By May 1954, tenor saxophonist Frank Wess had spent a year in Count Basie's newly formed New Testament band. This is the band that modernized swing with the help of superb arrangers like Neal Hefti, Frank Foster and Ernie Wilkins. To hold onto top players like Wess in the 10-inch LP era, Basie wisely let them record as leaders whenever the band took a brief break. Basie band trumpeter Joe Newman had already started doing this in March '54 on Joe Newman and His Band for the Vangard label, an ensemble that included Wess.
In May, Wess recorded his first album as a leader. Simply titled Frank Wess Quintet, the 10-inch album for Commodore featured seven tracks. During the first session, the Wess quintet was comprised of Henry Coker (tb), Frank Wess (ts/fl), Jimmy Jones (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Osie Johnson (d). The songs were Some Other Spring, Floyd Olsen's Mishawaka, and Wess's Flute Song and Wess Point.
For the second session, Benny Powell replaced Coker on trombone. The songs were Wess's Basie Ain't Here, the standard You're My Thrill and Osie Johnson's Frankosis.
Wess's assertive saxophone had an tough, romantic tone. It was the contrast between these two flavors—determined and seductive—that made his sound so appealing. As you'll hear, his early jazz flute was pretty, lyrical and swinging.
Frank Wess died in 2013.
JazzWax tracks: Here are all seven tracks (the fist seven, followed by tracks from another Commodore quintet session in August '54)...
JazzWax tracks: You'll find all of these tracks plus alternate takes on Frank Wess: Wess Point (Fresh Sound) here.
Others in my "perfect album" series:
- Johnny Richards — Something Else
- Maynard Ferguson — A Message From Newport
- Herb Pomeroy — Band in Boston
- Oscar Pettiford — Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi, Vol 1.
- Horace Silver — Horace-Scope
- Paul Desmond/Jim Hall — Glad to Be Unhappy
