Pacific Jazz – PJ-15
Rec. Date : September 9 & 15, 1954
Trumpet : Chet Baker
Baritone Sax : Bud Shank
Bass : Carson Smith
Drums : Shelly Manne
Piano : Russ Freeman
Valve Trombone : Bob Brookmeyer
Put Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Bob Brookmeyer and Russ Freeman together on one record, add Shelly Manne and Carson Smith for the beat, let them go on some standards and originals, and you have a jazz set that will interest every cool jazz fan in the land. That’s what the label has here with this bright new LP release. The standards are Stella By Starlight, Little Man You’ve Had a Busy Day and I’m Glad There Is You. Originals are Tommyhawk, Dot’s Groovy and The Half Dozens. The performers, especially Baker and Brookmeyer, are outstanding. Strong wax.
Chet Baker fronts the new Pacific Jazz L.P. Chet has a strong supporting cast in Bud Shank on the sax; Bob Brookmeyer, trombone; Russ Freeman, piano. Also heard are Carson Smith, bass, and Shelly Manne, drums though the solo spotlight is shared by the featured artists and, of course, Chet Baker. Chet’s horn rides sometimes moody, sometimes merrily, but always of top-notch quality. For the modernist. Chet’s a great talent.
Pacific Jazz has a new LP of the Chet Baker Sextet (PJLP 15) featuring Bud Shank, Bob Brookmeyer, and Russ Freeman instrumentally, and Johnny Mandel, Bill Holman, and Jack Montrose compositionally. The arrangements are well thought out, the solo work is generally quite good, and Chet plays without the self-conscious restraint which occasionally mars his work. The best number instrumentally is Little Man You’ve Had a Busy Day which spotlights Chet’s soft kickful trumpet and Freeman’s swinging piano. Bill Holman’s The Half Dozens is the best original.
Dick Hadlock : February, 1955
Except for Shank, the order of the day here seems to be cool and introspective jazz. In limited doses, it sets very well. Both Baker and Brookmeyer are excellent idea men. Eventually, though, you begin to feel like you are made of pink glass and sitting on a perfume bubble inside a baby blue cloud. There are moments of unusual beauty, nevertheless, and even occasions where someone (usually Shank) swings his backside off. These are really a pretty creative bunch of blokes.
Woody Woodward : January, 1955
Chet’s sextet comprises Bob Brookmeyer, Bud Shank (on baritone) and a rhythm section of Russ Freeman, Shelly Manne and Carson Smith. Johnny Mandel, Jack Montrose, and Bill Holman each contributed an original and an arrangement apiece. All three originals are tightly constricted and thematically shallow. Despite the good musicianship on the date, the rating would have been lower had there not been two particularly saving arrangements of standards — Montrose’s on Little Man and Holman on Glad There Is You. Throughout Shank blows well; Baker sounds with more assurance than usual (and is particularly good on the two aforementioned standards), and Brookmeyer is generally excellent. Rhythm section is steady, and Freeman’s solos swing freshly. Pacific Jazz, however, needs some new or at least revivified house writers.