(Post-Bop) Elliot Lawrence - Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements - 1955, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Elliot Lawrence loves jazz. When he was an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania (he won the Thornton Oakley Award, given each year to the undergraduate who has contributed most to the arts, and won only once before in the field of music), he had himself a swinging band, which used to gig around the Eastern seaboard, blowing up quite a jumping storm. After he'd been graduated, he went to radio station WG\U, where he continued his swinging ways, despite the fact that studio bands are supposed to be strictly commercial. It paid off, though, because soon people started noticing his band much more than they did other studio groups, and finally offers became so frequent and attractive that Elliot and men left WCAL, bowed in at the Hotel Statler in New York, and automatically became a name band!
In that early Philadelphia outfit there was a young saxophonist, a redheaded, wide - eyed, enthusiastic youngster named Gerry Mulligan. Even then he was an arranger, and, encouraged by Elliot, who has done a great deal of writing himself, Gerry began turning out a batch of manuscripts for the band. And when the gang left the studios, Gerry went with it, and he continued to write for it for several years thereafter, even after he'd quit playing baritone so that he could concentrate exclusively on arranging.
The Mulligan history from there on is well - known. What's less known is that while Elliot, an arranger and an exceptional conductor, began to devote more time to commercial TV and radio shows, he still couldn't and wouldn't give up his love for playing jazz. So he kept a jazz band together, too, playing in spots now and then, and going out on enough lucrative weekend dates so that he could keep such jazz greats as Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn, Nick Travis, Eddie Bert, Hal McKusick, Sam Marowitz, Ollie Wilson, Bernie Glow; and Stan Fishelson.
With the exception of the late Kahn, who, by the way, wrote some swinging arrangements which Elliot will soon record for Fantasy, they're all on these sides. Don Lamond's the drummer who took Tiny's place. Buddy Jones and Russ Saunders share the bass spot. (Jones plays on all except "The Rocker," "Happy Hooligan," "Elegy for Two Clarinets," and "The Swinging Door") Elliot's on piano, of course. In addition to Cohn, McKusick, and Marowitz, the saxes have Eddie Wasserman and Charlie O'Kane. Glow blows all the trumpet leads; Fishelson's on all sides along with Al Derisi, while Travis or Dick Sherman complete the section. Bert blows all the jazz trombone in a section led by - Wilson and including Paul Seldon and, on four numbers, Al Robertson. On the other eight, there's a French horn, blown either by Freddy Schmitt or Tony Miranda.
All the musicians have a feel for modern jazz, as you can so readily hear on these selections. "The Rocker," after a big band opening, gives off small group sounds, not too dissimilar from those blown by Gerry's group today. There's that light, swinging, counterpoint feeling, but there's also some driving Lamond drums (the guys in the band were gassed by him. by the way), some swinging Cohn tenor, and some blasting open brass.
"Bye Bye Blackbird" shows how much Mulligan can add to a pop tune, heretofore undistinguished along jazz lines. There's some especially interesting interplay between brass and saxes in the last chorus; Bert's trombone and McKusick's alto show off well, and Elliot and Al Cohn blow - back and forth at one another effectively.
"Happy Hooligan" has the sound of its first name because Gerry; after having written a batch of somber - sounding things for the band, wanted to prove that he wasn't such a morose arranger after all. It comes off as intended, too, what with its cheery - sounding, light and swinging muted trumpets, its exciting open brass, the swinging Cohn chorus, Dick Sherman's clean, modern - sounding trumpet, and Bert's consistent trombone.
"Mullenium" is, according to Elliot, most typical of Gerry's little group, what with its trumpet and trombone counterpoint and then with the saxes coming along and adding a third line. It also offers a full chorus by Bert and another fine passage by Cohn.
"My Silent Love," another example of what Mulligan can do with a standard ballad, hits an especially pretty mood, enhanced by some lovely blowing by Cohn, the kind you can hear through a couple of albums he has cut for RCA - Victor, to whom he's under contract and who appears here with their blessings. There's also some very pretty altoing by McKusick.
"Bweebida Bwobbida" shows off a different Cohn, a really wailing cat, on an exciting vehicle that starts off with a cute statement of the theme by the trombones (note how they seem to be saying "bweebida bwobbida"), then really begins to build, including a great chorus by Bert. Originally this was a bit written for a small group, but Mulligan enlarged it for Elliot's big band.
The second side begins with the Gershwin "Strike Up the Band" standard, written originally as an opener for the band when it played the Paramount Theater in New York. It goes at a real up tempo, introed by Don's dram break, and featuring Cohn and Bert on some fine passages.
"Apple Core" is full of unison, a favorite device used to give big bands the intimate feeling of a small group. After much effective use of this sort of writing, Nick Travis blows his first solo of the date, a tasty; modern - sounding passage that shows why he's considered one of the real comers on the horn. And there's also more good Cohn and Bert.
"Elegy for Two Clarinets" is the album's mood piece, a lovely melody with lots of sustained sounds, quite reminiscent of the tender moods achieved by the old Claude Thornhill band. There's some pretty French horn by Freddy Schmitt, some delicate Lawrence piano, some especially pretty Cohn, and some lovely open trumpet by Glow with Dick Sherman answering in a ditto vein through a tightly muted horn. The piece was so titled because Gerry just didn't like writing for clarinets in big bands and wanted to bid them farewell in a nice, polite, musicianly manner.
"The Swinging Door," named for a spot over a garage where Gerry and well - known tenor man Zoot Sims (he and Gerry wrote the piece) used to play, is one of the more busy Mulligan pieces, highlighting Cohn, Bert, and McKusick and violently propelled by Lamond's explosive drumming.
"But Not for Me," another Gershwin melody; again shows how interesting Gerry can make a ballad sound. The sax scoring and playing is especially rich; McKusick and Travis blow fine passages, and Cohn and the trombones engage in some top - notch by - play; "Mr. President" is Gerry's salute to one of his favorite musicians, Lester "Pres" Young. It's based on the famous tenor man's solo that itself was based on "You Can Depend on Me," and it has some really pretty alto from McKusick, plus the usual inspired Cohn tenor.
These then are the twelve tunes that comprise an LP of truly superior blowing of truly superior arrangements. The playing is by a bunch of modern, musicianly musicians, led by one of the most talented and enthusiastic leaders of big band modem jazz and penned by a composer - arranger whose contributions to the same medium have been tremendous. It's the first collection of several by Elliot Lawrence which Fantasy plans to issue in the months to come, and it's also the first that shows what a surprisingly blowing and exciting band Elliot Lawrence has been keeping under wraps for much too long.

01 - The rocker.flac
02 - Bye bye blackbird.flac
03 - Happy hooligan.flac
04 - Mullenium.flac
05 - My silent love.flac
06 - Bweebida bwobbida.flac
07 - Strike up the band.flac
08 - Apple core.flac
09 - Elegy for two clarinets.flac
10 - The swinging door.flac
11 - But not for me.flac
12 - Mr. President.flac
Artwork
Elliot Lawrence - Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (1955) {1996, Remastering, Fantasy}.txt
Elliot Lawrence - Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements .log
Elliot Lawrence - Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements .m3u
Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements_Noncompliant.cue
Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements_Single Wav.cue
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