contribution must neyertheless be dutifully Good taste, in fact, is the essence of this commended. He lends support with~ut album. Not for people who crave excite­ ever allowing decibels to interfere with ment it will bring pleasure to those who anyone's solos. enjo; sipping mellow musical wine. Highlights are difficult to pmpomt. The -Morgenstern entire disc boasts a consistent level of com­ Gibsonpetency from the first to the last grooves: Phil Upchurch no surprises, just a degree of pleasurable UPCHURCH-Cadet . LPS 826: Black, Gold; America; As You Sa,d; You Wo11/dn t You comfort that borders on nostalgia. Almost Couldn't Be True; Cross Town Traffic; Adam like relaxing with Tchaikovsky after strug­ and Charlene; Spinning Wheel; Voodoo Chile: More and More; Midnight Chile, Stringsgling with Stockhausen. -Siders Personnel: Upchurch, guitar; Donny . Hatha­ way, piano; Louis Satter)i.eJd, bass; M~ms Jack­ son drums; Bobby Christian, percussion; Dave Maxine Sullivan-Bob Wilber Ch;usow's strings and horns; Ch~rles Stepney, CLOSE AS PAGES IN A BOOK-~onmouth· arranger, conductor; James Mack Smgers, vocals. Evergree)l MES6919: As Long As I Lzve; Gone No Rating with the Wind· Rockin' in Rhythm; Darn That Dream· Ev'ry 'Time; Harlem Butterfly; Loeb Black Gold-big, lush, exotic-puts 20 Lomot!d• Too Many Tears: Jeepers Creepers; strings and five voices around Upchurch's Restless: You're Driving Me Crazy; Close As Homer & Jethro ~uina&~ . guitar. What emerges sings of primitive Personnel: Miss Sullivan, vocal; Wilb_er, cl_an­ tropics and Mid-East: it transports you net; soprano saxophone,. ~rranger; Bernie Leigh­ ton, piano; George Duv1v1cr, bass; Gus Johnson, there. It's lovely and stirring-like the Les drums. Baxter of, say, Le Sacre du Sauvage of Rating:**** some years back. At 58, hair unabashedly grey, face re­ Upchurch is not strictly a jazz per­ markably unlined, figure trim as ever, formance overall. The overwhelmingly ro­ Maxine Sullivan is a tiny, refreshingly mantic strings preclude it, though Up­ unaffected bundle of charm and vitality. church's guitar and sidemen are appropri­ In the late '30s, when she first achieved ately groovy in such forays as America fame with Loch Lomond (which spawned and the fiery Voodoo Chile. a passel of jazz.flavored versions of folk The guitarist's playing here displays tunes), debates concerning what constituted little gift for variety or dynamics, although a jazz singer were already in vogue, and he may have locked himself inside the there were those who claimed that Miss rather unimaginative arrangements-un­ Sullivan's style was too smooth and so­ imaginative, that is, when taken in toto. phisticated to merit consideration as ji,l.ZZ. Each tune, while charming in itself, begins But her relaxed, swinging time, supple after a while to sound like the others. phrasing, and subtle touch with a melody The strings, with the vital exception of made her a favorite of musicians and Gold, seem to me an adjunct to rather other singers, and more often than not, than an integral part of the performances. she worked in a jazz context. (I have al­ If someone were to tell me that the ways suspected, by the way, that she had strings had been recorded first, then the a strong influence on young Ella Fitz­ combo-or vice versa-I would certainly gerald.) not reject the possibility. After a period of semi-retirement, Miss However, there is no doubt that Up­ Sullivan resumed her active career in late churclz offers some hauntingly reflective 1968 and was featured for some time with music. If exotic romance well-played is Barry Melton The World's Greatest Jazz Band, usua1ly what you're after, pay the man for this backed by the rhythm section and Wilber one-and hope Upchurch cuts another al­ only-a setting recreated here. bum where he is more to the fore. Her small, clear voice, totally unhis­ -Nelsen trionic delivery, and impeccable musician­ ship are a welcome contrast to much con­ temporary vocalizing. The voice itself and Joe Venuti ONCE MORE WITH FEELING-Ovation OV / the spirit it conveys are as youthful as 14-04: Popi; Little Green ~pp/es; By the T~me ever, and what has been lost in top range I Get to Phoenix; Les Bicyc/ettes de Belszze: Windmills Of Your Mind; Autumn Leaves: I is compensated for by gains on the bottom. Want To Be Haf,py; Purple Pussycat; Undecided: Perhaps best known for her winning, Four Finger Joe. lighthearted way with basically cheerful Personnel: Venuti, violin; Lou Stein, key• boards; Ron Steele, guitar; Jack Lesberg, b_ass; material-a touch which is unimpaired­ Cliff Leeman, drums; Bobby Christian, percuss10n. Miss Sullivan is also a convincing ballad Rating: ½ / * singer. A gentle, affecting charm infuses This album is *actually * *two * *records in all her work. one. Side 2 presents the remarkable Venuti Here, with unfailingly sympathetic sup­ in a jazz context, while Side 1 appears to port, she tackles a variety of material, be a misguided attempt to appeal to cur­ familiar and rare, and the results are con­ rent tastes in pop. The rating is divided ac­ sistently enjoyable. cordingly. I liked best Jeepers Creepers, You're Venuti is a phenomenon, and his retur_n Driving Me Crazy, the delightful Rockin' to the limelight, which began with his in Rhythm, where her scat singing blends appearance at the 1969 Newport Jazz Fes­ with Wilber's horn, and the ballads Gone tival, is an event as welcome as it was with the Wind and Too Many Tears, but overdue. every listener is sure to find his own One of the major figures in jazz during favorites. the '20s, Venuti was the creator of cham­ Throughout, Wilber supplies sensitive ber jazz, ahead of his time in technical ac­ backing, also stepping out in solo. His complishment, harmonic sophistication, a~d soprano work is a special joy, and his grasp of improvisation. From the m1d­ clarinet nearly as fetching. Leighton is a '30s on, he was less prominent, first lead­ perfect accompanist, Duvivier is just about ing not very interesting big bands, then Barney Kessel the best there is on the bass, and Johnson heading small combos of the supper-club personifies buoyancy and taste. variety. This is his first recording since the ' 26 □ DOWN BEAT J late '50s, when he made two excellent, un­ heralded jazz LPs for Grand Award. Venuti's e_xac~age is a mystery, but he 1s probably m his early 70s. He influenced every post-New Orleans jazz violinist and retains his command of the instrum~nt­ perhaps the most difficult of all to master. Though he now plays amplified his style James Moody prefers is essentially unchanged, yet s~unds as fresh today as it did more than 40 years the American Today ago. This is most evident on Purple Pussy­ cat, a variant of China Boy first recorded Sound••. King Super in 1927 as Wild Cat, a duet with his then NOTICE! 20 Saxophones inseparable partner, the late guitarist Eddie for the most Lang. The new version swings more, but turned on tuned in there are passages that are almost identi­ sound on the scene cal. Venuti has lost none of his inventive­ Rock'n RollStrings ness, astonishing agility with bow and fin­ Ma.deby LABELLA gers, and joy in making music. His tone in two gauges is pure and singing in the classic violin No.780, 780-S $300 5et tradition, but he's not afraid to rough it up when it suits him. Nor does he shy away from touches of humor and occa­ VincentJ. Aha to de­ sional grandstanding (as the gypsy bit in mands the French Autumn Leaves), an ingrained habit which in the past caused purist critics to accuse 38-01 23RD A VENUE ClassicalSound. King him of lapses in taste and "acrobatic LONG ISLAND CITY. N.Y. lllfla tricks." But such elements are part of his . Marigaux Saxophones total personality (his practical jokes and volatile temper are legendary), and it is refreshing that he retains them. THE JAMAICANJAZZ .~ . J~ One of his most famous "tricks" is CRUSADERS JMARecord Club f~ . ., loosening the hairs of the bow and wrap­ ~ FirstJMA LP release $4.98 ping it around the body of the instru­ ·-··"·"~-·TheJamaican Jazz Crusaders \4~W ment, touching all four strings at once. "' -··--•- featuring ___ ~ This is demonstrated on Four Finger Joe, Roy"Bubbles" Burrows an apt sequel to the 1928 Four String Joe. II At times, as in Undecided, there are in­ Three new singles (45 rpm) Cannonball Adderley teresting indications that Venuti did not remain untouched by Stuff Smith, the John LewisTrio insistson the Artists hottest of all jazz fiddlers. This is a hard­ featuring James Spaulding swinging track, and Happy generates al­ Ron Jefferson RecordingSound . most as much momentum. He always could Jazz ln~rumental Choir King Sterling-Silver play good blues, and Four Finger proves Jamaican Jau Crusaders he still can. featuring Ray "Bubbles" Burrowes BellSaxophones Stein, Lesberg and Leeman have been All three for only $2.00 Venuti's sidemen since he formed a quartet Send check or money order last year, and they know how to work with him. The pianist has quite a bit of ($4.98 for LP; $2.00 for set of three 45's) solo space. Though overly busy at times, We pay postage he swings and comps well. Lesberg, a JazzMusicians Association superb bassist, is saddled with an electric Box 127, RadioCity Station instrument, which he handles with dis­ I New York, NY 10019 cretion. Leeman, as always, is solid and dependable. Don Kubec chooses Side 2, then, is a delightful showcase for a great artist.