Perfection: Ted McNabb & Co.: Mountain Greenery

Who was Ted McNabb? And what company did he keep, as the album cover above intimates? You won't believe the story behind this 1959 album or the album's superb arrangements and musicians. I came across this LP by accident in 2012. Back then, few jazz fans even knew it existed.

The record was arranged and conducted by the great Marion Evans. The knockout band featured Burt Collins, Bernie Glow, Doc Severinsen and John Bello (tp); Sy Berger, Frank Rehak, Urbie Green and Dick Hixson (tb); Dick Meldonian and Gene Quill (as); Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (ts); Sol Schlinger (bar); Nat Pierce (p); Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b) and Osie Johnson (d).

When a few musicians couldn't make the second and third recording sessions, Al Derisi and John Frosk (tp), Herb Geller (as), John Drew (b) and Don Lamond (d) stepped in. This band is the cream of the New York studio scene that year.

To learn more about the mysterious Ted McNabb, read my 2012 interview with Marion Evans here.

Here's the lead-off track—an incredible barn-burner on Mountain Greenery. (with the band that featured the alternate musicians mentioned above)...