Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis: Trane Whistle (1960) Esquire/ Prestige

Selection: The Stolen Moment (Nelson)

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The original version of “Stolen Moments“, here titled “The Stolen Moment“,  recorded several months before the more famous Oliver Nelson  version on Impulse A-5. Trumpet solo from Bob Bryant anticipating Freddie Hubbard, and Nelson steps in on alto. Since everyone knows the Impulse Blues and The Abstract Truth version, it’s interesting to hear the original arrangement, also by Oliver Nelson.  Lockjaw lets it rip, and in the background, Melba Liston et al bopping on trombone.

Track List

A1 Trane Whistle 6:19
A2 Whole Nelson 3:35
A3 You Are Too Beautiful (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) 5:11 

B1 The Stolen Moment 7:54
B2 Walk Away 5:27
B3 Jaws (Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis)  4:36 

Artists

Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, tenor saxophone; Clark Terry, Richard Williams, Bob Bryant, trumpet; Melba Liston, Jimmy Cleveland, trombone, Jerome Richardson, George Barrow, tenor saxophone, flute; Eric Dolphy, Oliver Nelson, alto saxophone; Bob Ashton, baritone saxophone; Richard Wyands, piano; Wendell Marshall, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; recorded by Rudy van Gelder, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, September 20, 1960

Oliver Nelson’s co-arranger Ernie Wilkins cut his teeth in five years with Count Basie in the mid-50’s, and eventually jumped ship for Copenhagen, Denmark, where he stayed forever, eventually forming The Almost Big Band, an approximately half Danish thirteen piece 

What’s the origin of Davis’s nickname “Lockjaw”? Does  it matter? Miles Davis cornered the “Davis” market. It’s an unwritten rule of showbiz that when you have a common last name, you need an original middle-name to distinguish yourself from the others, and “Lockjaw” is memorable enough.

Music

Also an alumni of the Count Basie Orchestra, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis was a tough, raw tenor, whose throaty tone leans towards Coleman Hawkins and Paul Gonsalves, with a shot of tenor battle-mate Johnny Griffin. Davis mastered the essential survival skill of standing proud against a fearsomely-arranged roaring big band.

 Big Band is something of an acquired taste, which I have only recently got more into, and only after some significant improvements in the hi-fi department sharpened up the previously muddy presentation of too many musicians at full-tilt. This album will give your speakers a mighty workout, perhaps not one for late-night listening.

Originating in the 30’s and 40’s swing/dance  band phenomenon, Big Band needed reinventing for the the bop era, with its more austere budget, away from the dance hall setting. The challenge was to address the improvisation potential of the small combo, and the ability to score and arrange fewer instruments to simulate a larger ensemble, without incurring the cost of “three of everything”. The composer/arranger emphasizes composition, which is the strength of Oliver Nelson’s pieces, composed and arranged with ample room for a bigger improvised contribution from the soloists. 

Davis’s Trane Whistle has its roots in the traditional two or three-of-everything power Big Band, with its multiple sections scored with military precision, while the Oliver Nelson influence introduces a stronger role for composition, with dominant melody and harmony,  less-big big band.  

That’s the problem with this bloody music, you keep learning.

Vinyl: Esquire 32-174, UK issue of Prestige PRLP-7206.

Esquire title issues usually followed on six months to a year after the original US release. I don’t consider Esquire “reissues” as such. They are not remastered by another engineer from copy tape, the usual system of international distribution, which yields a lesser sonic quality product. They are pressed with original US Prestige metal, exactly as Van Gelder mastered it, but in UK by Decca New Malden, not Abbey Mfg. New Jersey.  Any sonic difference is how early in stamper-life any copy is, some fresher, some less so.  

Cover and liner notes as per original Prestige 7206. Early 1960’s household dust in abundance, previous owners obviously lacked that essential hi-fi accessory, the domestic Hoover (vinyl pictured below before a good ultrasonic scrub).

The Van Gelder metal has Rudy’s signature RVG stamp. The serious vinyl aficionado will also note Van Gelder’s signature Scully lathe pre-set three ring lock-groove. Drop that minor detail into the conversation next time you are in a record store. Speak Runout. Ha! train spotters, eat your heart out.

Harry’s Place

Our resident time-travelling jazz-paparazzi, Harry M, bagged a lot of Lockjaw’s big band scattered between Newport, Montreux, Sydney and London’s Ronnie Scotts, 1969 to 1972.  Big Band Bingo!

Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Ronnie Scotts 1970

Oliver Nelson, Montreux 1971

Clark Terry, Ronnie Scotts 1971

Roy Haynes, Newport All Stars, Sydney 1972

Jerome Richardson, Mel Lewis – Thad Jones Big Band, Ronnie Scott’s Club, London  1969

 

Photo-credits: ©Harry M

Collector’s Corner

Original Prestige 7206  Eddie Lockjaw Davis Trane Whistle, on  Prestige Bergenfield Fireworks label:

1971 PR 7834 Prestige reissue ditches the Trane Whistle  title, now the album is titled Stolen Moments.

Just for fun, Stolen Moments rip, from the Impulse original Am Par Edition, mono A-5 The Blues And The Abstract Truth:

Selection: Stolen Moments (Impulse A-5 mono)

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A less-Big Band arrangement, broadly similar arrangement by Oliver Nelson, apart of course from the soloists contributions, the mysteriously absent trombonists section, what happened to Melba?, and the equally mysterious arrival of Bill Evans on piano. 

Always something new to learn, and this lesson draws on the fundamental process of learning by making comparisons, observing two different way of presenting a piece,  highlighting the contribution of the arranger as distinct from the performers. 

LJC