Jazz Monthly
Albert McCarthy : 04/1957

Frank Wess and Frank Foster have been promising young tenor players for so long that one begins to wonder when they will at last show signs of living up to the promise that we hear so much about. This is, in the main, a dull LP, with threadbare themes and indifferent solos.

What’d Ya Say, written by that distinguished blues composer Mr. Ozzie Cadena, and arranged by Wess and Foster, has a total of eleven undistinguished choruses by Foster and other contributions from Powell and Coker (the former’s solo is omitted from the routine given on the sleeve). Dill Pickles, taken at a medium-fast tempo, is composed and arranged by Foster, with an initial two choruses apiece from the four horns and later solo sequences by Foster and Burrell. On his showing on this record Burrell is an interesting guitarist who might become a top ranking musician. Dancing on the Ceiling is also arranged by Foster, and apart from an ensemble chorus at the beginning and end is a solo feature for him at medium-slow tempo. He plays competently, but without much individuality. Hard Sock Dance is composed and arranged by Wess and is taken at an easy medium tempo. There are solos all round, but nobody sounds particularly inclined to extend himself in any way. Salvation, again composed and arranged by Wess, features four choruses at medium tempo by that artist which are about the best thing on the record. Wess does start to swing quite strongly here and his tone has a little more warmth than usual. Lazy Sal, composed by Coker and arranged by Foster, is a theme with a little more character than the others and the four horn men and Burrell solo quite pleasantly. Wess is on flute in this instance.

This session was typical of so many today when competent musicians run through forty minutes of playing time without effort and, more regrettably, without a great deal of inspiration. The paucity of the themes and the lack of any strongly individualistic voice amongst the soloists combine to produce a record which it is impossible to rate any higher than professionally adequate.

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Miami Herald (Miami, FL)
Fred Sherman : 02/03/1957

If you can forgive the title of the album, you’ll enjoy music by some of the sidemen who helped make Count Basie’s Miami appearance a musical success. It’s called North, South, East . . . Wess (Savoy MG 12072). Featured is Frank Wess, the man who hid from the Ball & Chain’s stage spotlight behind the dark glasses. He plays tenor sax and flute and plays them in a relaxed and gracious manner. In the group are Basie’s other tenor man, Frank Foster; Bennie Powell and Henry Coker on trombone and Eddie Jones, bass. Sitting in are drummer Kenny Clarke and guitarist Kenny Burrell. Five originals here, plus a Frank Foster version of Dancing on the Ceiling.

If you have an idea all jazz sounds alike, compare these sounds with the Niehaus music. Neither session used a piano. That’s the only common denominator except for the high calibre of both which are heartily recommended.

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Saturday Review
Whitney Balliett : 09/15/1956

For some reason, this record didn’t quite jell. Wess, the tenor saxophonist-flutist, is joined by F. Foster, H. Coker, B. Powell, Kenny Burrell, E. Jones, and K. Clarke. There is a lot of fire on hand, but the materials are ordinary, the solos fail to rise, and the dead, tarpaper sound of two tenors and two trombones in unison through most of the tunes is wearing. Four originals and two standards.

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Down Beat : 08/22/1956
Ralph J. Gleason : 2.0 stars

The sum of the Basie band is considerably greater than the sum of some of its parts, a thing which seems to escape the notice of the many practitioners of the let’s-make-an-LP-with-the-Basie-boys school. North, South, East . . . Wess is a perfect example.

Neither Wess nor Foster are as yet soloists with any great amount of individuality, and on this album, though it’s credited to Wess, there’s actually more of Foster. Both are good tenor men but undistinguished. Here, the best sides are Ceiling, which is a nicely swinging ballad containing a long solo by Foster, his best to date, played with taste and a good, solid, jazz feel.

Sock, a catchy blues riff, provides blowing space for everyone on the date — Wess, Foster, trombonists Henry Coker and Bennie Powell, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and drummer Kenny Clarke. It’s the best group side with tasty, moving solos. On the other tunes, the group, while always getting an emotional quality both in ensembles and solos, never quite jells. There is no piano, the notes say, out of deference to Basie; instead there is a guitar. It is unfair to Burrell to put him in the position of filling Basie’s role.

The notes are skimpy and in places inaccurate, but the main trouble here is that, while producing a pleasant LP (which seems to rush a bit in places) there is not that group feeling which makes the Basie band so great.

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Liner Notes by H. Alan Stein

From all points of the Jazz compass comes the unanimous acclaim that has maintained Count Basie’s band once again the tops in the land. From all sections of Basie’s band come the unanimously acclaimed sidemen who comprise the band on this date. With the exception of veteran drummer Kenny Clarke and Detroit guitarist Kenny Burrell, the performers on this date are the nucleus of Bill Basie’s swingingest band of all. The fact that these men, tho young in years for the most part, have been with Basie for 3 years, 5 years, 6 years, on the average, again supports the all-time acclaim of every Basie-ite, Jo Jones, Lester, Sweets Edison, and scores more, that this is truly a happy home for jazzmen. The band’s place is unique in jazz history. Since its inception it has swung with force, based its library on the blues, and been renowned for the rhythm section sound. Times and eras change. Jo Jones is replaced by a succession of drummers, Lester and Herschel Evans are replaced by the two Franks . . . Foster and Wess here, Walter Page is replaced by young Eddie Jones, Buck Clayton and Harry Edison are replaced by Thad Jones and Joe Newman . . . but the sound continues! Ernie Wilkins and Neal Hefti use advanced harmonies, still the flavor, the bite of the brass, the wailing of the solo saxes, the pulsating rhythm is eternal, as if the individuals who perform them can do no wrong . . . ’cause they’re on Basie’s band! Yet, on careful analysis, it IS the men who make this band. Their individual talent, their fire, their enthusiasm . . . sparked by the genius at the key board with the vestpocket style of playing! Let’s meet our local heroes on this date: Frank Wess, leader, on the date is familiar to Savoy fans from Opus De Jazz, his outstanding chamber jazz flute date. Born in 1922 in Kansas City, he’s played with Billy Eckstine, Lucky Millinder, Eddie Heywood orks, joining Basie in 1953. Has the distinction of being the first Jazzman to utilize the flute extensively in modern jazz. Tenor-mate Frank Foster also arranges for the Basie band. Hailing from Cincinnati, he joined Count upon Eckstine’s and Ernie Wilkins’ recommendation in ’53 also. He’s a college graduate who broke in professionally with the late Wardell Gray. Eddie Jones is a former Redbank neighbor of Basie’s who studied at Howard University, then taught school in South Carolina before joining the band. Texan Henry Coker played with Illinois Jacquet and Benny Carter for many years. Youngster Bennie Powell is a New Orleans boy who’s been on Lionel Hampton’s band, and a former Canadian resident before joining the band. The non-use of piano on this LP is no mere coincidence. No, the piano man scheduled didn’t goof! No, we’re not trying to ape Mulligan’s sound. Savoy A & R chief Ozzie Cadena, who masterminded the date, is merely combining a lifelong admiration for the Count’s place in a rhythm section by allowing no comparisons, and experimenting with a non-piano rhythm section that is funky, without being contrived. Excellent guitarist Kenny Burrell comps quietly in a Basie style, without copying piano notes, and contributes to the general quiet swing of the section. Kenny Clarke needs no further bouquets from this writer. He’s just the END in a rhythm section! ‘Nuff said? It would behoove the listener to study carefully the solo credits given under the accompanying titles, so that he can better feel the development of these mature and prime quality jazz performers.