(Swing) Jazz Mission To Moscow - Jazz Mission To Moscow - 1962 (2010), FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

THE MEN
Dom Cerulli - Co-editor, The Jazz Word (Ballantine)
First of all, before anyone runs off to the FCC or the Better Business Bureau. let it be noted that there are two "ringers" in this group of swingers. Markie Markowitz and "Eddie Costa did not make the trip. But they substitute for trumpeters Joe Newman and pianist John Bunch, who did make the trip, but who stayed abroad to visit. Markie and Eddie are such kindred musical spirits that their presence on the date enhances the jazz feeling of the album.
Leader and arranger AL COHN didn't make the trip. He remained at home to write music and blow tenor sax in leading clubs in the east. At 36, Cohn is one of the record world's most sought-after arrangers. His tours of duty include stellar service with the bands of Georgie Auld. Woody Herman, and Artie Shaw, among others. He currently is co-leader of the swinging Al & Zoot quintet. ZOOT SIMS was the tenor jazz soloist on the Goodman tour band, a chair he held back in 1944 and again in 1946. He is 36. and has played professionally with name bands since the age of 16. He was one of Woody Herman's original "Four Brothers," and his swinging tenor is in constant demand for jazz record dates. PHIL WOODS. 30. has brought his alto in scores of modern
jazz groups, among them George Wellington. The-lonious Monk's big band, and Quincy Jones. With altoist Gene Quill he co-leads the Phil & Quill Quintet, and writes charts for jazz record sessions. JERRY DODGION. 29, is a Californian who has played with Gerald Wilson. Benny Carter. Red Norvo, Benny Goodman (in 1959), and Gerry Mulligan's big band. He is a versatile and imaginative musician. an asset to any reed section. GENE ALLEN is 33. and a master of the baritone and other low reeds, including the bass clarinet. His solid sound has been in the groups of Claude Thornhill. Sauter-Fine-gan. Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman (in 19S9). and the big band of Gerry Mulligan.
The brass team is headed by JIMMY MAXWELL, who joined Goodman's trumpet section in August, 1939, and stayed three years. Now a top-notch studio man, Jimmy is among the most recorded trumpet men in popular music MARKY MARKOWITZ. 38. has a glorious open horn sound. His back-ground includes stints with Woody Herman's 1946 Herd. Boyd Raeburn's band. Jimmy Dorsey, and Buddy Rich, among others. Trombonist WILLIE DENNIS, 36. played with Goodman's band at the Brussels World Fair. An excellent modern jazz man. his experience includes work with Elliot Lawrence. Claude Thornhill, Woody Herman, and scores of small groups.
THE MISSION
Leonard Feather - Author of The Encyclopedia of Jazz (Horizon)
There have been few events in the history of twentieth - century music more auspicious than the Benny Goodman band's tour of the Soviet Union. Its meaning, of course, extended far beyond music. One fact stood out inescapably and rewardingly: the visit served to destroy once and for all the illusion that jazz is taboo in the Soviet Union.
Everywhere I went in Moscow and Leningrad the truth stood out in sharp relief: the USSR, like every other country whose inhabitants have ever listened to jazz, has a solid cadre of devotees to whom this music is a symbol—not of freedom, as so many have wishfully claimed, but rather of a simple musical ideal toward which they have long been inclined.
The youngsters in the Central Sports Arena Palace in Moscow who called out the names of Zoot Sims and Phil Woods as the solos began; the alto saxophonist whose apartment I visited in Leningrad, and on whose living room wall were placed side by side photographs of Lenin and Cannonball; the Intourist guide who pleaded with me for tickets to the concert because they had all been sold out weeks in advance; the arguments among Moscow Jazz Club members as to who would be the logical choice for the next visit. Miles Davis or John Col-trane; these and a thousand other incidents reflected the long-latent enthusiasm that the Goodman visit had brought into focus, an enthusiasm that had been mounting rapidly (and with official Soviet Government sanction) for at least two years and had already been expressed through the staging of Soviet jazz festivals in Tartu. Tallinn and Leningrad.
There can be no doubt that the reception accorded to Zoot. Phil. Willie Dennis, Mel Lewis and the rest during these memorable six weeks was the most convincing expression to date of a fact of which we in the jazz world have long been proud: our music brings a little more love into the world.
The rhythm section is sparked by the drums of MEL LEWIS, a superb big band drummer Mel. just 33. has swung such big bands as Boyd Raeburn. Stan Kenton, Terry Gibbs. and Gerry Mulligan. Bassist BILL CROW. 35. has had a variety of jazz experience ranging from big
ands like Claude Thornhill and society dance bands to small group work with Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. Pianist EDDIE COSTA, 31, also plays driving vibes. His background includes work with Woody Herman. Tal Far-low, and Kai Winding, among others.
THE MUSIC
Nat Hentoff - Author of The Jazz Life (Dial Press)
It was invigoratingly clear from the first run-through of Mission to Moscow at Webster Hall in New York on July 12 that these newly returned veterans of Benny Goodman's march through Russia were ready for kicks.
Al Cohn had written all the scores, and Bill Crow observed with grinning satisfaction during the session, "Now these are arrangements we can play with spirit!" Setting the crisp, resilient rhythmic base for this album were Eddie Costa. Bill Crow, and the unerringly tasteful Mel Lewis, a master at keeping the time alive as well as accurate. The chief horn soloists were Phil Woods. Zoot Sims. Willie Dennis, and Marky Markowitz. The latter's work should be particularly revealing to those listeners who have long identified him as primarily an expert section man.
In order. Mission to Moscow is bristlingly reanimated by means of Eddie Costa's "modern barrelhouse" piano, Phil Woods' fierce, spare alto, and the heated spontaneity of Zoot Sims. The Sochi Boatman. despite its venerability, comes freshly into jazz focus as a result of Al Cohn's supple score and the solos of Zoot Sims. Eddie Costa.
Marky Markowitz, and Bill Crow. Phil Woods' warm, fluent clarinet and Marky's pungent trumpet make for the most relaxed jazz performance of Midnight in Moscow yet recorded.
Let's Dance is Al Cohn's wittiest chart of the date and also provides a distinctly unexpected approach to that usually flag-waving Goodman theme. Here too Phil Woods demonstrates a clarinet style that deserves considerably more exposure. Also heard from are Eddie Costa, Gene Allen on baritone, and Markowitz again. The sequence of solos in the uncommonly easeful Russian Lullaby is Costa, Jerry Dodgion on flute, the far too underestimated Willie Dennis, and Zoot Sims who remains a paradigm of what the verb "to swing" means. The final, celebratory Red. White and Blue Eyes sustains the exuberant mood of the date with contributions by Phil Woods. Willie Dennis. Zoot Sims, and Eddie Costa once more demonstrating the evocative power of the piano's rumbling lower register.
As a whole, this unfettered date requires no close musical analysis. The key here is a release of feeling —collectively and among the soloists. "Now," said Mel Lewis at the end of a particularly blazing take, "we ought to send a batch of these records back to Russia to show them we are still cooking."