Lucky Thompson - Lucky Start 1944-1946 (Jazz Archives 181, 2001)

Жанр: Hard Bop, Bop
Дата записи: Dec 26, 1944-Sep 13, 1946
Дата выпуска: Jul 10, 2001
Производитель диска, номер, страна: EPM, 15601, Jazz Archives 181, France
Тип: Compilation

Аудио кодек: FLAC
Тип рипа: (tracks + .cue)
Битрейт аудио: lossless
Включает: Full artwork
Продолжительность: 62:00
Источник: коллекция Л Рендера
Риппер: Мой рип

Трэклист:
1. My Gal Is Gone (Page ) — 3:14
2. You'd Be Frantic Too (Page ) — 3:14
3. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You (Razaf, Redman ) — 2:40
4. The Lady in Bed (Feather ) — 2:58
5. It Ain't Like That (Page ) — 3:01
6. Test Pilot (Garner, Smith, Thompson ) — 3:28
7. Taps Miller (Basie, Clayton, Russell ) — 5:10
8. High Tide (Green, Rutherford ) — 5:43
9. How High the Moon (Hamilton, Lewis ) — 2:50
10. I Surrender Dear (Barris, Clifford ) — 2:18
11. 'Round About Midnight (Hanighen, Monk, Williams ) — 2:53
12. Yardbird Suite (Parker ) — 2:40
13. Ornithology (Harris, Parker ) — 2:58
14. A Night in Tunisia (Gillespie, Paparelli ) — 3:05
15. Dodo's Bounce (Marmarosa ) — 2:40
16. Dodo's Lament (Marmarosa ) — 2:51
17. Slam's Mishap (Thompson ) — 2:30
18. Shuffle That Riff (Thompson ) — 2:32
19. Smooth Sailing (Thompson ) — 2:40
20. Commercial Eyes (Thompson ) — 2:36

Состав:
(1-2) Hot Lips Page (tp, vo), Lucky Thompson (ts solo), Lem Johnson (ts), Ace Harris (p), John Simmons (b),
Big Sid Catlett (dm). New York City, O8/03/1944.
(3-5) Hot Lips Page (tp, vo), Vic Dickenson (tb), Lucky Thompson (ts), Hank Jones (p), Sam Allen (g),
Carl «Flat Top» Wilson (b), Jesse Price (dm). NYC, 30/11/1944.
(6) Lucky Thompson (ts) & Stuff Smith (vln, vo), Bobby Pratt (tb), Erroll Garner (p), George Wettling (dm). NYC, 26/12/1944.
Count Basie & His Orchestra :
(7) Harry Edison, Al Killian, Ed Lewis, Joe Newman (tp), Ted Donnelly, Eli Robinson, Louis Taylor, Dicky Wells (tb), Earl Warren, Jimmy Powell (as), Buddy Tate (ts, 1 st solo), Lucky Thompson (ts),
Rudy Rutherford (bs, cl), Count Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Rodney Richardson (b), Joe Marshall (dm). NYC, 11/01/1945.
(8) Same, but Buck Clayton, Karl George (tp), J. J. Johnson (tb), Shadow Wilson (dm) replace Newman, Taylor and Marshall; Taps Miler (vo). NYC, 14/05/1945.
(9-10) Dodo Marmarosa Quartet: Lucky Thompson (ts), Dodo Marmarosa (p), Ray Brown (b), Jackie Mills (dm).
Los Angeles, 11/01/1946.
(11) Tempo Jazzmen : Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Lucky Thompson (ts), Al Haig (p), Ray Brown (b), Stan Levey (dm),
Milt Jackson (vib). Glendale, CA. 06/02/1946.
(12-14) Charlie Parker Septet: Miles Davis (tp), Charlie Parker (as), Lucky Thompson (ts), Dodo Marmarosa (p),
Arvin Garrison (g), Vic McMillan (b), Roy Porter (dm). Hollywood, 28/03/1946.
(15-20) Lucky Thompson Quartet: Lucky Thompson (ts), Dodo Marmarosa (p), Red Callender (b),
Jackie Mills (dm). Hollywood, 13/09/1946.

"~ Linear Notes"

The originality of "Lucky" Thompson's music only really becomes apparent after examining what he produced in the mid-50s which leads us back to the richness of his earlier work. For, although he was already well-known in the 40s and all the personal aspects of his playing were already in place, he was just one among many young players drawing on Hawkin's style. Nicknamed "Lucky" he cannot be said to be one of the most "unlucky" of saxophonists yet he never got the recognition he deserved, in spite of being admired by many of the greats (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson etc.)
To have a better understanding of his development and the apparent clarity of his early style we have to look at his more mature years in the mid-50s. Born in Detroit in 1924 (as were Teddy Edwards, Warden Gray, Yusef Lateef and Sonny Stitt) he started out singing with a vocal group but, by 1943 (right in the middle of the recording ban) he had been hired as a saxophonist by
Lionel Hampton, a stint that lasted six months and helped his career to take off. He hung around the clubs on 52nd Street where he met Hot Lips Page who invited him to record and Erroll Garner and Stuff Smith who accompanied him on his first record in December 1944. Then he played in Bill Eckstine's big band before joining Count Basie in November 1944, replacing Illinois Jacquet who had been filling in after Lester Young had left. He stayed with the band until 1945, just long enough to make a name for himself for, very early on, Thompson stood out as a saxophonist. His tone was still similar to that of Hawkins but tempered by less use of staccato, his phrasing lighter and generally in a higher pitch. During the sessions with Hot Lips Page, especially on those in November 1944, the richness of his style is evident in the obbligatos with which he backs the trumpeter. Within the context of the blues, Thompson uses his particularly sweet tone, a sweetness, however, that differs from that of Lester Young) to weave elegant patterns, together with his flowing phrasing and eloquent vibrato, plus a literally stupefying use of silences. The small band formula seems to have suited him: Hot Lips Page appreciated the contrast between the soft tones of the sax and his own harsh voice [Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You). The trumpeter had impeccable taste and many critics (including Michel Boujut) have pointed out that he was much more in the orthodox Armstrong line, his good judgement revealing itself in his choice of partners. Between the two sessions in March and November 1944 on which Thompson played, Page had called on Don Byas, Ike Quebec and Ben Webster. As we have said, Thompson was close to Coleman Hawkins "a la Don Byas" (Histoires du Saxophone, Ed. Climat, republished 1995). Hawkins disciples (as were many tenors in the early 40s), both men were also influenced by Lester Young—perhaps via Basie? Both were in on the birth of bebop (each working at one
point with Gillespie) and both were still attached to their roots although among the first modern saxophonists. During the famous 1946 Dial session, alongside Charlie Parker, Thompson had to work hard to keep up with Bird's inventive harmonies but, after all, not even Warden Gray or Dexter Gordon could reach such a creative level and Thompson certainly does not disgrace himself. In 1947 Thompson was elected "Esquire New Star" by the Esquire magazine in recognition of his talent and hard work in the Los Angeles area between 1946 and 1947. He recorded with numerous singers who liked the "vocal" aspect of his playing, often in a bluesy register, almost an early form of rhythm and blues (e.g. the small group that Thompson got together in December 1945 to accompany Dinah Washington on record, with Milt Jackson on vibes and Charles Mingus on bass).
Two 1946 sessions alongside pianist Dodo Marmarosa, the first recorded under the latter's name, reveal all the skills of the saxophonist. These recordings are not very well known but they immediately situate Thompson in the modern era (mainstream jazz musician, flying the Hag of bebop). This is not really surprising because of the Parker-Gillespie episode which was probably due mainly to the recommendation of Milt Jackson. Jackson and Thompson had close ties as they both came from Detroit but they also had a great musical relationship as is evident on the records they made in the 50s where their modem approach still retains traces of the blues. This is probably why the contribution each made to the development of modern jazz, already perceptible in the 40s, has never really been acknowledged (other than by their peers such as Gillespie, John Lewis and a few others).
In Dodo Marmarosa, Thompson found himself confronted with the best. Although the pianist's name does not automatically come to mind when thinking of great bebop pianists, in our opinion he is one of the greats and it was not
by chance that he invited Thompson to accompany him on this session that, according to George Hoffer ("The Recorded Flights of Dodo", Down Seat, 29.12.66) was one of the pianist's best ever. Lucky and Dodo even mounted their own regular band, with an excellent rhythm section including Ray Brown on bass and Jackie Mills on drums. This group, with Red Calender replacing Ray Brown, cut six other sides, including four compositions by Thompson and two by Marmarosa, Dodo's Bounce and Dodo's Lament, the latter immediately announcing the somewhat enigmatic, even strange, tone. Thompson's big, warm, comfortable sound on that day was closer to Hawkins, perhaps in an attempt to balance the more cutting edge of his partner—or maybe it is simply a result of the microphone and recording equipment used. It is often difficult to tell.
However, the answer to this question and to many others we have raised most likely lies in his more mature recordings from the 50s, which not only throw light on his earlier work but also on the probable future of jazz (Thompson on soprano, but not only on soprano, might be seen as a precursor of Coltrane). It is Thompson's originality that makes him so difficult to define. Like Benny Golson, yet in a completely ditferent manner, he led the way with a new form of lyricism, a unique sound, reminding us that the ability to invent has always been the hallmark of a great musician (Stan Getz, Don Byas...) something that is not always captured on record but that we, the listeners, instinctively feel.
Adapted from the French by Joyce Waterhouse