The Jazz Orchestra’s Personnel
Thad Jones, trumpet, fluegelhorn; Richard Williams, Bill Berry, trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer, Tommy McIntosh, trombones; Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels, tenor saxes; Jerome Richardson, tenor sax, flute, bass clarinet; Jerry Dodgion, alto sax, flute; Pepper Adams, bari sax; Hank Jones, piano; Richard Davis, bass; Mel Lewis, drums
Dave recalls...
If you were fortunate enough to hear this initial edition of the orchestra live featuring such a personnel roster, you would immediately figure you had just landed in jazz heaven. Just one ensemble passage from a Thad Jones original (any one) was enough to raise goose bumps all over my upper body. There was never a comparable ensemble blend before this all-star jazz assemblage, and it’s unlikely there will ever be another one.
This contemporary orchestra functioned as both a big band and a small group in personnel and ensemble sound, often within the same composition. Before they collaborated, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis shared a compatibly different harmonic concept. Joining forces they selected the appropriate music and personnel, and, voilá, we have innovation. It’s difficult not to be emotionally overwhelmed by the creative aspects of such a presentation.
Thad Jones, Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams, Hank Jones, Richard Davis and Mel Lewis didn’t attempt to hide the fact that they were each personally challenged by the artistic surroundings in which they found themselves. As a result, they performed as if the orchestra was a fantasy whose creative bubble might be popped at any moment. Such trumpet, saxophone and rhythm section solos still echo in the timeless reaches of my jazz memory.
For a recorded listening experience that will undoubtedly be ear-opening, hear Presenting Thad Jones, Mel Lewis & The Jazz Orchestra, formerly on the Solid State label, a division of United Artists. It should be reissued again shortly, if it hasn’t been already.
Points of interest:
- First, Richard Davis arrived at the Vanguard on this Sunday afternoon long before any of the other orchestra members and proceeded to give my wife and me a solo bass concert as a warm-up, the likes of which we will never forget. Splashes of technical execution and harmonic exploration were dashed off as if they were child’s play. Left hand execution in all registers defied physical reality. Effort with either hand was never even a consideration. A truly unforgettable experience!
- Secondly, Sam Herman didn’t solo on guitar, but he must be one of the top five rhythm guitarists in all of the history of jazz. His rhythmic and harmonic colorations were masterful, and space was allotted for him to be appreciated.
- There was a primary aspect of this band’s conceptual format that immediately became controversial, especially among certain jazz educators of that era. These were musicians and teachers who believed that the repertoire format and personnel utilization of the Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Count Basie bands were not to be modified. Such a preconception locks a jazz performer into an understandably traditional frame of reference. The Kenton band obviously broke new ground with innovative personnel configurations and stylistic approaches, but it never attempted to incorporate anything other than large ensemble or orchestral formats into its adventuresome programs.