to 10 (december 1960), whose ten numbers are interpreted by progressively larger groups,

Propelled by Golson's compositions and arrangements, Benny Golson's major project, the Jazztet, became the mainstream hard-bop experience of the early 1960s. The line-up for Meet The Jazztet (february 1960), containing Blues March (already recorded in 1958 by trumpeter Blue Mitchell) and

Killer Joe, featured three outstanding horn players, with trombonist Curtis Fuller and trumpeter Art

Farmer, and a rhythm section with pianist McCoy Tyner. Big City Sounds (september 1960) retained only Farmer and Golson and replaced Tyner with Cedar Walton. Walton left and

Detroit's white guitarist Kenny Burrell was the premiere hard bop guitarist, although his gentle, pensive style evolved towards a more abstract form of music. The sound was carefully calibrated on the combination of guitar style, line-up and original Burrell compositions: Fugue 'N Blues on

Introducing Kenny Burrell (may 1956), with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers,

drummer Kenny Clarke conga player Candido; the 17-minute All Night Long on All Night Long (december 1956), with trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, flutist Jerome Richardson, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor; the 18-minute

All Day Long on All Day Long (january 1957), with Byrd, tenor saxophonist Frank Foster,

Flanagan, Watkins and Taylor. Perhaps his definitive testament was Blue Lights (may 1958), accompanied by trumpet, tenor, piano, bass (Sam Jones) and drums (Art Blakey), that contained Yes

Hard Bop Big Bands

The format of the big band was kept alive in the hard-bop era mainly by black trumpeter Thad Jones, who had played in Count Basie's Orchestra from 1954 till 1963. He teamed up with white drummer Mel Lewis, who had played in Stan Kenton's orchestra from 1954 till 1957, and formed a big band in 1966. Jones provided their signature tunes and the arrangements: Mean What You Say (may 1966) on the first album, A Child Is Born on their best album, Consummation (may 1970), and Central Park North (july 1969) from the eponymous album. TM, ®, Copyright © 2003 Piero Scaruffi

The other major big band of the hard-bop era was led by Los Angeles-based white Canadian trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, a former member of Stan Kenton's orchestra. His Birdland Dream Band (formed in 1956) sounded like a simplified and less bombastic version of Kenton's orchestra, with music composed and arranged by tenor saxophonist Bill Holman.

Soul Jazz

A side-effect of hard bop was to legitimize the fusion of jazz and soul music. This sub-genre in turn opened the doors of jazz music to the most glorious of soul's instruments: the Hammond organ, with its rough, distorted sound (particularly the model introduced in 1955). The pioneer of jazz organ had been "Wild" Bill Davis, who in 1950 had organized the first of his organ-guitar-drums trios. In

Philadelphia Jimmy Smith simply copied Bill Davis' style, but with one hand imitating the solos of horn players. After debuting with the spotty A New Sound A New Star (february 1956) and beginning to compose his material on The Champ (march 1956), Smith matured on The Sermon (february 1958), a tour de force that contained two monster jams: J.O.S. (august 1957), in a trio with altoist George Coleman and trumpeter Lee Morgan, and especially the 20-minute The Sermon (Morgan, altoist Lou Donaldson, tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, guitarist Kenny Burrell, drummer Art Blakey). Most of his recordings were lame collections of covers, but originals such as Open

House (1960) and Plain Talk, performed with altoist Jackie McLean, trumpeter Blue Mitchell,

guitarist Quentin Warren and tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec, laid the groundwork for the new, improved sound of Back at the Chicken Shack (april 1960), featuring Burrell and tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, and containing two more extended Smith gems: Back at the

Philadelphia soon became the epicenter of soul-jazz organ, Jimmy McGriffin being the most commercially successful.

After working with saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, notably in his hit In the Kitchen (1958), Shirley Scott, also based in Philadelphia, became one of the leading soul-jazz organists of the 1960s (with strong gospel and blues accents), overcoming the genre's limits at least in the eleven-minute

Chapped Chops, off Workin' (may 1958) for a piano-guitar quintet, and the nine-minute Blues For Tyrone, off Soul Sister (june 1960) for a quartet with vibraphone. The quartet date of Hip Soul

(june 1961) began the collaboration with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine (her husband) that would peak on Blue Flames (march 1964). TM, ®, Copyright © 2003 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. Pittsburgh's tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine worked with Jimmy Smith (1960) and his wife Shirley Scott (1961) before starting his own career with the soul-jazz jams of Let's Groove, off The

Man (january 1960), in a quartet with pianist and drummer Max Roach Little Sheri, off Look Out

(june 1960), in another piano-based quartet, Z.T.'s Blues, off Z.T.'s Blues (september 1961), in a quintet with guitarist Grant Green, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor. Turrentine also wrote several compositions for his wife, organist Shirley Scott: Hip Soul on Hip Soul (june 1961), The Soul Is Willing on The Soul Is Willing (january 1963), Deep Down

Soul on Soul Shoutin' (october 1963), The Hustler, off Hustlin' (january 1964), in a quintet with

Scott and guitarist Kenny Burrell, etc. Turrentine later veered towards to commercial fusion with groove-driven pieces such as Get It, off Another Story (march 1969), in a quintet with Thad Jones on flugelhorn and Cedar Walton on piano, the ten-minute Sugar, off Sugar (november 1970), in a sextet with guitarist George Benson, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and Don't Mess With Mister T, off Don't Mess With Mister T (march 1973). TM, ®, Copyright © 2003

St Louis' guitarist Grant Green played with the pathos and lyricism of a saxophonist. Initially, he created a unique bebop, blues and soul fusion on Grant's First Stand (january 1961) for a drum- less organ-guitar-bass trio, Green Street (april 1961) for a guitar-bass-drums trio and containing the ten-minute Green With Envy, and Grantstand (jauary 1961), in a bass-less quartet with tenor saxophonist and flutist Yusef Lateef and organist Jack McDuff, and containing the 15-minute Blues

in Maude's Flat. He then embarked in lengthy jams of modal improvisation on Idle Moments

(november 1963), featuring pianist Duke Pearson, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson and

vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and highlighted by Pearson's Idle Moments, Matador (may 1964), in a quartet with John Coltrane's pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, and Solid (june 1964), that added James Spaulding on alto saxophone and Joe Henderson on tenor. He then joined organist Larry Young and Jones in a trio that debuted with Talkin' About (september 1964). TM, ®, Copyright © 2003 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.

Larry Young had begun to play the electric organ in the soul-jazz manner pioneered by Jimmy Smith with jams such as the ten-minute Testifying, off Testifying (august 1960), and the 14-minute

Gettin' Into It, off Groove Street (february 1962), but soon switched to a modal style on Into

Somethin' (november 1964), by a quartet with tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers, guitarist Grant Green

and drummer Elvin Jones, progressing via the inferior Unity (november 1965), with saxophonist Joe Henderson, trumpeter Woody Shaw, and drummer Elvin Jones, towards the trio with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Elvin Jones that represented the mature stage of his post-soul phase. After Of Love and Peace (july 1966) and Contrasts (september 1967), Young began another turnabout, this time towards fusion jazz on Heaven On Earth (february 1968) with a quintet featuring alto saxophonist Byard Lancaster and guitarist George Benson. After playing on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (1969), Young was hired by Tony Williams for his Lifetime trio and turned to funk-jazz-rock fusion in earnest. Mother Ship (february 1969), unreleased till 1980, and

Lawrence of Newark (1973), the first albums entirely composed by him, included elements of all

White organist Charles Earland was the heir to Philadelphia's school of soul-jazz in the era of jazz- rock due to his lightweight, poppy romps, such as Here Comes Charlie, off Black Talk (december 1969), for a sextet, Key Club Cookout, off Living Black (september 1970), featuring saxophonist Grover Washington, Cause I Love Her, off Intensity (february 1972), featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, Brown Eyes, off Leaving This Planet (december 1973), featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

Propelled by Bob James' string arrangements, the commercial success of saxophonist Grover Washington, who had moved to Philadelphia in 1967, was emblematic of the slide of soul-jazz into utter triviality. Soul Box (march 1973) even featured a symphony orchestra.

The legacy of hard-bop and its myriad sub-genres was going to be felt for a long time, long after its founding fathers had retired.

In document A History of Jazz Music (Piero Scaruffi) (Page 61-63)