Records ore reviewed by Chris Albertson, Mike Bourne, Don DeMicheol , Alon Heineman, Wayne Jones, Lorry Kort, John Litweiler, John McDonough, Don Morgenstern, Don Nelsen, Harvey Pekar, Doug Ramsey, Harvey Siders, Carol Sloane, and Jim Szontor. Reviews ore signed by the writers. recurRatings ore: * * * * * excellent, * * * * very good, * * * good, * * fair, * poor. Most recordings reviewed ore ovailoble for purchase through the down beat/RECORD CLUB. ( For membership information see details elsewhere in this issue or write to AEVIEIIWS down beat/RECORD CLUB, 222 W. Adams, Chicago, IL 60606)
play rock. A high camp crowdpleaser. a unique story in Jess than three minutes, DON ELLIS Antea, another fine Levy original, pre while the equally unexpected slow tempo DON ELLIS AT FILLMORE-Columbia cedes the album's highlight, Old Man's applied to Exactly yields equally warm, G30243: Tina/ Analysis; Excursion II; Tb • Magic Bus At• M;, Dougbr111t; Th, B/uu; Sahatort Tear, a melancholy ballad portraying "an affecting results. On the third ballad, What S,m; Rork Odyss-,; H,y Jud •: Anua: Old Mar1·s old man's life--his joys and sorrows Is There To Say?, Bud gives himself Tear; Great Vivid,; Pussy Wigg/, Stomp. Personnel: Ellis, trumpet, drums; Glenn Stn· ... " Though Klemmer's composition and more room to stretc h, and the result is art, Stu Blumberg, John Rosenberg, Jack Coan, arrangement are excellent, Ellis steals his a small masterpiece, reflective and more trumpets; Ernie Carlson. Glenn Ferris . trombones; Don Switzer, bass trombone; Doug Bixby , contra• thunder with stunning virtuosity. Great introspecti ve than is his custom, and rem bus, tuba; Fred Selden, Lonnie Shetter, Sam Divide, in 13/4, is a pulsating vehicle iniscent in mood of later Lester Young Falzone, John Klemmer, Jon Clarke, reeds; Jay Graydon, gu irar; Tom Garvio, piano; Dennis highlighted by Shelter's alto, more dazzling a rare groove to capture. Parker, bass; Ralph Humphrey, drums: Ron Ellis, and a brief but shimmering up-tempo Originality of treatment is also evident Dunn, drums, percussion; Lee Pastora, conga. reed soli. The infectious, riotous Stomp on Rhythm, done in a deliberate, easy Rating:**** (a close cousin melodically and harmon swinging middle tempo, the theme played Don Ellis' brand of salted-in-the-shell ically to Horace Silver's The Preacher) almost stra ight in the exposition-a novel big band excitement ha s amused some, wraps it up. and charming effect. confused others, and led to a most inter What Ellis' stand ing will be in that dis• Ad1·anlage, long a Freeman favorite, esting mixture of cr itical observations. tant day when all votes are in is still open brings forth some new ideas and is graced This double album, recorded live at to question, but I must respect him as a by a fine Sutt on intro and solo in a Waller Fillmore West, offers 86:37 of music, ef sincere, well-schooled musician-one who mold. fects, and avant garde showmanship--most not only knows his instrument but perhaps Side two, by the quintet, is notable for of it good, some of it humorous, but none more music than all but a few contempo the excellent, sympatheti c interplay be of it dull. The band occasionally indulges rary musicians. In a day when many jazz tween Freeman and Wilber, both unison in pie-in-the-face musical burlesqueries, but artists are opting for ( make that being and polyphonic; four fine Freeman orig most of what's here is valid, genuinely cowed into) jazz-rock amalgams not suited inals, and Wilber's singing, spa rkling so creative, and above all, well played. to their talents and/or ambitions, it's re prano solos (he uses both his horns in the Ellis, himself, is a phenomenal musician freshing and pleasantly surpri sing to see a ensemble). -another one of those who I suspect double album of original, straight-ahead, Particularly fetching among Freeman's has yet to put his best work on record adventurous music. Though I've heard bet pieces is D ove, a haunting, tender theme, and perhaps never will. But credit must ter sound reproduction from in-person re and D Minor, a jauntily swinging romp go to this intrepid innovator who has done cordings, this LP-at whatever the special in a rather contemporary mold, with Sut more than his share to expand the poten low price is-is still a good investment. ton's solo a standout. lial of the big band. First, the time barrier -Szanto, Misbehavi11' is also given superior treat went, then came electronic experimentation ment, and the two saxophonists work to (heard here when Ellis utilizes the Conn gether in almost telepathic communion on Multivider and the Ring Modulator); all BUD FREEMAN Tirings. of this coming into play in various con THE COMPLEAT BUD FREEMAN-Mon• Without the sterling support from Sut texts-the blues, pop tunes, jazz stand mouth -Evergreen MES/7022: Dinah; Anotber S1111• day; Exart/y Lik, You; You Took Adi ·antag, ton, Hag gart and Johnson (the latter a ards. and academic-type material. Of Mt ; Whal ls Tl,,re to Say?; 1 Got Rbythm; delight on brushes) this album would not Sides one and two contain a melange of Unrl, Haggart 's B/u,s; 0111 Of My Road, Mr. be what it is. But then, it should come as Ellisian moods and effects. The most star Toad; Ain'I J\fisbehavin'; Song Of T/,e Dove; That D Minor Thing; /us/ o,,, 0/ Thou Things. no surpr ise that this bunch works together tling is Excursion, a frenetic tour de force Personnel: Freeman, tenor saxophone; Bob Wil well: all hands are member s of the World's for tenorist Klemmer's technique and fer ber, clarinet, soprano saxophone (tracks 7-12 only); Ralph Sutton, piano; Bob Haggart, bass; Greatest Jazz Band . Mellow, tasteful, un tile imagination; the most unusual is Ellis' Gus Johnson, drums. contrived but imaginative music from a quasi-spoken, grunted, raspberried electric Rating:**** label that seems to specialize in labors of trumpet intro on The Blues. Hank Levy's Bud Freeman's playing on this album Jove, and happily lets the musicians decide Rock Odyssey, a most interesting work, is so fresh it seems hard to believe he has what and how to record. -Morgenstem employs multiple time signatures and fea been a vital part of jazz since the mid tures excellent work by Humphrey. Final I 920s. On the surface, his style has re Analysis ends with a hilarious, appropri mained relatively unchanged since reach ately overdone spoof on symphonic cli ing maturity in the late '30s, but while he DAVE FRISHBERG maxes; according to Ellis "a musical re may sometimes appear to coast along on OKLAHOMA TOAD-CTI 1004: On, H orse ductio ad absurdum stolen from some of a set vocabulary (always unmistakably his Town; Van Lingle Mungo; Th, Sur,/ of Sue• the best-known classical composers (who own, however), he will surpr ise you when cess; Oklahoma Toad; Th, Proph,t Of Doom; Rorky Mountain Waur; You Can'/ Go; Wall· should have known better)." inspired. flower Lonely, Cornflower B/u, ; Nasty Nasty Anyone wishing to make a case for Here , he is inspired-especially on the Habit,• I Don't Be/ievt Y o11. Personnel: Bill Berry, trumpet, ftueg elhorn; brand1Dg Ellis as a musical Andy Warhol first side, the one devoled to quartet Garneu Brown, trombone ; Al Cohn, tenor saxo had better listen to Hey Jud e. An in performances. He particularly shines at phone; Sol Schlinger, baritone saxophone; Frish• berg, piano, o rgan , electric piano, clavinet, vo credible electric trumpet intro, done live slower tempos, playing with that utter re cals, arranger; Stuart Scharf, guitar; Russell with no overdubbing, sets the stage, and laxation only the great veterans seem able George, elect ric bass; Herb Lovelle, drums. what ensues runs the gamut from straight to achieve. Rating: **** melody to what sounds like the cast of Thus, the opening Dinah, in the ballad De spite the promi sing personnel and Satyricon masquerading as better-than-av treatment that has made it a Freeman Frishberg's notable talents as a jazz pian erage Salvation Army bandsmen trying to classic (though hitherto unrecorded), tells ist, this is not a jazz album. It is a show- November 2b n 21 case for Frishberg's song-writing (music and lyrics), arranging and vocal gifts, which are considerable. Frishberg is a true original. His forte is a whimsical, quite unique sense of hu mor. If he ever reminds of anyone, it may be of his sometime song-writing partner down and fellow pianist-singer Bob Dorough, but this is mainly a matter of similarities in off-hand delivery and vocal timbre, and the rare combination of humor and first beat rate musicianship. The ten songs offered here, all originals, vary in mood and quality, but none is less than good. My favorite is Van Lingle DECEMBER IO, 1970 Mungo, named after a baseball player who was with the Dodgers in the 1940s (the song has done well enough to earn i ss ue Mungo and Frishberg a joint appearance on the Dick Cavett Show). The lyric con sists entirely of a recitation the names of legendary and not-so-legendary ballplayers, set to a romantic bossa-nova melody. It has to be heard to be appreciated; descrip HOLID AY tion can't do it justice. Also excellent are Nasty Nasty Habit ( one never learns just what the habit is, but the song contains the immortal lines B UYIN G GU IDE: Adolph Herseth, First Trumpet. Chicago Symphony Orchestra " ... I'm pinned up against the wall/like a beat-up ping-pong ball/ stuck against the BACH® radiator); the tender Wal/flower, a c&w RE CORDI NGS type ballad tailor-made for Ray Charles; and Success and Rocky Mountain, in their MOUTHPIECES different ways fine parodies of silly "folk" songs. GIVE YOU Though there are some good wa-wa //souNo and fe a tures on: WITH H er bie Ma nn EFFORT! mf \ She ll ey Mann e Take any ordinary mouthpiece and spots from Scharf, there are no solos by play up to the top of your range ... the hornmen (excepting some brief Berry LeeK onitz and down to the bottom ... loud. flurries on Mungo). But almost every track has a sample of Frishberg's delight Do the same thing again ... soft. And ful keyboard work-perhaps the best are Le on Th o111as again .. . with crescendos and decre• on Toad and Nasty. They are, of course, scendos. only teasers . His arrangements are first Now try all the above with a BACH rate, and everything on the album swings. mouthpiece. His singing may be an acquired taste, like Greek olives, but I dig it, and he puts the And notice how much easier it is. lyrics across. How much fuller your sound. How l•~ =II I hope this album, or at least some of much longer you play without tiring. its songs, makes it big. Then, perhaps, How much more control you have. we'll get that long-overdue jazz LP featur You can get a Bach* Mouthpiece with ing Frishberg as an instrumentalist (a role Mem 1,his Und ergr ound the right rim and cup to give you your in which, so far, he's only been recorded best possib le sound - with less effort! on a Jimmy Rushing BluesWay LP). It Shouldn't you see your will be a treat, for Frishberg is one of the so lo dealer about getting a Bach best jazz pianists around today, not to slight his other talents. -Morgenstern Mouthpiece right now? by He rbi e Ma nn *F or cornet, trumpet, trench horn, baritone, trombone, bass trombone, and tuba. BARRY HA RRIS MAGNIFICENT-Prestige 7733: Bean and the Boys; You Sweet and Fancy Lady; Rouge• Ah· Tire number on tire outside leu-chai.. Just Open Y our Heart; Sun Dance· of tire cup designates a genuine These 1•00Ush Things ; D exterity . ' Vincent Bach mouthpiece. Personnel: Harris, piano; Ron Carter bass· Leroy Williams, drums. ' ' o n sal e Racing: This is perhaps Barry* * * Harris'* * finest al- bum to date, which is to say that it is an N OVEH B ER 2 6 , 1970 event, for Harris is as good as they come. $elmer® Though still a young man, Harris was a musical father-figure to most of the Box 310, Elkhart, Ind iana 46514 talented players who came out of Detroit
DIVISION OF THE MAGNAVOX COMPANY in the '50s. Today, he stands as one of the BEAT