Classic Vanguard Small Group Sessions

  When I first ran across some compilation CDs in 2002 by Sir Charles Thompson and Jimmy Rushing on the Vanguard label, I did a double-take. The sessions date from the early to mid Fifties, and I had never even known of their existence until then. I’d always thought of Vanguard Records as a folk-oriented label with artists like Joan Baez, Buffy Saint Marie, and Ian & Sylvia, with a few Country Joe and The Fish releases in the late Sixties. Now Mosaic Records has come to the rescue, by compiling the Classic Vanguard Small Group Sessions. It turns out that most of the music on the 7 CDs in the set has never been reissued in any format, and the generally high quality of the swing-oriented music makes this a treasure chest of largely forgotten releases. All the sessions were produced by the legendary John Hammond, a larger than life figure who played a major role in American popular music for decades starting in the 1930's. Thomas Cunniffe’s booklet essay details the complicated story that led to Hammond’s association with Vanguard. Hammond was assisted on some of the earlier dates by Nat Hentoff, a columnist for Down Beat magazine at the time.

Originally released on 10" or 12" lps, all the music (aside from the final session, a live recording from Count Basie’s nightclub in Harlem) was recorded by the Brooklyn Masonic Temple with a single microphone some thirty feet above the stage. In general, the sound quality is surprisingly good, well balanced with clear separation of the instruments. The biggest names in this compilation are tenor saxophonists Buddy Tate, Frank Foster, Lucky Thompson, and Coleman Hawkins, drummer Jo Jones, bassist Walter Page and vocalist Jimmy Rushing from the Count Basie band, pianist Hank Jones, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and trumpeters Buck Clayton and Ruby Braff, although even some of these figures from the past will be known mostly to serious jazz fans. 

The Fifties were an interesting time in the history of jazz, when hard bop (like the music of Art Blakey and Horace Silver) and the more mainstream sound of the bands in this set largely coexisted, albeit with different audiences. Tenormen Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster were still active, while modernists like John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, and Benny Golson were starting to make names for themselves. Add in technological developments, like the use of tape recording, 10 & 12-inch lps, and later in the decade, the beginning of stereophonic reproduction, and it’s clear that this was a heady and complicated time for music. Swing-era musicians had to adapt to longer playing times after a lifetime of making sides that lasted for 4 minutes or less, and record companies also had to cope with the new realities of recording and releasing music. 

To these ears, the stars of this collection are trumpeter Ruby Braff, with his beautiful tone and thoughtful improvisations, the nearly forgotten pianist Sir Charles Thompson and his delightful sense of swing, the always pleasing “Mr. Five By Five,” Jimmy Rushing, and the influential drummer Jo Jones. The Basie veteran powers sessions by trombonist Vic Dickenson, trumpeters Braff and Clayton, and all three sessions featuring Jimmy Rushing. The collection also includes Jones’ first date as a leader, with Count Basie himself at the piano bench for two takes of Shoe Shine Boy. In the best Mosaic tradition, there’s one unreleased track, an alternate take of Kandee from Buck Clayton’s July 1, 1954 session. And there’s more to come, with a projected second collection of Vanguard Piano Jazz Showcase highlights, featured more Jo Jones and Sir Charles Thompson, plus Mel Powell and three duet albums by Ruby Braff and pianist Ellis Larkins. Unhesitatingly recommended. 

Mosaic MD7-280; Disc 1 (74:45): (A) Vic Dickenson Septet (12/29/53); (B) Vic Dickenson Septet (11/29/54); Disc 2 (62:49): (B) Vic Dickenson Septet, concluded; (C) Ruby Braff Sextet (10/17/5); Disc 3 (73:33): (D) Sir Charles Thompson Sextet (12/30/53); (E) Sir Charles Thompson and His Band (8/16/54); (F) Joe Newman and His Band (3/9/54). Disc 4 (80:01): (G) Buck Clayton’s Band (featuring Ruby Braff) (7/1/54); (H) Buck Clayton (3/14/57). Disc 5 (70:14): (I) Jo Jones (8/11/55); (J) Jimmy Rushing’s All Stars (12/1/54); Disc 6 (68:00): (K) Jimmy Rushing and His All Stars (8/16/55); (L) Jimmy Rushing (3/5/57); Disc 7 (70:55): (L) Jimmy Rushing, concluded; (M) Various Artists: A Night At Count Basie’s (10/22/56). For complete discographical details, go here. Limited to 5,000 sets; available from www.mosaicrecords.com