Personnel:
Jonah Jones (tp, vcl), Teddy Brannon (p), John Brown (b), 'Pops' Foster (d), 'Swinginest' Chorale (vcl)
Reference: BMCD 850
Bar code: 8427328008501
JONAH JONES MASTERWORKS
The Capitol Years
· Collectors Edition
· Issued in Digipack
· 2 LPs on 1 CD
· Original Cover Art and Liner Notes
· Hi-Fi and Stereo Recordings
· Newly Remastered
Jonah Jones zoomed to popularity in the late 50s. He found a successful formula and used it to brighten the hit charts with a succession of bouncy albums on Capitol Records. His quartet was one of the three newcomers in the Top 10 wide variety of small groups listed in the favorite Instrumental Billboard lists in 1958.
Jonah Jones was truly a man with a rare talent for playing in a way that people loved. Jones trumpet stays fairly close to the melodic line and he displays an excellent sense of timing and pacing. In these two albums he just added a new sound with the tasteful vocal backgrounds of the Swinginest Chorale. All tailored to suit the clean, compact style which became a Jonah Jones trademark.
"Jonah Jones has been regularly overlooked by jazz lovers because of his 1957 quartet shufflebeat recording of On the Street Where You Live which catapulted him into the charts and resulted in almost 30 solo albums for Capitol, Decca and finally by 1968 Tamla Motown! At parties in the early 60s youd always find Jonah albums in the record rack, right there with Frank Sinatra, George Shearing and the rest. (I know because I was there!) In short he committed the unforgivable sin of 10 years of commercial success, supporting the Rat Pack at the Sands, Las Vegas, and recording everything from Broadway tributes to gospel collections and even Tijuana tributes.
But albums like this one (with the Swinginest Chorale) are hugely welcome arrivals back in catalogue. They reveal a supremely equipped alljazz trumpeter, based on Armstrong and with many unique stylistic trademarks of his own, including, of course, his famous muted jazz label. All I can say is, Welcome back, Jonah!"
Digby Fairweather *
The Jazz Rag (October, 2014)
(*) Digby Fairweathers achievements as musician, broadcaster, writer and archivist are too numerous to summarise in a few words. For nearly 20 years he has led one of the countrys top small groups and regular British Jazz Award winners, the Half Dozen.
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-A Touch of Blue
"Trumpeter/vocalist Jonah Jones recorded so many albums for Capitol from 1957-1963 that it was always a challenge to come up with new themes for dates, particularly since Jones' smooth style was largely unchanged from the 1940s. In this case, he performs a dozen songs with "blue" or "blues" in their title, joined by his quartet (with pianist Teddy Brannon, bassist John Brown and drummer George Foster) plus a large chorale of "background" singers. The vocalists definitely get in the way, weighing down Jones' versions of such songs as "I Get the Blues When It Rains," "Blue Turning Grey Over You," "Birth of the Blues," "Blue Skies," etc. A somewhat forgettable record, despite some pleasing moments from the trumpeter."
Scott Yanow -All Music Guide
