Valentine for Mary Lou Williams

A jazz critic Leonard Feather had a feature in a jazz magazine in which he’d play records for a musician and he or she would guess who was playing and give some comments. Here the musician was genius arranger and pianist Mary Lou Williams, done in the late 1940s. Artists are really tough on each other!

Benny Goodman. Blue Skies (Columbia), with Art Lund, vocal.	That clarinet’s nice. That’s the right way to play melody on a tune and still make it interesting . . . band’s smooth . . . that singer would be better on ballads. He doesn’t have the right kind of voice for improvising. I’d give the record two stars.
Johnny Guarnieri. Salute to Fats (Savoy). Guarnieri, piano; Lester Young, tenor; Billy Butterfield, trumpet; Hank d’Amico, clarinet; Cozy Cole, drums.	Piano sounds like Fats. The style’s fine, but is sounds like an imitation; I don’t care too much for imitations. But he has a wonderful technique and should use it to create his own style. Tenor sax is excellent. Trumpet not up to par; clarinet okay. Rhythm a little too stodgy. Still I like the record. Three stars.
Sir Charles (Thompson) The Street Beat (Apollo). Thompson, piano; Buck Clayton, trumpet; Charlie Parker, alto; Dexter Gordon, tenor; J. C. Heard, drums.	Alto fine - Charlie Parker, of course! Trumpet was a little sharp at first, but good. I like the beat, and it’s a nice arrangement - a little different. Pianist does a sort of Basie style solo. I like the tenor. Rhythm section good. Three stars.
Woody Herman Orchestra, Northwest Passage (Columbia). Ralph Burns, piano; Marge Hyams, vibes; Flip Phillips, tenor.	Now that’s the way I like to hear a band play! Terrific rhythm, nice balance, a great beat. Piano very good, vibes good, tenor excellent. Band is very solid on the ensembles. Arrangement not out of the ordinary, but fine. Four stars.
Art Hodes’ Jazzmen. Sugar Foot Stomp (Blue Note) Hodes, piano; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Maxie Kaminsky, trumpet; Ed Hall, clarinet; Sid Weiss, bass; Danny Alvin, drums.	Oh, don’t do that to me! . . . That’s Vic Dickenson on trombone, What’s he doing in there - he can’t play like them. It’s a shame to mix good musicians in that kind of outfit. I hardly know what to say. I just don’t like that kind of music. That’s Ed Hall. Trumpet sounds like Louis twenty years ago. Drums and bass good. I’ve heard better Dixieland piano. Don’t like the tune or the ensembles. Two stars.
Barney Bigard. Blues Before Dawn (Black and White). Bigard, clarinet; Georgie Auld, alto; Joe Thomas, trumpet.	Intro terrific. Trumpet wonderful, good taste and original ideas. Alto is good, too; sounds like Johnny Hodges. Clarinet sort of Duke style. Ending is different. Rhythm smooth. Three stars.
Jelly Roll Morton Red Hot Pepper (Victor). Morton, piano; Bass Moore, bass. (Recorded 1928)	That’s a tuba in there, isn’t it? Oh, and a slap tongue tenor solo! Ouch! I don’t recognize this, but it sounds like something from the 1920’s. Even the Dixie they’re playing now doesn’t sound like that. Solos were good for that time, I guess, but no beat at all - can’t even imagine how they danced to it . . . What does it lack? Music! No stars.
King Cole Trio. Body and Soul (Capitol). Cole, piano; Oscar Moore, guitar; Johnny Miller, bass.	King Cole; that’s great. Now here’s something that’s a good example for everyone to listen to; good taste, good balance, and the music tells a story. It’s the most perfect little outfit I’ve heard in years, and even if it weren’t King Cole I’d say the same thing. Four stars.
James P. Johnson. Blueberry Rhyme (Signature). Piano Solo.	Sounds mechanical - like one of those old player-piano rolls. Not free. As if it had all been written out. Don’t care for the composition. Who is it? No idea. Two stars.
Dizzy Gillespie Be-Bop (Manor). Gillespie, trumpet; Don Byas, tenor; Shelly Manne, drums.	Arrangement’s fine, but they’re not together on the ensembles. I think it’s pathetic to arrange a number and not play it smoothly - rather not record it at all . . . trumpet sounds like Dizzy; good . . . that’s Don Byas . . . he can play anybody’s style . . . Sounds like Max Roach on drums. I like the idea of the record better than the execution; three stars.
Boyd Raeburn Orchestra, Yerxa (Jewel). George Handy, arranger; Hal McKusick, alto.	Aren’t they out of tune in spots? You’ve got to be right in tune to play that kind of chords. Sounds a little like Duke. Why did they break into that swing part there? It breaks the story, the mood of the thing. Voicing all wrong; the arrangement sounds like an experiment. I think it’s a good idea to write two arrangements-one with experiments, and one good one. The ideas didn’t work out here. Alto good, balance not too bad. Two stars.
Harry James Orchestra, When Your Lover Has Gone (Columbia). James, trumpet; Corky Corcoran, tenor.	This is the best record I’ve heard of Harry James in a long time. Very good taste in Harry’s solo; good band and arrangement, gets a nice mood; especially that modulation by muted trombones, I think it was. Tenor was great, too. Four stars.
Bunk Johnson Band. When the Saints Go Marching In (Victor). (Recorded 1945).	I don’t know what to say. I’m prejudiced against people who are trying to take music back forty years. I think that just to make money, some people forget about music. Solos not even good for that type. Musicianship? I didn’t hear any.