The Connection (Soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
The Connection is an album of music composed for Jack Gelber
's 1959 play of the same name
by jazz
pianist
Freddie Redd
which was released on the Blue Note
label in 1960. It features performances by Redd, Jackie McLean
, Michael Mattos, and Larry Ritchie
.
Jack Gelber originally planned for the play to feature improvised music performed by jazz musicians who would also play small roles in the production. Freddie Redd
however persuaded Gelber to include his original score.
Recorded 14, 15, 16 March 1962 - Charlie Parker Records PLP 806
who later recorded several parts from the production on his 1961 Blue Note
release Dexter Calling.
Quote (from the liner notes):
"Soul Sister," the original that launches the first side is one of the themes Dexter wrote for the score of the Hollywood version of The Connection in which he had an acting, playing, and writing role; it is the equivalent of Freddie Redd's "(Theme for) Sister Salvation"...
"I Want More", the significantly titled Gordon theme that closes the first side, is the West Coast equivalent of "O.D. (Overdose)"...
"Ernie's Theme", is the last of the three themes on this LP from Dexter's Connection score. It parallels "Music Forever".
Jack Gelber
Jack Gelber was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama The Connection, depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was translated into five languages and produced in ten nations...
's 1959 play of the same name
The Connection (1959 play)
The Connection is a 1959 play by Jack Gelber. It was first produced by the Living Theatre, directed by Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina, and designed by co-founder Julian Beck...
by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Piano
The 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...
Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd is an American hard bop pianist and composer.His greatest success came in the late 1950s in the play and movie The Connection, in which he both played and acted in New York City, London, and Paris. He also played on the soundtrack album...
which was released on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label in 1960. It features performances by Redd, Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, Michael Mattos, and Larry Ritchie
Larry Ritchie
Larry Ritchie is a jazz drummer and record/CD producer.He has recorded with John Coltrane, Ray Draper, and Jackie McLean. Examples of his jazz work are provided by McLean's Strange Blues and Freddie Redd's Music from The Connection ....
.
Jack Gelber originally planned for the play to feature improvised music performed by jazz musicians who would also play small roles in the production. Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd is an American hard bop pianist and composer.His greatest success came in the late 1950s in the play and movie The Connection, in which he both played and acted in New York City, London, and Paris. He also played on the soundtrack album...
however persuaded Gelber to include his original score.
Track listing
- "Who Killed Cock Robin" - 5:21
- "Wigglin'" - 5:58
- "Music Forever" - 5:52
- "Time To Smile" - 6:24
- "(Theme for) Sister Salvation" - 4:43
- "Jim Dunn's Dilemma" - 5:37
- "O.D. (Overdose)" - 4:41
- All compositions by Freddie Redd
Personnel
- Freddie ReddFreddie ReddFreddie Redd is an American hard bop pianist and composer.His greatest success came in the late 1950s in the play and movie The Connection, in which he both played and acted in New York City, London, and Paris. He also played on the soundtrack album...
: piano - Jackie McLeanJackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
: alto saxophone - Michael Mattos: bass
- Larry RitchieLarry RitchieLarry Ritchie is a jazz drummer and record/CD producer.He has recorded with John Coltrane, Ray Draper, and Jackie McLean. Examples of his jazz work are provided by McLean's Strange Blues and Freddie Redd's Music from The Connection ....
: drums
Revised Cast, 1961
Original score, new cast- Freddie ReddFreddie ReddFreddie Redd is an American hard bop pianist and composer.His greatest success came in the late 1950s in the play and movie The Connection, in which he both played and acted in New York City, London, and Paris. He also played on the soundtrack album...
, composer/piano - Howard McGheeHoward McGheeHoward McGhee was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, together with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes...
, trumpet - Tina BrooksTina BrooksHarold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
(originally Jackie McLean's understudyUnderstudyIn theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
), tenor saxophone - Milt HintonMilt HintonMilton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
, bass - Osie JohnsonOsie JohnsonJames "Osie" Johnson was a jazz drummer.He first worked with Sabby Lewis and then, after service in the United States Navy freelanced for a time in Chicago...
, drums
Touring Cast, 1961/62
Rewritten score by Cecil Payne and Kenny Drew, Conducted by Cecil Payne- Cecil PayneCecil PayneCecil Payne was a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute...
, baritone sax - Clark TerryClark TerryClark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, trumpet - 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:...
, trombone - Duke JordanDuke JordanIrving Sidney "Duke" Jordan was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regular member of Charlie Parker's so-called "classic quintet" , featuring Miles Davis...
, piano - Ron CarterRon CarterRon Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, bass - Charlie PersipCharlie PersipCharli Persip , is an American jazz drummer. Born in Morristown, New Jersey as Charles Lawrence Persip, he changed his name to Charli Persip in the early 1980s.-Biography:...
, drums
Recorded 14, 15, 16 March 1962 - Charlie Parker Records PLP 806
L.A. Production
The score to accompany the L.A. production was performed by Dexter GordonDexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
who later recorded several parts from the production on his 1961 Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
release Dexter Calling.
Quote (from the liner notes):
"Soul Sister," the original that launches the first side is one of the themes Dexter wrote for the score of the Hollywood version of The Connection in which he had an acting, playing, and writing role; it is the equivalent of Freddie Redd's "(Theme for) Sister Salvation"...
"I Want More", the significantly titled Gordon theme that closes the first side, is the West Coast equivalent of "O.D. (Overdose)"...
"Ernie's Theme", is the last of the three themes on this LP from Dexter's Connection score. It parallels "Music Forever".