Rec. Dates : May 3, 1956, May 4, 1956
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Piano : Phineas Newborn Jr.
Bass : Oscar Pettiford
Drums : Kenny Clarke
Guitar : Calvin Newborn
Billboard : 08/18/1956
Score of 84
On the basis of this first record, Memphis-born Newborn can be labeled one of the most promising of new musicians on the jazz scene. The technique is superior and the ideas illustrated here are original and exciting, both in the brilliantly fast right hand and the fully utilized left hand. There are several familiar tunes among the selection of eight, but familiar or new, Newborn gives them all a distinctly personal approach. Dealers should not be afraid to recommend this one to their jazz customers. It’s quality thruout.
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Cashbox : 09/01/1956
This Atlantic jazz pressing has a name most jazzophiles will find unfamiliar. Phineas Newborn, Jr. is an inventive ivory artist with an approach that hits hard and, yet, can manage to keep a sensitive touch. He strikingly points this out in The More I See You. His piano tones are extremely clear and what is perhaps most satisfying, so are his imaginative ideas. Some of the numbers have Newborn supported by bass, drum and guitar. Here’s Phineas – he’s worth meeting.
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Army Times
Tom Scanlan : 10/06/1956
Phineas Newborn Jr., a newcomer to the major league jazz scene, is a young pianist you can expect to hear more and more about. his first LP (Here Is Phineas, Atlantic 1235) is getting quite a play from jazz jockeys and others and it is easy to understand why. His work demands attention. He has skill and speed to burn.
Unfortunately, many jazz enthusiasts have a tendency to confuse skill and speed with the more necessary characteristics of a fine jazz pianist – tone, originality, and feeling.
Phineas is 23. Some jazz musicians at that age have the musical maturity and experience necessary to play awe-inspiring jazz (Charlie Christian, who died at 23, was a good example) but many more do not. I think Phineas falls into the second class.
On the other hand George Wein, a well-informed jazz promoter who also plays piano, believe Phineas has a “wonderful musical mind… a fantastic command of his instrument… to my knowledge the only pianist who has as great, or greater command of the piano is Art Tatum.” This is high praise, indeed, and from what I can gather a good many people agree with Wein. According to his liner notes on this record, such respected jazz authorities as John Hammond and Count Basie are very high on Phineas Newborn.
But after listening to Newborn’s album, I felt exhausted. I had the feeling that I was watching a promising young actor overplay his part. There seems to be a lack of tone and warmth and feeling, too much self-consciousness and too much flash in Newborn’s work. Perhaps these are the normal failings of the young artist, but since Phineas is receiving such lavish praise, and since I have heard other unknown pianists play as well or better, I figured this minority report ought to be turned in.
Perhaps you will agree with Wein and others who are nearly ready to rank him with Tatum. Why not listen to the record and decide for yourself?
Best thing in the album is probably Charlie Parker‘s Barbados. This one swings and is not as arty as the others.
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The Pittsburgh Courier : 09/15/1956
Harold L. Keith : 4 stars
Dexterity is a must of good piano playing, but in coming up with Phineas Newborn Jr., Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic records has presented an artist with ambidexterity.
Phineas, Memphis’ gift to the jazz world, is a former student of both LeMoyne College and Tennessee A&I University. On this album he is backed by Pittsburgh’s own Kenny (Klook) Clarke on drums; Oscar Pettiford on viol and Cal Newborn on guitar. It’s good that Phineas has such great sidemen with him here to serve as foils for his amazing ability to solo with either the left or the right hand, or both simultaneously.
His ability is such that at times he has the effect of two pianos. The offerings are All the Things You Are, Celia, Dahoud, Afternoon in Paris, Barbados and The More I See You.
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Saturday Review
Whitney Balliett : 09/15/1956
Newborn, who is twenty-three, is from Memphis, and he has caused a good deal of startled, silvery talk recently. The principle reason, apparently, is his technique, which is brilliant. He has a light, crackling touch, command of arpeggio that equals Tatum‘s, and a strong, steady beat. All this, plus his youthfulness, however, tend to drive him toward pianistic tricks (octave runs) and quite a bit of extraneous melodic needlepoint. Once he takes his abilities for granted, a very worthwhile jazz pianist may emerge. The accompaniment, on most numbers, is by O. Pettiford, K. Clarke, and Calvin Newborn, on guitar. Eight standards.
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Down Beat : 10/03/1956
Ralph J. Gleason : 4 stars
This is the first LP, though not the first records (he was heard briefly on… was it Peacock? some years back) of the new piano sensation. It is clear from this album that he is one of the most impressive pianists to emerge in recent years, a gifted technician, a startling improvisor, and a musician with a well-developed harmonic and rhythmic sense.
However, the best thing about this album fundamentally is the promise of better things to come. Newborn, who plays in a brilliant, flashing style reminiscent of both Powell and Tatum, has a certain coldness which may be the result of the fact that he plays as though he has to say it all right now.
There is less softness and quiet than one might wish, though when he plays simply, as in portions of the extremely effective I’m Beginning to See the Light, he is a convincing soloist. His own composition, Newport Blues, which he plays unaccompanied, is the least moving of the tracks, a rather flossy blues.
His treatment of All the Things is almost symphonic in concept and scope and displays his really impressive harmonic gifts. There are moments of sheer elegance in it. And his interpretation of John Lewis‘ Afternoon in Paris is the loveliest thing on the album.
Newborn clearly will grow in stature. He has a command of his instrument to make other pianists weep and an ability to say whatever he wishes. When his emotional development equals his technical equipment and he realizes that simplicity is not necessarily inadequacy, he will be something overwhelming to hear. George Wein’s notes are sympathetic and helpful, and the cover is excellent.
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Liner Notes by George Wein
For years now I’ve listened to people scream at me about unknown pianists they have discovered. “He’s great than Bud.” “He cuts Oscar.” “He leaves Tatum standing still.” As many times as I have heard these cries, that is how often I have been disappointed. Invariably, these unknowns are, at their best, simply minor talents, and, at their worst, pale copies of great pianists.
About a year ago I began to hear stories about a fantastic pianist in Memphis, Tenn. with the almost quaint sounding name of Phineas Newborn, Jr. Men I respected, such as John Hammond, Willard Alexander and, of course, Count Basie, among many others, insisted that I must hear this guy. Due to my previous sad experiences, I could not get excited. However, when I got a chance to really hear Phineas in Storyville, for the first time I was not disappointed. The unknown had lived up to his press notices.
Phineas Newborn, Jr. was born December 14, 1932 in Memphis, Tenn. I believe this makes him all of 23 years old at the recording of this album. In all my years of listening to music I have never encountered a musician of such tender years who had such a fantastic command of his instrument. Perhaps my reaction to Phineas can be traced to my personal concern with the piano. If this was my only reason for liking him, then I say it would be sufficient, for to my knowledge the only pianist who has as great, or greater command of the piano is Art Tatum.
Phineas is a two handed pianist, as opposed to the tendency of modern pianists to dwell on the single finger, right hand style. The only time he can be accused of being a one-handed pianist is when he puts his right hand in his pocket and plays two choruses of a ballad, such as Embraceable You, exclusively with his left hand. Unfortunately, he does not do this in this album, but when you see him in person, ask him to play a left-handed solo for you. His left hand is developed to such an extent that he can and does execute any passage or chord with his left hand that he would do with his right. When you realize that he has the fastest right hand of anyone since Tatum (he might even exceed Tatum for sheer speed), then you get an idea of just what happens.
However, technique is only one facet of music. What of Phineas’ basic musical style? From whence does he come and where is he going?
First, let me warn the reader of what not to do upon first hearing Phineas. Do not be so overpowered by his technique that you neglect to listen to the music he plays. Through all his technical intricacies I hear a wonderful musical mind, a mind that without copying has absorbed the music of the jazz masters. I get a funny feeling when I hear Phineas. I concentrate on his fantastically “Bird“-influenced ideas and then I can’t help but get the feeling that at any moment he is going to swing right into a Waller–James P. Johnson stride piano effect. He never quite does and I sometimes wish he would.
Phineas says his first jazz idols were Bird, Dizzy and Bud Powell. Later on, after he had begun to develop his own style, he heard Tatum. This is no doubt of the influence that these men left on Phineas. There is also evidence that he has listened to Erroll Garner. However, there is never a question that Phineas has a unique approach to music. (In this album I believe Dahoud comes the closest to defining the Phineas Newborn style.)
The only real criticism I have of his playing can be traced to his immaturity, both musically and in years. He tends to want to play everything in the same tempo. To be more explicit, he feels so relaxed at up-tempos that even in ballads he resorts to double-timing in order to utilize his technique. Also, he has a few figures of which he is fond. These appear a little too often in his playing. As soon as Phineas gets over the idea that he must create an impression the first time around the nightclub circuit, I am sure these minor faults will disappear.
Biographically, Phineas’ history is not startling. The son of Phineas Newborn, Sr., a fine drummer and band leader in Memphis, he and his brother Calvin, one year his junior, had an early musical beginning (Calvin plays guitar in the Phineas Newborn Quartet and is heard on some of the sides in this album.) Phineas started the study of piano at the age of six with the pianist in his father’s band. He continued right through high school, where he took up the study of brass instruments (trumpet, tuba, baritone horn, French horn.) Later on, he learned the vibes, and in college and the Army he acquired the baritone, tenor and alto saxophones. Those who have heard him say he is nearly as fantastic on these various instruments as he is on the piano. Fortunately, Phineas has concentrated on piano and does not try to impress with his versatility.
His formal education, in addition to graduating from the Memphis School System, consists of two years as a music major at Tenn. A & I. Later on he spent a year at Lemoyne College in Memphis, before he was drafted into the Army in August 1953. He was discharged in June 1955, and played with his father’s band until last month when he made the break after the Willard Alexander agency convinced him he should come North and let the world hear his talent. I am sure that Count Basie, who is Phineas’ greatest booster, had much influence on his decision.
As in any record, the music in this album speaks for itself. My personal favorites are the Clifford Brown Dahoud, and a very Tatumesque Newport Blues. I also like his treatment of the Ellington standard I’m Beginning To See The Light. He is accompanied very able by two jazz greats, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, in addition to his brother Calvin on guitar.