In the early 1950s, before modern jazz giants emerged as stars with the emergence of the 12-inch LP, R&B was all the rage. Radio saw to that, since many small independent stations in African-American communities were devoted to playing R&B records. Many of these stations preferred spinning R&B 78s and 45s since the music attracted a larger listening audiences than jazz singles.
Back then, R&B was geared largely for adults, with many of those singles going into bar and club jukeboxes. African-American and white teens discovered the music at night as they worked the dials of their radios. If you flipped through the pages of Billboard and Down Beat then, you'd find dozens of ads for R&B records and the genre's leading artists. Dance records were hugely popular then, and modern jazz's heyday wouldn't arrive until the second half of the decade, when the larger LP became standard and Miles Davis signed with Columbia Records.
Prior to those events, R&B dominated, and many jazz musicians played in R&B bands and on R&B recordings to supplement their incomes. Two of those crossover musicians were guitarist Bill Jennings and baritone saxophonist Leo Parker. Jennings was from Indianapolis and distinguished himself by being able to play in virtually any style, from swing and bop to jump blues and pop. In those days, Indianapolis was a club hub for many touring musicians. Being able to handle any style of music meant greater work possibilities as a sideman.
Parker was jazz saxophonist from Washington, D.C., who had appeared on one of the first bebop-flavored recording sessions led by Coleman Hawkins in February 1944—the Woody'n You date that included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonists Budd Johnson and Don Byas, pianist Clyde Hart, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Max Roach. Parker had been the anchor of Billy Eckstine's orchestra in the mid-1940s, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the reed section with Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. In the late 1940s, he recorded with Sarah Vaughn, Illinois Jacquet, Fats Navarro, Sir Charles Thompson, J.J. Johnson and others. [Photo above of the Billy Eckstine Orchestra reed section, featuring from left, Gene Ammons, Leo Parker, John Jackson, Bill Frazier and Dexter Gordon, with Tommy Potter on bass, and Art Blakey's drums on right, in Hill City Auditorium (Savoy Ballroom), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 1944]
By the early 1950s, Parker also played in jump blues bands. In July 1954, he recorded an album with Jennings called Jazz Interlude for the King label. The Cincinnati session included Andrew Johnson (p,org), Joe Williams (b) and George DeHart (d). The 11 songs were a solid mix of jump blues, such as Get Hot, as well as jazz numbers such as May I?, Fine and Dandy and Solitude. The material was long out of print in the digital era and was all but lost until 2014.
In that year, the material surfaced on Architect of Soul Jazz: Billy Jennings, the Complete Early Recordings 1951-1957, a two-CD set. Once again, Jordi Pujol of Fresh Sound Records stepped in to save music that never would have seen the light of day otherwise.
Listening to Jennings and Parker play, there's a natural chemistry between them as they feed off each other's ideas. As Parker rolled out a thick, deep sound on the baritone, Jennings thread his guitar notes between Parker's husky tones. It's exciting music that fused R&B and jazz in the most exciting way. A shame they didn't record much more together.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Architect of Soul Jazz: Billy Jennings, the Complete Early Recordings 1951-1957 here.
JazzWax clips: Here's the entire King album. The sound on the Fresh Sound release is far superior and fully restored...
JazzWax note: You'll find my post on Bill Jennings' Enough Said (1959) for Prestige here.
A special thanks to Jordi Pujol and Bruce Klauber.
