Urbie Green is easily one of the smoothest and most lyrical trombonists of the '50s and '60s. He's also among the most prolific. From his days with Gene Krupa in the late 1940s until his last recording in 1997, Green was on an astonishing 603 known jazz recording sessions, according to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography. This doesn't include dates for movie soundtracks or television. By contrast, trombonist Jack Teagarden was on 507 dates and trombonist J.J. Johnson was on 355. Tommy Dorsey? He was on 1,153 dates. One of Green's finest early '60s sessions was The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green.
Recorded in February 1960, the album featured Nick Travis, John Bello, Don Ferrara and Doc Severinsen (tp), Urbie Green and Bobby Byrne (tb), Gil Cohen (b-tb), Hal McKusick (as), Rolf Kuhn (as,cl), Eddie Wasserman (fl,ts), Pepper Adams (bar), Dave McKenna (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b) and Don Lamond (d). On half the tracks, Gene Allen (bar) and Nat Pierce (p) replaced Pepper Adams and Dave McKenna.
This session was recorded for Command, a label started in 1959 by Enoch Light and George Schwager in Harrison, N.J. The line was marketed to early audiophiles—code at the time for guys who liked "bachelor pad" music. Command was big on the exaggerated separation of stereo tracks to create a highly dynamic range. Albums appeared in glossy, high-quality gatefold covers with explosive abstract designs. Interestingly, Command was one of the first companies to use 35MM film for master recordings instead of magnetic tape. The recording band on film held more informationand was superior for improved fidelity.
Persuasive Trombone was the 15th album issued by Command, and the first of many that Urbie recorded for the label in the 1960s. What makes this particular album special is the hip swinging arrangements, the band's knot-tight attack and Green's rich swinging horn. Unfortunately, the back of the original album was devoted to text rattling on about the album's technical data rather than who wrote the arrangements. According to Tom Fine, who pulled the original album, the charts were by Bobby Byrne and Lew Davies.
There are plenty of surprises. The first track—At Last—opens with an I Can't Get Started intro but then kicks into a mid-tempo swinger. There's fine piercing solos by trumpeter John Bello on Prisoner of Love, Dream and other tracks. The album ends, interestingly, with a simple and beautiful working by Green of I Can't Get Started.
Throughout his career, Green's appeal rested with his ability to sing beautifully through his trombone. He employed a velvety tone and a breathing technique that erased any evidence of taking a breath. Notes seemed to pour from a pitcher, and Green somehow managed to move effortlessly up and down along the surface of melodies like a cue ball on marble.
This album is sultry and seductive and yet still swings without bringing down the house.
JazzWax note: Tomorrow (Thursday) I will be the guest of John Greenspan—esteemed host of Good Morning Jazz on KSFR-FM. The show is broadcast from sunny Santa Fe, N.M. John will be spinning platters, and we'll be chatting about Sonny Rollins, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Kai Winding and J.J. Johnson. When: 10:30 a.m. (MDT)—or 12:30 p.m. New York time (EDT). You can listen from anywhere in the world on your computer by going here and clicking "listen live" in the upper right-hand corner. See you then!
JazzWax tracks: The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green (Command) can be found as a download at iTunes and here.
JazzWax clip: How good is Urbie Green on this 1960 hi-fidelity disc? Here he is on I Had the Craziest Dream. That's Hal McKusick's alto behind him throughout...
And here'sAt Last with the I Can't Get Started setup...
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A couple of weeks ago I asked a trombone player about the wailing solo on the Sinatra/Riddle "Under My Skin." Turns out it was Urbie. According to my source, the uncharacteristic tone was the result of his being too far from the microphone. (I'd just been assuming that it was what Nelson wanted.)
Milt Bernhart played the solo on the original 1956 "I've Got You Under My Skin." The tone was not uncharacteristic at all for this former Kentonite. Al Grey played it on "Sinatra at the Sands." Urbie Green was probably on the "Main Event" version in 1974.
Urbie was also featured on Sinatra's 1984 "L.A. is My Lady" album.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the Urbie feature. Persuasive Trombone features some great playing, but The 6tet album (pictured in the feature) was his best jazz album, with excellent playing by Doc Severinsen -- Check out his beautiful version of The Bad and the Beautiful on that album. One interesting thing about Urbie's playing is that his unmatched ballad playing ability (that is, until Bill Watrous came along) contrasts with a fairly raw solo style on faster numbers -- I have a four trombone set of his from the 1973 Dick Gibson Jazz Party, with Carl Fontana, Kai Winding and Trummy Young, and Urbie is hard to distinguish from Dixieland player Young.
You can see Urbie both in The Bennie Goodman Story (w/Steve Allen, who was taught to play clarinet by Goodman afficionado Sol Yaged) and in Jazz on a Summer's Day, backing Dinah Washington.
Now, how about a feature on his two 21 Trombones albums!
I've heard that a number of the beautiful trombone solos on the easy-listening 'Muzak'-type elevator music in the '60s and '70s was Urbie Green, also. What a tone!
Very nice to see some love for one of the many excellent jazz albums made by Command Records in the 60's. Some more facts about the Urbie Green Command albums. The large-ensemble records were arranged by Lew Davies, Command's staff arranger in the early 60's. The small-group material was arranged by the group. Command sessions were done at Fine Recording's Ballroom Studio A, which was the gilded ballroom of the Great Northern Hotel on 57th St. Bob Fine was the engineer on the Urbie Green albums. A main part of Command's market appeal was the high fidelity of the records, and the marketing text on the backs of the gatefold albums were designed to highlight the combination of exciting music and exciting sonics. Inside notes covered descriptions of the tunes, often highlighting individual performances and their placement in the sound-field. The "reissue" sold at iTunes is a gray-market dub from an LP. Better sound quality may be found in a good-condition quarter-track reel of the album, assuming the tape is in good condition. One final note: Urbie Green played on numerous Command albums, both jazz-oriented and pop-centric releases. He also recorded for Enoch Light's next label, Project 3. Other notable musicians who played on numerous Command records were Doc Severinsen, Tony Mottola, Dick Hyman, Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton, Phil Woods, Ed Shaughnessy, Bobby Rosengarden, Don Lamond and Bob Haggart. Much more info about Command Records and Enoch Light can be found at the excellent website www.enochlight.com.
Here's an update to my comments above. Lesson/memo to self -- always pull the LP and read the liner notes before posting to a blog!
According to the liner notes, arrangements were by Bobby Byrne, but later there is mention of "Davies and Byrne," which indicates to me that Lou Davies had a hand in arrangements also.
Musicians listed in the liner notes: trombones - Urbie Green, Bobby Byrne, Eddie Bert, Gil Cohen; trumpets - Doc Severinsen, Nick Travis, Don Ferrara, John Bello; reeds - Rolf Kuhn, Hal McKusick, Ed Wasserman, Pepper Adams/Gene Allen (they each played on different selections, but not together, both played baritone sax); rhythm - Nat Pierce or Dave McKenna on piano, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, Don Lamond on drums.
Does anyone have similar information for Persuasive Trombone Vol. 2? I don't have that LP.
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.
A couple of weeks ago I asked a trombone player about the wailing solo on the Sinatra/Riddle "Under My Skin." Turns out it was Urbie. According to my source, the uncharacteristic tone was the result of his being too far from the microphone. (I'd just been assuming that it was what Nelson wanted.)
Posted by: David | September 21, 2011 at 12:48 AM
Milt Bernhart played the solo on the original 1956 "I've Got You Under My Skin." The tone was not uncharacteristic at all for this former Kentonite. Al Grey played it on "Sinatra at the Sands." Urbie Green was probably on the "Main Event" version in 1974.
Urbie was also featured on Sinatra's 1984 "L.A. is My Lady" album.
Posted by: Peter | September 21, 2011 at 07:09 AM
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the Urbie feature. Persuasive Trombone features some great playing, but The 6tet album (pictured in the feature) was his best jazz album, with excellent playing by Doc Severinsen -- Check out his beautiful version of The Bad and the Beautiful on that album. One interesting thing about Urbie's playing is that his unmatched ballad playing ability (that is, until Bill Watrous came along) contrasts with a fairly raw solo style on faster numbers -- I have a four trombone set of his from the 1973 Dick Gibson Jazz Party, with Carl Fontana, Kai Winding and Trummy Young, and Urbie is hard to distinguish from Dixieland player Young.
You can see Urbie both in The Bennie Goodman Story (w/Steve Allen, who was taught to play clarinet by Goodman afficionado Sol Yaged) and in Jazz on a Summer's Day, backing Dinah Washington.
Now, how about a feature on his two 21 Trombones albums!
Marc, you're the best.
Posted by: Brett Gold | September 21, 2011 at 11:14 AM
I've heard that a number of the beautiful trombone solos on the easy-listening 'Muzak'-type elevator music in the '60s and '70s was Urbie Green, also. What a tone!
Posted by: Don | September 21, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Very nice to see some love for one of the many excellent jazz albums made by Command Records in the 60's. Some more facts about the Urbie Green Command albums. The large-ensemble records were arranged by Lew Davies, Command's staff arranger in the early 60's. The small-group material was arranged by the group. Command sessions were done at Fine Recording's Ballroom Studio A, which was the gilded ballroom of the Great Northern Hotel on 57th St. Bob Fine was the engineer on the Urbie Green albums. A main part of Command's market appeal was the high fidelity of the records, and the marketing text on the backs of the gatefold albums were designed to highlight the combination of exciting music and exciting sonics. Inside notes covered descriptions of the tunes, often highlighting individual performances and their placement in the sound-field. The "reissue" sold at iTunes is a gray-market dub from an LP. Better sound quality may be found in a good-condition quarter-track reel of the album, assuming the tape is in good condition. One final note: Urbie Green played on numerous Command albums, both jazz-oriented and pop-centric releases. He also recorded for Enoch Light's next label, Project 3. Other notable musicians who played on numerous Command records were Doc Severinsen, Tony Mottola, Dick Hyman, Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton, Phil Woods, Ed Shaughnessy, Bobby Rosengarden, Don Lamond and Bob Haggart. Much more info about Command Records and Enoch Light can be found at the excellent website www.enochlight.com.
Posted by: Tom | September 21, 2011 at 09:36 PM
Here's an update to my comments above. Lesson/memo to self -- always pull the LP and read the liner notes before posting to a blog!
According to the liner notes, arrangements were by Bobby Byrne, but later there is mention of "Davies and Byrne," which indicates to me that Lou Davies had a hand in arrangements also.
Musicians listed in the liner notes: trombones - Urbie Green, Bobby Byrne, Eddie Bert, Gil Cohen; trumpets - Doc Severinsen, Nick Travis, Don Ferrara, John Bello; reeds - Rolf Kuhn, Hal McKusick, Ed Wasserman, Pepper Adams/Gene Allen (they each played on different selections, but not together, both played baritone sax); rhythm - Nat Pierce or Dave McKenna on piano, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, Don Lamond on drums.
Does anyone have similar information for Persuasive Trombone Vol. 2? I don't have that LP.
-- Tom
Posted by: Tom | September 23, 2011 at 09:13 AM