Art Farmer had a way of playing the trumpet and flugelhorn that sounded as if he was singing while dancing. Farmer was less about blasts and taut nuance and more about a light, pretty touch. His horn had a classical elegance and a jazz tone that delighted the ear without being commercial. On ballads, you can hear the blues in almost everything he plays. On uptempo numbers, he's light and juicy, tapping along with ringing empathy, sailing the melody rather than commanding it. [Photo above of Art Farmer, courtesy of Concord Records]
A leadership album rich with Farmer's sensitivity is Perception. Recorded in October 1961 for Argo, the album featured Farmer on flugelhorn backed by Harold Mabern (p), Tommy Williams (b) and Roy McCurdy (d). The songs are Farmer's Punsu, The Day After, Lullaby of the Leaves, Farmer's Kayin', Tonk, The Blue Room, Change Partners and Nobody's Heart.
The album has two things going for it. For one, Farmer's flugelhorn is warm and relaxed throughout. For another, Mabern's piano is lush and intricate, providing Farmer's singular tone with plenty of rhythm and fascinating chords. And on songs like Change Partners, we get to hear a marvelously sensitive solo by Roy McCurdy, who would play with Gap and Chuck Mangione's Jazz Brothers in the early '60s and was the anchor in the Cannonball Adderley Quintet mid-decade.
Fledgling flugelhornists might want to put on Nobody's Heart and transcribe Farmer's solo. It's an enveloping exhibition of regal playing and gentle jazz.
Art Farmer died in 1999; Harold Mabern died in 2019.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Art Farmer's Perception here.
JazzWax note: Special thanks to Peter Levin, who passed along a link to an article on bassist Tommy Williams (go here).
JazzWax clips: Here's Punsu...
And here's Nobody's Heart...
