1945 - July 17

Ike Quebec's Swing Seven – July 17 1945

Downbeat August 26 1946 – Volume 13 Issue 18 

Sides are all made with different men, JC Heard’s drums only thing common to all besides Quebec’s tenor. You has some tranquil Tyree Glenn trombone and a short but piercingly pretty Jonah Jones trumpet passage. 

Album notes say Tack is “distinguished by fresh ensemble motives”: octave-scored brass with guitar fill-ins. Guess that makes all others of the same type that came before “real fresher than”. Topsy is of course the famous Basie tune which sounds so much like Evenin’. Buck Clayton’s muted solo horn is a decided first chorus asset; there’s excellent Tiny Grimes’ guitar too. 

Cup starts as a two-beater, then goes a shuffle beat, all behind Clayton, with tenor and tram bits tossed in. Dolores starts a bit breathily with Quebec, and into a Rivera piano bit before closing tenor. Parade is up, but Quebec seems to be a shade short of ideas in the last chorus. 

Quebec himself is a tenorman in the Hawkins tradition, complete with the rough upper register for effect, rolling vibrato, and triplet ideas. His playing is at least more original than a lot of people who emulate the Bean. (Blue Note 102)

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

The fourth Quebec session, issued as by "The Ike Quebec Swing Seven," again features a three-horn front line. Grimes, Ramirez and Heard are back in the rhythm team, but we have a new bassist, Grachan Moncur of Savoy Sultans fame. (This box features some of the finest bassists in mainstream jazz, by the  way.) Trumpeter Buck Clayton, though still in the Army, was stationed at Camp Kilmer near New York City and made frequent playing and recording visits. More than likely, he took a hand in arranging the routines for the session, which has a Basie atmosphere and repertory. Trombonist Keg Johnson, making one of his too-rare featured appearances in the studios, was Budd Johnson's older brother, and had by this time been in the Calloway band for more than a decade. He'd also played with Benny Carter and Fletcher Henderson, as well as with Louis Armstrong, with whom he recorded some of his finest work. He later gigged with Gene Ammons and Wardell Gray, worked with Gil Evans in 1960, and then spent six years with Ray Charles, whom he was still with when he died suddenly in 1967, just days shy of hs 59th birthday. 

I Found A New Baby is first heard in a previously unissued take, then the one released on 10 and 12-inch LP. Both are very fine performances. Ike opens with the verse; then Buck, with his favorite cup mute, swings the theme, ensemble taking the bridge. Keg Johnson's full-chorus solos are excellent on both  takes, and quite different. Ram nods to Basie in both of his choruses. Buck, now on open horn, comes up next for his 32 bars, backed by band riffs—his solo on the master take just a shade more relaxed. Tiny's chorus on the first take, with its staccatto phrasing, is typical and fine; on the other take, there's a bit of unwanted fretting noise. Ike takes two choruses, the rhythm section working hard and well under him. Ensemble riffs, with tenor hollering in the cracks; tenor bridge; more riffing, and out. This is the music that, according to some increasingly strident voices—mainly in the jazz press—was beginning to be pronounced passe!  

I Surrender Dear is also presented in two takes, but in the reverse order of Baby; the release history is the same. This Harry Barris tune had long been a tenor players' favorite, and had been given the definitive interpretation by Coleman Hawkins in 1940, which Ike refers to in both takes. Again, both versions are of the highest quality, with notable differences in the solos. Ram makes the introduction. Ike leads off with a soulful paraphrase of the theme at a stately tempo, Keg taking the bridge (growly  on the master take, not far from Bill Harris in the second). Buck, with cup mute, completes the first chorus. Ram offers two very different 16-bar solos; the first is truly inspired, the second allows us to hear Moncur's fine support more clearly. Ike re-enters at the bridge, opening with a Hawkins quote—he uses it on both takes, but on the first, he develops it further. The brass comes in under him for the last eight, with organ harmony. Ike's sound is lovely here. He tops it off with a long cadenza; on both takes, he uses a quote from Charleston Alley midway through. 

Topsy and Cup-Mute Clayton were the only items from this date issued on 78. The Edgar Battle-Eddie Durham opus of Basie (and Lester Young) fame begins, like Basie's record, with the rhythm section alone, and continues, also like Basie's TOPSY, with Buck's cup-muted theme statement over soft ensemble backing. His fine chorus is followed by Ike's, the ensemble swelling under him. Tiny's up next, in fine fettle, and the ensuing ensemble features his guitar fills. Moncur walks the bridge, then Buck takes it out over the ensemble fade. A tasteful, swinging performance of a swing era classic.  

Cup-Mute Clayton, a "rhythm" original by Buck and Ike, is brought on by Heard's drums. Buck introduces the riff theme over an ensemble vamp, with the mute of the title in place. Ike's preaching solo kicks off nicely; he yields to Keg on the bridge, returning for a solid eight bars more. Ram, still in that Basie groove, takes 16, Buick eight—open horn now—and continues in the lead over the final ensemble vamp. A most congenial session, this. 

Screenland – October 1947 Volume 51 Issue 12 

IKE QUEBEC: Lend that hearing flap to the delicious tenor sax of Ike Quebec in his new Blue Note albumful of six goodies. Whatta warm tone, rich and sensitive. Great guys along with him, too. Jonah Jones, trumpet; Tyree Glenn, trombone; Roger Ramirez, piano, Oscar Pettiford, bass; and J. C. Heard, drums; ‘Keg’ Johnson, trombone; Tiny Grimes, guitar; Grachan Moncur, bass; Buck Clayton, trumpet; Dave Rivera, piano: Nap Allen, guitar; Milton Hinton, bass. Different groups on different sides. Ike is magnificent on two slow, soulful solos, “If I Had You” and “Dolores,” and comes on like my new Buick on “Topsy,” “Cup-Mute Clayton,” which spots the trumpet man of the same name, “Hard Tack,” and “Sweethearts on Parade.” Ike’s a fine artist and these biscuits are worth an honored place on your shelf, elf. (Blue Note album 102) 

Dan Morgenstern – The Blue Note Swingtets CD Liner Notes 

It’s Buck Clayton and King Johnson on “I Surrender Dear” and “Topsy” in the horn department, with yet another great bassist, Grachan Moncur of Savoy Sultans fame. Fine soloing all round: hear Ramirez on the ballad, Grimes on the Eddie Durham-Basie classic, and all three horns on both, with Quebec’s “Surrender” cadenza a knockout. 

Session Information 

Buck Clayton, trumpet; "Keg" Johnson, trombone; Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Roger Ramirez, piano; Tiny Grimes, guitar; Grachan Moncur, bass; J.C. Heard, drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, July 17, 1945 

BN246-0, I've Found A New Baby (alternate take) 

BN246-1, I've Found A New Baby, Blue Note BLP 5027, B-6507 

BN247-0, I Surrender, Dear, Blue Note BLP 5001; 

BN247-1, I Surrender, Dear (alternate take) 

BN248-1, Topsy, Blue Note 515 

BN249-0, Cup-Mute Clayton, Blue Note 515