caliber. There were concessi?ns t? the piano tradition in jazz. He says the . soloists, in the manner of classic Basie or peasant tastes of Dixieland audiences ,(here attitude relegates a "single pianist to tubJic Ellington, or in the pre-eminence of a saluted with a -touch of irony in _Table ground for conversation or dinner." ack. single super star, a la Buddy Rich, or in At the Top Of The Gate in New y k an iconoclastic new sound. Its strength is Thumpers Rag), but on the whole, it was a very musical and interesting group. J_aki ·Byard, _whose every phrase shou1;\~ co-leader Boland's sometimes brilliant and !Jstened to, 1s presented as an intermis • always tasteful scores, which constitute the Most of its members (the personn~l was quite stable) were players w!1ose pnm~ry pianist with second billing to featuredsion contemporary legacy of Henderson, Basie, tis ts often inferior to him. Armand H.ar. Goodman and Ellington. background was mainstream Jazz, not ~1x­ ieland. While Wilbur was the orgamzer, sits night after . ni~ht in a New Oriea~!.· I'll go a step further. Boland's specific · leader, and musical director, the jazz spark­ hotel lobby, spmnmg out one masterf 1 strength as an arranger is his capacity to piece after another for businessmen ~ write exciting, full-throated scores for the plug was his brother Sidney, a remarkable trumpeter whose untimely death in 1967 tourists whose babbling often drowns ~~ reeds, passages that have terrific momen­ out. Hopefully, the new solo albums b tum and cohesiveness. And I'm a pushover marked the end of the band, though Wilbur occasionally revives it. Evans, Byard, and J?on Ewell, and th~ ., for a good sax section. recent one by Hug, will encourage a trend There are whole choruses carried com­ There were other gifted soloists, the . great clarinetist Omer Simeon among them, Evans has never, to my knowledge go · i pletely by the reed section on this mar­ outside the song form for his cre~tio!e velous LP, without any brass counterpoint. but it was Sidney's presence that gave the 1 Within it, he is able to find such possi: The section writing can be found at its ensemble its characteristic lilt and supplied l stinging best on Face the Music, Stepped the biggest solo kicks. bilities of harmony, melody and rhythm j Out, Get Out, Lover and Strauss, which On this album, he makes his presence that one wonders that some feel it neces­ unfortunately cops out with one of those felt almost throughout, and there are fine sary to suggest that he play more "free" fade endings. solos on Irene, Wabash, and Farm (all in and "outside." This album is Evans' first But save High School for the end. This his inimitable "fan hat" style), Closer solo collection. He has recorded three- and up-tempo track is an intensely crisp, biting Walk (muted growl), and Basin Street (in two-piano LPs (conversing with himself , by means of multi-taping) but brilliant as J arrangement that finds the reed and brass a particularly gentle, wistful mood), among 1 sections snapping at each other with a others. On Ja Da, he takes a jolly, relaxed those were, it seems to me the real Bill ·1 potent vengeance. tuba solo and throws in some good 1breaks. Evans stands out in boldest relief in this ·•· This is a true big band sound, un­ Doc Cheatham, a fine, sadly underrated group of straight solo performances. j cluttered with gimmicks or tricks. It trumpeter, is heard soloing on Wabash He honors the melody of Johnny Man- j crackles with a surging but supremely and Ja Da, and contributes some pretty del's A Time For Love by remaining quite graceful whiplash. It's the most exciting fills to the second version of the title tune. close to it, lavishing attention on it with new band sound since Buddy Rich came Among the examples of the band's his celebrated chord voicings. Evans' time on the scene. And through it all, the unique choice of material are Watching of course, is impeccable. Clear Day swing~ rhythm section renders bracing punctua­ Dreams, an old French pop tune, on as hard as any piece of music has a right to. tions. which drummer Wilbert Kirk takes a sur­ In a review of an earlier Evans album For the ultimate in sax section scoring, prising mellow harmonica solo, and electric elsewhere, I said: "There is nothing super• I always think of the famous passage in piano and guitar blend prettily; Would You ficial or calculated in his playing, and his Ellington's Cottontail; now I will also Care, a 1905 ballad spotting a booting audiences should be flattered that he is think of this excellent LP by the Clarke­ Rudy Rutherford baritone sax solo, and playing for them as he would for himself, Boland band. -McDonough the title tune, a Wilbur De Paris composi­ with no condescension and no attention• tion heard in two quite different versions. getting devices. He makes music, undiluted WILBUR DE PARIS One of the most attractive tracks is and uncompromising." That could have OVER AND OVER AGAIN-Atlantic SD-1552: Irene, treated in a very relaxed manner, ·been written about the long piece that Over and Over Again (Version I); Table Thumpers and spotting a swinging bassoon solo by makes up the entire second side of this , Rag; Wabash Blues; Careless Love• Royal Garden 1 Blues; Watching Dreams Go By; Goodnight Irene; Bushell (who also plays very competent album, Never Let. Aside from alerting /a Da; Would You Care; Just a Closer Walk with clarinet) and the leader's •best solo outing. your ear to the harmonic delights of this Thee; How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm; Basin Street Blues; Over and Over Again Simeon plays hauntingly if briefly on track, let me remind you that swing can (Version II). Dreams, but his best moments here are on be a subtle thing, and that Evans has a Personnel: Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11: Sidney De. Paris, trumpet, _tuba; Doc Cheatham, trumpet; Basin Street (the solo shows where Mezz long-standing love affair with Louise, who Wilbur De Paris, slide and valve trombone; Garvin Mezzrow, all his talk about Jimmy Noone is again quoted here. Bushe_ll, ~larinet, basso~n; Son_ny White, piano, elecfr1c piano; .John S1_111th,guitar, banjo; Hay_es to the contrary notwithstanding, really Fellow pianist Joe Zawinul's Midnight Alvis, bass; Wilbert Kirk, drums, harmonica. On comes from). Pianist Sonny White a Mood has a melody that is the equal of tracks 2 & 12, Cheatham is omitted, Omer Simeon ( clarinet, soprano saxophone) re:,laces Bushell Teddy Wilson disciple, is pleasantly fea­ A Time For Love and it is so compatible and Lee Blair (banjo) replaces Smith. On track; tured on this piece. with Mandel's piece that Evans' playing 6 & 9, Sidne7. De Paris is omitted, Simeon re­ places Bushel , and Rudy Rutherford ( clarinet The rhythm section is solid throughout them back to back results, whether by de­ baritone saxophone) is added. On track 13' not least due to the firm presence of Haye~ sign or accident, in a two-part suite. Evans Simeon replaces Bushell. ' Alvis, a wonderful bassist who plays the has a great deal in common with George db/RC Rating: * * * * right notes in the right places, and Kirk's Shearing ( one of his earliest and most For 10 years-from 1951 to 1961- good cymbal work. In fact, the swing­ Wilbur De Paris' "New New Orleans Jazz benevolent influences). The unsticky rhap· oriented rhythm of the band was not the sodic opening chorus of Rainy Day and Band" held forth at Jimmy Ryan's the last least important of its assets. jazz bastion on New York's 52nd Street. his use of the pedal during blockchording Traditional jazz releases on major labels From that home base, it made many forays are reminiscent of Shearing, although are rare these days, and traditional bands -as far afield as Europe and Africa-and Evans seems to get inside the music more. recorded prolifically for Atlantic. It was a of this caliber even rarer, so this album Bill Evans is the complete pianist; there. unique band, and this album of previously can be considered quite a treat. Main­ is apparently nothing he can't do on the unissued material ( excepting two tracks strea~-o~i~nted listeners will also find much instrument. There's a great deal he won't which appeared on singles only) is a wel­ to their hkmg here. Very nice job on sound do, however. He won't submit to the come surprise and reminder. and balance, too. Keep digging into those tyranny of jazz fashion, which changes The leader, who had worked with bands files, men. -Morgenstern with the seasons. He won't embrace the ranging from Jelly Roll Morton to Duke schlock popular tunes of the day and record Ellington, had an original conception. Un­ BILL EVANS "jazz" versions of them. He won't make ~n like most traditional bands of the revivalist album of two-and-a-half minute pieces Ill A.~ONE. Verve V6-8792: Here's That period, the De Paris outfit used a wide Da>, A T1111eFor Love: Midnight M d· Rainy hopes of getting air play (Never Let runs Clear Day: Nei•er Let Me G oo ' On A variety of material, much of it original ( or 0 Personnel: Evans, piano. • 14:32). l'. at least unhackneyed) and all of it per­ When the dust subsides from the mean· formed in an original manner, and the db/R~ Rating: * * * * * ingless battles for recognition wage~ by ~~ leader insisted on musicianship of high In his revealin_gliner notes, Evans la­ st ments the precanous position of the solo many of his contemporaries, he will ~ be there.