According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, the French horn in jazz recordings dates back to 1921, when Vincent Lopez's brass band recorded The Sheik of Araby for Black Swan in New York. By the 1930s, the instrument was popping up on recordings by Bing Crosby and Woody Herman. In the 1940s, Artie Shaw, Claude Thornhill, Harry James and other bandleaders included the horn when they used strings. Neal Hefti included Vincent Jacobs on French horn when he recorded Repetition with Charlie Parker in 1947. Junior Collins was on the horn during Miles Davis's "Birth of the Cool" sessions in the late 1940s. And Julius Watkins played horn with Kenny Clarke and His Clique in 1949.
The first French hornist to lead a jazz recording session was John Graas. The album, French Horn Jazz, was recorded for Los Angeles's Trend label in June 1953. Originally a 10-inch LP (or two 45s with their own cover sleeves), the vinyl album was expanded to 12 inches in 1956 with four additional tracks. By the early 1950s, the French horn had escaped from the orchestra and was closely associated with the cinema and pop music, and it was a short leap from there to the birth of West Coast jazz. Several years later In New York, the horn in the hands of Collins, Watkins and David Amram was a sighing addition to East Coast jazz orchestras such as those led by Oscar Pettiford and Gil Evans, and in small ensembles, some of which were led by horn players.
Graas's seminal 1953 recording session in L.A. included a fabulous octet and terrific arrangements. The players were Shorty Rogers (tp), John Graas (fhr) Bud Shank (fl,as), Bob Cooper (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (bar), Russ Freeman (p), Bob Manners (b) and Shelly Manne (d). Nelson Riddle arranged Pyramid and Bananera, Shorty Rogers arranged Argyles and Be My Guest, Jimmy Giuffre arranged Egypt and Frappe, and Graas arranged 6/4 Trend and Not Exactly.
For the 1956 session, Graas's group shrank to a superb quintet featuring Graas (fhr), Jack Montrose (ts), Gerald Wiggins (p), Buddy Clark (b) and Larry Bunker (d). Graas arranged all four songs: Sequence, Cordova, Lady Like and Blue Haze.
As French horn fans know, there are no bad John Graas recordings, and all have a West Coast jazz feel. From his earliest records with Claude Thornhill in 1942 to his last on Henry Mancini's Hatari film soundtrack in December 1961, Graas always delivered a French horn sound that was sexy-breezy, assertive and melodic.
While Gerry Mulligan and Shorty Rogers played the most significant roles in shaping the emerging sound of West Coast jazz as arrangers and players, Graas certainly made a major contribution early on to the style's development, drama and warm tone.
As early as 1950, Graas was a regular member of Shorty Rogers and His Giants. His French horn gave the group a panoramic, Pacific Coast feel, and he did the same on Rogers's Modern Sounds (1951) and Mulligan's Modern Sounds (1953). What would Mulligan's Westwood Walk and Ontet be without Graas? Or Rogers's Cool and Crazy and Shorty Courts the Count albums?
And then there are all of the wonderful leadership albums Graas recorded: French Horn Jazz (1953), Jazz Studio 2 (1954), Jazz Studio 3 (1954), Jazz Lab 1 (1955 and '56), Jazz Lab 2 (1956), John Graas Sextet (1957), Jazzmantics (1957), Coup de Graas (1957) and International Premiere in Jazz (1958).
As you can hear on French Horn Jazz, Graas added a distinctive ingredient to West Coast jazz. Without his French horn and the dry, aggressive sound he pioneered, the music would have been less dimensional, less cool and less Hollywood hip.
John Graas died in 1962 of a heart attack at age 45.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find French Horn Jazz here.
JazzWax clip: Here's the entire 10-inch album, opening with Giuffre's brilliantly arranged Egypt (with a Speak Low flavor) and Graas's powerful horn. The track list can be found at YouTube...
A special thanks to David Langner.
