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Q. Jones Orchestra personnel, Europe 1960


jtaylor

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Got the box today - great stuff. Julius Watkins' soloing on Everybody's Blues alone is worth the price of admission. Budd Johnson ... what can you say. Highly recommended. This was a real band, and much better than the AMG review suggests.

It's not really a box - just a cardboard slipcase with 4 slim cardboard LP-style covers and a booklet inside. Doesn't need more space on the shelf than one jewel case.

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Seems I will have to get me the Mosaic as well ...

It doesn't seem to have too many friends here - but I know that brownie and me, we both like it a lot!

Just be aware that a few cuts that turned up later on from the "I Dig Dancers" album were missed by Mosaic. They're currently available on the reissue that's part of the Jazz in Paris Collector's Edition.

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Hmm ... as far as I can see, there are but two bonus tracks: Close Your Eyes 02:07 and Blues From Free And Easy 2:00 - do they merit getting the single CD reissue as well?

I-Dig-Dancers.jpg

I guess not really, but these JiP Collector's discs (just out in Germany and it seems they should be around for just 5€) are nice! I've got this one and the "Jazz Boom N°1" so far.

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  • 1 year later...

yes, yes, yes, another unreleased release by tcb records:

135960.jpg

N.K. COLE - Q. JONES BIG BAND - LIVE IN ZURICH 196

Reference: TCB-135960

As a singer, Nat ‘King’ Cole had a voice that enthralled audiences around the world for more than two decades and earned him success in the pop charts with a string of hit singles and albums on Capitol Records. What has remained underappreciated though, certainly among popular music fans, is that Nat was also an incredible jazz musician. His dexterity at the piano put him at the top of the critics’ and readers’ polls of magazines such as DownBeat who inducted him, posthumously, into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Nat’s incredible phrasing, timing and perfect pitch, were the very cornerstones of a vocal style born out of his prowess as a jazz musician.

On this rare and recently discovered concert recording from the archives of Swiss Radio, the balance between Nat’s pop and jazz output can be said to have been redressed. Jazz fans aplenty will be enthralled to hear the generous portions of Nat’s piano playing, and then equally enthralled by the added bonus of an all-star Quincy Jones Big Band in attendance. Whether in full-flight with the big band hanging on his coattails or in the intimacy of his trio, the performances captured on this CD are absolute treasures to be heard and appreciated, time and time again.

PERSONNEL:

NAT KING COLE, piano & voice

BENNY BAILEY, ROGER GUÉRIN LENNY JOHNSON & FLOYD STANDIFER, trumpet

JIMMY CLEVELAND, AKE PERSSON, MELBA LISTON & QUENTIN JACKSON, trombones

JULIUS WATKINS, french horn

PHIL WOODS, PORTER KILBERT BUDD JOHNSON,

JEROME RICHARDSON & SAHIB SHIHAB, saxes

PATTI BROWN, piano

BUDDY CATLETT, bass

JOE HARRIS, drums

Kongresshaus Zürich, May 1, 1960

TRACKS:

01 Quincy Jones announcement

02 Moanin

03 The Midnight Sun Will Never Set

04 Airmail Special

05 Unforgettable

06 Madrid

07 Tea For Two

08 Laura

09 On The Sunny Side Of The Street

10 The Phantom Blues

11 Lester Leaps In

12 Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup

13 It’s Only A Paper Moon

14 Sweet Lorraine

15 Route 66

16 Joe Turner Blues

17 Interview Nat ‘King’ Cole-Lance Tschannen

keep boppin´

marcel

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A good place to look for info on this band was Chan Parker's "My Life in Eb", as she was present for as long as Woods was in the band. They tried to perform Q's jazz musical "Free and Easy" for French audiences, but the language barrier, and other things made them give it up after a few days. Was "Free and Easy" ever produced? It seemed like members of the band appeared on stage.

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Was "Free and Easy" ever produced? It seemed like members of the band appeared on stage.

qj1960_big.gif

Quincy Jones and his musicians pose on the stage of the Paris Alhambra before the premiere of the show in early 1960.

Sammy Davis Jr. was supposed to star in the musical but opted out. He was replaced by Harold Nicholas who shared the vocal leads with Irene Williams.

A very young Patti Austin also appeared in the show.

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Ben Webster's is far from the only countenance on which I have seen that expression, nor his the only head on which I've seen a hat worn with such an attitude, nor his body the only one one which I've seen that language. Although to be fair, the ones one which such things have been encountered are not all that many! Point just being that CT's appearance and body language "speaks with authority", if you know what I mean.

I'd say that Julius Watkins is almost pulling his look off with equal authority, but the French Horn kinda causes a disconnect... :g

otoh, Butter looks like a photo of a photo. Perfect!

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Yes of course I see what you mean, and CT does indeed look like he wanted to say "I'm the boss of you all".

It's just that at first glance there is that similarity with Ben Webster IMO.

Quincy Jones seated up front certainly does not look like the bandleader in that pic.

But he may have been taking it relatively easy with such outward aspects of status back then?

(I doubt he would have adopted the pose shown on the cover below - dating back to about the same time - in later decades :D ...)

3SA2I2piae.jpg

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I'd say that Julius Watkins is almost pulling his look off with equal authority, but the French Horn kinda causes a disconnect... :g

otoh, Butter looks like a photo of a photo. Perfect!

Floyd Standifer (who was that guy anyway? I've heard his name before, a name you'll never forget!) and Benny Bailey aren't bad either ... but what the hell's the problem with Shihab? Must be the flute ... glad though he's not mixing up with the chorus boys at the back! :ph34r:

Also, as far as shoes go, the alto sax sections winds hands down!

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Floyd Standifer was a Seattle-area cat, iirc.

Sahib looks like he's goofin' BIG time. I sure hope so!

And Phil Woods looks like he had that outfit in his closet at home and didn't NEED no stinkin' wardrobe!

Although a few years later, he definitely did, if this album cover is any indication:

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But this is a really good record here, no matter what the "look":

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