Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years
Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years | |
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Compilation album by | |
Released | January 24, 1995 |
Recorded | August 3, 1954 – October 1960 |
Genre | Jazz |
Length | 148:45 |
Label | Verve 526373-2 |
Producer | Bob Shad |
Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years is a compilation album featuring recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in groups together and separately which were originally released on Mercury and subsidiary labels.[1]
Reception
[edit]Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Penguin Guide to Jazz |
Allmusic's John Bush noted "Verve's two-disc collection of the best recordings from the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet recorded for Mercury/Emarcy between 1954 and 1956 includes a parade of Brown-Roach classics ...The second disc, which doesn't include Brown at all, reels through a highlight film of Max Roach's varied quintets of the late '50s after the death of Brown in 1956. Of course, Roach's sessions during that time feature many great recordings – trumpeter Booker Little is a competent replacement for Brown, and tenors Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, and Stanley Turrentine all have great spots – but record buyers expecting this set to live up to its title might be disappointed".[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection.[3][4]
Track listing
[edit]Disc one
- "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) – 5:43
- "Joy Spring" (Clifford Brown) – 6:51
- "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 3:25
- "Mildama" (Max Roach) – 4:32
- "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) – 5:46
- "What Am I Here For?" (Duke Ellington, Frankie Laine) – 3:09
- "Sandu" (Brown) – 4:55
- "Daahoud" (Brown) – 4:02
- "Born to Be Blue" (Robert Wells, Mel Tormé) – 5:15
- "Jordu" (Duke Jordan) – 7:46
- "Gertrude's Bounce" (Richie Powell) – 4:10
- "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) – 3:24
- "Parisian Thoroughfare" (Bud Powell) – 7:19
- "Blues Walk" (Brown) – 6:46
Disc two
- "Dr. Free-Zee" (Roach) – 2:07
- "Just One of Those Things" (Cole Porter) – 7:21
- "Valse Hot" (Sonny Rollins) – 14:28
- "Tune-Up" (Eddie Vinson) – 7:46
- "Yardbird Suite" (Charlie Parker) – 3:54
- "A Night in Tunisia" (Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) – 8:15
- "La Villa" (Kenny Dorham) – 6:17
- "Max's Variations" (Harold Farberman) – 2:20
- "Prelude" (Consuela Lee) – 5:08
- "Juliano" (Julian Priester) – 5:43
- "Lotus Blossom" (Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow) – 5:34
- "The Left Bank" (Brown) – 3:17
- "Never Leave Me" (Gordon Jenkins) – 6:49
Personnel
[edit]- Max Roach – drums (All tracks except Disc One: tracks 5 & 9)
- Clifford Brown (Disc One), Kenny Dorham (Disc Two: tracks 1–5), Booker Little (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Tommy Turrentine (Disc two: tracks 10–13) – trumpet
- Julian Priester – trombone (Disc Two: tracks 9–13)
- Ray Draper – tuba (Disc Two: tracks 6 & 7)
- Herbie Mann – flute (Disc One: track 5)
- George Coleman (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Harold Land (Disc One: tracks: 1–2, 4, 6–8, 10 & 13–14), Hank Mobley (Disc Two: tracks 4 & 5), Paul Quinichette (Disc One: track 5), Sonny Rollins (Disc One: track 11, Disc Two: tracks 1–3), Stanley Turrentine (Disc Two: tracks 10–13) – tenor saxophone
- Danny Banks – baritone saxophone (Disc One: track 9)
- Barry Galbraith (Disc One: tracks 3, 9 & 12) – guitar
- Ray Bryant (Disc Two: tracks 1, 2 & 13), Jimmy Jones (Disc One: tracks 5 & 9), Richie Powell (Disc One: tracks 1–4, 6–8 & 10), Bill Wallace (Disc Two: track 3) – piano
- Joe Benjamin (Disc One: track 5), Bob Boswell (Disc Two: tracks 10–13), Nelson Boyd (Disc Two: track 5), Art Davis (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Milt Hinton (Disc One: track 9), George Morrow (Disc One: tracks 1–4, 6–8 & 10–14, Disc Two: tracks 1–4) – bass
- Roy Haynes (Disc One: track 5), Osie Johnson (Disc One: track 9) – drums
- The Boston Percussion Ensemble – percussion (Disc Two: track 8)
- Abbey Lincoln (Disc Two: track 13), Helen Merrill (Disc One: track 9), Sarah Vaughan (Disc One: track 5) – vocals
- Unidentified string section (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12)
- Irving Faberman (Disc Two: track 8), Neil Hefti (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12), Quincy Jones (Disc One: track 9), Ernie Wilkins (Disc One: track 5) – arranger and conductor
References
[edit]- ^ Max Roach Discography: Session Index accessed May 18, 2016
- ^ a b Bush, John. Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
- ^ a b Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. "Max Roach". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 1219. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
- ^ Penguin Guide to Jazz: Core Collection List, accessed May 18, 2016