A Century of Music

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Dizzy Gillespie - Afro (1954)

Great, great jazz big band album with Dizzy revisiting his Afro-Cuban hits with a large band and Chico O'Farrill's arrangements. Quincy Jones appears as a trumpeter. Hey, J.J. Johnson is here as a trombonist too!

 

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Roy Eldridge & Dizzy Gillespie - Roy and Diz (1954)

Can't have 1954 without this one - I've frequently touted this album, a very accessible and wonderful album to hear. Two great trumpeters with a great deal of respect for each other.

 

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Thelonious Monk Trio (1954)

May visit a couple more albums over the weekend, but in case I finish 1954 here, didn't want to end without this Monk album, considering it marks the first recorded appearance of both "Blue Monk" and "Bemsha Swing", songs he would revisit and reimagine for many years ahead.

 

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And I'm back. With my Christmas listening done, I can resume my long term project
Welcome to 1955
Starting as always with a playlist (this one 76 songs) of the top singles of the year as well as important (and just awesome) songs that were released that year.

Top 10 singles of 1955
1) "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom Wine" by Perez Prado
2) "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets
3) "The Yellow Rose of Texas" by Mitch Miller
4) "Autumn Leaves" by Roger Williams
5) "Unchained Melody" by Les Baxter
6) "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Bill Hayes
7) "Love is A Many Splendored Thing" by The Four Aces
8) "Sincerely" by The McGuire Singers
9) "Ain't That A Shame" by Pat Boone
10) "The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry)" by Georgia Gibbs

The top 10 of the year 1955 tells a lot. Aside from Cuban bandleader Perez Prado, most of the 10 ten were whitebread, easy listening - you're pops music. Note the popularity of "Ain't That A Shame" and "Sincerely" both of which were recorded first and better by Fats Domino and The Moonglows respectively with the white artists covering the songs hitting much bigger. Ah but that #2 song tells us a lot - the popularity of "Rock Around the Clock" would change a lot (as would Elvis the next year) highlighting the power of teen purchasing ability. Soon, with Elvis' move to RCA next year, rock would be king and music would never be the same.

Some of the best songs of 1955 are not-surprisingly songs that were not among the top 30 singles of the year
"Maybellene"and "Thirty Days" by Chuck Berry
"Ain't That A Shame" by Fats Domino
"Bo Diddley" and "I'm A Man" by Bo Diddley
"Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard"
"Only You" and "The Great Pretender" by The Platters
"Earth Angel" by The Penguins
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
"Folsom Prison Blues"and "Cry! Cry! Cry!" by Johnny Cash
"Mystery Train" by Elvis Presley
"Love and Marriage" and "Learnin' the Blues' by Frank Sinatra
"Flip Flop Fly" by Big Joe Turner
"Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters
"Pledging My Love" by Johnny Ace
"Cry Me A River" by Julie London

 

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Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours

Sinatra's first 12" LP - critically lauded, popular, often touted as Frankie's best. Still, I don't turn to it too often. I' always enjoy Sinatra's swing and like it when he mixes ballads and uptempo numbers. It's a great album though if I'm going song by song, I prefer other artist's versions of many of these more (ex. "It Never Entered My Mind" by Ella Fitzgerald)

New factoid for me from Wiki
In the Wee Small Hours was issued as two 10-inch LP discs, and also as one 12-inch record LP, making it one of the first of its kind in the pop field. It was also issued as four four–song 45-rpm EP discs sold in cardboard sleeves with the same cover as the LPs, not in paper covers like 45-rpm singles.

 

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Julie London - Julie Is Her Name

 

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Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams (1955)

One of the best albums of 1955 - Dinah is so dynamic. This is just as much a showcase for trumpeter Clifford Brown who (as we will see over the next picks) had a big year in '55

 

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Helen Merrill - Helen Merrill (1955)

I won't say forgotten, but certainly least known of the three albums trumpeter Clifford Brown recorded backing female jazz vocalists in 1954 (and released 1954-55) is Helen Merrill's debut. It shouldn't be neglected - Merrill's voice is not as potent as Dinah Washington's or as wide-ranged as Sarah Vaughn, but man can she caress a lyric. Brown's playing is more subdued her, befitting of the vocalist's style. Really nice album that I haven't spun (per last.fm) since 2013 - yikes! It doesn't seem that long. Remedying that now.

 

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Clifford Brown with Strings (1955)

From allmusic.com

There are two schools of thought regarding this Clifford Brown with strings session (which has been reissued on CD). Brownie plays quite beautifully and shows off his warm tone on such numbers as "Portrait of Jenny," "Memories of You," "Embraceable You" and "Stardust." But on the other hand the string arrangements by Neal Hefti border on muzak and Brown never really departs from the melody. So the trumpeter's tone is the only reason to acquire this disc which to this listener is a slight disappointment, not living up to its potential.

You can probably guess which "school of thought" I'm in - true, not one's first pick with Brownie. Mellow ballads not showcasing his jazz punch, but oh that tone.

 

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Stan Getz & Lionel Hampton - Hamp & Getz (1955)
Dizzy Gillespie & Stan Getz - Diz & Getz (1955)

Verve Records would be formed a year later in 1956 - both of these albums (which would be soon rereleased on Verve) were put on on Norman Granz' Norgran label (which would become part of Verve). Granz was renowned as a produced for odd pairings here teaming cool jazz tenor Getz with swing vibist Hampton or speedy bop trumpeter Gillespie. In both cases it remarkably works. Given my love of Dizzy, I surprisingly enjoy the Hamp album more than Diz's one (though the version of Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" on Diz and Getz is outstanding).

 

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Kenny Dorham - Afro-Cuban (1955)

Trumpeter Kenny Dorham deserves more attention

 

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Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea (1955)

Tremendous piano trio album - Garner is truly impressive.
From allmusic:

Concert by the Sea is certainly one of the biggest albums in jazz history, selling over 225,000 copies in the first year after its 1956 release and turning into such a steady seller over the next few years, it reportedly brought Columbia Records a million dollars by 1958 -- a nice sum at any time but astronomical in the late '50s. It should've turned Erroll Garner into a full-fledged superstar and, in a way, it did, because it was a reliable catalog item and earned him plenty of fans, including Johnny Carson, who frequently invited the pianist onto The Tonight Show. Instead, Concert by the Sea turned into a pinnacle, with Garner and manager Martha Glaser sliding into contractual battles with Columbia that hampered his long-term growth

 

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Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Brown and Roach Incorporated (1955)

 

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Ella Fitzgerald - Lullabies of Birdland (1955)

Released in 1955, it's actually a collection of recordings Ella did over the prior decade. Still, a great compilation showing off Ella's scatting ability

 

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Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich - Krupa and Rich (1955)

Verve's Norman Granz produced the Jazz at the Philharmonic tours featuring jazz greats from the 1930s-1950s and some concerts would feature drum battles between the two men touted as the best drummers of their era. So understandably a couple of albums pairing these two would follow. This one is a tad misleading as it features Krupa on two tracks, Rich on two tracks and the two together on just one. Still as one can imagine, quite the album for fans of drummers, and the one track "Bernie's Tune" is as much a battle between the trumpeters (Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge) and the saxophonists (Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips) as it is the drummers. Often included are two bonus tracks featuring Buddy Rich, one of which, "The Monster", has drumming that (for 1955 and even today) is jawdropping.

 

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Damn Yankees (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (1955)

 

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Modern Jazz Quartet - Concorde (1955)

The MJQ's first LP and their first with drummer Connie Kaye (replacing Kenny Clarke) - he would stay with the band until his death in 1994

 

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Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi (1955)

Columbia released this album in 1955 from Vaughan's debut plus some assorted early recordings (all 1949-52). By 1955 she had moved on to EmArcy/Mercury with success (in fact 1955 also has an EmArcy album Sarah Vaughan in the Land of Hi-Fi). Even early on, Vaughan has such command of her voice (with an astounding range from soprano to female baritone)
Two great quotes about Vaughan:
Mel Torme: "the single best vocal instrument of any singer working in the popular field."
Frank Sinatra: "Sassy is so good now that when I listen to her I want to cut my wrists with a dull razor."

 

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Bud Powell's Moods (1955)

Verve's albums in the mid-50s of the great bop pianist show, despite declining mental and physical health, he was still incredible

 

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Bud Powell's Moods (1955)

Verve's albums in the mid-50s of the great bop pianist show, despite declining mental and physical health, he was still incredible

That's a heckuva cover for somebody with mental health issues.