Ray Brown had not reached his 19th birthday when he arrived in New York in 1945 and made an immediate impact as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. The following year he was part of the memorable Gillespie big band that included James Moody, John Lewis, and Kenny Clarke. More or less simultaneously, Brown and the late Oscar Pettiford became the first significant representatives of the bass in the bebop revolutions first generation. The second stage of his career as a nationally known artist lasted from 1948 to 1951, when his own trio accompanied Ella Fitzgerald (then Mrs. Brown). The third, of course, began in 1951, when his alliance with Oscar Peterson turned out to be one of the happiest and most durable in modern jazz. This set contains all the recordings he did as a leader, from his early be-bop days in the Forties, to the late Fifties, when every jazz poll considered him the top bass player in the field.
Tracklist
Total time: 125:40 min.
CD 1
01. For Hecklers Only (Brown-Fuller) 2:57
02. Smokey Hollow Jump (Brown-Fuller) 3:01
03. Boppin' The Blues (Ray Brown) 3:05
04. Moody Speaks (Burns-Moody) 2:30
05. Slow Down (Ray Brown) 1:51
06. Blue Lou (Edgar Sampson) 2:15
07. Song Of The Volga Boatmen (Traditional) 3:32
08. Little Toe (Ray Brown) 4:49
09. All Of You (Cole Porter) 3:56
10. Everything I Have Is Yours (Lane-Adamson) 4:25
11. Alone Together (Schwartz-Dietz) 4:43
12. After You've Gone (Creamer-Turner) 2:37
13. Will You Still Be Mine? (Dennis-Adair) 3:39
14. My Foolish Heart (Young-Washington) 4:05
15. Bass introduction 0:18
16. Blues For Sylvia (Brown-Paich) 4:39
17. Blues For Lorraine (Brown-Paich) 2:58
18. Bass conclusion 0:18
19. Cat Without A Playmate (Ray Brown) 2:26
CD 2
01. Body And Soul (Heyman-Green-Sour-Eyton) 12:10
02. Bass Ball (Ray Brown) 2:48
03. Bric-A-Brac (Ray Brown) 5:31
04. Upstairs Blues (Ray Brown) 6:37
05. Indiana (Back Home Again In) (Hanley-MacDonald) 4:36
06. The Nearness Of You (Carmichael-Washington) 6:14
07. Take The 'A' Train (Billy Strayhorn) 8:04
08. Cool Walk (Ray Brown) 6:29
09. Jim (Samuels-Petrillo-Shawn) 9:00
10. Mighty Cool Penthouse (Ray Brown) 5:21
Album details
Sources CD 1:
Tracks #1-4, originally from different Savoy 78 rpm:
Savoy 976, MG 9012, MG 12110 & SJL 2225
Track #5, previously unreleased Clef recording
Tracks #6-7, from the 78 rpm Clef 8936
Tracks #8-11 & #13-19, from the 12" album "Bass Hit!" (Verve MGV-8022)
Track #12, not included on the previous album
Sources CD 2:
Track #1, originally issued on the LP "Historic Jazz Concert At Music Inn" (Atlantic 1298)
Track #2, originally issued on the LP "The Playboy Jazz All Stars" (Playboy PB-1957)
Tracks #3-9, from the LP "This Is Ray Brown (Verve MGV-8290)
Track #10, originally issued on LP "Playboy Jazz All Stars, Vol. 3" (Playboy PB-1959)
Personnel in CD 1
Tracks #1-4: Ray Brown Octet
Ray Brown (b), Izzie Goldberg (alias Dizzy Gillespie), Dave Burns (tp), John Brown (as), James Moody (ts), Milt Jackson (vib), Hank Jones (p), Joe Harris (d).
Recorded in New York, September 25, 1946
Tracks #5-7: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Hank Jones (p), Buddy Rich (d).
Recorded in New York, April (#5), and July 1, 1950
Tracks #8-12: Ray Brown Big Band
Ray Brown (b), Pete Candoli, Harry Sweets Edison, Ray Linn, Conrad Gozzo (tp), Herbie Harper (tb), Herb Geller, Jack Dulong (as), Bill Holman (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (cl, ts & bs), Jimmy Rowles (p), Herb Ellis (g), Alvin Stoller (d). Marty Paich (arranger & conductor).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, November 21, 1956
Tracks #13-18: Same personnel, but Conrad Gozzo (tp), and Mel Lewis (d),
replaces Conte Candoli and Alvin Stoller.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, November 3, 1956
Track #19: Ray Brown unaccompanied bass solo.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, November 23, 1956
Personnel in CD 2
Track #1: Ray Brown / Oscar Pettiford
Ray Brown (b), Oscar Pettiford (cello), Herbie Mann (fl), Dick Katz (p), Connie Kay (d).
Recorded live at "Music Inn", Lenox, Massachussetts, August 30, 1956
Track #2: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Herb Ellis (g), Stan Levey (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, July 31, 1957
Tracks #3-9: Ray Brown Quintet
Ray Brown (b), Jerome Richardson (fl), Oscar Peterson (org, p on #5 & 7),
Herb Ellis (g), Osie Johnson (d).
Recorded in New York, February 27 & 28, 1958
Track #10: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Hank Jones (p), Ed Thigpen (d).
Recorded in New York, July 10, 1959
Liner notes: Nat Hentoff, Jean-Michel Reisser, Jordi Pujol
This compilation produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol and "Beethoven" Jean-Michel reisser
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.Press reviews
-Bass Hit!
"Out-of-print for a long time, Ray Brown's earliest date as a leader features him prominently in the solo spotlight with arrangements by Marty Paich. They collaborated on a swinging original blues, "Blues for Sylvia," and the snappy "Blues for Lorraine." The rest of the release concentrates on familiar standards, with the addition to the reissue of several complete and incomplete takes of "After You've Gone," which didn't appear on the original release. The supporting cast includes the cream of the crop of musicians living on the West Coast at the time: Jimmy Rowles, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Jimmy Giuffre among them."
Ken Dryden -All Music Guide
