"One of the central documents of post-war jazz, [Volume 1] should on no account be missed." - Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD
VOLUME 1 (Full album)
Session #1, June 22, 1953: Clifford Brown, trumpet; Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Jimmy Heath, tenor, baritone sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
At WOR Studios, NYC. Tracks: Capri, Lover Man, Turnpike, Sketch One, It Could Happen to You, Get Happy.
From the CD reissue liner notes, by Bob Blumenthal:
"Around 1950, the music business went through one of the periodic downturns that have always seemed to hit jazz artists earliest and hardest. Being a serious and responsible individual with a family, Johnson opted for a job inspecting blueprints in a Sperry factory in 1952. As with several of his famous contemporaries, what kept him in the public eye to any extent at all was his affiliation with Blue Note Records, which began at a 1950 date led by Howard McGhee. Another trumpeter and close friend, Miles Davis, featured Johnson in two of his sextets for the label, including an April 1953 session (Miles Davis, Vol. 2) that included two Johnson compositions.
"Like Davis, Johnson would record three sessions for Blue Note in this period that were released on the short-lived 10" LP format. This was the first of the three, and turned out to be a most auspicious gathering of giants. Sensational trumpeter Clifford Brown was making only his third jazz date, having recorded with Lou Donaldson for Blue Note and Tadd Dameron for Prestige earlier in the month of June. At the end of August, he would debut as a leader in his own Blue Note session (Clifford Brown Memorial Album). Jimmy Heath, still primarily known as a former alto player so close to his idol Charlie Parker he had been nicknamed Little Bird, and his brother, bassist Percy Heath, were both with Johnson on the April Miles Davis session. John Lewis, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke had already begun working with vibist Milt Jackson in what would become the Modern Jazz Quartet. Both Heaths, Clarke, Jackson, and Davis had also logged time with the trombonist in a short-lived group associated with deejay Symphony Sid called Jazz, Inc.
"Capri" was written by the talented alto saxophonist/composer Gigi Gryce, who would soon team with Brown in the Lionel Hampton band and on several recordings. The inspiring chord sequence finds Johnson anything but rusty in his two choruses, with Heath, the extremely confident and fluent Brown and Lewis following. The master take (recorded after the alternate) is slightly faster, with a more outgoing solo from the leader and a strong saxophone chorus that suggested Charlie Parker on tenor to original annotator Leonard Feather.
"Lover Man" is one of two ballads included here that make one wonder how Johnson ever got tagged as a "mechanical" player. His sound is tender and he embellishes the melody gracefully, while his arrangement uses the other horns judiciously and to telling effect. John Lewis is also outstanding in his eight-bar solo.
"Turnpike" is Johnson's only composition on the date, with the bold introduction yielding a contrastingly simple two-note theme akin to Monk's "Thelonious" in the A section of the AABA chorus. In their second choruses, each soloist blows over a pattern based on the cycle f fifths that is scored for the other horns when Jimmy Heath and Johnson take their turns. Jimmy plays baritone sax in the ensembles and tenor on his solo choruses, while Clarke and Percy Heath step forward on the out choruses. The later alternate take finds each of the horn players sustaining his exemplary level of execution, with Lewis in a playful mood.
"The pianist's more serious side emerges in "Sketch 1," a theme of stately beauty that one can imagine being interpreted by the MJQ. Lewis's arrangement takes the melody through several moods with Jimmy Heath's baritone sax initially in the lead, the composer offering more ruminative consideration, Brown in a rare muted appearance after a dramatic ensemble flourish, and Johnson at his warmest. The trombone solo is followed by an out-of-tempo variation for the horns before the baritone sax restates the melody.
"Brown and Jimmy Heath lay out on "It Could Happen to You," a contemplative Johnson ballad feature enhanced by Lewis's articulate accompaniment. All members of the quartet bear down at the start of the second chorus without resorting to double-time, and Johnson frames the whole performance with a lyrical introduction and coda.
"Spirits soar again on "Get Happy," where Johnson gets a great sound from the three-horn front line. Everyone is loose, strong, and extremely comfortable with both the hard swing generated by the rhythm section and the harmonic suspension that Johnson employs in the final eight bars of each blowing chorus. The later alternate take finds the trombone beginning with a cleverly oblique quote of "Why Was I Born?," while Lewis is limited to a single chorus."
VOLUME 2 (Full album)
Session #2, September 24, 1954: Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Charles Mingus, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums; "Sabu" Martinez, congas #1-3,6. At Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ. Tracks: Too Marvelous For Words, Jay, Old Devil Moon, It's You Or No One, Time After Time, Coffee Pot.
Session #3, June 6, 1955: Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums. At Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ. Tracks: Pennies from Heaven, Viscosity, You're Mine You, Daylie Double, Groovin', Portrait of Jennie
Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD: "The 1954 session yields some fine exchanges between Johnson and Kelly, notably on "It's You Or No One" and "Too Marvellous For Words", where the leader's tone and attack are almost as perfect as on "Turnpike". Volume 2 is filled out with a less than inspiring 1955 date featuring Hank Mobley and Horace Silver, neither of whom seems attuned to Johnson's taxing idiom."