Airmail Special, Louie Bellson,
Salute to Big Band Masters
[1] Salute to LIONEL HAMPTON: AIRMAIL SPECIAL
(Benny Goodman/Jimmy Mundy/ Charlie Christian) Jewel Music Publishing/ Rytvoc Publishing (ASCAP) and Regent Music (BMI) Arranged by Tommy Newsom/ Soloists: Glenn Drewes, Trumpet; Ken Hitchcock, Tenor saxophone; Joe Moselle, Trumpet
[2] Salute to DIZZY GILLESPIE: I THINK OF YOU
(Louie Bellson) Walrus Music Co. (ASCAP)Arranged by Don Menza / Soloist: Marvin Stamm, Flugelhorn
[3] Salute to BENNY GOODMAN: DON'T BE THAT WAY
(Benny Goodman/ Edgar Sampson) EMI / Robbins Catalogue Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Sammy Nestico/ Soloists: Keith O'Quinn, Trombone; Don Menza, Tenor saxophone; Derek Smith, Piano
[4] Salute to BUNNY BERIGAN: I CAN'T GET STARTED
(Vernon Duke/ Ira Gershwin) Chappell Music Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Tommy Goodman/ Soloist: Scott Robinson, Baritone saxophone
[5] Salute to WOODY HERMAN:TAKE ME HOME
(Louie Bellson / Remo Palmier) Music Services Unlimited, Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Brad Morey/ Soloist: George Young, Soprano saxophone
[6] Salute to LOUIE BELLSON: IF I WERE A BELLSON
(Frank Rosser) Frank Music Corp. (ASCAP) Arranged by Frank Mantooth/ Soloists: Scott Robinson, Baritone saxophone: Louie Bellson, Drums
[7] Salute to CHARLIE BARNET: CHEROKEE (Ray Noble) Shapiro/ Bernstein & Co. and Col-Gems/ EMI Music Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Don Menza / Soloists: Don Menza, Tenor saxophone; Louie Bellson, Drums; Jay Leonhart, Bass
[8] Salute to DUKE ELLINGTON: PRELUDE TO A KISS
(Duke Ellington) Mills Music Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Jack Hayes/ Soloist: Don Menza, Tenor saxophone
[9] Salute to TOMMY DORSEY: IN ROY'S CORNER (Sammy Nestico/ Louie Bellson / Dave Black) Birch Island Music Co. (ASCAP) Arranged by Sammy Nestico, Louie Bellson and Dave Black/ Soloists: Derek Smith, Piano; Jimmy Pugh, Trombone
[10] Salute to HARRY JAMES: REACH FOR THE SKY (Louie Bellson / Jack Hayes) Music Services Unlimited, Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Jack Hayes I Soloist: Bob Millikan, Trumpet
[11] Salute to ARTIE SHAW: BEGIN THE BEGUINE (Cole Porter) Warner Bros. Music Inc. (ASCAP) Arranged by Tommy Goodman/ Soloists: Glenn Drewes, Trumpet; Jimmy Pugh, Trombone
[12] Salute to COUNT BASIE: GET UP AND GO (Sammy Nestico) (BMI) Arranged by Sammy Nestico/ Soloists: Don Menza, Tenor saxophone: Derek Smith, Piano; Jay Leonhart, Bass; Louie Bellson, Drums
Louie Bellson salutes some of the historic "Big Band Masters" in this notable collection of fresh arrangements and originals. Drummer Bellson is likewise a prominent master, carrying on a big band tradition that resists having its blue flames dimmed or dismissed. Witness the most recent contributions of vivid, zestful jazz by his talent-laden orchestras on MusicMasters (Hot, 5008-2-C, and East Side Suite, 50092-C). And now Bellson delivers his brand of salute/acknowledgement to some big band leaders whose music and orchestras have constituted a major share of the era's musical literature and swinging jazz firmament.
These dozen performances were inspired by Bellson's deep appreciation for his own sources of music excitement and guidance. He offers: "Louis Armstrong said 'We should never forget where we came from and where we're going'; Duke, Benny, Woody, Basie and some others were my mentors." He thought it would be fitting "to take a selection that each of the guys performed and write something" that might be linked to them. He emphasized "it wouldn't be right if we took the original charts and considered them with the same ideas and frames as Time-Life's re-created series of some ten or more years ago." Instead, Bellson's aim was to savor and reinterpret the music, re-casting it with a fresh approach, without forsaking integrity.
"The music should speak for itself," he said. So don' t be surprised that while half the selections may patently relay an association with the saluted bandleader, the remaining tunes may connote more subtle nuances, feelings or special perspectives and concepts connected with the chosen musician. There are, indeed, surprises to enjoy.
Opening the slate is the title selection Airmail Special, drawn from the swing classic of Benny Goodman's 1941 Sextet, but which is more tightly identified with Lionel Hampton. This quintessential riff tune embodies the swing era with its basic pentatonic motif and the driving accents on the fourth beat. Tommy Newsom, assistant conductor of the Tonight Show band, arranged this boiling curtain raiser. "The original was so definitive,'' said Newsom, "it would be dangerous to tamper too much without wrecking it, so I tried some slightly different approaches, but the main thing was to keep it hot." Bellson added, "Lionel has been a vital force.in jazz, and Tommy is one of the few who truly knows how to write for a big band. He didn't go overboard with devices, but stuck to the essentials. He writes great swing figures and shows keen sensitivity for the instruments." In common with Bill Holman
and Sammy Nestico, Newsom is adept at writing rests, giving the band a breath. Note the trumpet parts singing out as if each were playing the solo itself. All three soloists ignite and burn: Glenn Drewes, who has played hot trumpet with Woody Herman and Mel Lewis among other bands; tenorist Ken Hitchcock, whom Don Menza calls" a complete jazz sax player"; and Joe Mosello, who gets up high on the parts originally scored for Cat Anderson's ceiling-register trumpet.
I Think of You is a salute to Dizzy Gillespie, featuring the magnificent horn solo of Marvin Stamm. "Originally, I wrote it for Ron Modell (Director-of the Northern Illinois University's Jazz Ensemble),'‘ explains Bellson,” and after Don Menza wrote a section for a flugelhorn, we decided to dedicate it to Diz (Modell agreed). Unbeknownst to many, Diz is a real sentimentalist, and I wanted to capture this other side of him on this project." Then enters Don Menza: "It's not just another dance-band tune .. .. It’s a nice easy swinging ballad with many colors and much inventiveness." Menza simply outdid himself on this impressive, beautiful chart. When mentioning how the overtones recall traits of the arrangements of Oliver Nelson and Gil Evans, Menza concurred: "They opened up my ears to aspects other than just the chords." And, of course, there are easily detectable earmarks of Bill Holman's approaches, too.
There's a delicious surprise for your ears on Sammy Nestico's appealing re-working of the vintage Goodman chestnut Don't Be That Way. Check out the elongated tune, making a five-bar instead of the original four-bar phrase; in effect, it beams radiantly with a different touch. "I felt it was an old friend with a new face," remarked Nestico with satisfaction. Trombonist Keith O'Quinn, Menza and pianist Derek Smith acquit themselves with warmth and stylistic elan. Bunny Berigan and I Can't Get Started are historically spoken in the same breath. The interpretation by arranger Tommy Goodman spotlights versatile Scott Robinson on a glowing baritone saxophone solo. As Bellson said rhetorically, "Who can do the trumpet solo after Bunny; he put it away permanently! I was a big fan of Bunny, coming from my time in my dad's music store." Berigan's daughter Joyce wrote the following note to Louie a few months ago on March 1, 1990:
I Can't Get Started is from the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. Bob Hope sang it to Eve Arden as an up-tempo number. It was my father's idea to slow the song down to a ballad tempo. That, plus his singing and trumpet playing on his 1937 Victor record, transformed I Can't Get Started from a song of the time into music for all times. I think he would have loved your band's multi-tempo
adventure on it; like you, Bunny was a born musical explorer.
"Who would have thought then that the budding young musician, who was selling copy after copy of Bunny's record in your father's music store, would become the giant of jazz, leading the great big band on the performance that occasions this note?"
Woody Herman was first captivated with John Coltrane's soprano saxophone one night in 1964 during Woody's band break at the Metropole, when he joined me to catch Coltrane at Birdland. Shortly afterwards, Woody began adding the soprano to his clarinet and alto. I find it apropos that Take Me Home features a soprano solo (George Young) and that Bellson assigned it in honor of Woody Herman. Co-composed by Bellson and guitarist Remo Palmier, this tune was arranged by Brad Morey who had written for Stan Kenton in the early seventies and of late the Bob Stone Big Band and its successor Rob Parton's band in Chicago . On this Basie-ish chart, which also smacks of the flavors of Nat Pierce and Neal Hefti, Palmier plays in the spirit of Freddie Green.
Charlie Barnet's biggest hit was his 1939 recording of Cherokee. Don Menza's orchestrating perspective, however, is a departure from the straight-ahead swing. He uses Charlie Parker lick? at the end of the first chorus and at the end of the tune. "My contrapuntal touches are lessons I learned from Bill Holman, and I also incorporated fragments of what Diz and Bird played;' describes Menza. You might also be alert to direct quotes from a 1951 Stan Getz Quintet disc featuring Jimmy Raney, Al Haig, Teddy Kotick and Tiny Kahn called Parker 51. Menza's solo is torrid and just perfect for the bebop ride.
Prelude to a Kiss signals an instant association with Duke Ellington circa 1938-39 as this sinuously shaped melody is one of his most splendid ballads. Menza's very emotive, Dukish saxophone is highlighted in Jack Hayes's tasty orchestration. Hayes, an ex-trumpeter, is a veteran composer of film/TV soundtracks and much work with the likes of Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini. He and Bellson have been acquainted for years, and "Jack is a champion of orchestral conception," says Bellson. "He makes composers look good."
Under the pen of Frank Mantooth, Bellson is the central musician of If I Were a Bellson. It was first recorded in 1987 by Mantooth as the third movement of Suite Tooth. It's quite challenging for drummers, answering the band in spots and playing with it as other time; there's written parts and those for ad lib. I had heard Bellson perform it at the 1990 International Reno Jazz Festival: "I like Mantooth - he's got fresh ideas," Bellson said.
In Roy's Corner is Bellson's dedication to Roy Leonard of WGN in Chicago who is an arts journalist. It's also "definitely something Tommy Dorsey would have liked and would have enjoyed playing," Bellson explained. Jim Pugh's trombone statement jogs my memory back to the 70s when Pugh was considered a gifted phenomenon by Woody Herman.
A Bellson/Hayes effort brings on board Reach for the Sky, featuring Bob Milliken's trumpet. Hayes played trumpet and has written many trumpet features for Doc Severinsen, and this number is Bellson's choice to celebrate Harry James's remarkable jazz trumpet chops (and is not confined to his opulent ballad approach). Bellson reports: "Doc says that Harry was his idol: 'If I could play onetenth of what Harry did, I'd be in heaven. He's my man!'" After leaving Dorsey in 1949, Bellson worked almost two years with James before he, Willie Smith and Juan Tizol left Harry to work with Ellington in 1951.
"I've always admired Artie Shaw although I did not have the opportunity to play with him back then," said Bellson. "His clarinet was played in a unique style and this was not an easy achievement." Arranger Tommy Goodman was given free reign; he made use of three-quarter time on Begin the Beguine -- the gigantic hit in Shaw's eminent musical life. There is colorful flair and inviting un-expectancies in this version which is only remotely like the venerable,
familiar Shavian original. Drewe and Pugh articulate this attractive swinging treatise with fine solos.
The finale is anchored by Get Up and Go, a relentless Nestico bullet train. It's a long sixtyfour-bar flag-waver. "I could see Basie's right hand in front of me as I wrote this," relates Nestico. Tommy Newsom calls Nestico "a superior melodist." This closing selection. opens up widely for a speed burner like Don Menza to uncork his horn. "Oh, I flipped over Don ... what a tenor man'" Nestico exclaimed. "He knocked me out! And I love the piano, too." Get up and go is just what the band does.
About Bellson, Newsom points out: "Louie is one of a kind. He is identifiable instantly and he has a way of playing time, cruisin' along -- real fun to play with." Nestico hastens to add, "Louie is the most musical drummer I have ever known. He's one of a select few who qualifies when we say someone is one of the finest jazz musicians in the world today. And he's been there most of our lives."
Bellson is justly pleased with the band on this set. "Aren't they something else!" he said. Superb musicianship plus the right blend of imagination and spirit delivered the music with class. Louie Bellson ends it succinctly: "The New York band always comes through!"
Personnel:
GEORGE YOUNG -- alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute and piccolo
JOE ROCCISANO -- alto saxophone, flute, clarinet
DON MENZA -- tenor and soprano saxophones, flute
KEN HITCHCOCK -- tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute
SCOTT ROBINSON -- baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
BOB MILLIGAN -- trumpet, flugelhorn
DANN Y CAHN -- trumpet, flugelhorn
GLENN DREWES -- trumpet, flugelhorn
JOE WILDER -- trumpet, flugelhorn
JOE MOSELLO --trumpet, flugelhorn
MARVIN STAMM -- -trumpet, flugelhorn
KEITH O'QUINN -- trombone
JAMES PUGH -- trombone
HALE ROOD -- trombone
DAVE TAYLOR -- trombone
DEREK SMITH -- piano
JAY LEONHART -- bass
CHARLIE DESCARFINO-vibraphone, percussion
REMO PALMIER -- guitar
DICK ABLES – contractor
LOUIE BELLSON -- drums
Recorded February 15, 16, 1990 at BMG Studios, New York City.
Engineered by Joe Lopes and Jay Newland, Recorded direct to Sony PCM 1630 2-track.
Louie Bellson uses Remo Drums and Zildjian Cymbals.
Executive Producer: Jeffrey Nissim
Produced by John Snyder
Design by John Berg
Photo by Nick Sangiamo
