(Post-Bop, Cool) Bill Perkins - On Stage The Bill Perkins Octet - 1956, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

William Reese Perkins, the tow-headed, serious young tenor saxophonist who makes his debut as a leader of his own group in this album, "has the best sound in jazz today." That all-encompassing tribute comes from another top flight young jazz man and Perkins' section mate for a year on the Woody Herman band, tenor Jerry Coker.
It is also typical of the reaction of musicians and fans throughout the jazz world. Two years ago Stan Getz (And if Prez is president, surely Stanley is Secretary of State) flatly told me, "Perkins is blowing more than any of us."
Compliments are coming Perkins' way frequently these days. He was voted New Star in the Down Beat Critics' Poll last year and received a similar honor from Metronome. Critics have been unanimous in praising his work with the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton bands. During the Kenton tour of England in the spring of 1956, Perkins was hailed as the "most beautifully relaxed, eloquent, emotionally moving tenor we have heard in Europe since Prez' last visit" by critic Mike Butcher of The New
Musical Express.
And what does this praise do to Perkins? It makes him hang his head bashfully and talk about how great Stan and Brew and Prez and a host of other tenor players are and how dissatisfied he is with his own efforts.
Such modesty is rare in any field, but especially rare in jazz. And yet, it has always been Perkins' trademark ever since he first appeared on the jazz scene as a member of the sax section of the Woody Herman Third Herd. Perkins, who joined Woody in 19S1 after a short spell with Jerry Wald's band in Los Angeles (Woody had fired a tenor right after a radio broadcast and put in a hurry call for replacement. Wald sent over Perkins who sat down and stayed for two years), left to stay at home with his family a while, played with Maynard Ferguson's great little band, and then re-joined Herman in 1954 and toured Europe and the U.S. with him and since then has been one of Kenton's stars.
Bill Perkins (nicknamed "Phineas" by his fellow musicians on the Herman band) was born in San Francisco, July 22, 1924. He went to high school in Santa Barbara and attended the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California. Originally he had planned to be an engineer. All his immediate family (male, that is) were engineers and it seemed natural for him to follow in their footsteps. He had played clarinet and sax with high school groups in Santa Barbara and while he was at Stanford taking his master's degree, he studied tenor with Chuck Travis, who had played with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Eventually the attractions of music proved too great and Bill decided to make it his career.
He then enrolled in Westlake College of Music in Hollywood and after study there, played with Dan Terry, Shorty Rogers (he recorded "The Wild One" EP with Rogers), Jerry Wald and Desi Arnez. Today Perkins plays an imposing array of reed instruments, including the tenor, flute (he has been working on this consistently for the past few years), bass clarinet, alto sax, clarinet and oboe. He also arranges and some sparkling examples of his ability in that department will be found in this album.
Perkins is a great admirer of "the old" Lester Young and of Stan Getz, and lists among his other favorites Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn and Forrest Westbrook. And his hobbies, aside from music, are sailing and electronics.
If there were but two words to describe Perkins' tenor sax sound, you would have to say "disciplined emotion." He is a thorough musician, never satisfied with any level he reaches, and is his own severest critic. Even on the road with a band, Perkins is famous for being on the job early and practicing. The sound he gets on the tenor is a distillation of the sounds that have gone before, melded into a beautifully controlled lyric projection of his own musical ideas.
Perkins is rhythmic, as a good tenor should be (witness his solo in "Song Of The Islands") and he is romantic, too (witness the beauty of his solo on "Just A Child.") When he was with Woody Herman it was his fate to have to take the Getz solo on "Early Autumn," a nightly request. It is to his credit, and a tribute to the high quality of his musicianship, that he never played it with the Getzian ghost peering obviously over his shoulder. He stood there and blew it as though it had never been blown before. Each time was the first time, and for that he won the everlasting respect of his fellow musicians, including Woody Herman who has heard not a few tenors in that specific situation in the past decade.
If these words sound like an unadulterated paean of praise, I have been successful. That is exactly what I would likе to write about Bill Perkins. I don't know of any musician I have ever encountered who has earned my unequivocal respect to the extent that Bill Perkins has. I think that he is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest tenor men in jazz. And furthermore, he is indicative of the new look in jazz players: a musician, a gentleman and a credit to his art.
For this album, Perkins has joined with four other former Herman Herdsmen: Red Mitchell, Carl Fontana, Jack Nimitz and Stu Williamson. Mitchell is already acclaimed as one of the top jazz bass players. Fontana, who has been in comparative obscurity with the band of Hal Mclntyre following his service with Herman, is now earning belated praise for his work with Stan Kenton. Jack Nimitz, who was anchor man in the sax section most of the time Perkins was in the Herman band, has recently been performing the same duties with the Kenton orchestra. Stu Williamson, another graduate of the Kenton and Herman bands, has possibly never been heard in such good form as on this album.
The other men are Bud Shank, one of the best known and respected alto sax men in jazz; Russ Freeman, a continually improving pianist, who is very impressive on these sides, and Mel Lewis, Kenton's current drummer, who provides a tastefully swinging foundation.
As to the tunes on this album, I would like particularly to direct your attention to the two numbers from the old Basie band, "Song Of The Islands" and "Let Me See," both of which utilize the original Lester Young tenor solos for ensemble playing; Perkins' work on "One Hundred Years From Today," with its lovely ending; the trombone and tenor interplay on "Zing! Zang!;" and the reflective, romantic playing of Perkins on "Just A Child" and Stu Williamson's muted horn on the same tune.
—Ralph Gleason (original liner notes)

684097761 57447644 01 - Song Of The Islands.wav
3993434589 51532364 02 - One Hundred Years From Today.wav
4031116556 73246028 03 - Zing! Zang!.wav
3525018111 38408204 04 - Let Me See.wav
1508174283 62845484 05 - For Dancers Only.wav
198495286 53079980 06 - Just A Child.wav
3435982352 41195324 07 - As They Reveled.wav
2753774302 54500588 08 - When You're Smiling.wav
1360225090 27788924 09 - Let Me See (Alt Take).wav
auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
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