'!2G00BJ-Hbfhhh! Milt Jackson Himself Proved That He Too Was Full of Imagination

Ballads & Blues

personnel Lucky Thompson (ts); Milt Jackson (vib); John Lewis (p); Barney Kessel, Barry Galbraith, Skeeter Best (g); Oscar Pettiford, Percy Heath (b); Kenny Clarke, Lawrence Marable (dr)

tracks So In Love; These Foolish Things; Solitude; The Song Is Ended; They Didn't Believe Me; How High The Moon; Gerry's Blues; Hello; Bright Blues

Whenever Milt Jackson could free himself from the “bondage” of the Modern Jazz Quartet and its assertive leader John Lewis, he dedicated himself to his two great pas- sions: ballads and the blues. That was precisely the case when he entered the famous catalogue # Rudy van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA in 1956. He was free to 1242 choose his sidemen, and money was no object, which is why various formations gath- ered in the studio for the three recording sessions. With Lucky Thompson on the tenor set contents 1 LP / standard sleeve sax (unfortunately for only three numbers), Barry Galbraith, Barney Kessel or Skeeter Best on the guitar, Oscar Pettiford or Percy Heath on the bass, together with Kenny pricecode Clarke or Lawrence Marable on the drums, he set off on a journey through the history SC01 of jazz. John Lewis stayed unobtrusively in the background and offered “Bags” (as Milt release date was known) plenty of opportunities to glory in soloistic freedom. March 2019 The themes were soon found: the musical composers Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and barcode Jerome Kern, as well as a work from The Duke Ellington Songbook, formed a basis upon which all the musicians could perform with confidence. Three compositions by '!2G00BJ-hbfhhh! Milt Jackson himself proved that he too was full of imagination. If you don’t possess this LP – or maybe none by Milt Jackson – here is an opportunity original recording to remedy this shortcoming. The present author would award this recording 5 out of 5 January 1956 in New York City by Tom possible stars! Dowd and February 1956 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, by Rudy Van Gelder Immer dann, wenn Milt Jackson den Zwängen des Modern Jazz Quartet mit dessen al- original production Nesuhi Ertegun lesbestimmenden Kopfs John Lewis entkommen konnte, widmete er sich mit Vorliebe seinen beiden Leidenschaften: den Balladen und dem Blues. So auch, als er zu Anfang ratings (max. 5 stars) des Jahres 1956 ins berühmte Rudy van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey AllMusic: 4,5 Discogs: 4,2 RYM: 3,67 ging. Seine Sidemen durfte er sicher frei wählen, Geld spielte keine Rolle und so kamen für drei Aufnahmetermine wechselnde Formationen ins Studio. Lucky Thomp- son am Tenor (leider nur für drei Titel), Barry Galbraith, Barney Kessel, Skeeter Best an den Gitarren, Oscar Pettiford und Percy Heath am Bass, sowie Kenny Clarke und Law- rence Marable am Schlagzeug nahm er mit auf eine Reise durch die Geschichte des Jazz. Dezent hielt sich hier John Lewis zurück und bot “Bags” Gelegenheit, seine solis- tische Freiheit zu genießen. Die Themen waren schnell gefunden, die Musical-Komponisten Cole Porter, Irving Ber- lin und Jerome Kern sowie ein Stück aus dem Ellington Songbook lieferten die Basis, auf der alle Musiker sicher agieren konnten. Dazu beweisen drei Eigenkompositionen, dass Milt Jackson voller Einfallsreichtum steckte. Wer diese oder noch gar keine Milt Jackson-LP in seiner Sammlung stehen hat, kann dieses Manko endlich beseitigen. Die Bewertung dieses Rezensenten jedenfalls lautet: 5 Sterne von 5 möglichen.