Jazz

Frank Wess - Jazz For Playboys (1957)

2017-02-07T17:02:27Z

Frank Wess - Jazz For Playboys (1957)


01.Playboys (05:27)
02.Miss Blues (09:40)
03.Baubles,Bangles And Beads (04:16)
04.Low Life (05:02)
05.Pin Up (04:07)
06.Blues For A Playmate (11:00)
07.Southern Exposure(alt.long take) (07:43)

Frank Wess (flute, saxophone)
Joe Newman (trumpet)
Kenny Burrell, Freddie Green (guitar)
Eddie Jones (bass)
Ed Thigpen, Gus Johnson (drums).

This CD reissue has three songs apiece from two similar sessions. One half of the set features Frank Wess (doubling on flute and tenor) accompanied by both Kenny Burrell and Freddy Green on guitars, bassist Eddie Jones and drummer Gus Johnson; the other three titles add trumpeter Joe Newman and have Ed Thigpen in Johnson's place. The music is essentially cool-toned swing/bop very much in a Count Basie vein and is easily recommended to straightahead jazz fans despite the so-so packaging and LP-length playing time. ---Scott Yanow, AllMusic Review

Despite its easy bounce, swing is difficult music. It takes on one of music's hardest task: it makes a quarter note swing. The subtle rhythm shadings of swing and its joyful drive are on full display in this album by Count Basie veterans who understand swing as ensemble music--they know the secrets to how the band generates its power by its own counterpoint and riffs--a call and response that locks the music into its own personality of the blues, a physical style that dresses the mood. Swing is a conversation, animated, excited, soft, loud, sweet, witty, nutty, confessional. It's all here, it this album driven by Freddie Green's guitar, underneath the best melodies and lyrics of swing's best jazz creators. --- walterrhett, amazon.com

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Frank Wess - Magic 101 (2013)

2014-02-03T16:55:18Z

Frank Wess - Magic 101 (2013)


01. Say It Isn't So [07:26]
02. The Very Thought Of You [07:32]
03. Pretty Lady [08:23]
04. Come Rain Or Come Shine [09:02]
05. Easy Living [09:33]
06. Blue Monk [06:58]
07. All Too Soon [04:12]

Musicians:
Frank Wess - tenor sax
Kenny Barron - piano
Kenny Davis - bass
Winard Harper – drums

Most musicians can't escape the ravages of time, but a select few seem to have taken a sip from the musical fountain of youth. The late Hank Jones, for example, played with brilliance and class until the day he died at the age of 91, and octogenarian drummer Roy Haynes continues to snap and crackle in all the right places, demonstrating unmatched originality and agility as he approaches the big nine-o. Saxophonist/flautist Frank Wess is another such figure. Wess, who made an indelible impression on the music during his tenure with the great Count Basie and went on to record with everybody from composer/arranger/saxophonist Oliver Nelson to Jones, is a living jazz legend. His legacy is written in the grooves of numerous classic recordings and, like Haynes and Jones, he refuses to let a number like his age dictate anything; Magic 101, recorded in 2011 when Wess was 89 years young, makes that clear.

This seven-song program, featuring a polished quartet that includes pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Winard Harper, is unique for its balladic leanings and lack of flute; the elder statesman of that instrument doesn't touch it once here. Wess, instead, sticks exclusively to his tenor, while exploring the slower side of jazz.

The program begins with a swinging "Say It Isn't So," but immediately takes a turn toward the reflective with "The Very Thought Of You," which serves as the start of the ballad run. Two duets with Barron—Wess' own "Pretty Lady" and a "Come Rain Or Come Shine," that's coated with a bluesy patina—follow before the full personnel returns for a slow, twilit "Easy Living."

The slow-and-sly "Blue Monk" that follows brings sturdy swing back into the picture, but its appearance is fleeting. The album ends with a solo saxophone take on Ellington's "All Too Soon." Wess works his way into the very heart and soul of the song, demonstrating a grasp on the art of musical alone time that few will ever possess.

Magic 101 is a top-to-bottom charmer; here's to hoping that Wess stay around for a while longer and continues to make music like this. ---Dan Bilawsky, allaboutjazz.com

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Frank Wess Quartet - Menage a Bleu (2012)

2014-03-14T17:00:26Z

Frank Wess Quartet - Menage a Bleu (2012)


01. Estoril Sol 7:37
02. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing 7:20
03. Sump'n Went Wrong 5:09
04. Who Can I Turn To 11:05
05. A Tear For Ginger 2:12
06. Over The Rainbow 9:26
07. Joy Spring 7:59
08. Pretty Lady 8:41
09. Eternal Triangle 5:26
10. Ménage à Bleu 8:19

Frank Wess - tenor sax, flute
Joey DeFrancesco - organ
Paul Bollenback - guitar
Byron Landham – drums

One of the first major jazz flutists, Frank Wess was also a top Lester Young-influenced tenor man, an expert first altoist, and an occasional composer/arranger -- certainly a valuable man to have around. Early on he toured with Blanche Calloway, served in the military, and had stints with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra (1946), Eddie Heywood, Lucky Millinder, and R&B star Bull Moose Jackson. That was all just a prelude to Wess' important period with Count Basie's big band, from 1953-1964. His flute playing, so expertly utilized in Neal Hefti's arrangements, gave the Basie Orchestra a fresh new sound, and his cool-toned tenor contrasted well with the more passionate sound of fellow tenor Frank Foster; Wess also had opportunities to play alto with the classic big band. Wess subsequently freelanced in countless settings, playing with Clark Terry's big band, the New York Jazz Quartet (with Roland Hanna) during the second half of the 1970s, Dameronia (1981-1985), and Toshiko Akiyoshi's big band, and also had occasional reunions with Frank Foster. Frank Wess led sessions for Commodore (1954), Savoy, Prestige, Moodsville, Pablo (with Foster), Progressive, Uptown, Concord, and Town Crier. He died of a heart attack at the age of 91 in Manhattan on October 30, 2013. ---Scott Yanow, Rovi

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