Jazz Records

Modern jazz is reaching the point of dilemma. In its approach toward concert music, it tends to wander from the regular beat of four-to-the-bar, but that beat is the pulse of jazz, and when it fades it is best to have a doctor in the house. Teddy Charles, a widely experienced jazz man from Chicopee Falls, Mass., researches the problem with his vibraphone and nine congenial colleagues, develops a nice cure on an adventurous new LP, The Teddy Charles Tentet (Atlantic).

In single works, e.g., Vibrations, he daringly switches from one kind of rhythm to another, from squirming to slogging to swaying to trotting, but somehow the jazz feeling remains. Vibraphonist Charles, not content with rhythmic exploration, exploits harmonic possibilities developed by Duke Ellington, uses dissonance to achieve color and mood rather than sheer shock. The album ranges from familiar (Nature Boy) to far-out (Lydian M-1).

Other recent jazz LPs:

The Amazing Jean "Toots" Thielemans (Columbia). Jazz on the harmonica. Belgian Thielemans, who learned his trade despite the Nazi jazz ban, now has the lively support of several mellow combos. He swings high, free and with surprising feeling, not to mention expert marksmanship. He cannot, however, resist an occasional gypsy switch.

Benny Goodman: The Golden Age of Swing (Victor). A 4 Ib. 6 oz. "limited edition" album that contains 60 re-releases of the master's records between 1935 and 1939. Musty, perhaps, but a must for swing fans.

Blue Rose (Columbia). An inspired teaming of Songstress Rosemary Clooney and Bandman Duke Ellington. The Duke's crew is in a lush mood, and Rosie sings her swingingest--despite the fact that she sang the lyrics on the West Coast and he played in Manhattan. Taped at her best, in such famed Ellington originals as Mood Indigo and I Got It Bad, she actually sounds like that late princess of vocalists, Ivie Anderson.

Brother Matthew (ABC-Paramount). Some mighty earthy jazz by Dixielanders Eddie Condon & Co., featuring the fanciful but funky alto saxophone of Brother Matthew of the Servite Order (TIME, March 5). Until 1953 the star was noted as Boyce Brown of Chicago, a onetime intimate of legendary Jazzman Frank Teschemacher, himself so rarely recorded as to be a near legend.

Don Elliott Sextette (ABC-Paramount). A lightly swinging combo headed by versatile Virtuoso Elliott, heard here only on vibes and the mellophone. It is worth the price of admission ($3.98) to hear Jazz Me Blues bellowed on the mellophone, which is a country cousin of the French horn and sounds something like a trombone with a code in its doze.

Gerry Mulligan Quartet--Paris Concert (Pacific Jazz). One of the most original spirits of the modern school and the man whose well-formed improvisations helped launch so-called West Coast jazz (TIME, Feb. 1, 1954). Baritone Saxophonist Mulligan cajoles his brutish instrument into some sweet and swinging solos and some tenderly twined duets with Bob Brookmeyer's valve trombone. As always, Mulligan brooks no piano.

Le Jazz Primitif (Rupert Clemendore and John Buddy Williams bands; Cook). Trinidad jazz in two styles. Just as it says on the label, Bassist Williams plays it primitive, with a trio of winds and a powerhouse rhythm section which divides itself between a two-beat Calypso and a hot-blooded shuffle entirely on the cymbals. Of special interest: the polyrhythmic Venezuelan Waltz. Drummer-Vibraphonist Clemendore plays jazz a la George Shearing and includes one hit tune, Princess Charming.

A Night at the Apollo (Vanguard). Harlem's famed vaudeville theater in a rowdy session with Count Basic's band, a couple of tap dancers, some comedy and a glimpse of the famed amateur show that gave Ella Fitzgerald her start. The recorded show uncovers its own discovery, a bouncy blues singer named Doreen Vaughan. The audience goes wild.

Paul Nero and his Hi Fiddles (Sunset). More fuel for an old dispute: Is it possible to play jazz on a violin? The present answer: sometimes. Nero, composer, arranger and onetime concert violinist, gets at least halfway out of the corn belt, at least in the string ensembles, but drops a few kernels while he burns.

Red Norvo with Strings (Fantasy). The first man to make the xylophone talk jazz (in the early '30s). Oldtimer Norvo has lost neither his light touch nor the warm sentiments of his younger days. Playing the vibes, he joins with guitar and bass for some stimulating reflections on such tunes as Cabin in the Sky, That Old Black Magic, etc.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.