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VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Jazz Scene: San Francisco (Fantasy)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
This disc combines a pair of albums recorded at the famous Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco during the early to mid-1950s. The first seven tracks feature three groups working the Bay Area scene at the time, The Vince Guaraldi Quartet, The Ron Crotty Trio and The Jerry Dodgion Quartet. The Guaraldi Quartet featured the pianist with alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, bassist Gene Wright and drummer John Markham. Guaraldi was also the pianist for the Crotty Trio, with Crotty on bass and Eddie Duran on guitar. Dodgion reappears as the leader of his own unit, which included Wright on bass along with pianist Sonny Clark and drummer Larance Marable. While several of these players, perhaps most notably Guaraldi, developed reputations beyond the environs of San Francisco, their status as local players at the time is a good indication of just how rich the SF jazz scene was back in the day.
The performances are all solid, on the cool end of the bop spectrum, with a strong feeling of swing. It's classic club jazz, and it's a treat to have it in current release.
The remaining cuts are from a Black Hawk appearance by alto saxophinist Charlie Mariano, who was in town for an engagement with the Chubby Jackson -Bill Harris Herd. His sextet was a mixture of his Jackson-Harris compatriots and local players and included Sonny Truitt's trombone, Dick Collins on trumpet and a rhythm section featuring bassist Vernon Alley, pianist Richard Wyands and drummer Joe McDonald.
One of the more adept of the Charlie Parker acolytes of the period, Mariano turns in some fine solos without crowding out any of his supporting players, who aquit themselves well throughout. While not a San Francisco act in the strictest sense, the Mariano Sextet provides another fine example of the kind of music you would hear in that scene on an evening out in the '50s and it's music well worth hearing again today.
Track List:
The Vince Guaraldi Quartet: Calling Dr. Funk/Between 8th & 10th On Mission Street * The Ron Crotty Trio: Ginza/The Night We Called It A Day/(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over * The Jerry Dodgion Quartet: Miss Jackie's Dish/The Groove * The Charlie Mariano Sextet: Come Rain Or Come Shine/My Friend Ethel/After Coffee/Trouble Is A Man/Let's Get Away From It All/The Thrill Is Gone/The Nymph
© 2001 - Shaun Dale