Wardell Gray
Encyclopedia
Wardell Gray was an American jazz
tenor saxophonist
who straddled the swing and bebop
periods.
Today often overlooked, Gray's playing displays a unique style, an unmatched tone and a strong presence.
, the youngest of four children. His early childhood years were spent in Oklahoma, before moving with his family to Detroit, Michigan
in 1929.
In early 1935, Gray began attending Northeastern High School, and then transferred to Cass Technical High School
, which is noted for having Donald Byrd
, Lucky Thompson
and Al McKibbon
as alumni. He left in 1936, before graduating. Advised by his brother-in-law Junior Warren, as a teenager he started on the clarinet
, but after hearing Lester Young
on record with Count Basie
, he was inspired to switch to the tenor saxophone.
Gray's first musical job was in Isaac Goodwin's small band, a part-time outfit that played local dances. When auditioning for another job, he was heard by Dorothy Patton, a young pianist who was forming a band in the Fraternal Club in Flint, Michigan
, and she hired him. After a very happy year there, he moved to Jimmy Raschel's band (Raschel had recorded a few sides earlier in the 1930s but did not do so again) and then on to the Benny Carew band in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was at around this time that he met Jeanne Goings; together they had a daughter, Anita, who was born in January 1941.
Gray still has family in Michigan. Anita birthed a son in 1959. Anita's son fathered a son as well by the name of Daren M. McClelland II. Daren McClelland II currently teaches 10th grade English at Jackson High School.
. Gray and Jeanne were splitting up, and he and Jeri were soon together. Jeri knew Earl Hines
, and when the Hines band came through Detroit in late 1943, she persuaded Earl to hire Wardell - on alto, since there was no tenor vacancy at the time.
This was a big break for the 21 year-old, as the Earl Hines Orchestra was not only nationally-known, but it had nurtured the careers of some of the emerging bebop musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie
and Charlie Parker
. Although most of them had left by the time Gray joined, playing with the Hines band was still a marvellously lively and stimulating experience for the young tenor player. They toured all over the country, and it was when they were in California that Gray met Dorothy Duvall: they were immediately attracted to each other. Dorothy was married but, although the marriage was on the point of collapse, an unfortunate intervention by a 'friend' led Gray to believe that this was not so, and he returned to Jeri; they were married in Chicago in September 1945.
Wardell spent approximately three years with Hines, and matured rapidly during this time. He soon became a featured soloist, and the band's recordings show a relaxed, fluent stylist very much in the Lester Young mold. While some of the live Jubilee sessions have been reissued on CD (1), the studio recordings from 1945-46 are still available only on LP.
on piano. The date produced some excellent sides, notably "Easy Swing" and "The Man I Love
"; there is a reissue of the whole session, including alternate takes (2), but a selection is available on (12).
In Los Angeles, Wardell worked in a number of bands including Benny Carter
, the blues singer Ivory Joe Hunter
, and the small group that supported singer Billy Eckstine
on a tour of the West Coast. But the real focus in LA at this time was in the clubs along Central Avenue, which was still thriving after the boom years brought about by the huge injection of wartime defence spending. Here Wardell found his element, playing in the mainly after-hours sessions in clubs like Jack's Basket Room, the Down Beat, Lovejoy's and the Club Alabam, and his early success in these sessions led Ross Russell
to include him in a studio session he was organising for his Dial label
. The session was designed as a showcase for Charlie Parker, but Wardell acquitted himself superbly, showing no sign at all of being over-awed by Parker's presence (3).
It was in the Central Avenue clubs that Wardell held his tenor battles with Dexter Gordon
. These two were ideally matched: Wardell's light sound and swift delivery were more than a match for Dexter's big, blustering sound, and their tenor jousts became a kind of symbol for the Central Avenue scene. Gordon later recalled: "There'd be a lot of cats on the stand but by the end of the session it would wind up with Wardell and myself... His playing was very fluid, very clean... He had a lot of drive and a profusion of ideas". Their fame began to spread, and Ross Russell managed to get them to simulate one of their battles on "The Chase" (4), which became Wardell's first nationally-known recording and has been assessed as "one of the most exciting musical contests in the history of jazz".
The success of "The Chase" was the break that Wardell needed, and he became increasingly prominent in public sessions in and around LA, including the "Just Jazz" series of jam sessions organised by the disc jockey Gene Norman. There were concerts at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Shrine Auditorium
and other venues (5, 6, 7). The session which included "Just You, Just Me
" and "Sweet Georgia Brown
" has some of Wardell's best playing, but the only CD version of this is crudely abbreviated and cannot be recommended. (There have since been issued several unedited versions of these performances).
(some Jubilee recordings by this group (8) show Wardell in fine form) Wardell was still working mainly in one-off sessions during 1947. However, at a concert around the turn of that year which also featured Benny Goodman
, Wardell so impressed the clarinettist that Goodman hired him for a small group which he was just setting up as part of his flirtation with bebop. Goodman had previously been highly critical of bop playing but, speaking of Wardell to Metronome, he said that "if he's bop, that's great. He's wonderful!"
Goodman's new group included the young Swedish
clarinettist Ake "Stan" Hasselgard
and, initially, Teddy Wilson
, and it opened at Frank Palumbo
's Click Club
in Philadelphia in May 1948. Fortunately, enthusiasts recorded the nightly broadcasts from the club, some of the best of which have been released on CD (9), and they contain some superbly relaxed, fluent tenor work from Wardell. There is little sign of bop in the group's playing, the only noticeable influence being in some of Wardell's phrasing and in aspects of Mary Lou Williams
' arrangements for the band.
The group was not, however, a financial success and Goodman eventually broke it up, but by now Wardell was fully established on the East Coast as an up and coming musician. For a while in late 1948/early 1949 he worked with the Count Basie Orchestra
, whilst also managing to record with Tadd Dameron
(10) and, in excellent quartet and quintet sessions, with Al Haig
(11, 12). The quartet session included "Twisted", one of Wardell's best-known recordings and which was used as the basis for a best-selling vocalese
version by Annie Ross
.
Wardell left Basie in 1949 to return to Benny Goodman. However, life in the Goodman band became increasingly uncongenial for him. In addition, his marriage to Jeri was breaking up. Goodman was not an easy employer at the best of times and this, combined with the constant travelling, made Wardell increasingly unhappy: recordings of the band, both studio sessions (13) and live airshots (14, 15), feature work by Wardell that is below his own best standards. (That it is the Goodman surroundings that was the problem, rather than any fall-off in Wardell's ability, is shown in a session recorded with local musicians in Detroit (11, 18); Wardell's work on this session is exemplary).
On leaving Goodman, Wardell rejoined Count Basie. Basie had bowed to economic pressures and broken up his big band, forming a septet which included Clark Terry
and Buddy DeFranco
; Wardell joined them in, probably, July 1950. This setting was a much happier one for him and the group enjoyed some success; airshots from the time show a very relaxed, swinging band with no weak links (16).
It was during this good time from a musical point of view, that Wardell's personal life also became happier. He was finally divorced from Jeri and was at last free to marry Dorothy and, together with Dorothy's daughter, Paula, they set up in a little house in Los Angeles.
The only drawback to working with Basie (who had by now enlarged his group again to big band size) was the constant travelling, and Wardell eventually decided to leave so that he could enjoy more home life. The decision was entirely understandable, though the Basie rhythm section was ideally suited to Wardell's brand of swing and, from a musical point of view, enthusiasts for his playing may regret his decision. And an unexpected side-effect was that, because work in the LA area was short (for black musicians, anyway) Wardell still had to travel frequently in search of jobs. Nevertheless, life at home was good, and one of the few interviews that he ever gave (to the British Melody Maker
) showed that he was very happy.
In 1950, Gray played a live concert at the San Francisco Veteran's Memorial Hall as a guest with Gerald Wilson's band. Remarkably captured in high fidelity stereo (the only such example in his discography), this recording was released for the first time in 2006 (17). Gray can be heard in fine form during featured solo spots with small combo backup on "Nice Work if You Can Get It" and "Indiana" and also with Wilson's big band on the blues "Hollywood Freeway" where Gray trades exciting choruses with Zoot Sims
and Stan Getz
.
and Hampton Hawes
(both on 18) have fine examples of Wardell's playing.
However, there are increasing signs of a lack of engagement in Wardell's work around 1951/52, notably in a further live session with Dexter Gordon
from February 1952 (5) and it seems that he may have been becoming disillusioned with the music business. That he was still capable of playing superbly is shown by his work on a live jam session at The Haig
(19), but such sessions were by now very sparse, and more typical work from this period was recorded on a session with Teddy Charles
(17).
Also at around this time, he seems, tragically, to have become involved in the drug scene. How this could have happened, given his maturity and his understanding of the consequences, is still a mystery; nevertheless, friends reported that it was beginning to take its toll. His playing was now less fluent, and a studio session in January 1955 (12), which was to be his last, shows strong but (by his own standards) rather unsubtle playing.
was engaged in May 1955 to provide the band at the opening the Moulin Rouge Hotel
, he called on Wardell. He attended rehearsals but, when the club opened on 25 May, Wardell was absent. The next day he was found on a stretch of desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas dead with a broken neck.
Although, by most accounts, there was a poor examination of circumstances, Gray's demise was ruled an accidental death. Foul play was suspected by some, especially given Gray's possible association with reputed mob boss Meyer Lansky
.
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...
tenor saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The 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...
who straddled the swing and bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
periods.
Today often overlooked, Gray's playing displays a unique style, an unmatched tone and a strong presence.
Early years
Wardell Gray was born in Oklahoma CityOklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, the youngest of four children. His early childhood years were spent in Oklahoma, before moving with his family to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1929.
In early 1935, Gray began attending Northeastern High School, and then transferred to Cass Technical High School
Cass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
, which is noted for having Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
, Lucky Thompson
Lucky Thompson
Eli "Lucky" Thompson was a United States jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist...
and Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon was an American jazz double bassist, known for his work in bop, hard bop, and Latin jazz.In 1947, after working with Lucky Millinder, Tab Smith, J. C. Heard, and Coleman Hawkins, he replaced Ray Brown in Dizzy Gillespie's band, in which he played until 1950...
as alumni. He left in 1936, before graduating. Advised by his brother-in-law Junior Warren, as a teenager he started on the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, but after hearing Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
on record with Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, he was inspired to switch to the tenor saxophone.
Gray's first musical job was in Isaac Goodwin's small band, a part-time outfit that played local dances. When auditioning for another job, he was heard by Dorothy Patton, a young pianist who was forming a band in the Fraternal Club in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
, and she hired him. After a very happy year there, he moved to Jimmy Raschel's band (Raschel had recorded a few sides earlier in the 1930s but did not do so again) and then on to the Benny Carew band in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was at around this time that he met Jeanne Goings; together they had a daughter, Anita, who was born in January 1941.
Gray still has family in Michigan. Anita birthed a son in 1959. Anita's son fathered a son as well by the name of Daren M. McClelland II. Daren McClelland II currently teaches 10th grade English at Jackson High School.
With the Earl Hines Orchestra
Just up the road from the Congo Club was the Three Sixes; in the chorus line was Jeri Walker, a young dancer from New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Gray and Jeanne were splitting up, and he and Jeri were soon together. Jeri knew Earl Hines
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, and when the Hines band came through Detroit in late 1943, she persuaded Earl to hire Wardell - on alto, since there was no tenor vacancy at the time.
This was a big break for the 21 year-old, as the Earl Hines Orchestra was not only nationally-known, but it had nurtured the careers of some of the emerging bebop musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
. Although most of them had left by the time Gray joined, playing with the Hines band was still a marvellously lively and stimulating experience for the young tenor player. They toured all over the country, and it was when they were in California that Gray met Dorothy Duvall: they were immediately attracted to each other. Dorothy was married but, although the marriage was on the point of collapse, an unfortunate intervention by a 'friend' led Gray to believe that this was not so, and he returned to Jeri; they were married in Chicago in September 1945.
Wardell spent approximately three years with Hines, and matured rapidly during this time. He soon became a featured soloist, and the band's recordings show a relaxed, fluent stylist very much in the Lester Young mold. While some of the live Jubilee sessions have been reissued on CD (1), the studio recordings from 1945-46 are still available only on LP.
Arrival on the West Coast
He left Hines late in 1946, settling in Los Angeles; soon after arriving there, he recorded the first session under his own name. This was a quartet session for Eddie Laguna's Sunset label, and on it Wardell had strong support from Dodo MarmarosaDodo Marmarosa
Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa was an American bebop pianist.-Biography:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a child prodigy, Marmarosa was a trained classical pianist, but familiarised himself with jazz in parallel and practised with school mate Erroll Garner, another pianist from Pittsburgh...
on piano. The date produced some excellent sides, notably "Easy Swing" and "The Man I Love
The Man I Love
The Man I Love may refer to:*"The Man I Love" , a popular song by George Gershwin, from the musical Lady Be Good*The Man I Love , a 1957 album by Peggy Lee*The Man I Love , a 1929 film directed by William A. Wellman...
"; there is a reissue of the whole session, including alternate takes (2), but a selection is available on (12).
In Los Angeles, Wardell worked in a number of bands including Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
, the blues singer Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid 1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recording, "Since I Met You Baby" . He was billed as The Baron of the Boogie, and also known as The...
, and the small group that supported singer Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
on a tour of the West Coast. But the real focus in LA at this time was in the clubs along Central Avenue, which was still thriving after the boom years brought about by the huge injection of wartime defence spending. Here Wardell found his element, playing in the mainly after-hours sessions in clubs like Jack's Basket Room, the Down Beat, Lovejoy's and the Club Alabam, and his early success in these sessions led Ross Russell
Ross Russell
Ross Russell was an American jazz producer and author. He was the founder of Dial Records....
to include him in a studio session he was organising for his Dial label
Dial Records (1946)
Dial Records was a United States based record label specializing in bebop jazz. Dial was founded by Ross Russell in 1946, who operated the label for about a decade. Notable artists who recorded for Dial included Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Milt Jackson...
. The session was designed as a showcase for Charlie Parker, but Wardell acquitted himself superbly, showing no sign at all of being over-awed by Parker's presence (3).
It was in the Central Avenue clubs that Wardell held his tenor battles with Dexter Gordon
Dexter 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...
. These two were ideally matched: Wardell's light sound and swift delivery were more than a match for Dexter's big, blustering sound, and their tenor jousts became a kind of symbol for the Central Avenue scene. Gordon later recalled: "There'd be a lot of cats on the stand but by the end of the session it would wind up with Wardell and myself... His playing was very fluid, very clean... He had a lot of drive and a profusion of ideas". Their fame began to spread, and Ross Russell managed to get them to simulate one of their battles on "The Chase" (4), which became Wardell's first nationally-known recording and has been assessed as "one of the most exciting musical contests in the history of jazz".
The success of "The Chase" was the break that Wardell needed, and he became increasingly prominent in public sessions in and around LA, including the "Just Jazz" series of jam sessions organised by the disc jockey Gene Norman. There were concerts at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
and other venues (5, 6, 7). The session which included "Just You, Just Me
Just You, Just Me
"Just You, Just Me" is a song from the 1929 musical film Marianne, composed by Jesse Greer with lyrics by Raymond Klages. It was introduced by Marion Davies and Cliff Edwards, with Dick Hyman on the piano...
" and "Sweet Georgia Brown
Sweet Georgia Brown
"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard and pop tune written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey .The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925 by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week No. 1 for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra...
" has some of Wardell's best playing, but the only CD version of this is crudely abbreviated and cannot be recommended. (There have since been issued several unedited versions of these performances).
Benny Goodman and Count Basie
Apart from a spell with a little band led by Al KillianAl Killian
Al Killian was an American jazz trumpet player and occasional bandleader during the big band era, also known for playing jump blues and East Coast blues...
(some Jubilee recordings by this group (8) show Wardell in fine form) Wardell was still working mainly in one-off sessions during 1947. However, at a concert around the turn of that year which also featured Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Wardell so impressed the clarinettist that Goodman hired him for a small group which he was just setting up as part of his flirtation with bebop. Goodman had previously been highly critical of bop playing but, speaking of Wardell to Metronome, he said that "if he's bop, that's great. He's wonderful!"
Goodman's new group included the young Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
clarinettist Ake "Stan" Hasselgard
Stan Hasselgård
Åke "Stan" Hasselgård was Swedish jazz clarinetist. Hasselgård was heavily influenced by Benny Goodman, and played swing jazz in his early years before exploring bebop shortly before his death.Hasselgård grew up in Bollnäs, Sweden, and began playing clarinet at age 16...
and, initially, Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
, and it opened at Frank Palumbo
Frank Palumbo
Frank Palumbo was a restaurateur, local celebrity, humanitarian and power broker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.He is best known as the owner of Palumbo’s, an entertainment complex in South Philadelphia, Nostalgia’s Restaurant and the legendary Click Club...
's Click Club
Palumbos
Palumbo’s was an entertainment complex in Italian Market section of South Philadelphia, Palumbo’s included a banquet hall, Nostalgia’s Restaurant and the Click Club. The club was owned by local celebrity/businessman/humanitarian Frank Palumbo...
in Philadelphia in May 1948. Fortunately, enthusiasts recorded the nightly broadcasts from the club, some of the best of which have been released on CD (9), and they contain some superbly relaxed, fluent tenor work from Wardell. There is little sign of bop in the group's playing, the only noticeable influence being in some of Wardell's phrasing and in aspects of Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
' arrangements for the band.
The group was not, however, a financial success and Goodman eventually broke it up, but by now Wardell was fully established on the East Coast as an up and coming musician. For a while in late 1948/early 1949 he worked with the Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
, whilst also managing to record with Tadd Dameron
Tadd Dameron
Tadley Ewing Peake "Tadd" Dameron was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon called Dameron the "romanticist" of the bop movement, while reviewer Scott Yanow writes that Dameron was the "definitive arranger/composer of the bop era".-Biography:Born in Cleveland,...
(10) and, in excellent quartet and quintet sessions, with Al Haig
Al Haig
Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey...
(11, 12). The quartet session included "Twisted", one of Wardell's best-known recordings and which was used as the basis for a best-selling vocalese
Vocalese
Vocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. Whereas scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables, such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either...
version by Annie Ross
Annie Ross
Annie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
.
Wardell left Basie in 1949 to return to Benny Goodman. However, life in the Goodman band became increasingly uncongenial for him. In addition, his marriage to Jeri was breaking up. Goodman was not an easy employer at the best of times and this, combined with the constant travelling, made Wardell increasingly unhappy: recordings of the band, both studio sessions (13) and live airshots (14, 15), feature work by Wardell that is below his own best standards. (That it is the Goodman surroundings that was the problem, rather than any fall-off in Wardell's ability, is shown in a session recorded with local musicians in Detroit (11, 18); Wardell's work on this session is exemplary).
On leaving Goodman, Wardell rejoined Count Basie. Basie had bowed to economic pressures and broken up his big band, forming a septet which included Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark 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...
and Buddy DeFranco
Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco is an American jazz clarinet player.-Biography:DeFranco began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Woody Herman — were fading in popularity...
; Wardell joined them in, probably, July 1950. This setting was a much happier one for him and the group enjoyed some success; airshots from the time show a very relaxed, swinging band with no weak links (16).
It was during this good time from a musical point of view, that Wardell's personal life also became happier. He was finally divorced from Jeri and was at last free to marry Dorothy and, together with Dorothy's daughter, Paula, they set up in a little house in Los Angeles.
The only drawback to working with Basie (who had by now enlarged his group again to big band size) was the constant travelling, and Wardell eventually decided to leave so that he could enjoy more home life. The decision was entirely understandable, though the Basie rhythm section was ideally suited to Wardell's brand of swing and, from a musical point of view, enthusiasts for his playing may regret his decision. And an unexpected side-effect was that, because work in the LA area was short (for black musicians, anyway) Wardell still had to travel frequently in search of jobs. Nevertheless, life at home was good, and one of the few interviews that he ever gave (to the British Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
) showed that he was very happy.
In 1950, Gray played a live concert at the San Francisco Veteran's Memorial Hall as a guest with Gerald Wilson's band. Remarkably captured in high fidelity stereo (the only such example in his discography), this recording was released for the first time in 2006 (17). Gray can be heard in fine form during featured solo spots with small combo backup on "Nice Work if You Can Get It" and "Indiana" and also with Wilson's big band on the blues "Hollywood Freeway" where Gray trades exciting choruses with Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
and Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
.
The decline
At around this time his recording sessions started becoming fewer—though a live session with Dexter Gordon, recreating the excitements of Central Avenue, and a studio session with Art FarmerArt Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
and Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz pianist, recognized as one of the finest and most influential of the 1950s.-Biography:...
(both on 18) have fine examples of Wardell's playing.
However, there are increasing signs of a lack of engagement in Wardell's work around 1951/52, notably in a further live session with Dexter Gordon
Dexter 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...
from February 1952 (5) and it seems that he may have been becoming disillusioned with the music business. That he was still capable of playing superbly is shown by his work on a live jam session at The Haig
The Haig
-History:Located across from the Ambassador Hotel, the club was originally a bungalow home, which was then converted by owner John Bennett into a club. In its time, Erroll Garner, Shorty Rogers, Red Norvo, Laurindo Almeida, and Bud Shank all played the club...
(19), but such sessions were by now very sparse, and more typical work from this period was recorded on a session with Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles is an American jazz pianist, drummer and vibraphone musician. Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, he began his musical career studying at Juilliard School of Music as a percussionist...
(17).
Also at around this time, he seems, tragically, to have become involved in the drug scene. How this could have happened, given his maturity and his understanding of the consequences, is still a mystery; nevertheless, friends reported that it was beginning to take its toll. His playing was now less fluent, and a studio session in January 1955 (12), which was to be his last, shows strong but (by his own standards) rather unsubtle playing.
Disappearance and death
He was still working regularly, though, and when Benny CarterBenny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
was engaged in May 1955 to provide the band at the opening the Moulin Rouge Hotel
Moulin Rouge Hotel
The Moulin Rouge Hotel was a hotel and casino located in the West Las Vegas neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada, that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places...
, he called on Wardell. He attended rehearsals but, when the club opened on 25 May, Wardell was absent. The next day he was found on a stretch of desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas dead with a broken neck.
Although, by most accounts, there was a poor examination of circumstances, Gray's demise was ruled an accidental death. Foul play was suspected by some, especially given Gray's possible association with reputed mob boss Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
.
Discography
(cross-indexed to the text above)- LaserLight 15 766 (Earl Fatha Hines and his Orchestra)
- Black Lion RecordsBlack Lion RecordsBlack Lion Records was a jazz record label based in London, England.Black Lion was founded by Alan Bates in 1968. The label had two series of releases, one for British jazz musicians and one for international musicians...
BLCD 760106 (Wardell Gray: One for Prez). These sessions are also available on The Complete Sunset and New Jazz Masters CD - Spotlite SPJ-(CD) 109-2 (Charlie Parker: the Dial Masters) (double album)
- Spotlite SPJ-(CD) 130 (Dexter Gordon on Dial: The Complete Sessions)
- Giants of Jazz CD 53064 (Wardell Gray: The Chase)
- Giants of Jazz CD 53097 (An Unforgettable Session)
- Savoy SV-0164, SV-0165 and SV-0166 (Jazz West Coast Live/Hollywood Jazz Live Volumes 1, 2 and 3)
- Fresh Sound FSR-CD 156 (Sonny Criss: California Boppin 1947)
- Dragon DRCD 183 (Hasselgard and Goodman at Click, 1948)
- Blue Note CDP 7243 8 33373 2 3 (Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron: the complete Blue Note and Capitol recordings) (double album)
- Cool and Blue C&B-CD 116 (Wardell Gray: Light Gray 1948-50)
- Swingtime ST CD1 (Wardell Gray: Easy Swing)
- Capitol 7243 8 32086 2 3 (Benny Goodman: Undercurrent Blues)
- HepHep RecordsHep Records is a Scottish record label specializing in both new and reissued jazz music. The label was founded in 1974 by Alastair Robertson in Edinburgh.-Past and present artists:*Don Lanphere*Jessica Williams*Jim Mullen*Tommy Smith*Michael Hashim...
CD36 (Benny Goodman: Benny's Bop 1948-49) - Jazz Archives 90.510-2 (Benny Goodman)
- Moon MCD 076-2 (Wardell Gray: How High the Moon)
- Jazz Factory JFCD 22880 (Gerald Wilson: Big Band Modern)
- Original Jazz Classics OJCCD-050-2 (Wardell Gray Memorial Album Volume 1) compilation of sessions for Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
from 1949 and 1953 - Original Jazz Classics OJCCD-051-2 (Wardell Gray Memorial Album Volume 2) another restige Records compilation, from 1950
- Fresh Sound FSR-CD 157 (Wardell Gray Quintet Live at the Haig (1952)
Further reading
- Gioia, Ted. West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, 1945-1960. University of California Press. ISBN 0520217292.
- Bjorn, Lars and Jim Gallert (2001). Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit 1920-60. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472067656.
- Moody, Bill (1995). "Death of a Tenor Man", Dell Publishing, ISBN 0-440-22324-5