1945 - April 10

Ike Quebec Quintet – April 10 1945

 

Billboard Review BN 102 August 17 1945 

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 Topsy 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. 

Max Margulis BN 102 Ike Quebec Tenor Sax 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. 

BN No. 515 has Ike Quebec's Swing Seven (Buck Clayton, trumpet; "Keg" Johnson, trombone; Roger Ramirez, piano; Tiny Grimes, guitar; Grachan Moncur, bass; J.C.Heard, drums and Ike Quebec.) giving a wholly unorthodox performance of TOPSY. Clayton's muted trumpet improvises lyrically and gracefully at the start, and ends the piece in the same subtle vein. The brilliant guitar of Tiny Grimes adds to the unusual flavor of this side. But Quebec's vigorous, aggressive chorus evokes a sense of drama which seems to maintain a feeling of continuous music even after the piece ends. CUP-MUTE CLAYTON, which backs this side, likewise has its theme both at the beginning and end. It is an ingenious melody for trumpet solo and markedly rhythmic chordal accompaniment. Saxophone and trombone are advantageously highlighted after the trumpet establishes the theme. Very interesting is the brief introduction for drums. 

BN No. 516 by Ike Quebec's Quintet (Ike Quebec with Dave Rivera, piano; Napoleon Allen, guitar; Milton Hinton, bass; J.C. Heard, drums) features Quebec again in DOLORES. Now, a very arresting piano solo, a simple melodic line progressing horizontally in single tones, bridges the two sections of the tenor saxophone solo, intimate but eager, at no loss for expressive resources. SWEETHEARTS IN PARADE is a holiday piece for tenor saxophone and rhythm section. The climax of the piece, achieved by saxophone and J.C. Heard's precision-like drums, is a sustained eruption of strong, rhythmic excitement. The last few measures return to the theme and the piece ends on a subdued note. 

Seventeen November 1947 Volume 6 

Quebec is a fairly new discovery in jazz, who specializes on the tenor sax. In most small jazz combinations. the three "voice" instruments—the trumpet, clarinet and the trombone — carry the tune, and the percussion instruments—the drums, bass, guitar and piano —beat out the rhythm. In this case, the tenor sax is substituted for the clarinet, and the change is a striking one which will interest hot jazz fans. The pieces include If I Had You and Dolores. 

Dan Morgenstern - The Complete Forties Recordings of Ike Quebec and John Hardee Mosaic Box Set  

Ike's third Blue Note date returns to the quintet format of the first, with Hinton and Heard again on hand, here joined by Calloway pianist Dave Rivera (a fine Teddy Wilson-inspired player who later spent some time in Europe and then concentrated on teaching) and guitarist Napoleon "Snags" Allen, born in Georgia and raised in Detroit, who, among many other things, recorded with Hot Lips Page and appeared at Ornette Coleman's 1962 Town Hall concert. A most compatible group.  

Blue Turning Grey Over You, a Fats Waller classic, will be new to most listeners; neither of the two takes were issued on 78, and the first only quite recently on LP in Europe and Japan; the second never before. Both are top-drawer Quebec; again, there are interesting differences in details while the overall pattern is the same. After the piano introduction, Ike takes two choruses; then Rivera and Allen split the next, and Ike comes back with the final chorus. On take one, Ike is in his Webster bag, building to a very emotional ending. Take two finds him less Ben-ish and a bit more restrained, but the tempo is slightly more solid and the guitar more forward in the balance. The sidemen's solos are very good on both takes, with Rivera's markedly different—his spare one on the second take is my favorite. Allen's his own man in the Christian tradition, with his own sound; his take two solo is the stronger one, but both are interesting.  

Dolores was one of Ike's most popular records, and to my knowledge the only jazz version of this Frank Loesser tune from the 1941 movie musical Las Vegas Nights. If I recall correctly, Buddy Clark had the hit vocal record on it. In any case, it suits Ike's romantic balladeering to perfection, and he glides right in with a big, breathy woosh. Aside from Rivera's tasty half-chorus, this is all Ike, and I suspect that he'd not been deaf to what Don Byas was doing with ballads on 52nd Street at this time.  

The Day You Came Along was warbled with much emotion by Bing Crosby in the 1933 film Too Much Harmony and thus was a hit of the day when Coleman Hawkins immortalized it on his first date as a leader in early 1934, just prior to his departure for five years in Europe. Ike seems to be the only Hawkins disciple to have followed suit with this tune, and he treats its declamatory dramatics in the vintage Hawkins manner, displaying his tone at its richest. It's all tenor but for 16 bars from Rivera, again very tasteful. Don't miss Ike's re-entry (with the bridge), and the way he lets his sound swell as he builds to the short cadenza. This one was worth waiting for. 

Modern Screen – November 1946 

Suddenly, everybody wants tenor sax records. Suddenly the tenor sax is the fashionable instrument, and suddenly Ike Quebec, the very able sax player with Mr. Calloway, has a whole album out under his own name. Not only that, but the Savoy people have put out a tenor sax album in which Ike appears too. 

Session Information 

Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Dave Rivera, piano; Napoleon Allen, guitar; Milton Hinton, bass; J.C. Heard, drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, April 10, 1945

BN233-0, Blue Turning Grey Over You (alternate take) 

BN233-1, Blue Turning Grey Over You  

BN234-1, Dolores, Blue Note 516 

BN235-3, The Day You Came Along 

BN236-1, Sweethearts On Parade (alternate take) 

BN236-3, Sweethearts On Parade, Blue Note 516