris for Vogue and co-lead a Blue Note date with Fats Navarro in New York. His next session as a leader included the six tunes (and now one alternate take) that comprise the beginning of this CD. J.J. Johnson, the under-recorded Brew Moore, Curly Russell and Max Roach were all young but established artists on the bebop scene. The odd man out was 21-year-old Kenny Drew, who was not only making his recording debut in such heavy company, but also wrote two thirds of the repertoire!

Drew would gig with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker before making an impression on the jazz world in the Buddy DeFranco Quartet that also included Art Blakey. His debut as a leader is this 1953 trio date with bandmate and Blue Note regular Blakey on drums. Ironically, the young composer puts the emphasis on standards rather than originals. The alternate takes of "Yesterdays" and "Everything Happens To Me" were selected for a 78 rpm single that was never issued.

—MICHAEL CUSCUNA 1998