Search - Buck Clayton :: Complete Legendary Jam Sessions Master Takes

Music of the highest order/long out of print/poor annotation

Peter Feng | Wilmington, DE United States | 11/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not a fan of the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" jam sessions run by Norman Granz, at least not the concert versions. (The jams that he organized in the studio are much better -- less flash, more substance.) But these Buck Clayton sessions are just about perfect: Basie-style rhythm sections support highly-melodic solos. Really great stuff.



This set purports to contain all the master takes from the five LPs released in the 1950s as "Buck Clayton Jam Sessions." It does and it doesn't.



"Christopher Columbus" was edited to fit onto the original LP issue; the full 29 minute performance is issued here.



There were two takes of "Robbins' Nest" issued on Mosaic's limited edition box set (long gone). The two versions have different solo sequences, and technically neither one of them is the master, since the original LP featured an edited version, mostly take 1 with some solos spliced in from take 2. The Lone Hill edition appears to have take 2. (Since I have the original LP, I'm glad to have this version, but most people will miss out on the "director's cut.")



"After Hours" was not originally released on the LP version of ALL THE CATS JOIN IN; it was issued in 1988 on a CD called "Jam Sessions from the Vault" that included alternate takes from the CATS release, plus this version of "After Hours." (Technically, I guess you'd call it an "originally unissued master.")



The CD personnel listing has some minor errors. The vocalist for "Don't You Miss Your Baby" is not listed -- it's Jimmy Rushing. "Jumpin' at the Woodside" is listed as probably coming from either March 31 or August 13, 1954. (A 1978 Columbia LP reissue attributes the track to March 31, but no baritone saxophonist is listed -- Charles Fowlkes is the likely suspect.) On the plus side, the tap dancer on "Rock-a-Bye Basie" is identified as Jack Ackerman. (He isn't named on some LP issues.)



In conclusion: I wish more care had gone into assembling this material and annotating it, but the music itself can't be beat. 3 hours and 20 minutes of first-rate jazz."

One of the best

Eugene U. Still | Portland, OR United States | 03/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first purchased part of this Buck Clayton Jam Session as an LP about 1954-55 when I was a lad of 13-14 years. I have loved it ever since, most notably the Christopher Columbus jam, which thanks to a preceding erudite reviewer I now know to have been truncated by the Columbia folks back when. Buck and his friends here belong in the firmament of great straight-ahead jazz players, consummate artists who fell out of critical favor for awhile because they weren't pushing the envelope like the so-called bop or post-bop or even West Coast players. These sides were produced in the grand tradition of gathering a bunch of cats together in a studio and letting them blow, not necessarily a formula for the greatest music, perhaps, but at the time not yet overworked. And here I am fifty years later still listening and still smiling. Maybe you like your jazz a little less raucous or a little more cerebral, some folks do, but, I'm sorry, if you can't get into these sessions with a smile on your face, you just plain don't have ears."

Different Takes.

R. Goddard | Morden, Surrey United Kingdom | 02/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with Peter Fengs review of this CD album,it's great music and great value. However,the tune Undecided is not the take that I have on record. Good though it is, including 2 extra choruses, the original issue is a tighter more swinging affair, but it dose give a look at how the musicians can alter their solos."