New York Journeyman - Complete Recordings
Encyclopedia
New York Journeyman - Complete Recordings is a compilation album of the two sessions that jazz
saxophonist
Frank Socolow
recorded as leader, released on Fresh Sound Records
in 2005.
, was recorded on May 2, 1945 for Duke Records
under the name Frank Socolow's Duke Quintet. Four tracks were recorded, but one of them, "Blue Fantasy", was never released and has been lost, so only three tracks are available.
Two things are of particular note about this session. One is a 20 year-old Bud Powell
making only his third appearance in a recording studio (having recorded two sessions the previous year with Cootie Williams
) – according to Mark Gardner, who wrote the liner notes for the Xanadu Records
re-release, Socolow and drummer Irv Kluger
went to see Powell playing in a club in Greenwich Village and "The pair flipped when they heard Bud's dynamic and totally new style of piano playing, and needed no further convincing". The second is the capturing of Freddie Webster
, whose recorded legacy is very sparse, at the height of his powers, and playing one of his own compositions, "Reverse the Charges", two years before his early death.
The second session was recorded in November 1956 and released as Sounds by Socolow by Bethlehem Records
. Socolow invited Manny Albam
, Bill Holman
, and Sal Salvador
, three band leaders he had worked with many times, to arrange material for a sextet featuring himself, Eddie Bert
on trombone, the aforementioned Salvador on guitar, and Eddie Costa
on piano. Socolow switches to alto for two tracks: "Farfel" (named after his nickname for his son), and "I Cried for You".
.
November, 1956 session: tracks 4-13
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Frank Socolow
Frank Socolow
Frank Socolow , born in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and oboist, noted for his tenor playing....
recorded as leader, released on Fresh Sound Records
Fresh Sound
Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a Spanish jazz label based in Barcelona, specializing in American jazz music.Fresh Sound was founded in 1983 as a reissue label for 1950s jazz...
in 2005.
History
The first session, produced by Bob ShadBob Shad
Bob Shad was an American music producer and record label owner. He produced the first album by Big Brother and the Holding Company...
, was recorded on May 2, 1945 for Duke Records
Duke Records
Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "Hey Fat Girl", issued on Duke R-1, later amended to R-101.After forming a partnership...
under the name Frank Socolow's Duke Quintet. Four tracks were recorded, but one of them, "Blue Fantasy", was never released and has been lost, so only three tracks are available.
Two things are of particular note about this session. One is a 20 year-old Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
making only his third appearance in a recording studio (having recorded two sessions the previous year with Cootie Williams
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
) – according to Mark Gardner, who wrote the liner notes for the Xanadu Records
Xanadu Records
Xanadu Records was a jazz music record label specializing in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music.-Discography:...
re-release, Socolow and drummer Irv Kluger
Irv Kluger
Irving "Irv" Kluger - is an American jazz drummer.Kluger played violin early in life before settling on drums; his first professional gigs came at age 15. He played with Georgie Auld in 1942-43, then with Bob Chester, Freddie Slack, Dizzy Gillespie , Boyd Raeburn , Bobby Byrne and Herbie Fields...
went to see Powell playing in a club in Greenwich Village and "The pair flipped when they heard Bud's dynamic and totally new style of piano playing, and needed no further convincing". The second is the capturing of Freddie Webster
Freddie Webster
Freddie Webster was a jazz trumpeter who, Dizzy Gillespie once said, "had the best sound on trumpet since the trumpet was invented--just alive and full of life." He is perhaps best known for being cited by Miles Davis as an early influence.Webster was born in Cleveland, Ohio...
, whose recorded legacy is very sparse, at the height of his powers, and playing one of his own compositions, "Reverse the Charges", two years before his early death.
The second session was recorded in November 1956 and released as Sounds by Socolow by Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s....
. Socolow invited Manny Albam
Manny Albam
Manny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
, Bill Holman
Bill Holman (musician)
Willis Leonard Holman , known also as Bill Holman, is an American composer/arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working primarily in the jazz idiom....
, and Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador was a bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator.He was born in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at...
, three band leaders he had worked with many times, to arrange material for a sextet featuring himself, Eddie Bert
Eddie Bert
Eddie Bert is an American bebop jazz trombonist.His first job as a musician came in 1940 when he joined the Sam Donahue Orchestra, and then joined up with Red Norvo in 1941, later performing also with the bands of Stan Kenton and with Benny Goodman's bebop orchestra.He also recorded extensively as...
on trombone, the aforementioned Salvador on guitar, and Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa
Eddie Costa, , was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist born in Atlas, Pennsylvania near Mount Carmel, PA in Northumberland County....
on piano. Socolow switches to alto for two tracks: "Farfel" (named after his nickname for his son), and "I Cried for You".
Release history
The 1945 session was first released as 78 rpm singles in 1945 by Duke Records: "The Man I Love c/w Reverse the Changes" (Duke 112), and "September in the Rain" (Duke 115), and then re-released on a Xanadu Records compilation in 1987, Bebop Revisited, Vol. 6. The 1956 session was released as a 12" LP by Bethlehem Records in 1956, and previously re-issued by Fresh Sound on CD in 1985.Track listing
Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by Frank SocolowFrank Socolow
Frank Socolow , born in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and oboist, noted for his tenor playing....
.
- "Reverse the Charges" (Freddie WebsterFreddie WebsterFreddie Webster was a jazz trumpeter who, Dizzy Gillespie once said, "had the best sound on trumpet since the trumpet was invented--just alive and full of life." He is perhaps best known for being cited by Miles Davis as an early influence.Webster was born in Cleveland, Ohio...
) – 2:54 - "The Man I LoveThe Man I Love (song)"The Man I Love" is a popular standard, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira. Originally part of the 1924 score for the Gershwin government satire Lady, Be Good as "The Girl I Love", the song was deleted from the show as well as from both the 1927 anti-war satire Strike Up...
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) – 3:16 - "September in the RainSeptember in the Rain"September in the Rain" is a popular song by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, published in 1937. The song was introduced by James Melton in the film Melody for Two...
" (Al DubinAl DubinAlexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
, Harry WarrenHarry WarrenHarry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
) – 2:46 - "Miss Finegold" – 2:57
- "But Not for MeBut Not for Me (song)"But Not for Me" is a popular song, composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It was written for their musical Girl Crazy and introduced in the original production by Ginger Rogers. It is also in the 1992 musical based on Girl Crazy, Crazy for You...
" (Gershwin, Gershwin) – 3:07 - "Swing Low Sweet Socolow" (Sal SalvadorSal SalvadorSal Salvador was a bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator.He was born in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at...
) – 2:52 - "How About You?How About You?"How About You?" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Ralph Freed. It was introduced in the 1941 film Babes on Broadway by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and has also featured in The Fisher King with Robin Williams. The music of the song appears in the film All About Eve...
" (Burton LaneBurton LaneBurton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...
, Ralph Freed) – 3:51 - "My Heart Stood StillMy Heart Stood Still"My Heart Stood Still" is a 1927 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical A Connecticut Yankee , where it was introduced by Constance Carpenter and William Gaxton.-Notable recordings:...
" (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
) – 3:11 - "Little Joe" – 4:11
- "Farfel" – 3:30
- "I'll Take Romance" (Ben OaklandBen OaklandBen Oakland was an American composer, lyricist and pianist most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed mainly for Broadway and vaudeville, though he also worked on several Hollywood scores including for the film My Little Chickadee.Oakland often composed music only, collaborating...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
) – 4:05 - "I Love YouI Love You (Cole Porter song)"I Love You" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1944 for his stage musical Mexican Hayride. It was popularized by Bing Crosby in the same year...
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) – 4:12 - "I Cried for YouI Cried for You"I Cried for You" is a song by Georgian born songstress Katie Melua, and was the second single from her second album, Piece by Piece. The single is a double A-side consisting of "I Cried for You", which is one of Melua's own compositions, and a cover of The Cure's song "Just like Heaven", the...
" (Abe LymanAbe LymanAbe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
, Gus ArnheimGus ArnheimGus Arnheim was an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s...
, Arthur FreedArthur FreedArthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
) – 4:09
Personnel
May 2, 1945 session: tracks 1-3- Frank SocolowFrank SocolowFrank Socolow , born in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and oboist, noted for his tenor playing....
– tenor saxTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Freddie WebsterFreddie WebsterFreddie Webster was a jazz trumpeter who, Dizzy Gillespie once said, "had the best sound on trumpet since the trumpet was invented--just alive and full of life." He is perhaps best known for being cited by Miles Davis as an early influence.Webster was born in Cleveland, Ohio...
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Bud PowellBud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Leonard GaskinLeonard GaskinLeonard Gaskin was an American jazz bassist born in New York City.Gaskin played on the early bebop scene at Minton's and Monroe's in New York in the early 1940s...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Irv KlugerIrv KlugerIrving "Irv" Kluger - is an American jazz drummer.Kluger played violin early in life before settling on drums; his first professional gigs came at age 15. He played with Georgie Auld in 1942-43, then with Bob Chester, Freddie Slack, Dizzy Gillespie , Boyd Raeburn , Bobby Byrne and Herbie Fields...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
November, 1956 session: tracks 4-13
- Frank Socolow – tenor sax, alto saxAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
(tracks 10, 13) - Eddie BertEddie BertEddie Bert is an American bebop jazz trombonist.His first job as a musician came in 1940 when he joined the Sam Donahue Orchestra, and then joined up with Red Norvo in 1941, later performing also with the bands of Stan Kenton and with Benny Goodman's bebop orchestra.He also recorded extensively as...
– tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Sal SalvadorSal SalvadorSal Salvador was a bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator.He was born in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Eddie CostaEddie CostaEddie Costa, , was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist born in Atlas, Pennsylvania near Mount Carmel, PA in Northumberland County....
– piano - Bill Takus – bass
- Jimmy Campbell – drums
- Manny AlbamManny AlbamManny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
– arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s (tracks 4-5, 7, 13) - Sal Salvador – arrangements (tracks 6, 10, 12)
- Bill HolmanBill Holman (musician)Willis Leonard Holman , known also as Bill Holman, is an American composer/arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working primarily in the jazz idiom....
– arrangements (tracks 8-9, 11)