Great jazz in the 1950s has always been a product of happy partnerships. Among these unions was the year-long recording collaboration between tenor saxophonist Al Cohn and trumpeter Joe Newman. Between December 1954 and December 1955, Cohn and Newman recorded on six albums together. These recordings were Cohn's Mr. Music and The Natural Seven; Newman's All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging; The Jazz Workshop's Four Brass, One Tenor; and Freddie Green's Mr. Rhythm. In total, there wasn't a dull moment among the 72 tracks, and they all jump.
Now these six albums are reunited on one new Fresh Sound box called Al Cohn and Joe Newman: The Swingin' Sessions 1954-1955, Featuring Freddie Green. The last time five of the six albums were together was on a Mosaic Select box long out of print, so this new, three-CD, 24-bit digitally remastered box is welcome news for those unfamiliar with the previous set.
The mastermind behind pairing Cohn and Newman was RCA producer Jack Lewis, who recorded them at New York's Webster Hall. Cohn and Newman had a similar approach to jazz and improvisation. Both were players who favored richly melodic solos, both preferred smooth statements that weren't overblown, and both loved to swing. The latter was in their blood. The arrangers on these sessions give you an indication of how superb the music is: Cohn, Manny Albam, Ernie Wilkins, John Carisi and Ralph Burns. Even sweeter is that five of the six albums included in the box feature the chunk-chunk-chunk of Freddie Green's rhythm guitar, an agent provocateur constantly reminding them of the swing they needed to bring.
The Newman dates tend to have a Count Basie feel, which makes sense since Newman was a star trumpeter in Basie's New Testament band in the mid-1950s. The Cohn tracks all have nifty arrangements, and all of the sessions have a New York studio sound. The sidemen are rock solid. Among them are baritone saxophonist Sol Schlinger; alto saxophonists Gene Quill and Ernie Wilkins; trombonist Billy Byers; pianist Nat Pierce; trumpeters Bernie Glow, Thad Jones, Joe Wilder and Phil Sunkel; drummers Osie Johnson and Jo Jones, and bassist Milt Hinton.
Much ink has been used to write romantically about the cool tonality and contrapuntal design of West Coast jazz as well as the superb recording-studio scene in Hollywood in the 1950s. So it's easy to forget that New York had its own high-polish, soulful jazz studio regulars who added magic to every date they were on. This box goes far to drive that point home. The tracks sound go good, I'd advise you to just put it on and let it the set play in its entirety over and over. You'll be listening to a lot of talented artists who loved what they did for a living, and it shows.
Now these six albums are reunited on one new Fresh Sound box called Al Cohn and Joe Newman: The Swingin' Sessions 1954-1955, Featuring Freddie Green. The last time five of the six albums were together was on a Mosaic Select box long out of print, so this new, three-CD, 24-bit digitally remastered box is welcome news for those unfamiliar with the previous set.
The mastermind behind pairing Cohn and Newman was RCA producer Jack Lewis, who recorded them at New York's Webster Hall. Cohn and Newman had a similar approach to jazz and improvisation. Both were players who favored richly melodic solos, both preferred smooth statements that weren't overblown, and both loved to swing. The latter was in their blood. The arrangers on these sessions give you an indication of how superb the music is: Cohn, Manny Albam, Ernie Wilkins, John Carisi and Ralph Burns. Even sweeter is that five of the six albums included in the box feature the chunk-chunk-chunk of Freddie Green's rhythm guitar, an agent provocateur constantly reminding them of the swing they needed to bring.
The Newman dates tend to have a Count Basie feel, which makes sense since Newman was a star trumpeter in Basie's New Testament band in the mid-1950s. The Cohn tracks all have nifty arrangements, and all of the sessions have a New York studio sound. The sidemen are rock solid. Among them are baritone saxophonist Sol Schlinger; alto saxophonists Gene Quill and Ernie Wilkins; trombonist Billy Byers; pianist Nat Pierce; trumpeters Bernie Glow, Thad Jones, Joe Wilder and Phil Sunkel; drummers Osie Johnson and Jo Jones, and bassist Milt Hinton.
Much ink has been used to write romantically about the cool tonality and contrapuntal design of West Coast jazz as well as the superb recording-studio scene in Hollywood in the 1950s. So it's easy to forget that New York had its own high-polish, soulful jazz studio regulars who added magic to every date they were on. This box goes far to drive that point home. The tracks sound go good, I'd advise you to just put it on and let it the set play in its entirety over and over. You'll be listening to a lot of talented artists who loved what they did for a living, and it shows.
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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