Air Mail Special Archive

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra, Live In Ludwigshafen 1961 – SWR Jazzhaus

by Audiophile Audition | Jun 22, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra, Live In Ludwigshafen 1961 – SWR Jazzhaus JAH-455, 75:49 ****: A treasure-trove of superb big-band playing. (Quincy Jones and His Orchestra featuring Benny Bailey; Freddie Hubbard; Melba Liston; Curtis Fuller; Ake Persson; Eric Dixon; Phil Woods; Sahib Shihab; Les Spann; Stu Martin; Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdes) Before Quincy Jones morphed into “Q”, a one-man musical conglomerate,  during the general period before this recording was made, he had been a section trumpeter for several formations including those of Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Farmer. Somewhat later, he was recording as leader, composer, conductor, and arranger for  big bands bearing his own name, including the one heard on this release. At the time of this recording in March 1961, the band  had been travelling and recording in Europe, and a little later with a slightly different iteration played the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1961. However none of the other recordings from this period, contain the breadth of material of Live In Ludwigshafen 1961. This is a full-throttled aggregation playing straight-ahead jazz, from mostly recognizable material,with arrangements generally by Quincy Jones. That old Benny Goodman war-horse “Air Mail Special” charges out of the gate with the reed […]