1953 - October 25

Gil Melle Quintet – October 25 1953 

 

Barry Ulanov: Gil Melle Volume 2 Liner Notes 

THE REFUSAL to do the expected has made Gil Mellé, just barely in his twenties, a session leader of distinction. This second album of Gil's shows once more how artfully he can vary accepted patterns and turn them into fresh jazz statements, how effectively he can employ a more or less conventional jazz instrumentation, how charming he can make three- to five-minute jazz performances. 

Once again it is taste that makes these sides turn round so compellingly, not only Gil's, but Urbie Green's and Tal Farlow's and Clyde Lombardi's and Joe Morello's as well. It is important here to stress the contribution of all five musicians, for this is a freer ensemble than the first Gil commanded on record, the solos more frequent and the soloists consequently more important. And with the soloists, always, there is a steady rhythm section, an imaginative one, composed of soloists who know when and how to take their bows and just as well when and where to recede into the background. 

The mixture is pretty much as before, say in the late bop years, in the opening Timepiece, by which the musicians in effect set their beats and keep them. It's up tempo jazz, with Gil's move to baritone saxophone worth celebrating, Urbie Green's facility on the trombone and Tal Farlow's single-string dexterity as expected. Comparatively new, to my ears at any rate, is the delicate balance of baritone, trombone and guitar sonorities. It suggests that an organized little band consisting of these instruments and rhythm could make a substantial contribution to jazz. That impression is deepened by the languorous Lover Man that follows, the most extended of the performances in this collection and the most moving. It is a beautiful exercise in counter-melody, Urbie's,

Photo by Francis Wolff

Gil's on tenor and Tal's, stretching Ram Ramirez's classic tune loosely over long lines and sweet sounds. 

Gingersnap and A Lion Lives Here make a suitable sequence, from up to middle tempo, from one unison figure to another, from one simple jazz catch to another. Like Timepiece, the tunes are Gil's, the distinct sounds his on tenor and baritone, and Urbie's and Tal's again, with Joe Morello contributing a delightful brush period to Lion, bringing the piece named for Blue Note's presiding director to a witty conclusion. 

Urbie, Gil and Tal rescue Spellbound from the lugubrious ululations of the theremin and remove it forever from its original attachment to a psychological murder mystery with a light swinging treatment that emphasizes the Rosza melody's tenderness. Tied to the solos (Gil's on tenor mindful of Stan Getz in Summer Sequence) is a sprightly little figure of classical elegance that opens and closes the performances and gives it a deserving symmetry. 

Last of the lot is Transition, the title of which is justified by passages that move engagingly from Latin to jazz beats and others that carry the sound from an ensemble canonic imitation to a bass solo and back again, and from horn solos to string solos to a drum solo. In this rich mélange, Clyde and Tal, separately and together, distinguish them- selves, and Joe shows himself an unusually sensitive drummer, fully capable of sustaining musical interest in a solo and of making that solo very much a part of the rest of the proceedings. It's fitting that the drummer should draw such distinction upon himself in this piece of Gil's, for while this is a Mellé album by direction and leadership and inspiration, it is also a first-rate collective effort in which every man counts. 

Down Beat 10 March 1954 Volume 21 Issue 5 

This is a happy improvement on Melle’s largely pretentious first album. He has here the brilliant cooperation of Urbie Green, Tal Farlow, Clyde Lombardi, and drummer Joe Morello. Gil is the weakest of the five in conception and tone, but both his baritone and tenor work are professional and, pallid though the word is, he’s promising. The Melle originals, while not distinguished, have quiet wit and a linear skill that is still underdeveloped. Transition has most substance but is overly diffuse in structure. 

Urbie Green’s trombone is warmly excellent on all the tunes and his solo on Lover Man is a glorious commentary —a unique model] of shading, phrasing, and invention. Tal Farlow is unflaggingly tasty, and very few guitarists can approach the beautifully graded quality of sounds he achieves on the electric guitar. Clyde Lombardi, long underrated, is flawless on bass. Joe Morello, currently with the Marian McPartland trio, indicates that another major jazz drummer has arrived. This man should be heard a lot more often. 

Recording sound is good, the best Blue Note for fidelity I can recall. The whole thing’s a quietly happy ball. (Blue Note BLP 5033) 

Cover Design by JEROME KUHL 

Session Information 

Urbie Green, trombone; Gil Melle, tenor, baritone sax; Tal Farlow, guitar; Clyde Lombardi, bass; Joe Morello, drums. 

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, October 25, 1953 

BN526-2 tk.3, Lover Man, Blue Note 5033 

BN528-2 tk.11, Spellbound, Blue Note 5033 

BN529-1 tk.14, Transition, Blue Note 5033 

BN530-1 tk.16, A Lion Lives Here, Blue Note 5033 

BN531-2 tk.19, Timepiece, Blue Note 5033 

BN527-5 tk.23, Gingersnap, Blue Note 5033 

BN532-0 tk.27, The nearness of you