High Fidelity : March 1957

Gil Melle’s quartet, augmented by such visitors as Art Farmer, Hal McKusick, Don Butterfield, and Kenny Dorham, gives determined readings of several of Melle’s experimental compositions. The brightest moments occur when Melle is grunting Mulliganesquely on his baritone saxophone and Don Butterfield lumbers gracefully through some swinging passages for solo tuba.

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Oakland Tribune
Russ Wilson : 02/10/1957

Gil’s Guests marks another forward step by one of the important composers of modern jazz, Gil Mellé. Each of the six compositions was written to suit the musical personality of the featured musicians but these frameworks are not constricting. The result is some excellent, provocative music. Melle’s quartet, which besides the leader’s baritone sax includes Joe Cinderella, guitar; Vinnie Burke, bass; and Ed Thigpen, drums, is on all six tracks. On three it is joined by Art Farmer, trumpet; Hal McKusick, alto sax and flute, and Julius Watkins, French horn. On the others the guests are McKusick, Kenny Dorham, trumpet; and Don Butterfield, tuba.

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Down Beat Review : 02/20/1957
Nat Hentoff : 4.5 stars

The growth in the writing and playing stature of Gil Mellé in the past year has been one of the more productive events in the east. Productive mainly on records, because so far, Mellé has had little chance to win a hearing in clubs. His writing provides considerably more of an integrated, evolving framework for the soloists than is often the case in modern jazz composers of “originals.” And these frameworks are for the most part of relatively unusual, certainly individual, and provocative interest. They evidence a growing sense of harmonic drama, throughout melodic profiles, and a flexibility of rhythmic substructuring.

His colleagues all play with not only their customary skill but with sensitive ability to feel and fulfill Melle’s intentions. Since all are fine, there’s no point singling out soloists, but I should like to underline the musical breadth and intelligence of drummer Ed Thigpen. As for the works, I was most impressed by Still Life, but found something of value in all, even the so explicitly programmatic Ghengis.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

S. Stone Post (perhaps a distant cousin of Emily) tells us that to insure a successful gathering, the right guests must be invited. Gil Mellé chose wisely and well in preparing his guest list for the two musical gatherings which went into the making of this album. These, then, are Gil’s guests.

Vinnie Burke is a native of New Jersey, born in Newark, in 1921. He studied the violin and later took up the guitar, working his first professional jobs in his local area. During World War II he worked in a defense plant and lost the use of a finger in an accident. It was at this time that he switched to bass and he’s since played with Joe Mooney, Tony Scott, Cy Coleman, Sauter-Finegan, Marian McPartland and his own groups.

A rare bird, the jazz tuba player is Don Butterfield. Born in Centralia, Washington in 1923 he studied at Julliard after his discharge from the Army in 1946 and made his professional debut with the famous Goldman band. Later he did much network studio work and also played with Claude Thornhill for a short time. In the past few years he has been a regular member of the orchestra at the Radio City Music Hall, during which time he also played at various concerts in the Jazz Composer’s Workshop Series with Teddy Charles and Charlie Mingus.

Guitarist Joe Cinderella, like Vinnie Burke, was born in Newark in 1927. He has studied the guitar from the age of 9, including two years of Schillinger system with Eddie Bave at the Essex Conservatory. Joe played in an Army band with Conte Candoli and was with Vinnie Burke’s group before joining Mellé in 1954. He can be heard in Gil’s Primitive Modern (Prestige LP 7040).

Kenny Dorham originally hails from Fairfield, Texas where he was born on a ranch in 1924. He comes from a musical family, they started him on the piano at the age of 7. he took up the trumpet in high school and later played in the Wiley College band. Kenny has been with Russell Jacquet, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton and Charlie Parker. An important part of the Jazz Messengers’ success in 1955-56, he left midway in the latter year to form his own Jazz Prophets and then joined the Max Roach quintet.

Art Farmer was born in Iowa, raised in Arizona, learned and played in California and came to prominence in New York. Early in his career he worked with the bands of Horace Henderson, Floyd Ray and Johnny Otis; also Jay McShann and Gerald Wilson. Studied with Maurice Grupp in New York in 1947-48 and then returned to the West Coast where he played with Benny Carter and Wardell Gray. Art joined Lionel Hampton in 1952 and toured Europe with him before settling in New York in 1953. From 1955 to early 1956 he fronted a group as co-leader with Gigi Gryce and after playing several jobs with Lester Young, he joined the Horace Silver quintet in late ’56.

Hal McKusick from Massachusetts is a man of many reed instruments and also the flute. Born in Medford and raised in Newton, Hal played in the bands of Don Bestor, Les Brown, Dean Hudson and Woody Herman in the early Forties; Boyd Raeburn 1944-45; then Johnny Otis, …, Al Donahue, Buddy Rich, 1948; Claude Thornhill 1948-49. Hal made a switch to small groups with the Terry Gibbs unit in 1950-51 wherein he showed off his Prezian clarinet work. He has had his own group recently and also filled a chair with Elliot Lawrence on occasion. Hal is heard on alto sax and flute in this album.

Edmund Thigpen carries on a family drum tradition for his father Ben, who starred with Andy Kirk for 17 years. Edmund, born in Chicago in 1930 didn’t study music until he had moved to California and included piano as well as drums in his school curriculum. He played with Cootie Williams in 1951-52 and then went into the Army and Army bands until 1954. After his discharge he toured with Dinah Washington for most of that year and has since been with Johnny Hodges, Lennie Tristano, Gil Mellé, Bud Powell, Jutta Hipp and Billy Taylor. Recorded Primitive Modern with Mellé.

Julius Watkins, most fluent of the French horn players in jazz, is from the fertile territory of Detroit and has been playing his instrument from the age of 9. His studies include time with members of the Detroit Symphony and New York Philharmonic and work at the Manhattan School of Music. He has played with Ernie Fields, 1943-46; Milt Buckner, 1949. Returned to New York in 1953 and appeared with Oscar Pettiford‘s group and Pete Rugolo‘s band. Presently he is with the Jazz Modes.

Gil Mellé, the leader and composer whose main instrument used to be tenor sax is now concentrating almost exclusively on the baritone. He has also studied the clarinet and the oboe. Born (1931) in California, Gil came East the the age of 1, settling in New Jersey. While in the Marine Corps, he spent time in California again but returned to Jersey after his discharge and has led his own combos since then. Recently he has been emphasizing his writing.

Here, each composition was written to suit the musical personality of each musician. The keynote of all the compositions is architectonic construction. Gil feels that a composition should be planned as one would plan a piece of architecture. As an artist and designer (a sideline to hsi music) Gil feels that this is the one point where music and art are at their closest parallel and goes on to say that this construction is one of the important elements in all music but “particularly lacking in jazz today.”

Still Life, like Tomorrow and Ghengis, exemplifies architectonic construction. It features Don Butterfield. Gil usually does not characterize pictures with his music but in this composition he strove for the effect of wet watercolors on watercolor paper running together to make a diffuse mass of color. This is accomplished in the opening section. At the end, Joe Cinderella is heard in a two-sectioned solo over the ensemble.

Sixpence, brasslike like the coins it describes, was written by Gil to complement the bright, spirited essence of Kenny Dorham’s playing. Note the use of guitar and tuba in harmony at the beginning.

Ghengis, named for Ghengis Khan, was inspired by several things. Musically it was Bartok’s 4th String Quartet but the idea stems from a plot that Gil imagined involving the Mongol conqueror. After he had the entire scene envisioned, he composed the music. Picture two forts on two separate outpost ridges. There is a sentry standing guard on the first. The “thunk” that begins the piece is an arrow which sticks in his heart. The trumpet figure represents Ghengis who calls to his men as he stands on a hill. Then the Mongol hordes overrun the fort. The second outpost is taken in the same way. The ascending and descending figures signify the action in the taking of the second fort. At the end, Ghengis is leading his men on to still another outpost fort which has been sighted. The melody itself is of a European type. Gil is interested in the folksongs which influence Bela Bartok.

Block Island is an interwoven composition with five moving voices. In the latter part of each eight bar sequence there are three moving voices. Art Farmer is featured.

Hal McKusick is featured on Tomorrow. The chord changes in the composition occur very rapidly. In the solo sections the chords are based on expanded segments from the original harmony. Cinderella also solos.

Soudan, inspired by a harmonization in Bartok’s Walachian Melody, rests on the foundation of the motif brought forth by the bass solo at the beginning. McKusick is on flute and soloist is Julius Watkins.