AVID Jazz presents four classic Quincy Jones albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“This Is How I Feel About Jazz”; “Harry Arnold + Big Band + Quincy Jones = Jazz”; “The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones” and “At Newport ‘61".
To quote Quincy from the original liner notes “This Is How I Feel About Jazz is an attempt to supply settings, select the proper cast and musically portray my feelings about some of the less cerebral and more vital or basic elements contained in Jazz. Trying to put into words the essence of these elements has made me realize that jazz is much easier to play than to say……..” Musicians include Herbie Mann on flute and tenor sax, Art Farmer on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Phil Woods on alto sax, Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers on bass and Lucky Thompson on tenor sax. For “Harry Arnold + Big Band + Quincy Jones = Jazz” the following from the album cover says it all!! “TYPE OF MUSIC - Big Band jazz of the highest order that feautures arrangements by Quincy Jones and churning performance by the Harry Arnold orchestra of Swedish jazzmen. HIGHLIGHTS - The spirit with which American jazz cvomposer-arranger Quincy Jones infused the band... The great performance on Doodlin’... Bengt Hallberg’s consistently excellent piano... The high caliber of the solos throughout.” How prophetic are the liner notes written by Dizzy Gillespie assessing and praising the talents of Quincy Jones for his new album”The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones”……”personally, Quincy is an excellent musician to work with, and that’s certainly essential in a leader. I’m impressed at the excellent musicians he was able to persuade to join him…… his future …… he can do almost anything he wants……..there are a lot of things he knows how to do. I wish him all the luck” Of course, we all know what Quincy learnt how to do and was to go on to achieve during a remarkable career in music! Here’s a great quote from Phil Woods from the original liner notes to “At Newport ‘61"……………..” summing up the bands feelings towards Quincy “I’d follow him to Antarctica for a one niter, if he said it was cool” Supporting a big band was becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive when Quincy decided to form his own. Starting life as the supporting musicians to the show “Free and Easy” touring Europe, the show folded in Paris leaving Quincy with a band to support and no gigs! Fortunately Quincy was able to call on an army of friends and contacts and quickly organised a highly successful European tour . With a few changes to personnel this was the band that found themselves at the last night of the Newport Festival on July 3rd 1961. The line up to what surely became one of the greatest big bands in jazz history included, Joe Newman, Jimmy Maxwell, Curtis Fuller, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Pat Patrick, Les Spann and Stu Martin.
All four albums plus have been digitally re-mastered.
