Album a reminder that Quincy Jones could swing before he scored

Before he became famous as a conductor-arranger for Frank Sinatra and for scoring motion pictures, Quincy Jones led his own big band. The years 1959-1961 are memorable for the group’s European tours (and for Jones’ subsequent debt which ultimately rendered the band unsustainable). Fortunately, we now have the previously unreleased “Live in Ludwigshafen 1961,” (SWR Jazzhaus) to remind us again of how rousing this band could be. There’s electricity throughout the album as the ensemble and the soloists charge into Jones’ arrangements with the kind of exuberance musicians feel and convey when everything’s going right and no one wants the performance to end.

The album begins with “Air Mail Special”: tempo flying, drummer Stu Martin and bassist Buddy Catlett burning, various soloists riding the challenging rhythmic current with nary a stumble. “G’wan Train” follows with a chugging, loping beat akin to “Night Train” as Julius Watkins delivers a perky solo on French horn followed by alto saxophonist Phil Woods. The familiar Oliver Nelson composition “Stolen Moments,” which clocks in at 11 minutes, features a long solo full of crisp runs and dazzling flurries of notes by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard after which the smoothly articulate tenor saxophonist Eric Dixon takes over for several minutes. Other highlights of the 14-tune program include trumpeter Benny Bailey’s sterling lead and solo on “I Remember Clifford”; composer Benny Golson’s tribute to the late trumpeter Clifford Brown; Phil Woods’ swinging tune, “Banja Luka,” and his lead playing on Jones’ ballad “The Midnight Will Never Set”; and Ernie Wilkins’ “Ghana,” which features Les Spann’s flute melody and a rugged solo by baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab.

After 50 or so years, it’s good to have this newly available reminder of Jones’ jazz credentials.

Correspondent Owen Cordle

This story was originally published June 25, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Album a reminder that Quincy Jones could swing before he scored."