Ray Brown compilation

[Larry Kart]

On Saturday at a library sale I bought -- guilty as charged -- one of those Real Gone Jazz boxes, "Ray Brown Seven Classic Albums" for $4. Other than Rollins' "Way Out West" all of the compilation was fairly new to me, and most of it was at least OK  -- "This Is Ray Brown," "Bass Hit," "Jazz Cello." Even better and no doubt familiar to many here was the first "Poll Winners" album,  with Kessel and Manne, but  the real surprise for me was  "Ray Brown with the All-Star Big Band" from 1962. Cannonball, in terrific form, is the featured soloist, Nat and Lateef, are in fine form too, but what struck me the most was the remarkable zest and precision with which the whole band played these good charts by Al Cohn and Ernie Wilkins. Quite a lineup -- reeds: Budd Johnson, Cannonball, Lateef, Seldon Powell, Earle Warren, Jerome Richardson; trumpets: Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman, Nat; trbs: Britt Woodman, Jimmy Cleveland, Paul Faulise, Melba Liston; Tommy Flanagan, Osie Johnson, and Sam Jones on the tracks where Ray switches to cello. Only NYC-based studio band from this era I know that hits like this one does is the one on Bill Potts' "Porgy and Bess" album. By contrast the final album of the compilation, from the same year and with many of the same people, is absolutely leaden: "Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band with Oscar Peterson." Go figure.

[Chuck Nessa]

During that period Verve had a bunch of albums featuring that big band bunch and I had most of them in college - Gary McFarland, Bob Brookmeyer included. I currently have those two coupled on one cd and the Brown coupled with a Brown/Bags date.

[jazzcorner]

Re: Ray Brown with a big band:

Hi Larry,  nice find really and what a price!

As a  mainly big band collector (but also a lot of small group jazz here)   I have these 2  for quite some time in my stock:

Brown,Ray    ...with the Allstar Bigband    1962    Verve(jap)    4008
Brown,Ray    Ray Brown / Milt Jackson - arr O.Nelson & J.Heath    1965    Verve (jap)    2076

The Oscar Peterson Trio with the All Star big band was also reissued on a Verve CD 821 896-2  (german edition)  and is arranged and conducted

by Ernie Wilkins. Really a "burner".

 

[riddlemay]

On 3/3/2020 at 2:44 PM, Larry Kart said:

...the real surprise for me was  "Ray Brown with the All-Star Big Band" from 1962. Cannonball, in terrific form, is the featured soloist, Nat and Lateef, are in fine form too, but what struck me the most was the remarkable zest and precision with which the whole band played these good charts by Al Cohn and Ernie Wilkins...

I got this album on Verve's budget label VSP as a teen in the sixties, loved it immediately, and it's been a "desert island disc" for me ever since. Only it was a long time before I knew that it was originally issued as a Ray Brown date. As you can see from the cover, VSP presented it as co-led by Brown and Adderley, with Cannonball getting (slightly) top billing. And changed the title to that of one of the tunes.

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by riddlemay

[Chuck Nessa]

26 minutes ago, riddlemay said:

I got this album on Verve's budget label VSP as a teen in the sixties, loved it immediately, and it's been a "desert island disc" for me ever since. Only it was a long time before I knew that it was originally issued as a Ray Brown date. As you can see from the cover, VSP presented it as co-led by Brown and Adderley, with Cannonball getting (slightly) top billing. And changed the title to that of one of the tunes.

 

VSPs usually deleted a track or 2 from the original, The original had 9 tracks.