Tag Archives: 1959

Art Farmer: The Aztec Suite

In December 1959, “United Artists” label released “The Aztec Suite”, the twelve Art Farmer album. It was recorded in November 1959, at “Webster Hall” in New York City, and was produced by Jack Lewis.

Personnel:

  • Art Farmer – trumpet 
  • Zoot Sims, Seldon Powell – tenor saxophone
  • Bernie Glow, Nick Travis – trumpet
  • Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak – trombone
  • Jim Buffington – French horn
  • Hank Jones – piano
  • Addison Farmer – bass
  • Charlie Persip – drums
  • José Mangual – percussion
  • Chico O’Farrill – arrangements
  • Harris Lewine – design
  • Ken Braren – design
  • Paul Bacon – design

Track listing:

  1. The Aztec Suite – Chico O’Farrill
  2. Heat Wave – Irving Berlin
  3. Deliro – Felipe Domínguez
  4. Woody ‘N You – Dizzy Gillespie
  5. Drume Negrita – Eliseo Grenet
  6. Alone Together – Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz

Lee Konitz: You And Lee

In December 1959, “Verve” label released “You and Lee”, the 18th Lee Konitz album. It was recorded in October 1959, in New York City.

Personnel:

  • Lee Konitz – alto saxophone
  • Marky Markowitz – trumpet
  • Ernie Royal – trumpet
  • Phil Sunkel – trumpet
  • Eddie Bert – trombone
  • Billy Byers – trombone
  • Bob Brookmeyer – valve trombone
  • Bill Evans – piano 
  • Jim Hall – guitar
  • Sonny Dallas – bass
  • Roy Haynes – drums
  • Jimmy Giuffre – arranger, conductor
  • Merrie Shore – art direction
  • George Jerman – cover photography
  • Leonard Feather – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. Everything I’ve Got (Belongs to You) – Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
  2. You Don’t Know What Love Is – Gene de Paul, Don Raye
  3. You’re Driving Me Crazy – Walter Donaldson
  4. I Didn’t Know About You – Duke Ellington, Bob Russell
  5. (You’re Clear) Out of This World – Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
  6. The More I See You – Harry Warren, Mack Gordon
  7. You Are Too Beautiful – Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
  8. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You – George Bassman, Ned Washington

Horace Silver: Blowin’ The Blues Away

In November 1959, “Blue Note” label released “Blowin’ the Blues Away”, the ninth Horace Silver album. It was recorded August – September 1959, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was produced by Alfred Lion.

Personnel:

  • Horace Silver – piano
  • Junior Cook — tenor saxophone
  • Blue Mitchell — trumpet
  • Eugene Taylor — bass
  • Louis Hayes — drums
  • Rudy Van Gelder — engineer
  • Reid Miles — design
  • Paula Donohue — cover art
  • Francis Wolff — photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Horace Silver.

  1. Blowin’ the Blues Away
  2. The St. Vitus Dance
  3. Break City
  4. Peace
  5. Sister Sadie
  6. The Baghdad Blues
  7. Melancholy Blues

Wes Montgomery: Guitar On The Go

In October 1966, “Riverside” label released “Guitar on the Go”, the seventh Wes Montgomery album. It was recorded 1959 – 1963, at “Plaza Sound Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Orin Keepnews.

Personnel:

  • Wes Montgomery – guitar
  • Melvin Rhyne – organ
  • George Brown – drums
  • Jimmy Cobb – drums
  • Paul Parker – drums
  • Sam Alexander – design
  • Lee Tanner – photography
  • Steve Schapiro – photography
  • Bob Messinger – liner notes

Track listing:

  1. The Way You Look Tonight (alternate take) – Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields
  2. The Way You Look Tonight – Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields
  3. Dreamsville – Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, Henry Mancini
  4. Geno – Wes Montgomery
  5. Missile Blues – Wes Montgomery
  6. For All We Know – J. Fred Coots, Sam M. Lewis
  7. Fried Pies – Wes Montgomery
  8. Mi Cosa (take 1) – Wes Montgomery

Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West

On August 2,1965, “Columbia” label released “Johnny Cash Sings the Ballads of the True West”, the 22nd Johnny Cash album. It was recorded August 1959 – April 1965, and was produced by Don Law and Frank Jones.

Personnel:

  • Johnny Cash – vocals, guitar
  • Luther Perkins – guitar
  • Norman Blake, Jack Clement – acoustic guitar
  • Bob Johnson – 12-string guitar, flute, banjo, mandocello
  • Bill Pursell – piano, harpsichord
  • Charlie McCoy – harmonica
  • Marshall Grant – bass
  • W.S. Holland – drums
  • Michael N. Kazak – drums
  • Mother Maybelle Carter – autoharp
  • The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers – backing vocals

Track listing:

  1. Hiawatha’s Vision – Johnny Cash
  2. The Road to Kaintuck – Johnny Cash, June Carter
  3. The Shifting, Whispering Sands Part I – V. C. Gilbert, Mary Hadler
  4. The Ballad of Boot Hill – Carl Perkins
  5. I Ride an Old Paint – traditional, Johnny Cash
  6. Hardin Wouldn’t Rain – Johnny Cash
  7. Mr. Garfield – Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
  8. Streets of Laredo – traditional, Johnny Cash
  9. Johnny Reb – Merle Kilgore
  10. A Letter from Home – Maybelle Carter, Dearest Dean
  11. Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie – traditional, Johnny Cash
  12. Mean as Hell – Johnny Cash
  13. Sam Hall – Tex Ritter
  14. 25v Minutes to Go – Shel Silverstein
  15. The Blizzard – Harlan Howard
  16. Sweet Betsy from Pike – Jimmie Driftwood
  17. Green Grow the Lilacs – traditional, Johnny Cash
  18. Stampede – Peter La Farge
  19. The Shifting, Whispering Sands Part II – Jack Gilbert, Mary Hadler
  20. Reflections – Johnny Cash

Kenny Dorham & Cannonball Adderley: Blue Spring

In June 1959, “Riverside” label released ”Blue Spring”, album by Kenny Dorham and Cannonball Adderley. It was recorded January – February 1959, in New York City, and was produced by Orrin Keepnews.

Personnel:

  • Kenny Dorham – trumpet
  • Cannonball Adderley – alto saxophone
  • David Amram – French horn
  • Cecil Payne – baritone saxophone
  • Cedar Walton – piano
  • Paul Chambers – bass
  • Jimmy Cobb – drums 
  • Philly Joe Jones – drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Kenny Dorham except where noted.

  1. Blue Spring
  2. It Might as Well Be Spring – Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers
  3. Poetic Spring
  4. Spring Is Here – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
  5. Spring Cannon
  6. Passion Spring

Charles Mingus: Mingus Dynasty

In May 1960, “Columbia” label released “Mingus Dynasty”, the 18th Charles Mingus album. It was recorded in November 1959, at “CBS 30th Street Studio” in New York City, and was produced by Teo Macero. In 1999, the album was inducted in the “Grammy Hall of Fame”.

Personnel:

  • Charles Mingus – bass
  • John Handy – alto sax
  • Booker Ervin – tenor sax
  • Benny Golson – tenor sax
  • Jerome Richardson – baritone sax, flute
  • Richard Williams – trumpet
  • Don Ellis – trumpet
  • Jimmy Knepper – trombone
  • Roland Hanna – piano
  • Nico Bunink – piano
  • Dannie Richmond – drums
  • Teddy Charles – vibes
  • Maurice Brown – cello
  • Seymour Barab – cello
  • Honi Gordon – vocals

Track listing:

All tracks by Charles Mingus, except where noted.                         

  1. Slop
  2. Diane
  3. Song with Orange
  4. Gunslinging Bird (originally titled If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats) 
  5. Things Ain’t What They Used to Be – Mercer Ellington
  6. Far Wells, Mill Valley
  7. New Now Know How
  8. Mood Indigo – Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington
  9. Put Me in That Dungeon

Ornette Coleman: Change of the Century

In May 1960, “Atlantic” label released “Change of the Century”, the fourth Ornette Coleman album. It was recorded in October 1959, in New York City, and was produced by Nesuhi Ertegün.

Personnel:

  • Ornette Coleman — alto saxophone
  • Don Cherry — pocket trumpet
  • Charlie Haden — bass
  • Billy Higgins — drums

Track listing:

All tracks by Ornette Coleman.

  1. Ramblin’
  2. Free
  3. The Face of the Bass
  4. Forerunner
  5. Bird Food
  6. Una Muy Bonita
  7. Change of the Century

Ahmad Jamal

On April 16, 2023, Ahmad Jamal died aged 92. He was musician (piano), composer, bandleader, and educator, one of the most successful small-group leaders and one of the most important artists in jazz history. For his work Jamal received many awards including:

  • 1959: Entertainment Award, Pittsburgh Junior Chamber of Commerce
  • 1980: Distinguished Service Award, City of Washington D.C., Anacostia Neighborhood Museum
  • 1986: Mellon Jazz Festival Salutes Ahmad Jamal, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1987: Honorary Membership, Philippines Jazz Foundation
  • 1994: American Jazz Masters award, National Endowment for the Arts
  • 2001: Arts & Culture Recognition Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women
  • 2001: Kelly-Strayhorn Gallery of Stars, for Achievements as Pianist and Composer, East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce
  • 2003: American Jazz Hall of Fame, New Jersey Jazz Society
  • 2003: Gold Medallion, Steinway & Sons 150 Years Celebration
  • 2007: Living Jazz Legend, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
  • 2007: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, French government
  • 2011: Down Beat Hall of Fame, 76th Readers Poll
  • 2015: Honorary Doctorate of Music, The New England Conservatory
  • 2017: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Recording Academy
  • 2018: Leopolis Jazz Music Awards Leopolis Jazz Fest, Lviv

As leader, Jamal released 69 albums.

Horace Silver: Finger Poppin’ with the Horace Silver Quintet

In April 1959, “Blue Note” label released “Finger Poppin’ with the Horace Silver Quintet”, the eight Horace Silver album. It was recorded in January 1959, at “Van Gelder Studio” in Hackensack, New Jersey, and was produced by Alfred Lion.

Personnel:

  • Horace Silver – piano
  • Junior Cook – tenor saxophone
  • Blue Mitchell – trumpet
  • Gene Taylor – bass
  • Louis Hayes – drums
  • Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
  • Reid Miles – design
  • Francis Wolff – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Horace Silver.

  1. Finger Poppin’
  2. Juicy Lucy
  3. Swingin’ the Samba
  4. Sweet Stuff
  5. Cookin’ at the Continental
  6. Come on Home
  7. You Happened My Way
  8. Mellow D