| The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet, Jimmy Giuffre’s third album as a leader –following Four Brothers (1954) and Tangents in Jazz (1955) –
was also his first LP for the Atlantic label and his first project entirely devoted to the clarinet, an instrument which, as both the original
liner notes and the Down Beat critic stated, Giuffre hadn’t fully mastered yet. For this reason (which forced him to play mostly in the
lower and middle registers of the horn), and for the whole arranging concept of the album, it was quite an experimental project. In fact,
no two of the eight tracks present the same instrumentation or personnel, and when the same musicians play on different songs, they
usually perform on different instruments. Like the last track on The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet , Giuffre’s 1958 album The Music Man also
featured a nonet, but this time throughout the entire album. This was, of course, a jazz version of the music conceived by Meredith
Willson for the Broadway hit The Music Man. |
ARTISTS
JIMMY GIUFFRE, clarinet on all tracks, plus:
1: Giuffre solo clarinet and foot tapping.
2: Jimmy Rowles (celeste).
3: Buddy Collette (fl), Bud Shank (alto fl),
Harry Klee (bass fl), Shelly Manne (d).
4: Bob Cooper (oboe), Dave Pell (English horn),
Maury Berman (bassoon), Ralph Peña (b).
5: Ralph Peña (b), Stan Levey (d).
6: Buddy Collette (alto cl), Harry Klee (bass cl).
7: Jimmy Rowles (p), Shelly Manne (d).
8: Harry “Sweets” Edison, Shorty Rogers,
Jack Sheldon (tp), Bob Cooper, Dave Pell (ts),
Maury Berman (bar), Ralph Peña (b), Stan Levey (d).
Los Angeles, March 21 & 22, 1956.
*Bonus album (9-19):
JIMMY GIUFFRE & HIS MEN PLAY “THE MUSIC MAN”
(Atlantic 1276)
Collective personnel: Jimmy Giuffre (cl, ts, bar), Art Farmer,
Bernie Glow, Phil Sunkel, Joe Wilder, Nick Travis (tp),
Al Cohn, Ed Wasserman (ts), Sol Schlinger (bar), Wendell
Marshall (b), Ed Shaughnessy (d). Ghunter Schuller,
conductor on 10, 13, 15 & 19. Music by Meredith Willson.
Arrangements by Jimmy Giuffre.
New York, December 31, 1957 & January 2, 3 & 6, 1958. |