Audio
Charles A. Robertson : August, 1959

Dizzy Reece, on arriving in 1948 from Kingston, Jamaica, started from scratch and now enjoys considerable respect among the home guard and visiting American musicians as a modern stylist. When engagements were slim, he would slip over to the Continent and won many fans in Paris, where this recording was made last year. As the title implies, it is most notable for his warm exposition of original blues themes. His work is remarkably free form traces of other trumpet men, possibly because he learned a great deal from an association with Don Byas, the expatriate tenor saxist with whom he traveled about Europe. Two tourists, Donald Byrd and Art Taylor, join in, and Tubby Hayes makes an eloquent tenor-sax solo of Round About Midnight.

Both leaders score one point over traditionalist compatriots whose best efforts always belie the place of origin. In their case, it is almost impossible to tell.

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Farmingdale Post
Dick Levy : 08/06/1959

Reece, a fine British trumpet stylist who you’ll be hearing much more of, is joined by several impressive jazz musicians in this, his LP debut. A bluesy-bouncing title tune finds Reece exhibiting a powerful fountain of ideas that bubble over with freshness of conception. Tubby Hayes and Terry Shannon also say much. A pretty Craziest Dream shows how well Reece can handle a ballad. Close-Up finds Reece and Donald Byrd in a shouting exchange. The window rattling Shepherd’s Serenade (Reece again with food solo construction) and ‘Round About Midnight (a fine Hayes Vehicle) are other highlights. Sound is clear and complimentary.

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San Francisco Examiner
C.H. Garrigues : 07/19/1959

There is a very general impression abroad that the British (with some very few exceptions) cannot play good modern jazz. This package will tend either to disprove the rule or widen the exceptions.

Reece himself is a trumpeter, hailing from London but born in Jamaica (which might account for much). He is one of the few British trumpeters with a solid jazz feel; his solos with Byrd show him able to play on the same stand with the best this country is producing.

The real surprise, however, is in the “et al” which proves to be a Commonwealth package with Tubby Hayes, born in London, Terry Shannon, also born in London, and Lloyd Thompson, born in Ontario, Canada. Hayes is one of the most knowledgeable tenor men to have appeared in recent months, showing strongly the Paris influence of Don Byas. Shannon is unusually strong as rhythm support, though he can play pretty solos on occasion.

In all, a surprising LP to have come from Britain; a valuable LP to have come from anywhere.

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Down Beat : 08/20/1959
John A. Tynan : 3.5 stars

It’s never made quite clear about Donald Byrd in the liner notes to this pulsing set: he is stated to be guest on two tracks, but it listed only as present on Close-Up, the final track on the first side.

Where Byrd is doesn’t particularly matter, actually, because the entire date is a free-blowing party, though some of the tracks carry on to the point of longwinded boredom.

Reece is a good, modern-voiced trumpeter with the technique and substance to sustain interest throughout the set. The surprise is tenorist Hayes. He has obviously absorbed the newer American influences but keeps enough of the older style (as on ‘Round Midnight) to impress one as a musician of no faddish mannerisms. It is easy to appreciate why he is regarded as England’s foremost exponent of contemporary tenor.

Trinity is medium up and overloaded with Taylor‘s cymbal. Craziest is a simple, clean and clear statement of Reece’s lyrics tendencies; it’s Dizzy all the way, sharp and succinct in keeping with the ultra-pretty changes.

On the whole, this is a good blowing session – if a little tedious at times, due to the overlong up tracks.

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Liner Notes by Tony Hall

About two years ago, I sent some records of Dizzy Reece to Miles Davis. Miles must have been impressed. Because he took the trouble the next day to ‘phone critic Nat Hentoff and say “there’s a great trumpeter over in England; a guy who’s got soul and originality and, above all, who’s not afraid to blow with fire.” Miles must have played those sides to a number of his friends. For when the invasion of Europe by American modern jazzmen began a few months afterwards, one of the first questions they asked on reaching Paris was “where’s this cat, Dizzy Reece, that Miles told us about?”

Though Dizzy was officially based in Britain, he’d spend much of his time in Paris. There, in 1956, he would play with Kenny Clarke and Don Byas. Then the Basie band arrived and an affiliation began between Dizzy and Frank Foster and Thad Jones. I once heard the two trumpeters together at a private party in London. I’ve seldom heard Thad play better. But he didn’t cut Dizzy. There was a tremendous respect between them and an awareness of the other’s talents.

Then Miles himself came over to Paris and told Dizzy that Sonny Rollins had heard his records. “If you ever go to the States, Sonny says, you can have a job in his band any time.” With Miles on this “Birdland Show” tour was the Modern Jazz Quartet. Percy Heath, Connie Kay (or Klook) and Milt Jackson (generally on piano) would often play with Dizzy at the Club St. Germaine.

The next Americans to arrive included Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt and Oscar Pettiford. They, too, had heard about Reece. Again, there were some stimulating sessions on the Left Bank in the early hours. And the Dizzy Reece legend grew.

Finally, in the late summer of 1958, Donald Byrd and Art Taylor came to the Continent for some jazz festivals and club dates with a band comprising Bobby Jaspar, Doug Watkins and pianist Walter Davis. Dizzy was in Paris from Cannes where he’d been playing with the French big band Kenny Clarke had worked with.

We’d heard about Dizzy from Miles and Sonny (Rollins),” said Byrd. “So we were looking out for him. He came into the club one night and sat in. I don’t know what it was, but things didn’t work out too well that night. But he came in again the next night and blew like mad. It was a good session.”

As you may have gathered, Paris has become an international jazz centre. There, American and European musicians would blow together in an environment very different from that in New York or London. The Americans would find in Paris a release from many of the domestic and social tensions and problems they experience at home. French musicians found the presence of their jazz idols stimulating and encouraging. For British jazzmen, here was an opportunity to hear the Americans in less formal surroundings than the concert halls to which their British appearances were confined – and occasionally to sit in with them.

There recordings were made while Byrd and A.T. were in Paris. Dizzy was there with the big band. The Canadian bassist, Lloyd Thompson, was working at a club with Zoot Sims. The British musicians, tenorist Tubby Hayes and pianist Terry Shannon were on their annual vacation.

Let’s quote from Byrd again: “I first heard Tubby when I spent a weekend in London. Man, he can play. I’d like to have thrown some really fast tempos at him, just to get him mad. But he’d have made them.”

When discussing a musician new to the American record-buying public, it’s customary for the annotator to write at length about his various influences. I find this very difficult with Diz. I’ve ben listening to him for five years now, I’ve watched his technique improve. At one time, it was a question of digging what he was thinking more than what he played. But now his thoughts are coming out of the bell of his horn with clarity. To me, he has always sounded like just himself. “Sure I’ve listened to lots of trumpet-players” he says. “But I just feel my music this way. My playing is like my way of life. It’s a religion.”

He’s basically a “hot” player. Sometimes his lines are simple: at others, naggingly multi-notedly complex. “But if people are looking for something mysterious or sensational in my playing they won’t find it. I just like to play.” He has a tremendous – often starkly dramatic – feeling for dynamics. This sense of drama in his playing is accentuated by his use of unusual intervals and accenting of notes.

As I’ve been Dizzy’s recording manager and friend for four years now, Alfred Lion sent me a test pressing of this LP so that I could write the liner. Dizzy hadn’t heard the tapes since the session, so he came over to my pad to hear the tests. His reaction? “There’s lots of music there. it sounds good. Better than a lot of records I’ve heard. A.T. sounds just great. He’s ridiculous, man. A long beat.”

Taking the tracks in the order on the album:

Blues in Trinity is a most striking Reece original. “These are my changes,” says Dizzy. “Basically, it’s a slow blues. The bass player double-time. The drums are three times up. So you get a 1-2-3 feeling. The soloist can chose his tempo and the piano has a lot of freedom.” Note that Diz takes his solo slowly before Tubby Hayes comes out snorting fire and fury. After the piano solo, Dizzy has a most striking chorus, employing very few notes, with the changes just passing beneath him.

I Had the Craziest Dream was a pop song of World War II. It’s a moving ballad vehicle for Dizzy, who plays a chorus and a half. “This tune’s been with me all my life. A Jamaican trumpet-player named ‘Bubbles’ always played this tune. A sharp-looking cat, sort of Mexican-looking. He’s a good friend of A.T. Living next door to him in New York. That’s why I called it on this session. Terry plays nice changes here. And listen to A.T.!”

Close-Up is another Reece blues, but of a different hue than Trinity. Don Byrd, who was visiting at the session, makes the first of two guest appearances on this track. Dizzy is first, then Tubby, then Byrd, with Dizzy leading off again after Terry’s piano spot. The trumpet exchanges which follow remind me in places of an LP Byrd made in 1955 with Joe Gordon. Says Diz: “This was the Swinger. A nice relaxed groove. No panic. A first take. But there’s a hungriness there. You listen! That Tubby! Byrd plays very good.” So does Dizzy.

Shepherd’s Serenade is an up-tempo 32-bar (2 16’s) Reece romp. Byrd played on this one, too. The way he and Arthur work together here is quite uncanny. There’s an empathy between them that is the result of much work together and understanding of each other. Dizzy takes off first. “There’s a real earthy feeling. It’s very natural.” A.T.’s exchanges here are a gas. And Shannon wails as much as anyone.

Color Blind was originally written by Dizzy two years ago in Paris. It’s a catchy 32-bar theme of two 16-bar sections. This was the first tune of the date and Reece and Hayes take fine solos.

‘Round About Midnight is probably the most beautiful jazz ballad ever written. Tubby Hayes uses it for the tenor feature. His sound is softer on this track and his solo is very moving, especially around the coda. Terry and Lloyd accompany him with intelligence and sensitivity.

Here, then, is Dizzy Reece’s first Blue Note album. And he’s right: there’s a lot of music here. He is a musician of sincerity and originality who should go to America as soon as possible (“I want to go so much.”) I’m convinced that, in the New York environment, he could easily become one of the world’s great jazz trumpeters. If you don’t believe me, ask Miles!

Brief Biographies

Alphonso Son “Dizzy” Reece: born in Kingston, Jamaica on January 5, 1931. Son of a former “silent films” pianist. First instrument; baritone horn at 11. Switched to trumpet at 14. His schoolmates included altoist Joe Harriott and tenorist Wilton “Bogey” Gaynair. Came to Europe via London in 1948. In Paris (’49-’50), sat in with Don Byas, Jay Cameron. Worked Germany and Holland with drummer Wallace Bishop, Sandy Mosse and Byas. Returned to London in ’54, working the clubs mainly with Quartets and spell with Tony Crombie’s band. Spent 1956-7 in Paris, Portugal and London. In 1958, he worked in France with Jacques Hélian’s big band and was resident at London’s Star Club. Currently gigging in London clubs, with occasional visits to France.

Edward Brian “Tubby” Hayes: born in London, England on January 30, 1935. Studied violin at 8 (his father was a well-known BBC sessioner), switching to tenor at 12. Turned professional at 16 with Kenny Baker’s Sextet. Spent four years on the road with the Vic Lewis, Ambrose, Jack Parnell big bands. From April ’55 – September ’56, he led a storming 8-piece band; then a piano-less Quintet. Took up vibes after encouragement from Vic Feldman. Has been co-leader (with tenorist Ronnie Scott) of The Jazz Couriers since April ’57 at London’s Flamingo club. Now equally adept on baritone, alto and flute. Main favourites and influences: Parker, Stitt, Getz, Rollins, Mobley, Coltrane, Griffin.

Terence “Terry” Shannon: born in London, England on November 5, 1929. Began playing at 7. Since 1955 has been “the” sympathetic section man and soloist for British jazzmen. A founder member of the Jazz Couriers. Like Horace Silver, Bud Powell, John Lewis, Sonny Clark.

Lloyd Thompson: born in Ontario, Canada in 1934. His brother, a tenor-player, leads a band in and around New York. Came to Europe with Pia Beck Trio. Has worked in Paris with Allen Eager, Byas, Kenny Clarke, Al Levitt, Art Simmons, Zoot Sims etc. Currently in London with Dizzy etc.