1951 - August 1

Wynton Kelly Trio – August 1 1951

 

Down Beat 18 November 1953 Volume 20 Issue 23 

A most satisfying addition to Alfred Lion’s important New Faces-New Sounds series. Kelly, who worked with Dinah Washington, Dizzy, and Lester among others, is now in the army. This was his first date under his own name, made before he joined Dizzy. He displays technical ease, a well-absorbed contemporary orientation, and a fresh, individuated approach.  

Cherokee contains a happy, surefingered swing, along with offhandedly humorous phrasing. Crazy is maturely tender and, as in all of these, illustrates Kelly’s powerful gift for understatement. Listen here, too, to the tasteful simplicity of his flowing variations on the melodic line.  

Blue Moon becomes a quiet stomper (that’s no paradox, as you’ll hear). This man swings from inside and so doesn’t have to cudgel the piano. Mel Torme’s Born To Be Blue is beautifully shaded as is the Benny Goodman Goodbye theme (Gordon Jenkins). 

Wynton has a challenging sense of dynamics many of his contemporaries might well ponder. Oscar Pettiford’s full-bodied solo on Born To Be Blue (he’s also on Moon) is all too short and is really only the beginning of what could have been a remarkable chorus. 

These were recorded in July and August of 1951 when Wynton was 20. Wynton Kelly, when he leaves the army, has so much ahead of him, and, as a result, so have we. (Blue Note 5025) 

Michael Cuscuna - CD Reissue Liner Notes (BNJ-71001 LP / 7-84456-2 CD) 

During the late fifties and early sixties, Wynton Kelly recorded a few albums of his own and appeared on a variety of dates led by John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Steve Lacy, Johnny Griffin and many others. In 1959, he joined the Miles Davis band. With Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, a near-perfect rhythm section was born. They stayed with Miles until early 1963. During that stint, in 1960 and 1961, Kelly and Chambers were the rhythm team for four magnificent Hank Mobley dates (Soul Station, Roll Call/ Workout and an unissued album). 

Of those masterpieces, Mobley was recently quoted as saying, "Wynton was the sort of person that a lot of people took a little bit for granted until they worked with him. Like I had heard him before I did that first record date with him (Peckin' Time BLP 1574 in 1958), but after that for about the next five record dates I did (actually the four mentioned above), he was the piano player. He had to be the piano player, because he understood every direction that I was coming from and was right there all the time. You know, he could play 365 days a year and always sound the same way — I mean no matter if it's raining outside or a thunderstorm, he'd still have a certain happiness, that touch, that swing. And his touch — so full and heavy. I mean he could play one of those funny old beat-ups pianos and it sounds like a grand the way that note comes out; you hear it ring as if he's playing a horn or something.' 

Kelly was certainly taken for granted by all except those who actually played with him. And their enthusiasm is endless. After the Mobley recording and the tenure with Miles Davis, Kelly formed his own trio with Chambers and Cobb, sometimes touring as a quartet with Wes Montgomery. 

Throughout his career, he quietly but significantly influenced many major pianists, including Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock. His style was best described in an interview that Orrin Keepnews conducted with Bill Evans. Evans said, "My impression from listening to Wynton was always that he was a schooled pianist, which I gathered later is not altogether true — but his approach was so strong and pure, so clear and so organized. This was more a reflection of how his mind worked than any actual conservatory experience or anything like that. Wynton's playing was in every way thoughtful, and yet everything came out so natural. When I heard him with Dizzy's big band, his whole thing was so joyful and exuberant; nothing about it seemed calculated. And yet, with the clarity of the way he played, you know that he had to put this together in a very carefully planned way — but the result was completely without calculation. There was just the pure spirit shining through his conception." 

Wynton Kelly's place in jazz history will be insured, not by the critics and historians, but by his creative peers. This album, complete in content and improved in sound, is the first documentation of his growing artistry. 

Leonard Feather – Wynton Kelly – New Faces – New Sounds BLP 5025 Liner Notes  

Wynton has spent most of his young life around the Fulton Street section in Brooklyn. As his performances in this LP indicate, he has devoted considerable time to an intelligent study of his favorite pianists — Art Tatum. Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk. 

The eight selections heard here demonstrate not only his remarkable solo talent but also his ability to select unusual tunes for piano interpretation, as a result of along with some more familiar standards. he has selected such tunes as Crazy He Calls Ille, best known as a Billie Holidav vocal; Born To Be Blue, that fine example of Mel Torme's composing talent; Moonlight In Vermont, more familiar as a trumpet or vocal number. and Goodbye, the lovely Gordon Jenkins tune, best known as Benny Goodrnan s perennial theme. 

Helping to propel the fine rhythmic beat on these sides are Lee Abrams on drums and Franklin Skeete on bass. Oscar Pettiford replaces Skeete on Blue Moon and Born To Be Blue, taking a fine solo on the latter. 

Here is a set of modern jazz performances by an artist who had already established a style and personality still in his teens. and undoubtedly consolidate his reputation when he rejoins the jazz scene. 

Down Beat 18 June 1952 Volume 19 Issue 12 

Four pleasing modern jazz piano solos, accompanied by Lee Abrams on drums and Oscar Pettiford on bass (replaced by Franklin Skeete on Cherokee).  

The pretty Torme tune (Blue), effective, with the boppish rendition of the Ray Noble standard a strong runner-up. Where, the weakest side, has moments that could just as well be Jose Melis, though the jazz portion is agreeable. (Blue Note 1578, 1579.) 

Session Information 

Wynton Kelly, piano; Franklin Skeete, bass; Lee Abrams, conga drums. 

WOR Studios, NYC, August 1, 1951 

 

BN408-0, Goodbye (78 rpm version), Blue Note 1581 

BN408-1, Goodbye, Blue Note BLP 5025 

BN409-2, Foolin' Myself 

BN410-0, There Will Never Be Another You, Blue Note BLP 5025 

BN411-3, Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me 

BN412-1, Summertime, Blue Note 1580 

BN413-0, Moonlight In Vermont, Blue Note BLP 5025 

BN414-1, Crazy, He Calls Me, Blue Note 1580, BLP 5025 

BN415-2, Opus Caprice