ensemble and solo aspects. At least half of these sides have taken excellent advantage on Cron Your Heart, Keepin' Myself for You, and their place as classics: the marvelous display of the various My Blue Heaven. On the originals, however, Shaw does not have facets of Cootie Williams' trumpet technique in Do Nothin Till much of interest to say. This disk displays two Gramercy Fives - You Hear from Me (a later title for the recording originally, and the 1940 group which includes on trumpet and a more appropriately, issued as Concerto for Cootie); the glorious harpsichord under the guidance of , and the 1945 meeting of two who were obviously meant for each other when Five in which Roy Eldridge has the trumpet chair and the harpsi- Tricky Sam Nanton's swampy trombone encounters Chloe; the fas- chord has given way to Dodo Marmarosi s piano. The idea of using a harpsichord was briefly amusing (and, in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, a Gramercy Five number not included in this collection, it This is The Duke: was quite effective) but, on the whole, it is not suited to the ma- terial at hand. This, plus the superiority in ideas and execution of No duds in eight re- the Eldridge trumpet over the Butterfield trumpet, gives the 1945 leases of 1940 band products a decided edge in interest. This collections has its points, but they're relatively minor. Ellingtonia.

Bob Scobey and trumpet: What a difference a year makes.

cinating introduction to the Ellington band, on Jack the Bear, of the tragically short -lived bassist, Jimmy Blanton; and one of the loveliest and most relaxed of all blues arrangements, Across the Tracks Blues. If any one record so far issued can be said to display the definitive Ellington, this is it.

THIS IS AND HIS QUARTET RCA VICTOR LPT 3004. to -in. 25 min. $3.15. Benny Goodman, clarinet; Lionel Hampton, vibraphone; Teddy Wilson, piano; Gene Krupa, drums: NEW FACES - NEW SOUNDS- Horace Silver Trio Whispering; The Man I Love; Dinah; Sweet Sue, Just You; Smiles; BLUE NOTE BLP 5018. to -in. 21 min. $4.00. Runnin' Wild. Horace Silver, piano; Curley Russell, Gene Ramey, bass; Krupa: Same personnel except Dave Tough, drums, in place of Art Blakey, drums: Opus'/; Sweet Georgia Brown. Safari; Ecaroh; Prelude to a Kiss; Thou Swell; Quick -silver; Horos- cope; Yeah; Knowledge Box. This is mostly the earliest Benny Goodman Quartet, the 1936 -37 trio version, consisting of the original ground -breaking Goodman These eight numbers introduce to records an engaging new talent Wilson and Krupa are plus Lionel Hampton. Goodman, Hampton, in the modern school of jazz piano. Silver has the facile right hand moderately paced num- at their happiest in this period in slow and which is the sine qua non of this craft, and he also has taste and In the more-than- bers such as The Man I Love and Whispering. imagination, attributes which protect him from the excesses of some a flatness seems to moderately paced standards, Dinah and Sweet Sue, of his schoolmates and brighten his essays with light and cheer. He as the tempo quickens, come over their work. But the unit perks up appears to be least happy when tied down by some other composer's in and Sweet Georgia and shows more cohesion and color Opus '/ creation (Ellington and Richard Rodgers are the only foreigners significantly, with Dave Brown, both later recordings (1938) and, represented on this disk). He glides with pleasure into his own Tough on drums in place of Krupa. compositions, which are usually blessed with lively musical ideas. in small group jazz. This is basic material for anyone interested On these two sides, he gets particularly noteworthy support from is -dimensional, by present standards, but it still The recording one drummer Art Blakey, who shows a great deal of feeling for the in sugges- manages to catch the soloists, particularly Goodman, fresh and rather perky quality of Silver's playing. tively full fashion. RALPH SUTTON AT THE PIANO THIS IS AND HIS GRAMERCY FIVE CIRCLE L 413. 10 -in. 25 min. $3.85. RCA VICTOR LPT 3013. to -in. 24 min. $3.15. Fascination; "A Flat" Dream; Drop Me of in Harlem; Love Me Arde Shaw, clarinet; Billy Butterfield, trumpet; Johnny Guar- or Leave Me; African Ripples; I'm Coming Virginia; Sugar Rose; nieri, harpsichord; Al Hendrickson, guitar; Jud De Naut, bass; Bees Knees. Nick Fatool, drums: Cross My Heart; My Blue Heaven; When the Quail Come Back to Ralph Sutton, the young master of the piano style associated with San Quentin; Dr. Livingstone, I Presume ?: Keepin' Myself for You. Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, has the advantage of working with much better recording techniques than were available to Arde Shaw, clarinet; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Dodo Marmarosa, his predecessors. And, possibly because he spent a lot time piano; Barney Kessel, guitar; Morris Rayman, bass; Lou of concentrating on this fascinating phase of jazz, he has developed Fromm, drums: into a more finished interpreter of the style than the rough -hewn, The Grabtown Grapple; The Sad Sack; Scuttlebutt. creative pioneers he is following. He is in fine fettle in these eight Given a pleasantly melodic show tune, or its equivalent, Artie numbers, riding hard or fingering featherily as the mood requires. Shaw usually can be trusted to produce a neatly lyrical clarinet A slight surface hiss intrudes on what would otherwise be an ex- reading. It's only natural, then, that he appears on this disk to cellent recording.