Jazz Focus

The great Basie trumpeter Buck Clayton took a band to Europe in the fall of 1949 for about nine months  - those recordings are elsewhere on this station!  These are appearances by Clayton with two other groups led by pianists - Willie "The Lion" Smith and his Quartet (with Claude Luter and Wallace Bishop) and Earl Hines (with Barney Bigard, Arvell Shaw and Bishop).  Four tracks by Hines with just bass and drums recorded on the same date are also included . . .

Two sessions featuring the singer heading into her twilight years but still possessing great artistry and backed by great bands.  The first has her own group with Harry Edison on trumpet, Willie Smith on alto sax and Bobby Tucker on piano.  The second is the Tony Scott Orchestra with Scott on clarinet, Budd Johnson on tenor sax, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Carl Drinkard on piano and Billy Bauer on guitar.

Companion to the other program featuring groups with Webster as the only horn, this one has larger groups, but with the spotlight still on the tenor!  Webster's group nominally led by Bill De Arrango recording for Haven with Leonard Hawkins (Idrees Sulieman) on trumpet, Tony Scott on clarinet, Argonne Thornton (Sadik Hakim) on piano, De Arrango on guitar, John Simmons on bass and Sid Catlett on drums; Webster's Wax Quintet with Bill Coleman on trumpet, Jimmy Jones on piano, Al Hall on bass and Denzil Best on drums; Al Hall's Wax Quintet with the same band with Dick Vance on trumpet; Tony Scott's Downbeat Club All Stars with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Trummy Young on trombone, Scott on alto and clarinet, Jimmy Jones on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and Eddie Nicholson in drums.

Great West Coast/Swing/Mainstream sessions led by guitarist Kessel (who also arranged and composed some of the tunes) for Contemporary Records.  The To Swing or Not To Swing album from 1956 featured Harry Edison on trumpet and either Bill Perkins or Georgie Auld on tenor sax with Shelly Manne on drums and Jimmy Rowles on piano.  The 1959 Some Like It Hot album has Joe Gordon on trumpet, Art Pepper on alto, tenor and clarinet, Rowles and Manne.

Sides demonstrating the connection between trombonist Harris and tenor saxophonist Phillips recording for Clef/Mercury.  The first session also features Harry Edison, Hank Jones and Buddy Rich, the second Lou Levy, Gene Ramey and Jo Jones and the third is by the Nick Esposito Sextet with Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown JC Heard and Bennie Green replacing Harris on four tunes.