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Fresh Sound Records and the Legacy of Recorded Jazz
If the importance and the contributions of jazz are measured by its recorded legacy, then Fresh Sound Records—and its founder, Jordi Pujol—must be duly recognized for rescuing a legacy that might otherwise be lost or nearly impossible to find, and for making it available to the public. Specifically, this legacy includes recorded works by saxophonist
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals1901 - 1971
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Fresh Sound and Pujol have been doing this since 1983. And while a confessed fan of west coast jazz, as evidenced by his issues of material on labels like Contemporary, he's also released dozens of items from the catalogs of Verve, Riverside, Prestige, RCA (almost 200 releases), New Jazz, Argo, Royal Roost, and almost every other label of every size that recorded jazz.
Because many of Fresh Sound's products are by little-known players by today's standards, these releases cannot be expected to make even a little bit of a profit. It therefore seems that Pujol's criteria for issuing something is simply: He likes it.
That's called integrity. Fresh Sound's newly-released titles stand as a good overview of what the label does and what the label stands for. And though some of these artists may be considered obscure and don't have what we'd call "name value," their musical value is, without exception, considerable.
Vocalists Beverly Kenney, " data-original-title="" title="">Lucy Ann Polk, Jane Fielding, " data-original-title="" title="">Helyne Stewart and
Marilyn Moore
b.1931For the most part, these singers came out of the
Anita O'Day
vocals1919 - 2006
June Christy
vocals1925 - 1990
Doris Day
vocals1922 - 2019
Beverly Kenney was a sensitive, lyrical and individual jazz stylist who was well on her way to fame when she took her own life at the age of 28 in 1960. Sadly, she sometimes gets more attention for that than she does for her singing. Beverly Kenney: The Complete Decca Recordings is a two-CD set that captures the singer's many unique sides in a number of settings, some blatantly commercial—hey, you've got to sell records—and others in stark surroundings with accompaniment only by the superb piano of 
Ellis Larkins
piano1923 - 2002
Joe Benjamin
bassb.1919
Talk about obscure. Singer Jane Fielding recorded only two albums in her lifetime, both made in 1956 when she was 21 years old. Little is known about Fielding—some contend she was actually a pro ice skater who hung up the skates due to an injury—but it's clear that, had she stayed in the jazz game, there was a bright future at hand. Her youth comes through at times—let's call her sound "smolderingly youthful"—but her maturity on material that's often difficult is incredible. On tunes like "Embers Glow," "Right Boy for Me" and, believe it or not, "Round Midnight," she is more than confident and clearly feels the lyric. Some of her accompanists aren't too shabby, either, and include saxophonists
Teddy Edwards
saxophone, tenor1924 - 2003
Joe Maini
saxophone, altob.1930
Paul Chambers
bass, acoustic1935 - 1969
Red Mitchell
bass1927 - 1992
Jackie Cain
vocals1928 - 2014
Love Moods, first recorded for Contemporary in 1956, highlights singer " data-original-title="" title="">Helyne Stewart, a protégé and discovery of Teddy Edwards, who led the accompanying group. Stewart, another little-known singer who seemed to have disappeared from the scene after this outing, is a soulful and secure stylist who must have listened to a bit of
Carmen McRae
vocals1920 - 1994
Sarah Vaughan
vocals1924 - 1990
And dig who's on the session in addition to Edwards: How about trombonist
Frank Rosolino
trombone1926 - 1978
Jack Sheldon
trumpet1931 - 2019
Art Pepper
saxophone, alto1925 - 1982
Pete Jolly
piano1932 - 2004
Jimmy Bond
bass1933 - 2012
Phineas Newborn, Jr.
piano1931 - 1989
Leroy Vinnegar
bass, acoustic1928 - 1999
There are some singers on the scene today who have received a good deal of critical acclaim because of their similarity to
Billie Holiday
vocals1915 - 1959
Madeleine Peyroux
vocals
Diana Ross
vocalsThe case of
Marilyn Moore
b.1931Leonard Feather
b.1914Holiday is in there, to be sure, but Moore swings like the devil in her own way on items like "Lover Come Back to me," and sings the heck out of a none-to-easy score to the Broadway show, "Oh! Captain." She's backed herein by a group of sympathetic jazz stars, including her then-husband on tenor sax,
Al Cohn
saxophone, tenor1925 - 1988
Milt Hinton
bass, acoustic1910 - 2000
Coleman Hawkins
saxophone, tenor1904 - 1969
George Russell
composer / conductor1923 - 2009
Calling " data-original-title="" title="">Lucy Ann Polk a jazz singer may be stretching things somewhat. Polk, the best-known of all these singers, gained no small amount of fame from her 1951-1954 stay with the big band of
Les Brown
composer / conductor1912 - 2001
Marty Paich
composer / conductor1925 - 1995
Dave Pell
saxophone1925 - 2017
Young and aspiring singers should give this a listen. Polk's diction, time and intonation are superb. She swings lightly and politely on 22 standards, with more than appropriate backing by west coasters like trumpeters
Shorty Rogers
trumpet1924 - 1994
Don Fagerquist
trumpetb.1927
Claude Williamson
piano1926 - 2016
Mel Lewis
drums1929 - 1990
Jack Sperling
drums1922 - 2004
In 1960, the Washington, D.C.-based pianist "
data-original-title="" title="">Dick Morgan was playing at a club called the Showboat. He so impressed saxophonist 
Cannonball Adderley
saxophone1928 - 1975
All are characterized by Morgan's funky, swinging and crowd-pleasing style, that seems much closer to that of
Bobby Timmons
piano1935 - 1974
Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007
Erroll Garner
piano1921 - 1977
Keter Betts
bass, acousticb.1928
Ben Riley
drums1933 - 2017
No matter. Morgan was the centerpiece of these dates, and his happy grooving on standards and a few originals (check the funky "Big Fat Mama") still holds up. As of this writing, the 81-year old pianist, known as the "Dean of Washington, D.C. piano," is still out there wailing.
Tenor saxophonist Brew Moore, who died in 1973, was one of those tragic, nomadic figures in jazz, like Bix Beiderbecke and Chet Baker, who novelists used to romanticize. Indeed, it's been said that some of Moore's more outlandish exploits inspired Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957). Moore was one of a bunch of
Lester Young
saxophone1909 - 1959
Zoot Sims
saxophone, tenor1925 - 1985
Stan Getz
saxophone, tenor1927 - 1991
Herbie Steward
saxophone1926 - 2003
Paul Quinichette
saxophone, tenor1916 - 1983
Listening to these three, live Moore sessions from 1956, 1957 and 1958—that first came out on two Fantasy LPs—it's evident that the saxophonist still had Lester Young in his heart and head but was slowly becoming his own man. What set him apart, among other things, was his technique (listen to "Them There Eyes"), ability as a blues player (demonstrated on "Them Old Blues," among others), and ease with chord changes.
San Francisco-based for most of his short career, these sessions feature backing by local and/or little known players, including trumpets Dick Mills and another tenor player named Harold Wylie. The bonus track, "Due's Blues," does have some "names" in the rhythm chairs, including
Cal Tjader
vibraphone1925 - 1982
Vince Guaraldi
piano1928 - 1976
Bobby White
drumsb.1926
One thing is for certain, whatever the setting or the backing, Prez influence or not, Brew Moore was one heck of a hard swinger.
The Concert Jazz Band, founded by baritone saxophonist/arranger
Gerry Mulligan
saxophone, baritone1927 - 1996
Fresh Sound's two CD-set, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band: Santa Monica 1960, issues, for the first time (Mosaic, a few years ago, released a Mulligan set that contained six of these tracks) the complete live shows held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium October 1, 1960. This unit was chock full of fabulous soloists and section-men, including trumpeters 
Conte Candoli
trumpet1927 - 2001
Nick Travis
trumpet1925 - 1964
Willie Dennis
b.1926
Bob Brookmeyer
trombone1929 - 2011
Gene Quill
b.1927
Bill Holman
composer / conductor- 2024
Johnny Mandel
arrangerb.1925
This group was so special and so individual that almost everyone wanted to write for it. On famed CJB orchestrations like "The Red Door," the extended "Blue Port" and on the Mulligan "hit" of "My Funny Valentine," the band nicely combines much of what Mulligan had done before as a player and arranger. Of course, the general sound is "cool," a la Mulligan's charts for "Birth of the Cool," and features a good deal of contrapuntal ensemble writing, clearly heard on charts like "Out of this World."
Then there is the ensemble writing and section work that, from time to time—and you never know when—really takes off, a la the leader's earlier charts for bands like
Elliot Lawrence
piano1925 - 2021
Gene Krupa
drums1909 - 1973
Not enough can be said about this release. Jordi Pujol's notes, by the way, are exemplary and easily guide the listener through the history and the music. It's a pity that this band couldn't continue. But as an interesting sidelight is that about a year after the Concert Jazz Band was history, another big band formed that continued, to an extent, the mission and legacy of the CJB. This new ensemble had the same drummer as Mulligan's band, Mel Lewis, as well as the same trombone soloist and sometimes chart-writer named Bob Brookmeryer. The new band was called The
Thad Jones
trumpet1923 - 1986
It is important for anyone interest in jazz and its all-important recorded history to know about Fresh Sound Records.
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Charlie Parker
Louis Armstrong
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Lucy Ann Polk
Helyne Stewart
Marilyn Moore
Anita O'Day
June Christy
Doris Day
Ellis Larkins
Joe Benjamin
Teddy Edwards
Joe Maini
Paul Chambers
Red Mitchell
Jackie Cain
Carmen McRae
Sarah Vaughan
Frank Rosolino
Jack Sheldon
Art Pepper
Pete Jolly
Jimmy Bond
Phineas Newborn
Leroy Vinnegar
Billie Holiday
madeleine peyroux
Diana Ross'
Leonard Feather
Al Cohn
Milt Hinton
Coleman Hawkins
George Russell
Les Brown
Marty Paich
Dave Pell
Shorty Rogers
Don Fagerquist
Claude Williamson
Mel Lewis
Jack Sperling
Dick Morgan
Cannonball Adderley
Bobby Timmons
oscar peterson
Erroll Garner
Keter Betts
Ben Riley
Lester Young
Zoot Sims
Stan Getz
Herbie Steward
Paul Quinichette
Cal Tjader
Vince Guaraldi
Bobby White
Gerry Mulligan
Conte Candoli
Nick Travis
Willie Dennis
Bob Brookmeyer
Gene Quill
Bill Holman
Johnny Mandel
Elliot Lawrence
Gene Krupa
Thad Jones
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