Booker 'n' Brass
Encyclopedia
Booker 'n' Brass is an album by American jazz saxophonist Booker Ervin
featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Pacific Jazz
label.
Booker Ervin
Booker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Pacific Jazz
Pacific Jazz Records
Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record label best known for releasing cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded by Richard Bock and drummer Roy Harte in 1952....
label.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 3½ stars and stated "To hear Booker Ervin as the leading solo voice on a recording with a larger ensemble is a treat, not only for his fans, but for those interested in modern big-band sounds grown from the bop era that are flavored with urban blues".Track listing
- "East Dallas Special" (Booker Ervin) - 4:37
- "Salt Lake City" (Johnny LangeJohnny LangeJohnny Lange was a songwriter, author and publisher. He was educated in a Philadelphia high school. He joined the music staff at film studios in 1937 and resumed his film music career in 1946 and 1947. He also wrote special material for night club singers, and the "Ice Capades of 1950"...
, Leon RenéLeon RenéLeon René was an American music composer of R&B and rock and roll songs in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He sometimes used the songwriting pseudonym Jimmy Thomas. He also established several record labels...
) - 4:22 - "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" (Louis AlterLouis AlterLouis Alter was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. Alter was 13 when he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films...
, Edgar DeLange) - 4:28 - "L.A. After Dark" [Master - Take 6] (Teddy EdwardsTeddy EdwardsTheodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
) - 5:03 - "Kansas City" (Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller) - 3:00
- "Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
, Paul Francis WebsterPaul Francis WebsterPaul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
) - 4:42 - "Harlem NocturneHarlem Nocturne"Harlem Nocturne" is a jazz standard written by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers in 1939. The song was adopted by bandleader Randy Brooks the next year as his theme song."Harlem Nocturne" has been frequently recorded...
" (Earle HagenEarle HagenEarle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
, Dick Rogers) - 4:18 - "I Left My Heart in San FranciscoI Left My Heart in San Francisco"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954 by George Cory and Douglass Cross, and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett...
" (George Cory, Douglass Cross) - 4:13 - "St. Louis Blues" (W. C. HandyW. C. HandyWilliam Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....
) - 4:11 - "L.A. After Dark" [Alternate Take 3] (Edwards) - 5:08 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "L.A. After Dark" [Alternate Take 7] (Edwards) - 5:05 Bonus track on CD reissue
- Recorded at Webster Hall in New York City on September 12 (tracks 4, 6 & 9-11), September 13 (tracks 1, 2 & 5), and September 14 (tracks 3, 7 & 8), 1967.
Personnel
- Booker ErvinBooker ErvinBooker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
- tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Martin Banks (tracks 1-3, 5, 7 & 8), Johnny ColesJohnny ColesJohnny Coles was an American jazz trumpeter.Coles spent his early career playing with R&B groups, including those of Eddie Vinson , Bull Moose Jackson , and Earl Bostic...
(tracks 1, 2 & 5), Ray CopelandRay CopelandRay Copeland was a jazz trumpet player and teacher. Throughout his career he participated on many swing and hard bop dates, appearing on the well known Monk's Music by Thelonious Monk in 1956...
, Freddie HubbardFreddie HubbardFrederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
(tracks 3, 4 & 6-11), Charles TolliverCharles TolliverCharles Tolliver is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where, as a child, he received his first trumpet as a gift from his grandmother. He attended Howard University in the early 1960s as a pharmacy student, when he decided to pursue music as a...
(tracks 4, 6 & 9-11), Richard WilliamsRichard WilliamsRichard Williams is a Canadian animator. He is best known for serving as animation director on Disney/Amblin's Who Framed Roger Rabbit and for his unfinished feature film The Thief and the Cobbler...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Garnett BrownGarnett BrownGarnett Brown is a jazz trombonist who has worked with The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, and others.He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and later studied film scoring and electronic music at UCLA In 1974 he won the Down Beat Reader's poll for trombonist, and...
(tracks 3, 4 & 6-11), Bennie GreenBennie GreenBennie Green was an American jazz trombonist.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and 1960s.-As leader:...
, Britt WoodmanBritt WoodmanBritt Woodman was a jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus....
(tracks 1, 2 & 5) - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Benny PowellBenny PowellBenny Powell was an African American jazz trombonist. He played both standard trombone and bass trombone....
(tracks 1-3, 5, 7 & 8) - bass trombone - Kenny BarronKenny BarronKenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Reggie Johnson - bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Lenny McBrowne - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Teddy EdwardsTeddy EdwardsTheodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
- arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...