1. Imagination
2. A Ship Without a Sail
3. Desmond Blue
4. Glad To Be Unhappy
5. That Old Feeling
6. Out of Nowhere
7. Samba Cantina
8. Here's That Rainy Day
9. Alone Together
10. Bewitched
11. Autumn Leaves
12. My Funny Valentine
13. Samba de Orfeu
Jazz musicians tend to divide themselves into two groups, the rhythmic
players and the melodic players. Some of course have strong elements
of both in their playing. On this scale Paul Desmond is at the extreme
end of the melodic sector. His ability to weave intricate melodic
patterns on any chord sequence is little short of pure magic. His
tone was completely different to those who had gone before him and
Charlie Parker probably less influenced him, than any other top saxophone
player of the 50's and 60's. This did not please all the critics of
the time, but when you listen to these tracks today, you realise that
he was a unique influence in jazz. It was of course his work with
the Dave Brubeck Quartet that brought him to the attention of the
public. He and Dave were made for each other in a musical sense. Brubeck
was the classically trained rhythm player always seeking new directions
and Desmond the romantic melodic player whose background was from
a degree in creative writing. The one's ability (Brubeck) stemming
from hard toil and practice and the other a musical genius who instinctively
did the right thing. Although he spent 11 years under contract to
Brubeck as a member of his highly successful Quartet, he always retained
his right to make records as a leader using his own name.
This 'bluebird's best' album has him in a number of different settings,
with strings on tracks 1,3,11 and 12 and with one of his regular collaborators
on record, guitarist Jim Hall. Probably because of his commitments
to Brubeck, Desmond never played in public with Jim Hall, but it was
a musical marriage made in heaven. Hall's guitar playing is also very
melodic and his chord work sparse as Desmond weaves his delicate improvisations
over the melody. There is also a very nice version of Out of Nowhere
recorded with another very melodic saxophone player Gerry Mulligan,
on which their two horns weave around the melody together to produce
excellent counterpoint. The absence of piano on this track seems to
cause no problem for either soloist and it gives the music a very
'clean' feel. They did have the benefit of Joe Benjamin on bass.
and Mel Lewis on drums, so they were in very good hands. This track
comes from an album called 'Two of a Mind' which I have noted for
future acquisition!
Samba Cantina shows Desmond just as happy in the Latin Idiom, Jim
Hall is on guitar on this one, with Eugene Wright (a long time Brubeck
sideman) on bass and Connie Kay from the Modern Jazz Quartet on drums.
This record gives a very good selection of the work of the late Paul
Desmond; he died 1977 aged 52 and jazz lost a unique voice. I recommend
it without reserve it should be in every jazz fan's collection.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
bluebird 09026
63995 2
