Leroy Vinnegar Leroy Walks Again

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Others, buckle upwards, we are heading backwards two decades from 1978 to 1957 in our self-charging-hybrid fourth dimension-machine,  Forget 70'southward directly disk audio, nosotros are going from Musicians-In-the-Room to Musicians In The Stockroom, Roy DuNann at the controls in Contemporary, LA 1950s offices. It sounds remarkably expert, better than it should. Introducing Leroy Vinnegar, he walks!  Walk this way…

Pick: Walkin'  (R.Carpenter)

.  .  .

Walkin' , written past Miles Davis, the composition royalties were  generously credited past Miles to his friend, Richard Carpenter.

Artists

Gerald Wilson, trumpet; Teddy Edwards, tenor sax; Victor Feldman, vibraharp; Carl Perkins, pianoforte; Leroy Vinnegar, bass; Tony Bazley, drums. recording engineers Roy Dunnan, Howard Holzer, at Gimmicky's studio, Los Angeles, CA, July 15, September  sixteen, 23,  1957

Leroy's debut album every bit leader, historic period 29, the acknowledged boss of the walking bass. Leroy recorded prolifically on the West Declension jazz scene, everyone's bassist of choice, well-nigh often with artists recording for Contemporary and Pacific Jazz labels. Among his classic early recordings are Dexter Gordon's Dexter Blows Hot And Cool (1955) Serge Chaloff's Blueish Serge (1956), Stan Getz's The Steamer (1956), Harold Land's Harold In The Country Of Jazz (1958) , Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders (1958),  the list is long long long. The West Coast answer to Paul Chambers?

Teddy Edwards is an interesting tenor player, whose career was launched mainly off the back of a Dexter Gordon'due south title for Dial, The  Duel (1947) Periodically, he staged tenor duels and chases, tenor battles beingness a pop music sport in their day, beats feeding people to lions. He enjoyed  a string of Contemporary albums an the early '60s, some paired with Howard McGhee trumpet, which are a proficient listen. Leroy Vinnegar figures prominently.

Teddy Edwards remained a fixture in Los Angeles jazz for more than a one-half-century, and as a result, remained relatively unknown elsewhere, admitting he never felt the urge to move to New York, although doing so would  have raised his profile and advanced his career. He is withal a good player, reserves of speed when chosen for, underappreciated, and one to wait out for,  reserves of speed are never a bad matter in a tenor actor.

Music

Refreshingly of it'south time, 1957, happy, uncomplicated notwithstanding good play. Leroy retains his supporting role on bass, leading from beneath, with petty solo. Walking the bass adds terrific sense of propulsion every bit the bass moves seamlessly up and down the irresolute chords without missing a beat.. The tone of an upright bass is unmistakable –  rich merely dry, and hypnotic, and it swings.

Jazz writer and musician Steven Cerra describes the contribution of walking bass to the ensemble,  as energising the other players:

"Laying down a good walking bass was considered de rigeur in order to create the proper "heartbeat of Jazz." It's metronomic quality had a driving upshot on the rhythm department and they in plow pushed the soloist forrad with an unrelenting swing. For the listener, the propulsive walking vanquish could be almost mesmerizing."

In the notes to  Vinnegar'due south follow up anthology "Leroy Walks Again!", Leonard Feather offers farther idea on the identify of time, or timing in jazz:

Fourth dimension, in the jazz sense, is a term that has e'er been hard to analyze. Everybody knows what tempo is, and there is no problem in defining meter; only when you lot are trying to pin down time it has a trend to keep slipping away from nether the microscope.

Leroy…keeps a brisk, invigorating four beats to the bar moving in long, horizontal lines, never neglecting the chord construction and managing to requite this rhythmic promenade an essentially melodic feeling. The quality that communicates itself well-nigh directly and contagiously is his powerful and completely dependable sense of  time.

With Vinnegar's bass a business firm foundation, the forepart line contumely play their expected parts. Teddy Edwards turns in some hot tenor playing, as does Gerald Wilson's trumpet, while the British Artful Dodger Victor Feldman a polished vibe, with Carl Perkins – of the polio-restricted left arm – bouncing hard-bop along. (Biographical note – Perkins  was taken out by a drug overdose the post-obit year, age just  29)

The walking bass class was eventually overtaken by a growing freedom from it'southward four:4 / time-keeping function,  evolving with changes in the modern jazz vocabulary: a more interactive style of bass, exemplified by Scott LaFaro's telepathic communication with Nib Evans, the infinite flexibility of Paul Chambers, more than  free-wheeling input of Charlie Haden's improvised  melodic response to  Ornette Coleman's free forms, and the more intellectual approach of Ron Carter with Miles Davis 2nd Quintet, five  interactively independent voices. In that location are many other stylistc bass forms, just for West Declension 50's bass players, it was an injunction, Walk, Don't Run.

On the horizon, the electrification of the instrument for jazz-rock-fusion made way for power bass, calling Jaco Pastorius, and the reinvention of Stanley Clarke. At this point I make an excuse, and leave.

Vinyl: Gimmicky Vogue LAC.12136 (1958) UK 1st result of Contemporary C3542

The remarkable sound quality is a reminder of the skills at Contemporary of Roy Du Nann and Howard Holzer in the mid 1950'south. Du Nann started a studio in an role box-room, with a blanket raised over the pulsate kit, more primitive than Van Gelder's Hackensack, but with the correct microphones, and post-production mastering.

People and so did great things with the nigh archaic of tools, while today, people with virtually boggling sophisticated tools, produce… very frequently, no way to depict it otherwise, but, … "rubbish" (compressed, tweaked for earbuds, sonically degraded). Unless yous experience this contradiction, personally, you might exist forgiven for thinking nosotros are just… nuts, and I wouldn't blame you. Believe what y'all want, I know what I hear.

Right, Contemporary US original

Below, Britain Gimmicky Vogue outcome, mono, 1958 pressing by Decca, New Malden.

Collector'south Corner

Records towards the terminate of the '50s were earnest to the tape playing applied science of their mean solar day – unstable portable record role player, and heavyweight tracking arm, and dodgy stylus, all of which effortlessly did so much to damage vinyl. If they survived the following  5 to ten years, there is a take chances that some would get through unscathed, though not many.This tape is easy to find in not very proficient status. The price seems to rise quite steeply with the condition, and the original US Contemporary more so than my less desirable Great britain Decca/Contemporary Vogue.

If pictured below was the brand new in 1958  Telefunken Musik Deluxe model, I shudder to think what the older entry model looks like.

Information technology always seemed dissonant to me that such fine recording  past engineers  likes Van Gelder and Roy Du Nann took identify in the 1950s confronting a backdrop of such primitive play technology. Why the emphasis on sound quality, which few if anyone could hear?  In the studio, I guess the engineers were listening to the actual instruments, original tape playback on studio monitors. Out in the field, records were played on machines like this.

No musicians-in-the-room wide-soundstage experience hither, the expectation must have been quite unlike in 1958. You turned the player on, the tonearm dropped, you heard the music, tapped your feet, no-one knew what they were missing. If you jogged the arm, y'all shrugged, it is what they practice.

Our modern experience of yesteryear'south records on today's equipment is, I think, purely serendipitous, unexpected. I recall it is possible simply because the analogue signal written to vinyl is infinitely resolvable, there is ever more you lot can get out of information technology, depending on your equipment, at present we tin. No-one thought like that so. Put a homo on the moon? Ridiculous. And more chiefly, with calculations based not on computer-output, merely on  the slide rule – analogue calculators.

Later listening to and so much "more than advanced" '60s and '70s engineering,  never heed recent times, information technology is a revelation as to what was achieved by our engineering champions with more primitive equipment. Walk backwards to The Futurity.

LJC

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Source: https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/leroy-vinnegar-leroy-walks-1957-uk-contemporary-vogue/

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