Backgrounder: Gil Mellé's 1950s Blue Note Sessions

Last week, following my post on guitarist Lou Mecca, I heard from many readers who were unfamiliar with Gil Mellé and wanted to hear more. The place to start with Mellé are his 1950s recordings for Blue Note. As a foootnote, his first—New Faces, New Sounds: Quintet/Sextet, a 10-inch album—was the first to be recorded on tape at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, N.J.

In all, Mellé recorded five Blue Note albums between 1952 and 1956—New Faces, New Sounds: Quintet/Sextet (1953); Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow (1953); Gil Mellé Quartet Featuring Lou Mecca (1954); 5 Impressions of Color (1955); and Patterns in Jazz (1956).

If you want to own all of these Blue Note albums, you'll find them on a single Fresh Sound release.

For now, here are Gil Mellé's 1950s Blue Note recordings without ad interruption...