A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper
| A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper | ||||
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| Studio album by Jimmy Knepper | ||||
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| Label (s) | Bethlehem Records / Affinity / JVC | |||
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LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
41:53 |
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Studio (s) |
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A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper is a jazz album by Jimmy Knepper . It was recorded in two sessions in alternating line-up in New York City in September 1957 and released on Bethlehem Records . Later re-releases were also released under the titles Idol of the Flies and Muted Joys .
The album
After arriving in New York in early 1957, the trombonist worked mostly with the band leader Charles Mingus . It was also Mingus who produced recordings for a first Kneppers album on his own independent label Debut Records ; the publication of the 10-inch LP recorded in June 1957 was planned, but not realized. After his participation in the Mingus albums Tijuana Moods , The Clown , East Coasting and A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry , the last two recorded for Bethlehem Records , Mingus put in contact with Lee Kraft from the Bethlehem label; Knepper then had the opportunity to record his first album under his own name.
Most of the tracks recorded in September 1957 were composed as a quintet with another wind player in the front line , the alto saxophonist Gene Quill ; the rhythm section was formed by bassist Teddy Kotick with longtime Mingus drummer Dannie Richmond and pianist Bill Evans , who had also worked with Mingus at the time, as on the East Coasting album in August. The quintet recorded a program of jazz standards such as the swing classic " How High the Moon " and Nacio Herb Brown's "You Stepped Out of a Dream"; in addition there were Jimmy Kneppers own compositions "Ogling Ogre", "Avid Admirer" and "Idol of the Flies", the last track also served as the title track for some of the album's re-releases.
“Ogling Ogre” is based on a phrase taken from Duke Ellington's title “Mr. Gentle ans Mr. Cool ”, which was created at the same time and played at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival . Knepper's “Idle of the Flies” reflects the influence of Charles Mingus as partners; "Avid Admirer" is a 12-bar blues whose complex structure is based on similar blues compositions by Charlie Parker .
The second session, recorded in September 1957, brought Jimmy Knepper together with trumpeter Gene Roland ; instead of Bill Evans played the relatively unknown pianist Bob Hammer , who was also working with Mingus at the time. The quintet, which again included Teddy Kotick and Dannie Richmond, played three standards, "Close As Pages in a Book", "Irresistible You" and " Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You ". Roland was an old friend of Knepper from days together on the west coast; his singing on the blues "Gee, Baby" allows the trombonist to indulge in a somewhat old-fashioned accompaniment in the style of Vic Dickenson , said Brian Priestley in the liner notes for the new edition of the album.
The Bethlehem album from 1957 was the only publication of the trombone under his own name until his album Cunningbird that Jimmy Knepper 1976 again with Dannie Richmond and with Al Cohn , Roland Hanna and George Mraz for the Steeplechase grossed label. In 1958 Knepper was co-leader of the album The Pepper-Knepper Quintet ( MetroJazz Records SL 3012).
Rating of the album
Brian Priestley describes Jimmy Knepper especially in this album as a musician who stands for a mixture of powerful and subtle trombone playing. Scott Yanow in the All Music Guide , who rated the album with four stars, speaks of essential cool-stressed hard bop ; the six standards and three original compositions by Kneppers experienced a swinging treatment.
Editorial notes
The tracks Ogling Ogre and You Stepped Out of a Dream were released by Bethlehem at the same time as a single (BCP 11032). A Swinging Introduction To Jimmy Knepper (Bethlehem BCP 77) was also released in later years under the title Idol Of The Flies (Affinity LP 12 ": AFF 89 or as Bethlehem LP 12": BCP 6031, 1977). The album was released in CD form in 1989 under the title Muted Joys on the reissue label Affinity , coupled with recordings made in August 1979 with Nico Bunink and Dutch musicians. In 2003 it appeared on LoneHill Jazz (CD: LHJ 10151) as The Complete Gus Wildi Recordings , on Toshiba / Bethlehem (CD: TOCJ 6364) again as A Swinging Introduction To Jimmy Knepper (2004); also on JVC (as CD: VICJ 61473) under the original title A Swinging Introduction To Jimmy Knepper .
The titles
- Jimmy Knepper Quintet - 'A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper (Bethlehem BCP)
- Love Letters ( Victor Young / Eddie Heyman ) 5:06
- Ogling Ogre (Knepper) 3:44
- You Stepped Out of a Dream ( Nacio Herb Brown / Gus Kahn ) 4:43
- How High the Moon (Lewis / Hamilton) 3:58
- Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You ( Don Redman / Andy Razaf ) 4:40
- Idol of the Flies (Knepper) 5:57
- Close as Pages in a Book ( Sigmund Romberg / Dorothy Fields ) 4:23
- Avid Admirer (Knepper) 4:58
- Irresistible You ( Don Raye / Gene De Paul ) 4:06
literature
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz. 1800 bands and artists from the beginning until today. 2nd, expanded and updated edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-476-01892-X .
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- Brian Priestley, Liner Notes., Muted Joys (Affinity).
Web links
- A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper at Allmusic (English)
- Bethlehem discography 1957
- Knepper discography as a leader
Notes and individual references
- ↑ The album planned as DEB-129 was later released on the Danish branch of Debut. See Ed Michel, Liner Notes, The Complete Debut Recordings.