1944 - September 25

 Ike Quebec's Swingtet - September 25, 1944 

 

Dan Morgenstern – The Complete Blue Note Sessions of Ike Quebec and John Hardee – Mosaic Liner Notes 

Ike’s second Blue Note session has two of his Calloway friends joining him in the front line: trumpeter Jonah Jones in his pre-Ellington (and thus pre-plunger mute) phase. Grimes, Ram and J.C. Heard are repeaters, but on bass is one of the greatest, Oscar Pettiford, another 52nd Street regular. Mot listed in the personnel but definitely making a contribution to the success of the date is arranger-composer Buster Harding, then also on Calloway’s staff, and a very talented man. 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch September 19 1945 Volume 98 Issue 14 

Cab Calloway’s instrumentalists, held in check on Cab’s Columbia platters, display their greatness on Blu Note’s latest. As Ike Quintet’s Swingtet, they do “Facin’ the Face” and “Mad About You.” Both have fine tromboning by Tyree Glenn, good performances by Jonah Jones, trumpet; Quebec, tenor, and Roger Ramirez, piano. Tiny Grimes is on guitar, J.C. Heard on drums, and Oscar Pettiford fills in on bass. 

Down Beat – 1 November 1945 Volume 12 Issue 21 

The pretty melodic content of Mad About You makes it the most interesting of the two. Tune is by pianist Roger Ramirez. Facin’ the Face is an excellent round of solos and not too dull riffs, complete with excellent rhythm. Mad has fine Tyree Glenn trombone. Musicians are: Jonah Jones, trumpet; Tyree Glenn, trombone; Ike Quebec, tenor; Roger Ramirez, piano; Tiny Grimes, guitar, Oscar Pettiford, bass, and J.C. Herard, drums. 

Tyree Glenn

Look Magazine – 11 December 1945 Volume 9 Issue 25 

HOT JAZZ – Ike Quebec and his Swingtet produce a study in contrasts titled Mad About You, and his own Facin’ the Face. The former, in a quiet and facile mood, weaves intricate patterns sparked by Ike’s heated tenoring. The latter rides throughout with ebullitions by soloists. A 12-inch Blue Note.

Down Beat – 14 January 1946 Volume 13 Issue 2 

Quebec solos pleasantly to open a moody If I Had You, with trumpeter Jonah Jones and trombonist Tyree Glenn noodling nice sustained chords fir background atmosphere. It’s one of the Calloway tenorman’s best. Reverse is a contrasting jump tune, a Buster Harding original on a Gillespie riff kick. Jones, pianist Roger Ramirez, Glenn and guitarist Tiny Grimes split choruses in that order, then Quebec blows nicely into the fade-out. Pettiford and J.C. Heard propel a good beat. 

Billboard August 17 1946 Blue Note 102 Whipped together for the hot jazz diskophiles, this package of six sides showcases the broad tone and tenor sax sorcery of Ike Quebec. And to make for added interest, that is just as exciting as the tenor steam, Quebec shares the spot with trumpeter Buck Clayton for the two Sing Seven sides that spin out Too3y and Cup - Mute Clayton. It is with the quartet, for a slow and moody Dolores and a fast and furious Sweethearts on Parade that Quebec best displays his horn virtuosity in the jazz idiom. The remaining two sides find Quebec with a swingtet that has Jonah Jones on trumpet and Tyree Glenn on trombone for ensemble and solo jam with If I Had You and Hard Tack. Spinning is entirely for the hot jazz enthusiasts, with plenty of merchandising appeal to such disk fans in the album cover that features an informal shot of the tenor saxist for the front page, with the inside page taking in an array of candid shots and commentary by Max Margulis.

BN 102 Liner Notes 

In this first of its album releases, BLUE NOTE has chosen to highlight the music of IKE QUEBEC, the gifted young tenor saxophonist. Quebec may with justice be called a BLUE NOTE discovery, for it is on BLUE NOTE records that he has been encouraged to develop his scope and style as a soloist. 

The tenor saxophone attracted interest as a solo instrument rather late in the history of jazz. Principally, its performers provided one of the harmonic voices in the saxophone section of large orchestras. But in the inevitable small ensemble [as often as not a group from the large orchest6ra], the tenor saxophone gradually established a number of basic, host styles. Ranking soloists with strongly individual music though and style made their appearance after the trumpeters, trombonists, and clarinettists. Only within the past decade have the tenor saxophonists achieved definitive style in hot expression, and among the new generation of soloists, one of the most accomplished is Ike Quebec. 

BLUE NOTE fostered Quebec's first recording session as featured soloist, at which three twelve-inch records were made. Issued prior to the present album, they are BN No. 37, "Blue Harlem", BN No. 38, "She's Funny That Way", and BN No. 42, "Facin' The Face." These records revealed at once a dazzling virtuosity and invention, functions of a complex way of musical feeling of closely-knit and purposeful musical ideas. 

As for the accompanying three ten-inch records, they continue to project, under different playing conditions, Quebec's many-faceted musical personality. Three separate groupings of musicians are introduced, comprised of, besides Quebec, twelve outstanding jazzmen. The groupings are named respectively Ike Quebec's Swingtet (BN No. 510), Ike Quebec's Swing Seven (BN No. 515) and Ike Quebec's Quintet (BN No. 516). The Quintet consists of tenor saxophone and rhythm section: the other groups have added trumpet and trombone. 

On BN No. 510, Ike Quebec's Swingtet (Jonah Jones, trumpet; Tyree Glenn, trombone; Roger Ramirez, piano; Tiny Grimes, guitar; Oscar Pettiford, bass; J.C. Heard, drums; and Ike Quebec) plays a version of IF I HAD YOU which is frankly a vehicle for the saxophone. A middle chorus played by trombone and trumpet, bridges Quebec's lovely initial chorus and his concluding chorus. The latter mounts cumulatively, departing swiftly from the composed melody, producing concise counter-rhythms, and ending in a free improvisation while the orchestra sustains the outline of the initial melody. HARD TACK, the reverse side, has short solos by trumpet, piano, trombone, guitar, and saxophone and is distinguished by fresh ensemble motives [brass in octaves with guitar cadences] and hot rhythm background. 

- MAX MARGULIS 

 

Session Information 

Jonah Jones, trumpet; Tyree Glenn, trombone; Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Roger Ramirez, piano; Tiny Grimes, guitar; Oscar Pettiford, bass; J.C. Heard, drums. 

BN989-0, Hard Tack, Blue Note 510 

BN989-1, Hard Tack (alternate take) 

BN990-1, If I Had You, Blue Note 510, BLP 5001, B-6507, BST 89902 

BN991-0, Mad About You, Blue Note 42, B-6507 

BN992-0, Facin' The Face (alternate take) 

BN992-1, Facin' The Face, Blue Note 42