The portrait that emerges from this disc reveals a trombonist with excellent technique, a smooth, pungent percussive wit, dark and buttery tone, down home stomping and slyly musical humor; a pianist who ranges from a basic, solid, four-square attack to a delightfully airy way; a composer who is strongly conscious of the foundations of jazz; and an arranger who mainly writes with a heavy emphasis on a rolling swing, and occasionally blending it with impressionistic devices, but always with strength and simplicity.
In a revealing insight, Nat Hentoff considered that Brookmeyer has opened himself to jazz of all eras. He has absorbed, tested, and selected from the whole reservoir of autobiographies in sound that is the jazz language, those elements he felt relevant to his own experience in living and telling his history of jazz. He has not limited himself to any one era, school or attitude, preferring to filter all of jazz through his emotions rather than remain a parochial hipster.
-Jordi Pujol
Tracklist
Total time: 79:54 min.
01. Out of Nowhere (Green-Heyman) 4:55
02. Darn that Dream (Van Heusen-De Lange) 4:26
03. Blues Suite: Introduction & First Movement (Brookmeyer) 7:18
04. Second Movement (Brookmeyer) 3:53
05. Third Movement (Brookmeyer) 4:58
06. Fourth Movement (Brookmeyer) 5:18
07. Mellow Drama(Brookmeyer) 5:50
08. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got that Swing) (Ellington-Mills) 6:15
09. Air Conditioned (Brookmeyer) 4:53
10. This Can't Be Love (Rodgers-Hart) 3:23
11. Exactly Like You (McHugh-Fields) 4:36
12. The Things I Love (Barlow-Harris) 4:41
13. Only when You Are Near (Darwin-Girard) 3:30
14. Green Stamps (Brookmeyer) 4:34
15. You're My Everything (Dixon-Young-Warren) 3:38
16. Co-Operation (Knox) 7:27
Album details
Sources:
Tracks #1-8, from "Portrait Of The Artist" (Atlantic LP 1320)
Tracks #9-16, from "Jazz Is A Kick" (Mercury MG 206000)
Personnel on "Portrait Of The Artist"
Tracks #1-2: Marky Markowitz, Ray Copeland, trumpets; John Barrows, French horn; Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, piano, arranger; Frank Rehak, trombone; Bill Barber, tuba; Gene Quill, alto sax; Gene Allen, tenor and baritone sax; George Duvivier, bass; Charlie Persip, drums.
Recorded in New York City, on March 9, 1959
Tracks #3,5,6: Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, trumpets; Earl Chapin, French horn; Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, piano, arranger; Frank Rehak, trombone; Don Butterfield, tuba; Gene Quill, alto sax, clarinet; Al Cohn, tenor sax; George Duvivier, bass; Charlie Persip, drums.
Recorded in New York City, on April 6, 1959
Tracks #4,7,8: Ernie Royal, Nick Travis, trumpets; John Barrows, French horn; Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, piano, arranger; Frank Rehak, trombone; Bill Barber, tuba; Danny Bank, flute, bass clarinet, baritone sax; Gene Quill, alto sax, clarinet; George Duvivier, bass; Charlie Persip, drums.
Recorded in New York City, on April 9, 1959
Personnel on "Jazz Is A Kick"
Tracks #9-12: Thad Jones, Joe Newman, trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, arranger; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Hank Jones, piano; Eddie Jones, bass; Charlie Persip, drums.
Tracks #13-16: Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, arranger; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Paul Motian, drums.
Recorded in New York City, June, 1960.
Atlantic recordings produced by Nesuhi Ertegun
Mercury recordings produced by Jack Tracy
Produced for CD release by Jordi PujolPress reviews
-Jazz Is A Kick
"This interesting LP matches together valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer with the slide trombone of Curtis Fuller. Four songs use a modern rhythm section (pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Paul Motian) while the other four have a strong Count Basie feel (with trumpeters Thad Jones and Joe Newman, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ed Jones and drummer Charlie Persip making their presence felt). Brookmeyer and Fuller display contrasting styles while blending together quite well on the ensembles."
Scott Yanow -All Music Guide
