Personnel:
Frank Strozier (as, fl), Harold Mabern (p), Bill Lee (b), Al Dreares (d)
Reference: JW-039 LP
Format: LP / 12" / 33rpm / STEREO
Label: JAZZ WORKSHOP
Catalogue Reference: JW-039
Recording Year: 1962
Country of Pressing: SPAIN
Comments: Sealed New Copy
Reissue of the original JAZZLAND JLP 970
Cover Grade: MINT
Vinyl Grade: MINT
Side One:
1. March of the Siamese Children (Rodgers) 5:06
2. Extension (Strozier) 4:54
3. Something I Dreamed Last Night (Fain-Yellen-Magidson) 5:20
4. Don't Follow the Crowd (Lee) 4:56
Side Two:
1. Our waltz (Rose) 5:29
2. Will I Forget? (Strozier) 5:30
3. Lap (Lee) 3:32
4. Hey, Lee! (Mabern) 4:33
Originally issued in Stereo on JAZZLAND JLP 970
Personnel:
Frank Strozier (alto sax, flute on Side A #1 & B #2), Harold Mabern (piano), Bill Lee (bass), Al Dreares (drums).
Recorded and mastered in New York at Plaza Sound Studions, March 28, 1962
Produced by Orrin Keepnews
Recording engineer: Ray Fowler
Album design: Ken Deardoff
Original liner notes by Joe Goldberg
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Notes:
"Produced by the ubiquitous Orrin Keepnews, March of the Siamese Children was the second of two acoustic hard bop LPs that Frank Strozier recorded during his brief association with Jazzland in the early '60s. This quartet date from 1962 isn't quite as essential as the alto saxophonist's first Jazzland LP, Long Night; nonetheless, March of the Siamese Children is solid and pleasing, and Strozier is well served by a swinging rhythm section that includes Harold Mabern on piano, Bill Lee on bass, and Al Dreares on drums.
To his credit, Strozier keeps things fairly unpredictable -- and he accomplishes this in various ways. First, the saxman goes for different moods; while Strozier is exuberant on "Hey, Lee!" and "Lap," he is wistful and reflective on the title track and Lee's ballad "Don't Follow the Crowd." Second, he makes some interesting choices when it comes to picking pre-rock pop songs to interpret; for example, the title track is hardly Rodgers & Hammerstein's most famous composition. And third, he doesn't stick to the alto sax 100 percent of the time; two of the seven selections (the title song and his own "Will I Forget?") show how appealing Strozier could be on the flute, which he played as a second instrument.
Compared to some of the modal post-bop and avant-garde jazz that was coming out in the early '60s, March of the Siamese Children isn't radical or revolutionary -- Strozier, whose primary influences included Charlie Parker and pre-modal Jackie McLean, was never an innovator. Nonetheless, his late-'50s and early-'60s recordings were fairly fresh-sounding and advanced examples of hard bop, and this enjoyable LP points to the fact that Strozier was willing to take his share of chances."
Alex Henderson -All Music Guide
