Paul Desmond: The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings

Will wonders never cease? I sure hope not, as the latest treasure to make its way to my CD player is the astounding 7-disc set by alto saxophone master Paul Desmond, entitled The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings. Extensive liner notes by Doug Ramsey, who knew Desmond well and wrote Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, Don Thompson, bassist and recording engineer for this material, jazz historian Thomas Cunniffe, and, happily, the witty Desmond himself, go a long way towards explaining the circumstances surrounding these live performances at Toronto’s Bourbon Street night club. In brief, after Desmond and Dave Brubeck finally called it quits on the quartet in 1967, the saxophonist took it easy for a while. Eventually, he was persuaded to play at the Half Note, a new club near his Manhattan apartment. Jim Hall, a long-time favorite of Desmond’s, was his guitarist on the gig, and when that led to an invitation to play in Toronto early in 1975, Hall demurred, and suggested using Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert. This was a match that proved to be perfect from the first minute. Like Desmond, Bickert seemed to know every song anyone had ever played, and as Thompson notes, Bickert “was famous for basically knowing all the tunes in all the keys.” The crystalline lines he conjured from a solid-body Fender Telecaster mesh perfectly with Desmond’s legendarily dry tone. On drums was the deeply simpatico Jerry Fuller, whose rhythmic authority is always clear. Of the 9 sessions spread across the 7 discs, only three have previously been available. Eight songs from late October were issued as a two-Lp set on the A& M Horizon label. From the same dates, but listed separately in the discography, are five songs that originally appeared on Artists House. And six tracks recorded in March came out on a Telarc CD. That means that there are hours and hours of new Desmond performances (32 tracks!) to thrill and delight his fans. The one thing that amazes me about these recordings is the complete lack of rehearsal. Somehow, Desmond could stand on stage, call the tune (sometimes) and the key, and off they’d go. There was no discussion of anything, says Thompson, except for endings to a few songs. It worked the same way when valve trombonist Rob McConnell subbed for Bickert on a couple of nights at the end of October. McConnell is quoted as saying “Without a word, a count-off or even picking the tune, Paul would have the band playing just the way he wanted it; quietly, thoughtfully, and musically.” Given the circumstances, there are naturally a few tunes in the repertoire that appear a few times. But with such thoughtful and harmonically astute improvisers on the bandstand, it’s no problem at all to hear Desmond play favorites like Gerry Mulligan’s Line For Lyons, Duke Ellington’s Just Squeeze Me, Mercer Ellington’s Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, and his own Take Five. About the only thing that might get on some listeners’ nerves are the seldom-varied routines of solos by Desmond, Bickert, and on every tune, whether he wanted to take a solo or not, Thompson. Drummer Fuller gets a bit short-changed on solo time, but he sounds so much at home throughout that I doubt it bothered him at all. When McConnell takes over for Bickert on a couple of night, the energy level rises a bit, as the two horns inspire one another and play off of each other in fresh ways. The twelve minutes they devote to Let’s Get Away From it All, the Matt Dennis-Tom Adair standard, should be enough to convince most listeners that it’s too bad that the men didn’t get together to play more often. Early in his notes, Ramsey asks if the reader will “allow me to mention a few high points, although I must observe that [these recording] constitute the high point of Desmond’s post-Brubeck career.” And he is so right. Absolutely recommended. 

Mosaic MD7-269; Paul Desmond (as) Ed Bickert (g on sessions A-F, I) or Rob McConnell (valve tbn on sessions G & H) Don Thompson (b) Jerry Fuller (d); Toronto, ON, March 25 (A), March 26 (B), March 28 (C), March 29 (D), October 25-26 (E), October 27-29 (F), October 30 (G), October 31 (H), and October 27-29 (I); Disc 1 (69:17): Too Marvelous For Words (C)/ Line For Lyons (A)/ Emily (A)/ It Could Happen to You (B)/ Just Squeeze Me (C)/ I Wish I Knew (A)/ I Should Care (C)/ Audrey (B). Disc 2 (73:14): Just Squeeze Me (D)/ Meditation (D)/ Tangerine (D)/ Darn That Dream (C)/ Nuages (D)/ Like Someone in Love (D)/ Things Ain’t What They Used to Be (D). Disc 3 (65:11): Line For Lyons (F)/ Wendy (E)/ Too Marvelous For Words (F)/ When Sunny Gets Blue (F)/ Audrey (F) Darn That Dream (F)/ Take Five (E). Disc 4 (70:23): Tangerine (F)/ Wave (C)/ It Could Happen to You (C)/ Emily (E)/ Line For Lyons (E)/ When Sunny Gets Blue (E)/ Things Ain’t What They Used to Be (E). Disc 5 (64:29): Just Squeeze Me (E)/ All the Things You Are (B)/ Autumn Leaves (B)/ Wave (B)/ I’ve Got You Under My Skin (A)/ Nuages (B)/ East of the Sun (C). Disc 6 (77:52): Let’s Get Away From it All (G)/ Line For Lyons (G)/ Just Squeeze Me (G)/ My Funny Valentine (H)/ Mean to Me (H)/ Wendy (G)/ Things Ain’t What They Used to Be (G). Disc 7 (73:26): Wendy (I)/ Wave (I)/ Things Ain’t What They Used to Be (I)/ Nancy (I)/ Manha de Carnaval (I)/ Here’s That Rainy Day (I)/ My Funny Valentine (I)/ Take Five (I). (Limited edition of 2,500 sets, available directly from mosaicrecords.com)