Before I tell you about two great Elliot Lawrence-led albums in 1957 for the Vik label that Fresh Sound has just released on one CD, let me give you a bit of background:
In the early 1950s, there was a speed war in the American record industry. Columbia had unveiled the 33 1/3 album in 1948, but RCA initially wanted nothing to do with the new longer format. RCA's David Sarnoff had been beaten out by Columbia's William Paley and wouldn't accept Paley's generous offer to let him duplicate the new technology without conditions. Doing so was in Paley's interest, since standardizing the new format would mean more sales for everyone. Instead, Sarnoff stubbornly moved forward with the company's own technology—the 45rpm disc and RCA's 45rpm player. Album buyers would find multiple 45s in a small box that could be stacked up on the thick spindle of a RCA player, with each one dropping as previous 45s finished.
By late 1952, RCA waved the white flag. Record buyers found the players childlike and the 45 inferior to the convenience of a single long-playing 10-inch record for pop and jazz and the 12-inch record for classical listeners. More important, RCA's lucrative stable of leading classical musicians found the 45s's fidelity lousy and began defecting to Columbia. As a result, the 45 became the format for children's records such as Peter and the Wolf and Bozo the Clown. Of course, RCA's cast-off 45 would soon replace the 78 single, become an industry standard as it spread rock 'n' roll among teens and pre-teens in the mid-1950s, unifying the youth culture.
With RCA in the 33 1/3 fold by 1952, it needed to move forward carefully. To test the waters, RCA quietly launched a subsidiary for pop and light jazz in April 1953 known as Label X that operated outside of its main distribution network. A dumb name that all but shouted "generic" and "bland." A completely new staff was hired for the label as well. RCA figured it would test the long-playing waters quietly and, if the 33 1/3 thing tanked, they could easily walk away without egg on its face. In 1956, when the 12-inch album arrived for pop, jazz and rock 'n' roll, RCA became a little more imaginative and changed Label X to Vik. [Cover above of an Urbie Green album on Label X]
In 1957, bandleader Elliot Lawrence was given the green light to record two small groups for Vik. In February 1957, he assembled a crack New York septet for Four Brothers: Together Again!, uniting Al Cohn (ts,arr); Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward (ts); Serge Chaloff (bar) for half the session and Charlie O'Kane (bar) for the second half; Elliot Lawrence (p,arr); Buddy Jones (b); Don Lamond (d) and Manny Albam (arr). The session was something of a reunion for the reed players, who had been members of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" band. A footnote: Chaloff is playing on Four Brothers.
As Elliot told me in a 2015 interview:
That album was my idea. I told producer Bob Rolontz at Vik records about my idea for an album of top trombonists on the East Coast playing together, and he loved it. [Note: the 1956 album was Trombone Scene]. Several months later, in 1957, I spoke with Bob about reuniting Woody Herman’s reed section on "Four Brothers: Together Again." He loved the idea. Al Cohn and I started to talk about it. We knew that baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff wasn’t in great health. But we decided to do it with him anyway.
RCA had a great downtown studio at Webster Hall. The problem was the studio was on the second floor and there wasn’t an elevator. The guys lifted Serge out of his wheelchair and carried him up the stairs. He wife brought up his baritone sax. But he had a great spirit about it. Serge died five months later. You’ll notice that only half the tracks were with Serge. The other half we had to use Charlie O’Kane on baritone sax.
The tracks are Ten Years Later (arranged by Al Cohn), Four And One More (arranged by Elliot Lawrence), So Blue (AC), The Swinging Door (AC), Four in Hand (MA), A Quick One (arranger unknown), Four Brothers (AC), The Pretty One (EL), Aged in Wood (AC) and Here We Go Again (MA).
The second album was Jazz Goes Broadway, recorded in May 1957. On Jubilation T. Cornpone (EL), Big D (MA), If 'n (AC) and Mack the Knife (MA), the band featured Art Farmer (tp); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Gene Quill (cl,as); Zoot Sims (ts); Al Cohn (bar); Elliot Lawrence (p,arr); Chubby Jackson (b); Don Lamond (d) and Manny Albam (arr).
The songs were On the Street Where You Live (AC), Joey Joey Joey (EL), I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face (MA), Just in Time (AC), Standing on the Corner (AC) and Look at 'Er (AL). The band featured Nick Travis (tp); Urbie Green (tb); Hal McKusick (cl,as); Zoot Sims (ts); Al Cohn (bar); Elliot Lawrence (p,arr,cond); Chubby Jackson (b); Don Lamond (d) and Al Cohn and Manny Albam (arr).
It's interesting to hear the difference between the West and East Coast's top session musicians at this time. The West Coast had a wind-swept, polished contrapuntal feel while the East Coast had a more introverted, soulful feel. Different environments, different lifestyles. By the way, Four Brothers: Together Again! would be Serge Chaloff's final recording session.
Elliot Lawrence died in 2021. To read my interview with Elliot, go here.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find both albums, The Four Brothers: Together Again! and Jazz Goes Broadway, on a single release (Fresh Sound) here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Four Brothers...
And here's Joey Joey Joey...
