St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-03-02
THE WEEK IN
RECORDS
By Albert Anderson

brought with it many pretentions
and a lot of senseless probing by
musical upstairs and imitators
casting about for new sounds and
fads, with the inevitable dilution
of the art. Therefore, when some
one comes along with real ideas
that are not bound to offshot
probings, the results are genuine
ly refreshing.
Such an artist is trumpetist Don
Ellis, whose latest work is featured
in this weeks column. Ellis new
album, along with two other wax
ings, follows:
New Ideas: Prestige LIP
(825O. Tunes: Natural H.; "Des-
pair to Hope; "Uh-Huh"; -Four
and Three; Imitation; "Solo";
Cock and Bull"; Tragedy" Per-
sonnet: Ellis, trumpet; Al Francis,
vibraharp; Jali Byard, piano; Ron
Carter, bass; Charlie Persip,
drums.
From the standpoint of ingenuin-
ity, this is one of the top LIP jazz
recordings on the market. Ellis,
who scored big hit with his Can
did album, How time Passes
scores anew with this waxing, on
which he weaves new musical pat
terms from conventional jazz styl-
ings With his natural gift for
improvisation, Ellis shows both in
dividuality and inventiveness far
above the regular run of young
moderns who are simply trying to
say something new Note, for
instance, Don's treatment of ma
tural H, which, unsteady, is but
a restating of the old evergreen,
Sweet Georgia Brown" E. There
is also another feature in which
Ellis shows class, himself on trum-
pet, and with the quintet as a
whole
This is the ability to make the
music fit the title &. as on "Trag-
edy", which is truly fine mood
tune, and on "Uh-Huh," an uppish
tune in lively vein All these
qualities put together makes New
Ideas" a truly fine disk But
you be the final judge Tune
in on this session and see if you
won't agree that it's 'The Mccoy
E. A big bargain.
"Stan Getz-Bob Brookmeyer"
Verve LIP (841S). Tunes: "Minuet
Circa 81; WHO Could Care?
Mice Work If You Can Get IT.;
"Thump, Thump, Thump"; "A
Nightingale Sang in Berkeley
Square; Love Jumped Out" Per-
sonnel"; Getz tenor saxaphone;
Brookmeyer, valve tr o m b o n e ;
Steve Kuhn, piano; John Neves,
bass; Roy Haynes, drums.
It was a good thing that Getz
chose to get together with Brook
meyer for this his first recording
since his return to the us. E. For
here is a fare that is truly delight
full And the big reason for this
is the cohesiveness of the group
-. There is unity of purpose, cor
rect shading and blending Of the
harmony, and balance that one
senses Immediately The fare
itself is a combination of a few
new things and some delightful
standard tunes, including Buck
Clayton's swinger, Love Jumped
Out" My favorite tune, how
ever, is Nightingale" the old ev-
ergreen, on which the group is es-
pecially tuneful &. . AS for the set
as a whole, each artist stands out;
Getz and Brookmeyer, on solos,
Kuhn, with some fine piano chord
ings; Neves, with his intelligent
background bass playing, and, OF
course, Haynes, with his fine
brushwork, on drums A King
size Dish.
For Real: Contemporary LIP
(35s9). Tunes: Hip; Wrap Your
Troubles in Dreams; "Crazeolo-
Ry"; Numbers Game; For
Real; IT Love You" Personnel;
Halves, piano; Harold Land, tenor
saxophone; Scott LaFaro, bass
Frank Butler, drums.
I don't know about this LIP
Here is presented a fine group OF
musicians, and yet their perform
ance seems to hang in air as
If something is lacking Tha'
something could well be variety
except on a couple Of numbers, on
which Halves, LaFaro, and Butler
point the way This is not to
saw that the others are not up to
the task Each solos well when