The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions Explained

The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions
Type:Compilation album
Artist:Gil Mellé
Cover:The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions.jpg
Released:1998
Recorded:March 2, 1952, January 31 & October 25, 1953, September 5, 1954, February 27, 1955 and April 1, 1956
Studio:Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ
Genre:Jazz
Length:137:56
Label:Blue Note
Producer:Gil Mellé, Alfred Lion
Chronology:Gil Mellé
Next Title:Patterns in Jazz
Next Year:1956

The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions is a compilatation of saxophonist, composer and bandleader Gil Mellé's recordings from 1952 to 1956 which were released on the Blue Note label.[1] They were originally released as four 10 inch LPs; Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet (which featured Rudy Van Gelder's first issued recordings); Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow; Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca; 5 Impressions of Color; and a 12 inch LP Patterns in Jazz.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Reception

Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars and Richard S. Ginell stated "this collection leaves little doubt that he was (and remains) a marvelous saxophonist and an intriguing composer who hasn't been given his due". On All About Jazz John Sharpe said "These extremely rare sessions contain a mix of straight bop, a number of standards and many of Melle's unique third stream compositions. Melle's use of a guitar (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca and Joe Cinderella) in place of a piano was seen as a bold, innovative step ... Although these discs do contain some sonic imperfections they remain a valuable document of one of the most cerebral and creative figures in jazz".[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Gil Mellé except where noted

Disc One:

  1. "Four Moons" – 2:23 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  2. "The Gears" – 3:06 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  3. "Mars" – 2:46 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  4. "Sunset Concerto" – 2:03 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  5. "Cyclotron" – 3:13 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  6. "October" – 3:41 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  7. "Under Capricorn" – 2:58 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  8. "Venus" – 3:40 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
  9. "Lover Man" (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman) – 5:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  10. "Spellbound" (Miklós Rózsa) – 3:18 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  11. "Transition" – 5:12 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  12. "A Lion Lives Here" – 3:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  13. "Timepiece" – 3:10 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  14. "Gingersnap" – 3:17 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
  15. "The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) – 4:17 Previously unreleased
  16. "Lullaby of Birdland" (George Shearing, George David Weiss) – 3:46 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
  17. "Ballad for Guitar" – 3:53 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
  18. "Metropolitan" – 2:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
  19. "Newport News" – 4:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca

Disc Two:

  1. "Summertime" (George Gershwin) – 3:59 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
  2. "Quadrille for Moderns" – 3:31 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
  3. "Five Impressions of Color: Spectrum Violet/Sea Green/Royal Blue/Ebony" – 12:37 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
  4. "Life Begins at Midnight" – 4:24 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
  5. "Night Train to Wildwood" – 4:10 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
  6. "Threadneedle Street" – 4:15 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
  7. "Weird Valley" – 5:13 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
  8. "The Set Break" – 4:48 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
  9. "Moonlight in Vermont" (John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf) – 4:52 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
  10. "Long Ago (And Far Away)" (Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern) – 4:32 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
  11. "The Arab Barber Blues" – 9:05 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
  12. "Nice Questions" – 8:17 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. https://www.jazzdisco.org/gil-melle/catalog/ Jazzdisco: Gil Melle Catalog
  2. http://www.bluenote.com/artists/gil-melle/gil-melle---new-faces-new-sounds Blue Note Records: New Faces-New Sounds - Quintet / Sextet (1952)
  3. http://www.bluenote.com/artists/gil-melle/gil-melle-quintet-vol-2 Blue Note Records: Gil Melle Quintet, Vol. 2 (1953)
  4. http://www.bluenote.com/artists/gil-melle/quartet-feat-lou-mecca Blue Note Records: Quartet Feat. Lou Mecca (1954)
  5. http://www.bluenote.com/artists/gil-melle/vol-4---five-impressions-of-color Blue Note Records: Vol. 4 - Five Impressions of Color (1955)
  6. Sharpe, J. All About Jazz Review, accessed July 30, 2018

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