TRACK: “After After Hours”
ALBUM TITLE: Music After Midnight
LABEL: Brunswick (LP only)
PERSONNEL: Tony Scott, clarinet; Dick Katz, piano; Milt Hinton, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums
RECORDED: February 1953
REVIEW FROM: Jazz Bass Artists of the 1950s by Dave Hunt
By 1950s musical standards, “After After Hours” would have made a great jazz radio theme song. A definitive 8-bar intro by Katz, the type that makes the listener wish he’d keep on playing, sets up the melodic statement of Scott’s walking-tempo 32-bar original in A-A-B-A form (8-8-8-8).
The clarinetist’s emphasis of key melody notes makes this theme unforgettable. Scott strolls his entire relaxed solo chorus with only bass and drums and no piano comping to build contrasting tension. The pianist then enters confidently and constructs a single chorus in a deliberate swing style characteristic of the polished, exquisitely crafted phrasing of Teddy Wilson.
Hinton’s solo is based principally on effective eighth note phrase construction but avoids rhythmic and melodic monotony through the use of:
• Unusual interval skips
• Upward glissandos
• Decorative triplets
• Non-repetitive phrase motifs
At least three of these four techniques may seem like stylistic mannerisms, but when the listener is completely familiar with Hinton’s conception and hears how well he incorporates them in such varied circumstances, stylistic criticism becomes inappropriate.
A simulated big band shout chorus, with melodic riff figures dominating the first, second and fourth 8-bar sections, precedes the reprise of the melodic statement.