Billboard : 06/09/1956
Score of 76

This is a collection of compositions and arrangements by Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones, issuing out of two slates led by Farmer in 1953 and 1954. The eight selections include: Work of Art, The Little Bandmaster, Mau Mau, Up in Quincy’s Room, etc. All were previous issues, but scattered over a number of LP’s, EP’s, and 78 r.p.m. disks. For “modern” jazz library-builders this is an important album.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

In every big band there are the young musicians who refuse to be dulled by the tired scores they play each night on the stand. In their free time they practice and play the music which is their serious concern, music in which they can express the true result of their academic study combined with the expression of their human emotions.

The musicians in this group exemplify this type of spirit completely. At the time of this recording session all members of the group were with Lionel Hampton‘s orchestra. Hamp’s book is predicated on the house rockin’ variety of arrangements like its piece de resistance Flyin’ Home. Occasionally there are opportunities to play compositions closer to the conceptions of these young moderns but these instances are not often enough to satisfy the need for creative breathing space however, and the extra-curricular work was carried on with a diligent exuberance, finally finding fruition in the four selections heard here.

The title Work Of Art describes graphically the aesthetic travails of Arthur Farmer. One of the bright new stars from among the ranks of the first generation of followers of Bird, Diz and Monk. Art is from Los Angeles where he gained experience with the bands of Benny Carter and Gerald Wilson. It was with Wardell Gray‘s combo that Art first recorded for Prestige, doing a brace of tunes that included his own Farmer’s Market. On the strength of his playing on these sides, Work Of Art was made possible when Hampton’s band came East.

An admirer of the three trumpet greats, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro, Art feels that he must learn from these and other important figures and utilize what he has learned in evolving a personal style. On listening to him, you can hear that Art is accomplishing just this.

Quincy Jones is one of the main reasons for the success of this set. From his job of trumpeter-arranger with Hampton he stepped into the role of pianist-arranger for this date. Quincy is originally from Chicago but studied at Seattle University, and also at the Schillinger House in Boston. His contributions to this album are three collaborations with Art Farmer, the beautiful piece Work Of Art, the swinging blues theme The Little Bandmaster, and the decidedly more Afro than Cuban Mau Mau. Each tune has a character completely apart from any of its mates. This holds true upon the inclusion of the fourth selection, the oriental Up In Quincy’s Room written and arranged by the talented Gigi Gryce. There are four definite moods represented which insures against the rut of sameness that too many LP’s featuring one group have fall into in the past.

Tenorman Cliff Solomon is from Los Angeles where his playing was influenced by the two tenormen most prominent in that area, Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray. He contributes a soulful solo on Work Of Art.

An alumnus of Tennessee State University and a member of that school’s orchestra which won the Pittsburgh Courier contest, Jimmy Cleveland has been with Hampton for three years. Jimmy combines a tight sound and facile technique in projecting his solo thoughts.

Oscar Estell, whose baritone sax anchors Hampton’s reeds, hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma. His section work is important here as it was in Study In Dameronia (Prestige LP 159).

Drummer Sonny Johnson and bassist William “Monk” Montgomery joined the band together from their hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Their excellent teamwork results from this previous association. “Monk” plays the Fender electronic bass, which is larger than a guitar and able to be held in the same manner. The amazing penetrating power of this instrument is well demonstrated on Mau Mau where it embodies a percussive sound in the part it plays at the onset.

The cast reads like a map of the United States. These men have come from all over to unite in an exchange of musical ideas, bringing with them the rhythmic and melodic nuances peculiar to their area’s interpretation of the dominant modern material of the time and infusing them into the individual compositions which Art has fashioned his work.