Mr Trick writes: When I was putting together tracks for the “In Praise of the Upright Bass” theme special, I thought it would be interesting to consult my friend and former colleague Adam Sieff to see what tracks he might recommend. These days, Adam is best know as the Global Director of A&R for Sellaband, but when I worked with him at Sony, he was the Director of Jazz, overseeing no end of sublime releases and reissues from Sony’s awesome jazz catalogue. Adam was the man who single-handedly switched me on to the 70s freakout period of Mile Davis’s career, and I’ve many a fond memory of stopping in his office only to leave with a armful of CDs that I couldn’t wait to check out. If you needed any more testament to Adam’s status, I give you this titbit: when Sony issued Miles’s “Kind of Blue” deluxe boxset not so long ago, it was Adam they called upon to be the golden ears for the vinyl pressings, to confirm that the test pressings were both worthy of release but also reflective of the original work. Does this man know his jazz? You bet your ass he does. He’s also a mean telecaster player, but we’ll save that for another day and maybe another guest blog post. For now though, I shall pass you over to Adam…
Serge Chaloff – ‘The Goof And I’
From the album ‘Blue Serge’
Recorded March 14 & 16, 1956
Capitol Records
Personnel: Serge Chaloff: baritone saxophone; Leroy Vinegar: double bass; Philly Joe Jones: drums; Sonny Clark: piano.
Oh man! Serge Chaloff was a genius baritone sax player and former Woody Herman star who got seriously strung out on smack before cleaning up and dying of cancer in 1957 at only 33 years old! But just before he stepped out forever he recorded the stunning ‘Blue Serge’ in Los Angeles with pianist Sonny Clark and the ‘in demand’ rhythm section of the day, bassist Leroy Vinegar and drummer Philly Joe Jones. This album belongs in the pantheon of cool alongside the best of the era, especially other West Coast gems from Chet Baker and Dave Brubeck.
One of the ingredients that make this album so special is the incredible swing generated by Vinegar and Philly Joe. Although coming from the two opposite coasts, they instantly lock together and create a powerful but warm and gentle groove to give the soloists amazing support. Philly Joe Jones may have been more of a star name, but the players all knew that Leroy Vinegar was the man to have on their session.
A well known tune from the Woody Herman days, ‘The Goof And I’ starts off at a ferocious pace, and after once around the head Sonny plays the kind of solo that would have other pianists deep in shitfingers mode. Serge comes back and starts building through the verses before Leroy and Sonny take off together for a sublime ride. Philly Joe plays a short solo, fours and eights are swapped and the whole thing swings like a bitch and is over in 4 minutes 49 seconds. But the good news is that there are six more incredible songs from the album left to hear.
Click to download Serge Chaloff – The Goof And I (MP3, 4.3Mb)
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