Tenor saxophonist Buddy Arnold was born in New York City on April 30, 1926. He earned his chops in some of the most renowned bands of his time —Georgie Auld (1943), Will Osborne, Bob Chester (1944). Then came World War II, and Arnold got an opportunity to become a band leader himself, in the Army no less (1944-45). When his service was over, he went on to play in many other name bands, including those of Herbie Fields, Buddy Rich, Claude Thornhill, Buddy DeFranco, Jerry Wald, Tex Beneke, Gene Williams, Elliot Lawrence, and Neal Hefti. Finally —late in 1955 and together with fellow trumpeter Phil Sunkel— he put together his own quintet, emerging as a prominent soloist. His playing was directly inspired by Lester Young, whose style was so pervasive at the time that it became an almost universal language for many modern tenors. "Wailing" was Arnold’s only album as a leader, fronting a septet of fine musicians, who all subscribed to the premise that emotion and swing are the key and character of jazz. Most solos are fluently in the neo-Basie-with-modern-twists-and-phrasing style, whereas the writing —by Nat Pierce, Al Cohn, Dick Sherman, Bob Brookmeyer, Phil Urso, and John Williams— is clear, and its approach conducive to direct swing and modern jazz.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that "Wailing" was one of the first albums that Creed Taylor produced for ABC-Paramount, shortly after arriving on the label in October 1955, from Bethlehem Records.

Interviewed by Marc Myers in 2008 for his JazzWax blog, Taylor recalled: “That’s a long time ago. I remember Buddy was a nice guy. I met him at one of the musicians’ hangouts, like Charlie’s Tavern [on 51st St. between Broadway and 7th Ave.] or Jim and Andy’s [on West 48th St.]. I had heard Buddy play at jazz joints in Greenwich Village and loved how he sounded. I loved no-vibrato reed players, and Buddy had an uncommonly dry tone that wasn’t affected. He could swing. The guys I brought in for the record date and the arrangers I knew from hanging out with them at those places. That’s how it was back then. We became good friends, and many of the guys I used on sessions over the years I first met this way. We were able to build mutual trust.”

Despite this promising album debut, his career was cut short soon after its release. Drug use was partially to blame, as it led to him going to prison for robbery for two years. In 1960 he tried to resume his career, playing and recording with Stan Kenton, who wanted to help him on his recovery. He also played with Tommy Dorsey’s ghost band. But he went back to old habits in the 1970s. In 1977 he was arrested in Pasadena, California, for falsifying prescriptions, and in 1981 a new prison sentence linked to his addictions sent him to San Quentin.

Upon his release in 1992, he co-founded with his second wife, Carole Fields (and John Branca’s help), an organization called the Musicians Assistance Program or MAP for musicians with substance abuse problems. The program has helped many musicians from all eras of music.

In November 9, 2003, he died of complications from open heart surgery at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

—Jordi Pujol (From the inside liner notes of FSRCD 1062)