The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions
The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 1998 | |||
Recorded | March 2, 1952, January 31 & October 25, 1953, September 5, 1954, February 27, 1955 and April 1, 1956 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 137:56 | |||
Label | Blue Note | |||
Producer | Gil Mellé, Alfred Lion | |||
Gil Mellé chronology | ||||
| ||||
Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet Cover | ||||
![]() | ||||
Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow Cover | ||||
![]() | ||||
5 Impressions of Color Cover | ||||
![]() | ||||
The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions is a compilatation of saxophonist, composer and bandleader Gil Mellé's recordings from 1952 to 1956 which were released on the Blue Note label.[1] They were originally released as four 10 inch LPs; Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet (which featured Rudy Van Gelder's first issued recordings); Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow; Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca; 5 Impressions of Color; and a 12 inch LP Patterns in Jazz.[2][3][4][5]
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars and Richard S. Ginell stated "this collection leaves little doubt that he was (and remains) a marvelous saxophonist and an intriguing composer who hasn't been given his due".[6] On All About Jazz John Sharpe said "These extremely rare sessions contain a mix of straight bop, a number of standards and many of Melle's unique third stream compositions. Melle's use of a guitar (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca and Joe Cinderella) in place of a piano was seen as a bold, innovative step ... Although these discs do contain some sonic imperfections they remain a valuable document of one of the most cerebral and creative figures in jazz".[7]
Track listing
All compositions by Gil Mellé except where noted
Disc One:
- "Four Moons" – 2:23 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "The Gears" – 3:06 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Mars" – 2:46 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Sunset Concerto" – 2:03 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Cyclotron" – 3:13 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "October" – 3:41 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Under Capricorn" – 2:58 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Venus" – 3:40 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
- "Lover Man" (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman) – 5:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "Spellbound" (Miklós Rózsa) – 3:18 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "Transition" – 5:12 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "A Lion Lives Here" – 3:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "Timepiece" – 3:10 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "Gingersnap" – 3:17 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
- "The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) – 4:17 Previously unreleased
- "Lullaby of Birdland" (George Shearing, George David Weiss) – 3:46 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- "Ballad for Guitar" – 3:53 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- "Metropolitan" – 2:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- "Newport News" – 4:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on March 2, 1952 (tracks 1-4), January 31, 1953 (tracks 5-8), October 25, 1953 (tracks 9-15) and September 5, 1954 (tracks 16-19)
Disc Two:
- "Summertime" (George Gershwin) – 3:59 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- "Quadrille for Moderns" – 3:31 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
- "Five Impressions of Color: Spectrum Violet/Sea Green/Royal Blue/Ebony" – 12:37 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
- "Life Begins at Midnight" – 4:24 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
- "Night Train to Wildwood" – 4:10 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
- "Threadneedle Street" – 4:15 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
- "Weird Valley" – 5:13 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- "The Set Break" – 4:48 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- "Moonlight in Vermont" (John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf) – 4:52 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- "Long Ago (And Far Away)" (Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern) – 4:32 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- "The Arab Barber Blues" – 9:05 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- "Nice Questions" – 8:17 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
- Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on September 5, 1954 (tracks 1 & 2), February 27, 1955 (tracks 3-6) and April 1, 1956 (tracks 7-12).
Personnel
- Gil Mellé – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
- Eddie Bert – trombone (Disc One: tracks 1-8, Disc Two: tracks 7-12)
- Urbie Green – trombone (Disc One: tracks 9-15)
- Don Butterfield – tuba (Disc Two: tracks 3-6)
- George Wallington – piano (Disc One: tracks 1-4)
- Tal Farlow – guitar (Disc One: tracks 5-15)
- Lou Mecca – guitar (Disc One: tracks 16-19, Disc Two: tracks 1-6)
- Joe Cinderella – guitar (Disc Two: tracks 7-12)
- Red Mitchell – bass (Disc One: tracks 1-4)
- Clyde Lombardi – bass (Disc One: tracks 5-15)
- Bill Phillips – bass (Disc One: tracks 16-19, Disc Two: tracks 1-6)
- Oscar Pettiford – bass (Disc Two: tracks 7-12)
- Joe Manning – vibraphone (Disc One: tracks 1-4)
- Max Roach – drums (Disc One: tracks 1-4)
- Joe Morello – drums (Disc One: tracks 5-15)
- Vinnie Thomas – drums (Disc One: tracks 16-19, Disc Two: tracks 1-6)
- Ed Thigpen – drums (Disc Two: tracks 7-12)
- Monica Dell – vocals (Disc One: tracks 2-4)
References
- ^ Jazzdisco: Gil Melle Catalog accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ Blue Note Records: New Faces-New Sounds - Quintet / Sextet (1952) accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ Blue Note Records: Gil Melle Quintet, Vol. 2 (1953) accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ Blue Note Records: Quartet Feat. Lou Mecca (1954) accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ Blue Note Records: Vol. 4 - Five Impressions of Color (1955) accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ a b Ginell, Richard S.. Gil Melle: Complete Blue Note 50s Sessions – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ Sharpe, J. All About Jazz Review, accessed July 30, 2018
- v
- t
- e
- Patterns in Jazz (1956)
- Primitive Modern (1956)
- Gil's Guests (1956)
- Quadrama (1957)
- Tome VI (1967)
- The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions (1955)