The Bebop Shop : A Swingin' Affair: Blue Notes & Hard Bop Classics : Art Farmer
Art Farmer and Benny Golson led this sextet that sounds like a big band, with the idea of giving ample space to each soloist, but within a framework that did more than set up lines at the beginning and end in a jam session type of group. With composer-arranger Golson doing the majority of the writing, this was fully accomplished.
Personnel : Art Farmer (tp), Benny Golson (ts, narrator on #10), Curtis Fuller (tb), McCoy Tyner (p), Addison Farmer (b) and Lex Humphries (d). Recorded at Nola Studios, New York City, on February 6, 9 & 10, 1960. Total time: 40:42 min. - 10 tracks - 24-Bit Digitally Remastered. (Discovery Records) Price: £17.99
“When Farmer Met Gryce”; “Last Night When We Were Young”; “Farmers Market” and “Art”.
A pretty handy quintet from 1955 kicks off the first selection in our second Art Farmer foursome - ‘When Farmer Met Gryce’. Art himself on trumpet of course, Gigi Gryce on alto sax, writer of an amazing six out of the eight titles featured. Freddie Redd or Horace Silver at the piano, either Art’s twin brother Addison on bass or the great Percy Heath and one of either Art Taylor or Kenny Clarke on drums. Some musicians get to make all the tough choices! Also recorded in New York a couple of years later in 1957 - ‘Last Night When We Were Young’ finds Art in the company of the great arranger and conductor Quincy Jones for a somewhat different sounding album, Art with strings! Along for the ride include among others Hank Jones, Osie Johnson and Barry Galbraith. We hit the quintet trail again for album number three - Farmers Market from 1956, where Art is joined this time by the great tenor man Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew on piano, Addison Farmer again on bass and the incomparable Elvin Jones behind the drum kit. Down to a quartet for album number four with the increasingly difficult to find album - Art from 1960, not a bad bunch of guys turning up for this set. Art of course on trumpet joined by Tommy Flanagan on piano, Tommy Williams on bass and Albert Heath at the drums. (AVID Entertainment) Price: £8.99
As a bonus, two more tracks by Farmer from a session with the Jazztet and a couple of Farmer-Flanagan collaborations in quintet with Jim Hall (guitar). (Discovery Records) Price: £12.99
