Search - Paul Quartet With Jim Hall Desmond :: First Place Again

Paul Quartet With Jim Hall Desmond
First Place Again
Genres: Jazz, Pop

Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
1. East of the Sun - Paul Desmond, Bowman
2. For All We Know - Paul Desmond, Coots
3. I Get a Kick out of You - Paul Desmond, Porter, C.
4. Greensleeves - Paul Desmond, Traditional
5. Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West - Paul Desmond, Lewis, J.
6. Time After Time - Paul Desmond, Cahn
7. You Go to My Head - Paul Desmond, Coots
8. Susie [*] - Paul Desmond, Desmond, P.

CD Details

All Artists: Paul Quartet With Jim Hall Desmond
Title: First Place Again
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Gambit Spain
Original Release Date: 1/1/2005
Re-Release Date: 9/27/2005
Album Type: Import, Original recording remastered
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Style: Cool Jazz
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 8436028692170

Synopsis

Album Details

Two of the Most Lyrical of all the Great Jazzmen, the September 5-7, 1959, "First Place Again" Sessions Mark the First Recorded Collaboration Between the Superlative Alto Saxophonist Paul Desmond and Guitar Giant Jim Hall. The Participation of the Great Mjq Bass and Drum Tandem of Percy Heath and Connie Kay Keep Things Swinging in Epic Fashion. While the Brilliance of Each Musician is Evident Throughout all Eight Tracks, These Sessions Showcase the Band?s Capacity to Create a Lyrical, Elegant, and Always Swinging Collective Sound. Desmond was Once Quoted as Saying: "the Ideal for Me, is a Group with a Lot of Cooperative Playing Going On, as Opposed to the Procession of Virtuosi, If That?s the Word I Want. Guys who Can Improve Together in Such a Way that the Whole Turns Out to Be Greater Than the Sum of all the Parts." That is Definitely the Case Here.

CD Reviews

No Question About This Man's Talent

Warren Weise | Lakeville, MN United States | 02/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've often felt that Paul Desmond never really got the respect and recognition that he deserved as a jazz saxophonist. Part of the reason may have been his role in the Dave Brubeck quartet and the limitations it may have placed on his personal role in order to further the overall direction of the group. In his setting here, with guitarist Jim Hall, you will hear a Paul Desmond with much greater drive and intensity but the same eloquent and sophisticated harmonic conception that marked all of his work. There has never been a better motivic improvisor in jazz with the chops and the intellect to continue to fit his improvisational ideas into the chordal frame-work of whatever tune he was playing. I think that especially on "I Get a Kick out of You" for example, listeners will hear an intensity and swing that erase any doubt as to his legacy in the history of jazz alto saxophone. It brings to mind his collaborations with Gerry Mulligan and their two very successful recordings. If you don't have any Desmond recordings away from the Brubeck quartet, I urge you to buy this one. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it. By the way, Jim Hall is no slouch, either. His spare, thoughtful solo creations seem to be a perfect compliment to Desmond's alto. I would give it my highest personal recommendation as a jazz listener and as a jazz saxophonist for over forty years."

Good Sounds

Ray Fong | 10/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An easy listening album with some classic standards. The interfacing of Jim Hall's guitar and Desmond's horn is on the mellow side and misses the driving interlacing of a Desmond and Brubeck track. All in all with all consideration for experimentation, a good album of individual performing although it could have been stronger in the point - counterpoint mix."

Contains hard-to-find "Suzie"

Tea Drinker | New York NY | 01/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this imported version of the CD because it contains Desmond's original composition "Suzie," which shows him at his lyrical best. I could sing that tune all day!"