Wardell Gray, Louis Armstrong and Harold Land on Boplicity

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• published: 02 Jun 2014
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http://acerecords.co.uk/way-out-wardell http://acerecords.co.uk/louis-armstrong-and-his-friends http://acerecords.co.uk/choma-burn Our latest batch of Boplicity reissues is the most diverse yet, taking in jazz from one of its earliest stars, bebop mastery and post-bop improvisational brilliance. WARDELL GRAY was one of the first great tenor sax players of the modern era. Born in Oklahoma City and brought up in Detroit, he started out playing clarinet in high school. He played in a variety of bands before joining up with Earl Hines, one of the old guard who was most open to the new sounds emerging in jazz. In 1946, with his style fully developed, Gray settled in Los Angeles. A scene had sprung up around Central Avenue in the wake of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie's appearance at Billy Berg's Swing Club. Gray fitted right in alongside Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Chico Hamilton and others who were defining West Coast modern jazz. Some of the best nights were the Just Jazz jam sessions organised by local disc jockey Gene Norman. "Way Out Wardell" is the recorded evidence of two of those nights. Four numbers featuring Gray alongside Howard McGhee, Barney Kessel, Erroll Garner and a member of Garner's Trio make up the album. What the tracks lack in high fidelity they make up for in excitement and high quality improvising. The album, originally released after Gray's mysterious death in Las Vegas in 1955, is an essential record of a long-lost scene. LOUIS ARMSTRONG is one of the most famous names of 20th Century music. Born in New Orleans in 1901, his distinctive trumpet and vocal styles made an indelible mark on music. His recordings for Okeh in the late 20s with his Hot Five and Hot Seven defined jazz as a solo-led music and provided the world with an extensive set of classics. Whilst his work over the next few decades was never as revolutionary, it was just as important. Hit after hit followed and even as late as the 1960s he had #1s and recorded a James Bond theme. As he approached his 70th birthday, Flying Dutchman Records' Bob Thiele convinced him to make a celebratory album. Friends were gathered for a party on the day 'We Shall Overcome' was recorded and the vocal chorus features Miles Davis, Chico Hamilton and Ornette Coleman and others. The rest of the album found Armstrong performing typical material alongside unusual choices such as Leon Thomas' 'The Creator Has A Master Plan' and John Lennon's 'Give Peace A Chance'. The album was to be his final jazz recording. HAROLD LAND was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in San Diego, California, carving out his career from there. He moved to Los Angeles in 1954 and soon found himself scouted out by trumpeter Clifford Brown to join the quintet he co-led with Max Roach. From here Land moved to the Curtis Counce group and eventually to the Gerald Wilson Big Band. In between he recorded a number of albums as leader, including the exceptional "The Fox". In 1967 he recorded an LP with vibes man Bobby Hutcherson for Cadet, and soon the pair formed a working group. They released three albums for Blue Note under Hutcherson's name and two for Mainstream in Land's name. "Choma (Burn)", the second of the Mainstream sets, has never been reissued before. It is an exceptional album with touches of modality, post-bop and funk all thrown together. Although this was their final record as co-leaders, Land appeared on two further mid-70s Blue Note sessions with Hutcherson and joined him in the Timeless All Stars in the 1980s and 90s.