Harry Allen &
Scott Hamilton
‘ROUND MIDNIGHT—Challenge Records
73348. Web: Challenge Records.com. My Melancholy Baby; Great Scott; How Am I to Know; The Opener; Baubles, Bangles and Beads; Hey Lock!; Lover; Flight of the Foo Birds; ‘Round Midnight PERSONNEL: Harry Allen, tenor saxophone, producer; Scott Hamilton, tenor saxophone; Rossano Sportiello, acoustic piano; Joel Forbes, acoustic bass; Chuck Riggs, drums; Anne de Jong, executive producer; Marcel ven den Broek, executive producer, art director; Jim Czak, engineer; Bill Moss, assistant engineer, mastering; Scott Yanow, liner notes; Frank Kaufman, photography
By Alex Henderson
Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen has been described as a musician who plays swing exclusively, but truth be told, he has favored more of a swing-to-bop approach. It is erroneous to think that Allen gets 100% of his musical inspiration from jazz’ pre-Charlie “Bird” Parker era; rather, he is a perfect example of a musician who has one foot in swing and the other in bop. And that makes Allen a logical companion for fellow tenor man Scott Hamilton, who joins him with splendid results on ‘Round Midnight. This February 2012 session finds Allen and Hamilton coleading a two-tenor acoustic quintet that also includes pianist Rossano Sportiello, bassist Joel Forbes and drummer Chuck Riggs, and there is never any doubt that the two tenor men enjoy a strong rapport. Allen and Hamilton are very much in sync on inspired performances of Neal Hefti’s “Flight of the Foo Birds” and Dorothy Parker’s “How Am I to Know” as well as Robert Wright’s “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart’s “Lover” and George Norton and Ernie Burnett’s “My Melancholy Baby.”
Hamilton is the older of the two; he is now 58, while Allen is 46. However, they share many of the same influences, including Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins. And both of them draw inspiration from post-World War II bop as well as from the small group swing of the 1930s and 1940s. It should be noted that one of Hamilton’s influences is Zoot Sims, who was very much a part of cool jazz (which is essentially bop played with subtlety and understatement rather than aggression). Also, the fact that this CD includes a passionate performance of tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’ “Hey, Lock!” underscores Allen and Hamilton’s appreciation of bop. Davis started out playing swing, but he embraced bop in a major way after getting hip to Bird’s innovations—and “Hey, Lock!” is a tune that Davis recorded in 1960 on a two-tenor session he co-led with Johnny Griffin.
Another selection that underscores this album’s swing-meets-bop aesthetic is Allen and Hamilton’s version of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight,” which producer Orrin Keepnews once described as “the national anthem of jazz.” Monk, of course, was one of bop’s most influential pianists, and his haunting ballad became a bop standard. However, “’Round Midnight” had swing origins; the song was first recorded in 1944 by trumpeter Cootie Williams’ orchestra, and that version had a strong Duke Ellington influence.
“’Round Midnight” is the only ballad on this album, which is dominated by uptempo and medium-tempo performances. But Allen and Hamilton’s bossa nova interpretation of “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” although not quite a ballad, is romantic and laid-back. And when the tenor men give that standard a Brazilian jazz makeover, they are obviously mindful of Stan Getz’ legendary contributions to the bossa nova.
Two-tenor front lines have a rich history in jazz, ranging from Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon & Wardell Gray to Al Cohn & Zoot Sims. And Allen and Hamilton have no problem doing justice to that rich tradition on ‘Round Midnight.
