Billboard : 06/24/1957
Score of 76

An “All Star” package – T. Jones, M. Waldron, T. Charles, F. Wess, etc – where the writing of Charles and Waldron and the obvious compatibility of the musicians, serve as catalysts for some meaningful, heated blowing. The writing gives just enough form to take this set out of the saturated “jam session” category. In essence, a “mainstream” collection that attains a good balance between writing and blowing, and should appeal to jazz buyers on strength of musical and “name” value.

—–

Cash Box : 7/13/1957

The date has brought together a group of 6 jazz notables, a combo with a swing interest at heart, and some very interesting points to press along the way. Sessions are on the uptempo with the exception of the sensitively worked-out Embraceable You band. Some in the cast: Thad Jones (trumpet); Frank Wess (flute & tenor); Doug Watkins (bass); Mal Waldron (piano). Fertile jazz performances.

—–

Saturday Review
Nat Hentoff : 07/27/1957

Another vibist, twenty-nine-year-old Teddy Charles, has largely been associated in recent years with, as he once termed it, “new directions” in jazz, many of them mapped on manuscript paper. He has been relaxing in more instantaneous surroundings on recent record sessions. There is Olio on which Charles is spiritedly joined by pianist Mal Waldron; bassist Doug Watkins; the inflammatory drummer, Elvin Jones; and two members of the Count Basie band. The latter are Frank Wess, who doubles with vigor on flute and tenor; and the brisk, witty trumpeter, Thad Jones, an uncommonly astute modern voice. Although he is valuable on this session, there are some signs of tightness that may be due to the infrequent opportunity (as a big band sideman) to stretch himself musically. This is a mutually energizing assemblage, and represents somewhat more forethought than is sometimes evident on Prestige collections, however emotionally to the point they otherwise usually are. An explanation may be that Charles supervised the session.

—–

Down Beat : 09/05/1957
Dom Cerulli : 4 stars

This is another of those Prestige blowing-sessions-plus on which some organizational charting by Waldron and Charles gives the soloists a firmer springboard off which to jump.

There is some fine solo work spotted throughout, but the really glistening spot is Thad‘s on Blues. Thad and Wess, on tenor, combine to blow a feelingful Embraceable You. Teddy gets off the ground here but seems somewhat constrained by the limited room for expansion. I find Charles most satisfactory, and certainly most provocative, when he can build and build and build, chorus after chorus, until he seems mesmerized by the sound and rhythmic patterns he is creating.

Waldron is coming right along as a pianist, and his solo on Potpourri is a sparkling example of his talent.

A very pleasant, and quite often stimulating, excursion.

—–

Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Before I begin, let me assure you that we have not spelled olio incorrectly, that it has nothing to do with oleomargarine or Sonny Rollins’ Oleo recorded by Miles Davis and Sonny.

As olio is a mixture. As the dictionary explains it: 1. a dish of many ingredients. 2. any mixture of heterogeneous elements. 3. a medley or potpourri (musical, literary. or the like); a miscellany.

Here the mixture is more in the musicians than in the music. In the persons of Teddy Charles, Thad Jones, Frank Wess and Mal Waldron, four different conceptions are embodied; heterogeneous elements which are brought together under the roof of the music of Charles, Waldron and George Gershwin.

Charles derives from the Parker–Gillespie–Monk–Powell idiom with the influence of modem classical music showing itself in his compositional techniques and subsequently in his playing. Teddy is not only a soloist, composer and arranger. He is also an organizer, a coordinator of ideas and personalities who possesses a flame of ambition and energy that can be touched to his cohort’s wicks at many given moments.

This is Teddy’s first session for Prestige since his New Directions quartet of January 6, 1955 which, incidentally can be heard on Evolution (LP 7078). In his return, he has taken on another duty, that of recording director for certain sessions. Needless to say, these include any in which he appears as an instrumentalist.

Thaddeus Joseph Jones, like his older brother Hank and younger brother Elvin, was born in Pontiac, Michigan. Until the Fifties, he didn’t do much playing outside Michigan but from the time he joined Count Basie in 1954 and started recording in small combos on the various independent jazz labels, Thad has had his name associated with highly complimentary adjectives by all of the important observers on today’s jazz scene. His horn is a biting, brilliant, brassy instrument linked to Gillespie but by the most personal of bridges.

Many people have noted that Thad is wasted in the Basie band and if this were his only outlet of expression, he would be known solely as “the guy who blows Pop Goes The Weasel on April In Paris”. Thad’s conception is not especially peculiar to the Basie band but this does not prevent him from playing well within that context when he is given the chance.

One whose ideas seem to fit better in the same setting is tenorman – flutist Frank Wess who reflects the band’s Swing with more modern overtones outlook. That he has absorbed the lessons of Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young is clear but Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt have not failed to leave an impression. Frank’s flute is more influenced by post 1945 jazz than is his tenor. As a perceptive musician he reacts to the material in this LP by playing within its spirit on both instruments and, as a result, sounding more “modern” than ever before.

Mal Waldron, ever increasing his facility of expression, is a pianist, out of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver who is always thinking, both harmonically and rhythmically, and producing provocative new patterns as a result.

The rest of the rhythm section is handled in more than competent style by the aforementioned Elvin Jones, an inventive drummer who knows how to swing without monotony and inject accents with integrity and bassist Doug Watkins, strong and steady if unspectacular.

Trumpet, flute and vibes in the front line gives this outing a live and cracking sound that is metallic but never cold. Even on the numbers where Frank plays tenor, the unique tonal mood is continued.

Potpourri, a sprightly, happy Mal Waldron original, opens the proceedings. Thad and Frank (flute) play one theme as Teddy carries another line against them. Solos by Frank, Thad, Teddy and Mal.

Touché, Mal‘s other contribution to the date, makes use of interludes at the end of each chorus. Solos by Frank (flute), Thad, Teddy and Mal; four bar chases between Frank and Thad for sixteen bars before the ensemble closes it out.

Blues Without Woe, a simple but powerful blues line is stated once and then Thad rips off an exciting solo followed by Teddy, Frank (tenor) and Mal. Then Elvin Jones comes in for exchanges with Teddy and the horns.

The exoticism of the West African port is captured in Teddy Charles’ Dakar. Solos are by Frank (flute), Teddy, Thad and Mal. Mystery and intrigue abound.

On Embraceable You Thad and Frank (tenor) demonstrate how to give proper feeling to a ballad, keeping it a jazz performance and avoiding the saccharine.

The acrid, foggy Hello Frisco, Teddy’s follow up title to his So Long Broadway, is delineated in solo by Mal, Thad, Teddy and Frank (tenor).

An incident concerning this album perhaps would be of interest to Robert Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Before the title Olio was ever suggested, cover designer Reid Miles had in mind, a certain abstract painting for use on the front cover. Later, after the title had been arrived at, Miles brought the design in. To everyone’s amazement, a word took form as the abstraction was viewed. It was olio.