Not even I'M gay enough to write reviews like thisSome new year recovery music for you all ...
We went through the career of saxophonist Harold Vick in the "Don't Look Back" post back in October, so check back there for some history, some excerpts from all of his albums; and various discographies. Also see the "Power Of Feeling" post that followed that one.
In this 1967 album (also released at some stage as "The Melody is Here") we get Vick in two settings :
Three tracks feature a quartet comprising Harold Vick on sax , Herbie Hancock on piano, Grady Tate on drums and Bob Cranshaw on bass. The standout track from the quartet session is Joe Bonner's beautiful "Ode to Trane", with superb understated solos from Hancock and Vick.
The other eight tracks are arranged and conducted by the idiosyncratic Ed Bland, a classical composer who sidelined in in individualistic soul and RnB arrangements - check this great post at Office Naps for a rundown on Mr Bland. The aforementioned quartet are joined by an uncredited nameless female chorus, trumpeter Jimmy Owens, reeds man Joe Farrell and several others.
Bland seems here to arrange in tones rather than in individual instruments, with lots of unison work from the voices, vibes, piano, reeds and so on, with the characteristics of each instrument - percussive, melodic, tonal etc - emphasised in different parts of each note. While Vick gets to break out with solos, everyone else is tightly arranged in the manner of a conducted orchestra - though featured pianist Herbie Hancock gets to break out on a few tracks.
It's all quite breezy and light with smatterings of a cocktail ambience - but we're talking good quality cocktails, so drink up! The ones that are sticking with me are the move themes "This Hotel" (from Richard Quines' "Hotel"); "Watch What Happens" (from Jacques Demy's experimental musical 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg', which also gave us Catherine Devenue), and Vick's shuffling "Eloquence".
Hit this one with some deceptively strong cocktails. Please leave recipes in the comments.
Discography trivia :
* Herbie Hancock and Grady Tate had recorded a Don Sebesky arrangement of the track "Watch What Happens" two months before on Wes Montgomery's album "A Day In the Life".
* For Hancock, this album comes between Bobby Hutcherson's "Oblique" and his own "Blow Up" soundtrack.
TRACKLIST
01. 'Watch What Happens' (Legrand, Gimbel) from the film 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'
02. 'Ode to Trane' (Joe Bonner)
03. 'Serenata' (Leroy Anderson)
04. 'Where Butterflies Play' (Harold Vick)
05. 'If ever I would leave you' (A.Lerner, F.Loewe)
from the musical 'Camelot'
06. 'This Hotel' (Johnny Keating) from the Warner Bros picture "Hotel"
07. 'Eloquence' (Harold Vick)
08. 'Angel Eyes' (Matt Dennis - Earl Brent)
09. 'Whisper Not' (Benny Golson)
10. 'Guava Gelly' (Edward Bland)
11. 'Autumn Sunset' (Harold Vick)
MUSICIANS
Tracks #3, 10, 11: Harold Vick Orchestra (21.08.67)
Harold Vick - tenor sax
Jimmy Owens - trumpet, flugelhorn
Tom McIntosh - trombone
George Marge and Joe Farrell - reeds
John Blair - violin
Herbie Hancock - piano
Everett Barksdale - guitar
Bob Cranshaw - bass
Grady Tate - drums
Teddy Charles - vibraphone
Dave Carey - percussion
uncredited female vocal chorus
Tracks #1, 4, 6, 7, 9: (22.08.67)
Same as above except McIntosh out and Lawrence Lucie (guitar) added.
Tracks #2, 5, 8: Harold Vick Quartet (23.08.67)
Harold Vick - tenor and soprano saxaphone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Bob Cranshaw - bass
Grady Tate - drums
PRODUCTIONRecorded in NYC, August 1967
Arranged and conducted by Ed Bland
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio B
Recording Engineer - Don Miller
Produced by Brad McCuen
HAROLD VICK DISCOGRAPHY1963 "Steppin' Out" at Ile Oxumaré
1964 rejected Blue Note sessions May 27th
1966 "Straight Up" at Call It Anything
1966 "The Caribbean Suite" at Orgy in Rhythm
1967 "Commitment" (released 1974) also at Never Enough Rhodes
1968 "Watch What Happens" in comments here.
1973 "Power Of Feeling" (as Sir Edward) also at Never Enough Rhodes
1974 "Don't Look Back" also at Never Enough Rhodes
1977 "After The Dance" at My Jazz World
HAROLD VICK SIDEMAN DISCOGRAPHY with linksis HERE
POST CREDITSRip by Simon666Blog links to Office Naps, Jazz Disposition, The CTI Never Sleeps and San Pasquale Entertainment.
Please thank these folks if you visit them.