Blue Note's hard bop releases of the 1950s and '60s should be heard on three levels. First were the original compositions themselves. Most featured complex blues with fascinating chord changes anchored to a leathery swing. Each blues had a singular sound based on the composer's esthetic. Second were the solos. They typically wailed with youthful energy and heat as expressed by the artist blowing. Third, and most important, was the mix of artists. Different combinations of musicians produced distinct collective sounds, much like a jazz vocal group. [Photo above of Sonny Clark and Philly Joe Jones at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack, N.J., studio by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
This third macro layer is significant, since in many cases it's what made Blue Note producer Alfred Lion unique. He viewed musicians as singular flavors and loved experimenting by bringing these different ingredients together. For example, imagine hard bop as a red sauce. That sauce would emerge very differently if instead of artichoke you used spinach or basil. Your ear, like your tongue, picks up on bitterness or sweetness, especially if offset and enhanced by other audio flavors. [Photo above of Jackie McLean by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
A perfect example of this three-level Blue Note listen is Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin'. Recorded in January 1958, the album featured Art Farmer (tp), Jackie McLean (as), Sonny Clark (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). This combination was a sterling merging of musicians on all three levels—the originals, the solos and the combined ingredients. Two of the four songs for the original album were strutting blues by Clark, who composed with edge and a liquid grace. The third song was by Miles Davis and the fourth was a standard.
As for the individual ingredients, we have the bitterness of McLean's alto saxophone, the mellow staccato of Farmer's trumpet, the chic bop swing of Clark's piano, the prominent, muscular bass of Chambers and the scattering drum and cymbal patterns of Jones's drums. Brought together, there's a sour-and-sweet front line of McLean and Farmer, with a hurtling force driven by Chambers's thick bass and Jones's jabbing drums. [Photo above of Art Farmer and Jackie McLean by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
But the ingredient that stands out here most for me is Clark's piano. Which makes sense since it's his leadership session. But it's more than that. Throughout the album, Clark's piano adds a fruitiness that allows all the other musical ingredients to sound even richer. [Photo above of Paul Chambers by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
There were just four tracks on the original release each running about nine minutes. The title song by Clark is a walking blues with Clark playing superb keyboard solos. Clark's Blue Minor is just that, a mid-tempo minor blues that resolves in a major line. Miles Davis's Sippin' at Bells was recorded first by Davis in the late 1940s with Charlie Parker based on an altered 12-bar blues with advanced chord changes.
Deep Night is a 1929 standard with music by Charles E. Henderson and lyrics by Rudy Vallee. It opens as a trio number, showcasing Clark's seemingly effortless and fluid playing, with Chambers's bass up strong and Jones switching to brushes. Then Farmer comes in with a solo, followed by McLean, with Jones shifting to sticks. [Photo above of Philly Joe Jones by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
There were two additional songs recorded that day added as bonus material on the CD produced for re-issue by Michael Cuscuna in the early 1990s—Clark's Royal Flush and Lover, the Rodgers and Hart standard.
Challenge your ear to hear all three levels described above. The complexity of the blues, the individualism of the solos and the combined "sauce" of all the artists working together and what their individual tones bring to the whole. [Photo above of Sonny Clark by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
Sonny Clark died in 1963, at age 31.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin' here.
JazzWax clips: Here's the entire album...
