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Junior Cook Good Cookin’ Muse Records MR 5159

Produced by Fred Seibert

Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder

Junior Cook – tenor saxophone

Bill Hardman – trumpet, flugelhorn

Slide Hampton – trombone, arranger

Mario Rivera – baritone saxophone

Albert Dailey – piano

Walter Booker – bass

Leroy Williams – drums

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Joe Chambers/Larry Young > Double Expsoure

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Willis Jackson > Single Action

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Willis Jackson with Pat Martino Single Action

Produced by Fred Seibert

Willis Jackson: tenor saxophone

Pat Martino: guitar Carl Wilson: organ Jimmy Lewis: bass Yusef Ali: drums Ralph Dorsey: percussion

Willis Jackson single handedly pulled me away from the avant garde and towards the soulful, bluesy expression of jazz that was popular in the African American neighborhoods of mid-century America. He didn’t mean to, he didn’t want to, it was just that he was so damn good.

Less a producer than actually a recording supervisor (my credit on this album) I arrived at our first session together (Muse’s In the Alley) with virtually no information on what we were recording or who was playing. Willis was tough and a little paranoid so this situation played out during the three or four sessions we did together. I’d never heard any of his music (it wasn’t cool enough within the jazzbo circles I traveled in) and when I looked into the studio I thought I’d been time warped into the 1950s: five African Americans 20 years older than me in conked processes and starched white shirts and ties. They hit the first tune and didn’t stop until Willis looked up at me and asked if they had enough to fill the record. When informed they were eight minutes short he revved up a blues and kept it going until I faded it to make the length.

By the end of the five hour session I’d stopped making fun (in my head) of the tenor saxophone/organ based soul jazz, and realized why it spoke to so many millions of people. It wasn’t an intellectual exercise but a human one. They were playing songs that people knew and loved, with a feeling that anyone could understand. I was late to the party, but it wouldn’t be over for me even 30 years later. ….. Credits

Muse Records MR 5179 Willis Jackson with Pat Martino Single Action

Recording supervisor: Fred Seibert Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder, Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey April 26, 1978 Cover Design by Ron Warwell/NJE Cover photo by Clarence Eastmond

LINER NOTES COMING SOON

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….. Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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Willis Jackson > In the Alley

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Willis Jackson In The Alley  Muse Records MR 5100

Produced by Fred Seibert

This recording session was my very first as a paid "producer" (recording supervisor was more accurate; most of the jazz albums I worked on were, in reality, the sole provinces of their leaders), my first gig with Muse Records, and my first with the world class Willis Jackson.

[Click on track names for LP transfers to MP3]

Fred Seibert · Willis Jackson Alley

….. From the liner notes:

PERSONNEL WILLIS JACKSON, Tenor Saxophone SONNY PHILLIPS, Piano CARL WILSON, Organ JIMMY PONDER, Guitar JIMMY LEWIS, Bass YUSEF ALI, Drums BUDDY CALDWELL, Congas and Percussion

Produced by: Fred Seibert Recorded at: Dimensional Sounds Studio, N.Y.C. Engineers: Malcom Addey and Fred Seibert

Art Direction/Design/Photography by Hal Wilson …..

The “Gator” is back and Muse has got him. Willis Jackson and Muse… a natural if you have been into what is happening you know that Muse has recently turned us on to such greats as Clifford Jordan, Richard Davis, Woody Shaw, Buster Williams, Houston Person, the up and coming David Schnitter and others who are causing jazz listeners to exclaim, “That is great; who was that?” This new and exciting album by Willis will keep that sound and trend moving along.

Willis “Gator Tail” Jackson’s road has not been an easy one. Willis was with The Cootie Williams band when he had his first hit record, “GATOR TAIL”. the song naturally gave him his nickname. Jackson was leader, for a period, of a big band that featured his wife at the time, Ruth Brown; an outstanding vocalist. Willis then formed the smaller groups which included artists like Jack McDuff, Pat Martino, Mickey Tucker, to name a few. Still there were those know-it-alls and chest-thumpers who would say that Willis was a Rhythm and Blues player; not a jazz player. Well, I agree with Willis who said that “rhythm and blues and jazz are just words. It only counts at the horn.” What comes forth is the real happening, so judge for yourself. I did and Willis passed the test. If you hear a taste of the blues, well, Willis put it best — “Jazz has roots and blues is the roots. Maybe they understand this: the blues, you got to have it, that’s the roots of it. Some people read a book and decide they know who’s what, but you’ve got the live the music, you can’t read it.” This is what he said in 1974 and it also takes care of now.

A few more things about Willis’ background, he was born in Miami, Florida. At age seventeen, he was playing around town with a couple of musicians named Blue Mitchell and Cannonball Adderly; on to Cootie Williams and “GATOR TAIL”, the small groups and his own very successful recordings.

This is the “Compleat” Willis Jackson. This is the Gator-Tail Willis Jackson groove on the track, “GATOR’S GROOVE”. “IN THE ALLEY” is the Willis Jackson who takes up where “HEADED AND GUTTED” and “WEST AFRICA” albums leave off. He tried his hand at disco, but that is not the “Gator” that I know and love.

We have a beautiful jazz audience in Denver and many of them are in the process of “getting into it”. It is not like Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, where jazz has been around forever, or so it seems. Jazz is relatively new in Denver. Yet, when I played a track by Willis Jackson, featuring his GATOR HORN, (remember that?) a listener phoned to give me a complete rundown on the Gator Horn and closed by saying, “When is he coming back?” Well people, the “Gator” is back.

Willis is working with some outstanding musicians. Other than guitarist Jimmy Ponder, who has released some albums as a leader, the other names have regional followings and will not be too familiar until you hear them “get it on”. Sonny Phillips will make his presence known with some of the finest piano playing that has been heard in quite awhile, as well as writing one of the tunes, “NIAMANI”, a barn burner! Yusef Ali, the drummer contributes “GATOR’S GROOVE” which, incidentally, was the title of an album that Willis did back in 1969. Carl Wilson really strokes the organ and I am sure that your ears will come away completely satisfied with Wilson’s actions. Carl may not have the big name such as Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, etc., but he sure has the talent. You will also be turning the names, Jimmy Lewis and Buddy Caldwell, in your minds. Listen and your shall hear!! So what are you waiting for? Do as I did — rush over to the turntable, drop “IN THE ALLEY” on the spindle. Listen to “Gator” go to work. Yes Indeedy, Mr Tweedy!! Gator’s back and Muse has got him!

Bill Neal KADX-FM the JAZZ STATION Denver, Colorado ….. For a free catalog send to MUSE RECORDS, A DIVISION OF BLANCHRIS, INC., 160 WEST 71st STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10023 ⓟ© 1977, MUSE RECORDS, A DIVISION OF BLANCHRIS, INC. 

……

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Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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David S. Ware > Birth of a Being

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David S. Ware Birth of a Being hat HUT Records

Recorded April 14 & 15, 1977 C.I. Recording, 110 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019  Engineer: Fred Seibert LP Released 1979

This recording is available in an expanded 2CD/DL edition from Aum Fidelity as of November 6, 2015.

David S. Ware: tenor sax, composer Gene Y. Ashton [aka Cooper-Moore]: piano Marc D. Edwards: drums

…… As of November 6, 2015, this recording is available from Aum Fidelity in an expanded 2CD/DL edition. 

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Willis Jackson > The Gator Horn

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Willis Jackson The Gator Horn Muse Records MR 5146

Produced by Frederick Seibert …… For about a decade (1968-78) the avant-garde in jazz sparked a fashion solo recordings, particularly with not so obvious solo intstruments like saxophones. Wanna be that I was, I loved it, and thought it would be cool for Willis to try it on our second session together. He thought I was crazy, but figured if I was willing to take his warm up and do the work to edit it into something reasonable he’d get off the session a little early and still get paid. –Fred Seibert …… [LP transfers to MP3]

Fred Seibert · Willis Jackson Gator

Willis Jackson: Tenor saxophone (A) , gator horn (B) Yusef Ali: drums Dud Bascomb, Jr.: bass Buddy Caldwell: congas [Boogaloo] Joe Jones: guitar Carl Wilson: organ

….. Produced by Frederick Seibert Recorded at Rosebud Studio, NYC March 8, 1977

Engineer: Richard Alderson  Assistant Engineer: Eric Bowman  Album design: Ron Warwell  Cover photo: Hugh Bell 

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……

Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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Eric Kloss & Barry Miles > Together

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Eric Kloss & Barry Miles Together  Muse Records 5112

Produced by Barry Miles & Eric Kloss Assisted by Fred Seibert

[Click on the track names for LP transfers to MP3]

Fred Seibert · Eric Kloss & Barry Miles

Eric Kloss: Alto saxophone+, Tenor saxophone++ Barry Miles: Piano*, Electric piano**, Synthesizer***

Recorded July 19 & 20, 1976 CI Recording, New York City Engineer: Chuck Irwin ……

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Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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Linc Chamberland > A Place Within

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Linc Chamberland A Place Within Muse Records  5064

Produced by Fred Seibert ….. A guitarist’s guitarist, a musician’s musician, Linc Chamberland was a well kept secret, cherished by those who knew the secret (like Felix Cavaliere, who recruited him for the jazzy era Rascals). This LP was the first of his two solo jazz dates, both for Muse, and was one of my earliest work-for-hire professional recordings. –Fred Seibert

.....

[Click on the track names for LP transfers to MP3]

Fred Seibert · Linc Chamberland

Linc Chamberland: electric guitar Dave Liebman: tenor saxophone +, soprano saxophone ++ Lyn Christie: bass Bob Leonard: drums ….. Recorded June 16 & 17, 1976 Dimensional Sound, NYC Engineer: Skip Juried Art Direction/Design/Photography: Al Wilson

Dave Liebman Courtesy of A&M/Horizon Records

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…… Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts. 

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David S. Ware > Birth of a Being

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David S. Ware Birth of a Being hat HUT Records

Recorded April 14 & 15, 1977 C.I. Recording, 110 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019  Engineer: Fred Seibert LP Released 1979

This recording is available in an expanded 2CD/DL edition from Aum Fidelity as of November 6, 2015.

David S. Ware: tenor sax, composer Gene Y. Ashton [aka Cooper-Moore]: piano Marc D. Edwards: drums

…… As of November 6, 2015, this recording is available from Aum Fidelity in an expanded 2CD/DL edition. 

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Eric Kloss > Now

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Eric Kloss Now Muse Records MR 5147

Produced by Frederick Seibert

Fred Seibert · Eric Kloss

….. Eric Kloss - alto & tenor saxophone Mike Nock - keyboards Mike Richmond - bass Jimmy Madison - drums Efrain Toro - cowbell

….. Produced by Frederick Seibert Recorded January 4 & 5, 1978 at Van Gelder Recording Studios, Englewood Cliffs NJ, on June 17th, 1979 Recording Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder Cover painting and art direction: Tamar Zinn

Muse Records MR 5147

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….. Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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Willis Jackson > The Gator Horn

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Willis Jackson > In The Alley

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Richard Davis > Harvest

Richard Davis Harvest Muse Records  MR 5115

Produced by Frederick Seibert Co-produced & arranged by Bill Lee

…… ‘Producing’ the jazz I was involved with was mostly a misnomer, it was actually ‘recording supervision.’ I mean, what was an a rock’n'roll playing, 26 year old kid from the suburbs going to tell a master musician to do? Play faster? Better? The records weren’t always what I would’ve wanted, but they reflected the vision of the artist. That was my job.

….. SIDE A Forest Flower

This Masquerade

Half Pass 

Three Flowers

SIDE B Windflower

Passion Flower

A Third Away

Take the A Train

Forest Flower (reprise)

…… Richard Davis: bass Bill Lee: bass Marvin Hannibal Peterson: trumpet Ted Dunbar: guitar Consuela Moore: piano Freddie Waits: drums James Spaulding: alto saxophone, flute

Recorded at CI Recording 110 West 57th Street New York City May 3 & 16, 1977

Engineer: Elvin Campbell Cover photo: Pat Davis Cover design: Ron Warwell

….. Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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David S. Ware > Birth of a Being

David S. Ware Birth of a Being hat HUT Records

Recorded April 14 & 15, 1977 C.I. Recording, 110 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019  Engineer: Fred Seibert LP Released 1979

This recording is available in an expanded 2CD/DL edition from Aum Fidelity as of November 6, 2015.

David S. Ware: tenor sax, composer Gene Y. Ashton [aka Cooper-Moore]: piano Marc D. Edwards: drums

…… As of November 6, 2015, this recording is available from Aum Fidelity in an expanded 2CD/DL edition. 

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Junior Cook > Good Cookin’

Junior Cook Good Cookin’ Muse Records MR 5159

Produced by Fred Seibert 

......

I had very little to do with this album other than making sure the band arrived and recorded the requisite amount of material. Junior had no idea who I was, and truth be told, I didn’t really know much about him or his music either. 

But it was an eventful date for me nonetheless. Muse Records’ honcho Joe Fields booked the date at the world famous Rudy Van Gelder Studios which had been closed for a while due to a family illness. I was in awe and peppered the quiet Rudy with questions until he couldn’t take it anymore. He proceeded to put me in my place by reminding me he’d worked with the greatest producers in history (”Yes Mr. Gelder, I know Mr. Van Gelder.”) and that I should pay more attention to the musicians in the studio than his recording equipment. 

Rudy gave me my first lesson in producing, which started me on the road to a professional career. For which I’m forever grateful. 

.....

Junior Cook /tenor saxophone Walter Booker /bass Al Dailey /piano Slide Hampton /trombone Bill Hardman /trumpet, flugelhorn Mario Rivera /baritone saxophone Leroy Williams /drums Arrangements: Slide Hampton

Produced by Fred Seibert Recording Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder Recorded at Van Gelder Recording Studios, Englewood Cliffs NJ, on June 17th, 1979 Cover Design: Mark Larson Cover Photo: Carol Friedman

Muse Records MR 5159

….. Liner Notes

This album dramatizes the importance of giving more attention to virile, genuinely creative musicians who have paid their dues many times over and are regarded highly by their peers.  Casting Junior Cook with leadership credits and rights at this late date is emblematic of the conspicuous lack of opportunity for proper recognition, especially in this era of overnight “stardom” and excessive recording…  and of the void Muse is helping to fill.

Juinor Cook has been cookin’ with his hot tenor for over twenty years.  During his long tenure with Horace Silver’s quintet between May 1958 and March 1964, Cook has assuredly demonstrated his sordid ability to communicate an inspired immediacy in his playing; he had already become an eloquent spokesman for hard bop tenor.  At the threshold of the 1980s, Cook’s maturation has long passed the percolating, simmering stage and into the boiling phase as a challenging jazz tenor saxophonist.

The late Blue Mitchell and Cook formed a consistently tight, sympatico twosome of horns for the pace-setting Silver band.  ”Although Blue gained more attention from the jazz community, Junior was every bit the tenor player that Blue was on trumpet,” said Silver.  ”They were an incredible pair.  Junior has an unusual ability to anticipate, to feed on other players’ ideas and to egg others on.”  After they left the band, Cook and Mitchell continued together for 5 years.  Then in the ’70s Cook was engaged in a variety of activities — a few years with Freddie Hubbard, teaching at Berklee College and stints with Elvis Jones, George Coleman among others, plus co-leading bands with Louis Hayes (Timeless-Muse T1 307  ”Ichi Ban”) and more recently with Bill Hardman.  As Horace Silver observed, “Junior’s ableness to sustain himself as a producer working musician for such a long time speaks much in terms of his strengths and credits.”

Bill Hardman has most notably been an intermittent member of Art Blake’s Jazz Messengers for more than twenty years, beginning in 1956, contributing to his melodic, incandescent vitality to the band.  His spirited trumpet has also been heard with the likes of Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, and Charles Mingus.  Going back to the fifties as a contemporary of Cook’s, they share the celebration of hard swing and classic jazz.  For a couple of years they have been leading a band together with Walter Davis or Mickey Tucker, Chin Suzuki and Leroy Williams — the drummer on this album.

The arranger-trombonist in the front line of horns is Slide Hampton, another alumnus of the Jazz Messengers, an edition in the mid-sixties which sparkled with Hardman, Hampton, Billy Harper on tenor and the rhythm team of McCoy Tyner, Junie Booth and Blakey.  Hampton reminisced: “It was very intense — very heavy company to be in…  Hardman and the rest of the cats ran me ragged.”  After a decade in Europe, Hampton’s return to the U.S. has been met with consuming activity — clinics, concerts, and such special recording projects such as arranging the music for Dexter Gordon and the album at hand.  He was commissioned to do some charts for Woody Herman’s Monterey Jazz Festival concert last year, plus some music for the Tokyo Union Band’s U.S. debut in the upcoming 1980 MJF.  ”Spending optimum time studying and acquiring knowledge about orchestration must come from the individual first,” Slide explained, “so I’m enjoying more and benefiting more by developing my own ability as a soloist than I did before.  Now I play mostly with my quartet or quintet.”

Pianist Albert Dailey and drummer Leroy Williams both play in World of Trombones — Slide Hampton’s nine-trombone band.  Dailey is one of the most talented, consistently refreshing pianists around.  His magnificent 1972 album The Day After The Dawn is a durable gem which illustrates how his playing is affected by his impressive skills in composing and arranging.  ”I’ve always liked Albert’s feeling and conceptual approach.  He’s a very personal player who has his own style,” says Cook.  Dailey’s working dossier is rich and extensive — Gordon, Blakely, Herman, Rollins, Mingus, Getz, etc.  Predictaby he performs with finely-wrought excellence on this album; his voicing and comping are particularly noteworthy.

The bass of Walter Booker is another familiar sound.  Historically, his most prominent tenure was via his seven year alliance with Cannonball Adderly and a long hitch with Sarah Vaughan.  And Leroy Williams’ crisp, tasty swing has been closely associated with pianist Barry Harris for over a decade besides his work with the likes of Booker Ervin, Rollins, Getz, Monk, James Moody, and Yusef Lateef.

From the first pulsating moments of the album’s opening tune, “J.C.,” attention is swayed to the attractive voicing and expansive sound coming from a relatively small  band.  Hampton’s melodic/harmonic approach and coherence in arranging creates a sound beyond the mere four horn ensemble — an ability recalling the nuances and spirit of Tadd Dameron’s harmonic acuity language.  At times it’s reminiscent of James Moody’s band of the fifties.  Cook’s aim was to have Hampton achieve the open harmony of “a small band sounding like a big band.”

“J.C.” was first inspired through a fortuitous circumstance — “I was sleeping and awoke to hear a great sound on the radio — it was Blue Mitchell and Slide playing one of Slide’s tunes based on Coltrane’s ‘Lazy Bird,’” Cook recalled.  The tune was “Trane Changes,” one of three tunes Hampton has now written on the same chords as “Lazy Bird;” Cook had invited Hampton “to do one for me, too!”

Cook lets loose rhapsodically on the old Tommy Dorsey theme song “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” and gets off a brisk set of glowing extemporizations with rippling fluency.  Joe Fields reported his impressions from the performance in the recording studio ecstatically: “Junior was blowing up a storm. He was buoyant and magnificent… the piece had no arrangement, but it stuck out like a sore thumb!”

“Play Together Again” offers composer Hampton and Cook a crack up front at the lectern to express themselves.  Hampton’s responsive, shapely statement shows his aforementioned great pleasure in soloing and Cook’s muscular bursts are satisfying.  Dailey’s private imprint adds even more of an invitation to revisit.

The tuneful 24-bar blues with a waltz theme, “Waltz For Junior” spotlights Cook’s mature, firm tone outfitted with power which doesn’t tread into areas of excess.  Hampton and Booker grab a share of the limelight too.

The welcome resurrection of Dizzy Gillespie’s “I Waited For You,” a magnificent tune, has an inexplicably lean recorded history.  ”It’s such a beautiful ballad and hasn’t been done for a long time,” Cook said.  ”I requested Slide to arrange it for me.”  Cook’s ripely plump, expressive tenor solo has a singing clarity of line and he discriminatingly plays only meaningful notes.  Like Bill Hardman, he doesn’t throw away anything…every note having weight in its place.

“Mood” is another appealing emergence from Slide’s inventiveness.  It winds up the album with solos capturing the scents, colors and harmony of feeling in the group.  By the way, the anchor man in the horns is Marlo Rivera who fills out the bottom contours of the ensemble.  I first heard his sonorous baritone at Sweet Basil’s in NYC playing with Cook, Frank Strozier and George Coleman in the octet led by Coleman last winter.  The rhythm section unfolds its tasteful resourcefulness again within the discipline of Hampton’s components.  Cohesion and variety in harmony, melody, and rhythm discloses the unity and daring of the penetrating trio.

Slide Hampton’s words make a fitting addendum on Junior Cook: “The last few times I have played with Junior — I feel he has started to become a giant!  The level of creative energy coming from him was not necessarily frightening…but man, it was really a great experience.  In fact, when we played at the Village Gate, he was approaching the energy comparable to Trane and Sonny!”

Junior Cook and friends have done a lot of good cookin’…rare but well done.

–Herb Wong

….. Copyrights and masters owned by their respective owners. I’m posting many of my out-of-print record productions from the 1970s. If any of them are re-released, or the copyright owners object, I’ll delete the posts.

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Eric Kloss > Now

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