Wailing + Swingin' the Loop (2 LP on 1 CD)

Fresh Sound Records presents:
Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums
A CD series created for the most discerning jazz collectors

· Hard to find albums in Collector's Edition
· 2 Original LPs on 1 CD
· Original Cover Art, Liner Notes
· Complete Personnel Details
· Stereo / Hi Fi Recordings
· Newly Remastered in 24-Bit

Wailing
Tenor saxophonist Buddy Arnold (1926-2003) earned his chops in some of the most renowned bands of his time —Georgie Auld, Bob Chester, Claude Thornhill, Buddy DeFranco or Elliot Lawrence to mention a few. Finally, late in 1955, together with fellow trumpeter Phil Sunkel, he began to work with his own quintet, emerging as a prominent soloist. His playing was directly inspired by Lester Young, whose style was so pervasive that it became an almost universal language for many modern tenors. "Wailing" was Arnold's only album as a leader, fronting a septet of fine musicians, who all subscribed to the premise that emotion and swing are the key and character of jazz. Most solos are fluently in the neo-Basie-with-modern-twists-and-phrasing style, whereas the writing —by Nat Pierce, Al Cohn, Dick Sherman, Bob Brookmeyer, Phil Urso, and John Williams— is clear, and its approach conducive to direct swing and modern jazz.

Swingin' the Loop
Born in New York in 1929, Vito Price, née Vito Pizzo, began playing tenor sax at the age of fourteen. After high school, he apprenticed on the road with various bands, as well as with Chubby Jackson's small group. He finally settled in Chicago in 1955, and went on to become one of the Windy City's top tenormen. In essence, Price has always been an exceptionally smooth swinger with a warm-toned horn, somewhat in the Al Cohn tradition. "Swinging the Loop" was his first album, and a promising start. Price himself said at the time that he was “not trying to blaze new paths.” So while no new trails were blazed and no frontiers were opened, Price emerged from the recording session with a valuable set of originals and standards that swing loose and easy. Five of the tracks feature a 10-piece band with a big, bold tone that was surely enhanced by the writing of Bill McRae. The other five are elevated by the incomparable guitar of Freddie Green, who joined in to make the quintet tracks that much more of a delight.

Tracklist

Album details

Press reviews

How did we miss all of these? Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums...

"Fresh Sound Records, the label that has given us collection of music from B movies and undeservedly overlooked vocalists, has now expanded their horizons with a brand new mouth watering category of recordings. This latest set consists of albums made by musicians that made a living in the studio and got one or two chances on their own, or for some strange reason were simply overlooked.

There isn't a single album here that isn't essential for jazz fans. Each packet comes with (usually) a list of all of the musicians and some fantastic liner notes to give you some background to the featured artist.  Sure, I'm going to review them, but the subtitle under each summary is “Go get it... NOW!”

OK, you Stan Getz fans, get ready for an album that is the comfort food of all time, as Buddy Arnold shows he took his Getz pills on this mellifluous session from 1956 with a bopping team of Dick Sherman/tp, Frank Rehak/tb, Gene Quill-Dave Schildkraut/as, Buddy Arnold/ts, Teddy Kotick/b and Osie Johnson-Shadow Wilson/dr. The bands sounds like the second coming of the Four Brothers on “No Letter Today” and “It's Sand Man” with the spirit of Count Basie present on “PU Stomp” and “Mobie Dick”. Arnold blows it cool and clean throughout, creating smoke rings on “Oedipus”. WHEW!

Vito Price also carries the Getz/Lester Young bug as he blows like a breeze off of Lake Michigan on this 1958 set of Chicago sessions that include Lou Levy/p, Freddie Green/g, and Gus Johnson/dr amont others. With Green's patented pulse, the Price rolls in like a fog on “Time After Time” and “Beautiful Love”.  In a session with a 6 man horn section, the team steam rolls on the bright “Swinging the Loop” and glistens on “In A Mellow Tone” with Price being right on the swinging “Mousey's Tune” and “Duddy”. As Lester Young used to say, “Nice Eyes”."

—George W. Harris (January 10, 2022)
https://www.jazzweekly.com
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"Le sax Buddy Arnold, alias Arnold Grishaver (1926-2003) sera une découverte pour beaucoup même s'il a joué pour Georgie Auld (1943), Bob Chester, Joe Marsala, Buddy Rich, Buddy de Franco, Elliot Lawrence, Stan Kenton et Phil Sunkel (1955). Il s'agit là du seul album sorti sous son nom. Les arrangements sont du meilleur niveau (Nat Pierce, Al Cohn, etc) et dès «Oedipus», le swing est là (Shadow Wilson!) avec de très bons solos (Quill, as, Rehak, tb, John Williams, p, Sherman, tp, Arnold, ts, Kotick, b) et une mise en place superlative des ensembles. Buddy Arnold est lesterien et Dick Sherman (né en 1927), trop négligé comme Fagerquist. En tempo moyen «Footsie» met bien en valeur Buddy Arnold, mais aussi Sherman, puissant, Schildkraut, Rehak, Williams (très bonnes lignes de basse de Kotick; Osie Johnson n'est pas très vigoureux). La bonne reprise basienne, «It's Sand, Man», arrangée par Nat Pierce, montre un Buddy Arnold d'un niveau égal à Al Cohn. Sherman qui dans «You Don't Know What Love Is» évoque Tony Fruscella, est responsable de cet arrangement. Buddy Arnold y est excellent (stop chorus, solo sur tempo vif, coda). Confirmation du talent du leader dans «Moby Dick» de Sherman (solo virtuose de Rehak). Dans «No Letter Today», Arnold fait un peu penser à Paul Quinichette (qui ne fut pas le tocard qu'ont prétendu les «spécialistes»). Nous découvrons Gene Quill à la clarinette, genre Al Cohn, dans «Patty's Cake» de Sherman. Excellent album qui permet aussi de se souvenir du trompette Dick Sherman qui fit les beaux jours de Claude Thornhill, Jerry Wald, Elliot Lawrence, Charlie Ventura, Charlie Barnet, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims et bien d'autres.

Vito Price alias Vito Pizzo (né en 1929) est aussi oublié que Buddy Arnold et fait un bon complément de réédition avec ce premier album fait sous son nom. Price a joué pour Bob Chester, Art Mooney, Tony Pastor, Chubby Jackson, Jerry Wald avant de se fixer à Chicago (1955). En fait, l'esthétique est la même. «Swinging the Loop» est un arrangement bien swingué par un orchestre à la mise en place parfaite et un leader tout autant lesterien (son un peu plus épais qu'Arnold). Le leader qui signe Price ou Pizzo est un bon concepteur de thèmes faits pour être swingués, comme l'illustre «Mousey's Tune» dont il est le principal soliste avec Lou Levy (très bon). Vito Price est aussi très plaisant dans la ballade «Why Was I Born» de Kern (tempo médium) grâce à une belle qualité de son. L'arrangement orchestral de  «In A Mellow Tone» est propice au swing. Vito Price, Lou Levy, Osie Johnson mènent «Eye Strain» sur un train d'enfer. Lou Levy n'est pas moins remarquable dans «As Long As I Live». Magnifique vibrato du leader qui déploie une largeur de son digne d'un Sam Taylor dans «Time After Time» et «Credo». On pense aussi à Wardell Gray, c'est dire le niveau. Levy, Freddie Green, Max Bennett et Gus Johnson assurent un soutien implacable dans «Beautiful Love». Vito Price est un admirable artiste et le fait qu'il ait été négligé pose la question de la compétence des «spécialistes». En plus, c'est très bien enregistré."

—Michel Laplace
© Jazz Hot, 2022
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"The fact that jazz music was widely lived during the fifties and played at a high level at that time is once again apparent from these hidden gems that at first glance have little to do with each other.

No musician is present at both sessions. The only shared elements are that in both cases it is about updated swing music with excellent players on board and that the namesakes play the tenor sax. With people like guitarist Freddy Green and drummer Shadow Wilson you don't go wrong easily.

Arnold's album has seven players that sound like a combo. Vito Price's music has ten participants and immediately sounds a lot more orchestral. A brass section of two trumpets, an ordinary trombone and a bass trombone in combination with two saxophones, can sometimes give the impression of a big band.

It's all good music performed by classy musicians, some of whom, like the aforementioned Green and pianist Lou Levy, belonged to the absolute world top of swing music, but whose namesake band leaders may have just not quite reached that status. It's nice to be able to rescue them from oblivion."

—Bert Brandsma (December, 2021)
Dr. Jazz Magazine, The Netherlands