After Jim Hall's dynamic and experimental work as a member of the Jimmy Giuffre 3 in the mid- and late '50s, the guitarist became an in-demand partner of small-group leaders. This period in the early '60s began with Sonny Rollins' The Bridge and What's New (January and April 1962, respectively), continuing with Bill Evans on Undercurrent and Interplay (April and July 1962). Then came Gary Burton's Something's Coming (August 1963) and a series of albums with Paul Desmond. One small-group recording that's often overlooked during this period is Art Farmer's Interaction (Atlantic). [Pictured clockwise, from right: Jim Hall, Art Farmer, Steve Swallow and Walter Perkins]
Yesterday, Jim told me he hadn't heard the album in about "80 years." More with Jim in a moment.
Recorded in July 1963 with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Walter Perkins, the album features Jim and flugelhornist Farmer conversing calmly throughout on their instruments. In most cases, Farmer takes the first solo, with Jim providing voicings behind, followed by Jim soloing, backed by Swallow and Perkins. Farmer plays warmly and is an ideal foil. Unlike Jim's other small-group dates, this one is the sound of two artists thinking, especially given the laid-back pace.
Jim and Farmer first recorded together on Listen to Art Farmer, a big band session for Mercury in 1962, and again as members of the Gerry Mulligan Sextet at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1963. After Farmer and Benny Golson's Jazztet broke up, Farmer united with Jim.
Billed here as the Art Farmer Quartet, this was a working group. Farmer and Jim had been playing for about a year in Boston, New York and Washington prior to entering the studio. The group was formed in the summer of 1962, and Farmer was featured on the more mellow flugelhorn rather than trumpet, springing softly off Jim's ringing guitar lines.
Interestingly, the quartet recorded all gentle standards on Interaction, starting with Henry Mancini's Days of Wine and Roses. Taken at a trot, Farmer rolls out the melody while Jim plays four-beat rhythm guitar. After running through the song straight, they shift gears, with Farmer wandering around the melody and Jim playing jazz chords. When it's Jim's turn to solo, the result is pure bliss as he intermingles chords with his signature string-bending lines. By Myself, My Little Suede Shoes and Embraceable You are taken with the same velvet-slipper sound, allowing for a hushed musical dialogue.
The last two tunes on the album were new gems at the time. The first was Loads of Love by Richard Rodgers from his show, ironically titled No Strings (1962). The other was Sometime Ago by Sergio Mihanovich, an Argentinian singer. The latter song is a waltz and is a quintessential early '60s jazz tune. It's a tender, dance melody that all but shouts "Greenwich Village in the early fall."
I gave Jim Hall a call yesterday to chat about the album:
"I had bumped into Art in a few situations around New York before we started the quartet. We also recorded together a couple of times in other settings. When we formed the group in 1962, Ron Carter was originally on bass. Then Miles Davis stole Ron away for his group, and we got Steve [Swallow]. A year or so later, Walter left and Pete LaRoca joined on drums.
"Art was such a beautiful, melodic player. So thoughtful. It was a pleasure working with him. He approached music the same way Bill Evans did, with that same level of intensity.
"By the way, Bill was the one who got me to do those two albums with him [Undercurrent and Intermodulation].I had known Bill when he worked with clarinetist Tony Scott in the '50s. I also worked opposite Bill when he was with Miles Davis and I was with Jimmy Giuffre.
"One day, when I was working with Sonny [Rollins] in early '62, Bill came into the club where we were playing and on a break asked me if I wanted to record with him. That's how Undercurrent came about.
"As with Bill, every note had meaning with Art. There were no frills or showoff stuff. It was pure thoughtful pleasure."
JazzWax tracks:Interaction by the Art Farmer Quartet, featuring Jim Hall, is available as a download here.
Farmer and Jim recorded two additional albums together in the early '60s: Live at the Half Notehere and To Sweden With Lovehere. The quartet also recorded three tracks on Anamari, an Atlantic release from 1964 featuring the singer Anna Schofield. The tracks are Blame It on My Youth, The More I See You and Love Look Away. It's available only on vinyl, and there are copies at eBay here.
JazzWax note: Anna Schofield died last year. For more on her, go here.
JazzWax clip:Here's Art Farmer and Jim Hall in 1964...
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"Interaction" can also be found on a Collectables twofer along with another excellent Farmer fluegelhorn album called "Sing Me Softly of the Blues" from 1965 (Farmer, Swallow, LaRoca, and Steve Khun playing compositions by Swallow, LaRoca, Carla Bley, and Walter Fuller.)
Great band. The most recent set of Jazz Icons DVDs includes a European TV performance by them; possibly my favourite disc in that admirable series.
I love what Hall says about Farmer's playing. His choice of notes is what makes him perhaps my favourite trumpet player - no extraneous decoration. You almost feel like his solos were written out before hand, then you hear an alternate take and realize nothing could be further from the truth. What a mind.
Thank you for more on the great Art Farmer. I recently saw a "Best of Art Farmer" CD and almost laughed out loud.
I have a couple of dozen Farmer recordings, several of which are always in rotation, and I have never been disappointed by any of them. Choosing a 'best of' list would seem pointless. And very hard.
If there were ever a trumpet player you wish the technique-crazed screechers coming out of music schools these days would listen to--Art Farmer. He'd probably sound wonderful on kazoo.
I had the great pleasure of hearing this wonderful quartet during their appearance at a Washington D.C. nightclub in the Spring of 1963, right before I graduated from high school. Art Farmer had always been one of my favorites--and he did not disappoint! Jim Hall's melodic playing was also a real bonus. The blend of that group was exceptional. I would also like to mention that on the breaks my buddy and I--a trumpet player--had the opportunity to talk with all of them and they just could not have been more accommodating to us. We even got autographs! Thanks for bringing back some great musical memories, Marc.
Art's beautiful renditions of Swedish folk songs in the intimate quartet setting with Jim Hall, Steve Swallow, and Pete LaRocca will immediately carry you off to dreamland, to the fjords, and sounds of the Scandinavian hemisphere.
I have an original Atlantic promo LP with a white label. The music is a perfect introduction to Art Farmer's lyrical flugelhorn, and a perfect give-away for young jazz players who want to learn how to play simple, but nevertheless deep melodic lines.
Agree about Sweden with Love. But Scandanavian hemisphere? I didn't realise that Scandinavia was half of the world. I have the Atlantic LP also, and also find it to be a good introduction - even with the regular label.
The successor Farmer quartet, with Steve Kuhn in for Hall, was special, too. They made only one album, I think, the aforementioned "Sing Me Softly of the Blues." I heard them live at the Plugged Nickel in Chicago. Kuhn and LaRoca, both members of the first Coltrane quartet (heard that group live, too, several years before), brought a good deal of intensity to the Farmer group.
BTW, while I too love that Jazz Icons Farmer-Hall group DVD, a drummer friend points out that LaRoca is playing a rather dismal borrowed drum kit. A shame because LaRoca is such a fine and unique player, and this may be the only chance we have to see as well as hear him.
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.
"Interaction" can also be found on a Collectables twofer along with another excellent Farmer fluegelhorn album called "Sing Me Softly of the Blues" from 1965 (Farmer, Swallow, LaRoca, and Steve Khun playing compositions by Swallow, LaRoca, Carla Bley, and Walter Fuller.)
Posted by: David | July 13, 2011 at 01:47 AM
Great band. The most recent set of Jazz Icons DVDs includes a European TV performance by them; possibly my favourite disc in that admirable series.
I love what Hall says about Farmer's playing. His choice of notes is what makes him perhaps my favourite trumpet player - no extraneous decoration. You almost feel like his solos were written out before hand, then you hear an alternate take and realize nothing could be further from the truth. What a mind.
Posted by: Charles Birkett | July 13, 2011 at 09:01 AM
Thank you for more on the great Art Farmer. I recently saw a "Best of Art Farmer" CD and almost laughed out loud.
I have a couple of dozen Farmer recordings, several of which are always in rotation, and I have never been disappointed by any of them. Choosing a 'best of' list would seem pointless. And very hard.
Posted by: Rab Hines | July 13, 2011 at 10:18 AM
If there were ever a trumpet player you wish the technique-crazed screechers coming out of music schools these days would listen to--Art Farmer. He'd probably sound wonderful on kazoo.
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=24903925 | July 13, 2011 at 10:44 AM
I had the great pleasure of hearing this wonderful quartet during their appearance at a Washington D.C. nightclub in the Spring of 1963, right before I graduated from high school. Art Farmer had always been one of my favorites--and he did not disappoint! Jim Hall's melodic playing was also a real bonus. The blend of that group was exceptional. I would also like to mention that on the breaks my buddy and I--a trumpet player--had the opportunity to talk with all of them and they just could not have been more accommodating to us. We even got autographs! Thanks for bringing back some great musical memories, Marc.
Posted by: Bruce Armstrong | July 13, 2011 at 12:22 PM
My favorite record with Art Farmer is "To Sweden With Love":
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/art/Art-Farmer-Quartet-To-Sweden-With-Love-Ltd/hnum/1699564
Art's beautiful renditions of Swedish folk songs in the intimate quartet setting with Jim Hall, Steve Swallow, and Pete LaRocca will immediately carry you off to dreamland, to the fjords, and sounds of the Scandinavian hemisphere.
I have an original Atlantic promo LP with a white label. The music is a perfect introduction to Art Farmer's lyrical flugelhorn, and a perfect give-away for young jazz players who want to learn how to play simple, but nevertheless deep melodic lines.
Posted by: Bruno Leicht | July 14, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Agree about Sweden with Love. But Scandanavian hemisphere? I didn't realise that Scandinavia was half of the world. I have the Atlantic LP also, and also find it to be a good introduction - even with the regular label.
Posted by: Vilmer Louette | July 14, 2011 at 01:22 PM
The successor Farmer quartet, with Steve Kuhn in for Hall, was special, too. They made only one album, I think, the aforementioned "Sing Me Softly of the Blues." I heard them live at the Plugged Nickel in Chicago. Kuhn and LaRoca, both members of the first Coltrane quartet (heard that group live, too, several years before), brought a good deal of intensity to the Farmer group.
BTW, while I too love that Jazz Icons Farmer-Hall group DVD, a drummer friend points out that LaRoca is playing a rather dismal borrowed drum kit. A shame because LaRoca is such a fine and unique player, and this may be the only chance we have to see as well as hear him.
Posted by: Larry Kart | July 16, 2011 at 09:24 AM