Jimmy Cleveland

[Larry Kart]

Despite his reputation as the fastest 'bone in the East, Cleveland, I thought, was at least as good on ballads, where his attractively "veiled" tone could come through -- e.g. "My One and Only Love" on EmArcy and "If You Could See Me Now" with Gil Evans.

BTW, there was guy around Chicago in the '60s, don't remember his name, whose goal in life clearly was to play faster than Cleveland -- and he did too. But musically he made as much sense as a fire in a popcorn factory. Guys used to cringe when he'd get on the stand at sessions.

[vinylexamination]

Despite his reputation as the fastest 'bone in the East, Cleveland, I thought, was at least as good on ballads, where his attractively "veiled" tone could come through -- e.g. "My One and Only Love" on EmArcy and "If You Could See Me Now" with Gil Evans.

I wholeheartedly agree. Check out "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" on Gil Evans's Great Jazz Standards LP - it's a beautiful performance (and arrangement). Also - he's all over Dinah Washington's For Those in Love; his performance there was partially responsible for his Emarcy contract.

[garthsj]

Pardon my bringing this thread up again, but I must compliment the Andorrean Pirates at Lonehill (which I am ambivalent about) for their recent reissue of the four albums from the 1950s featuring Cleveland as leader. This 2-CD collection contains the following very hard to find albums, especially on CD (God Knows! I have been continuously thwarted in my attempt to get a winning bid on some of these on Ebay in the past):

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style

A Map of Jimmy

Rhythm Crazy.

A Saturday afternoon well spent ... I just love this period and style of jazz, (New York in the late 50s -- I should also note that I equally enjoy the West Coast sounds from L.A. during this same period). These albums have great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Gigi Gryce, and Ernie Wilkens, and wonderful stuff from sidemen such as Art Farmer, Lucky Thompson, and Benny Golson. My question for Mike Fitzgerald (or anyone else) reading this post, is why did Jimmy Cleveland, prolific as he was as a session player, make so few albums as a leader? Was there some "incident" which turned him off from this role?

Garth,

Houston.

Edited May 13, 2006 by garthsj

[Morganized]

Pardon my bringing this thread up again, but I must compliment the Andorrean Pirates at Lonehill (which I am ambivalent about) for their recent reissue of the four albums from the 1950s featuring Cleveland as leader. This 2-CD collection contains the following very hard to find albums, especially on CD (God Knows! I have been continuously thwarted in my attempt to get a winning bid on some of these on Ebay in the past):

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style

A Map of Jimmy

Rhythm Crazy.

A Saturday afternoon well spent ... I just love this period and style of jazz, (New York in the late 50s -- I should also note that I equally enjoy the West Coast sounds from L.A. during this same period). These albums have great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Gigi Gryce, and Ernie Wilkens, and wonderful stuff from sidemen such as Art Farmer, Lucky Thompson, and Benny Golson. My question for Mike Fitzgerald (or anyone else) reading this post, is why did Jimmy Cleveland, prolific as he was as a session player, make so few albums as a leader? Was there some "incident" which turned him off from this role?

Garth,

Houston.

I have looked for these as well. Anyone have a good line on the Lonehill release that Garth references here.

Thanks

Edited May 14, 2006 by Morganized

[garthsj]

Pardon my bringing this thread up again, but I must compliment the Andorrean Pirates at Lonehill (which I am ambivalent about) for their recent reissue of the four albums from the 1950s featuring Cleveland as leader. This 2-CD collection contains the following very hard to find albums, especially on CD (God Knows! I have been continuously thwarted in my attempt to get a winning bid on some of these on Ebay in the past):

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style

A Map of Jimmy

Rhythm Crazy.

A Saturday afternoon well spent ... I just love this period and style of jazz, (New York in the late 50s -- I should also note that I equally enjoy the West Coast sounds from L.A. during this same period). These albums have great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Gigi Gryce, and Ernie Wilkens, and wonderful stuff from sidemen such as Art Farmer, Lucky Thompson, and Benny Golson. My question for Mike Fitzgerald (or anyone else) reading this post, is why did Jimmy Cleveland, prolific as he was as a session player, make so few albums as a leader? Was there some "incident" which turned him off from this role?

Garth,

Houston.

I have looked for these as well. Anyone have a good line on the Lonehill release that Garth references here.

Thanks

This was the best deal hat I found ... considering thaat I have individual CDs go for more than $50 this is a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JIMMY-CLEVELAND-Comple...1QQcmdZViewItem

[garthsj]

Pardon my bringing this thread up again, but I must compliment the Andorrean Pirates at Lonehill (which I am ambivalent about) for their recent reissue of the four albums from the 1950s featuring Cleveland as leader. This 2-CD collection contains the following very hard to find albums, especially on CD (God Knows! I have been continuously thwarted in my attempt to get a winning bid on some of these on Ebay in the past):

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style

A Map of Jimmy

Rhythm Crazy.

A Saturday afternoon well spent ... I just love this period and style of jazz, (New York in the late 50s -- I should also note that I equally enjoy the West Coast sounds from L.A. during this same period). These albums have great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Gigi Gryce, and Ernie Wilkens, and wonderful stuff from sidemen such as Art Farmer, Lucky Thompson, and Benny Golson. My question for Mike Fitzgerald (or anyone else) reading this post, is why did Jimmy Cleveland, prolific as he was as a session player, make so few albums as a leader? Was there some "incident" which turned him off from this role?

Garth,

Houston.

I have looked for these as well. Anyone have a good line on the Lonehill release that Garth references here.

Thanks

This was the best deal hat I found ... considering thaat I have individual CDs go for more than $50 this is a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JIMMY-CLEVELAND-Comple...1QQcmdZViewItem

[garthsj]

Pardon my bringing this thread up again, but I must compliment the Andorrean Pirates at Lonehill (which I am ambivalent about) for their recent reissue of the four albums from the 1950s featuring Cleveland as leader. This 2-CD collection contains the following very hard to find albums, especially on CD (God Knows! I have been continuously thwarted in my attempt to get a winning bid on some of these on Ebay in the past):

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style

A Map of Jimmy

Rhythm Crazy.

A Saturday afternoon well spent ... I just love this period and style of jazz, (New York in the late 50s -- I should also note that I equally enjoy the West Coast sounds from L.A. during this same period). These albums have great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Gigi Gryce, and Ernie Wilkens, and wonderful stuff from sidemen such as Art Farmer, Lucky Thompson, and Benny Golson. My question for Mike Fitzgerald (or anyone else) reading this post, is why did Jimmy Cleveland, prolific as he was as a session player, make so few albums as a leader? Was there some "incident" which turned him off from this role?

Garth,

Houston.

I have looked for these as well. Anyone have a good line on the Lonehill release that Garth references here.

Thanks

This album is available on several sites on Ebay (such as CD Hut) for $18.99. Considering that I have seen individual CDs of "Introducing JC" go for more than $45, this a bargain, and the sound is excellent.