Customer Reviews

David X. Young's Jazz Loft: 1954-1965

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Great fun listening, and a bird's eye view of a great scene and time when some better-than-good jazz players converged to unwind, have fun and create. Everyone was in good form among friends, and Young provided the locus.

Instructions for use: 1: Bypass the drivel by Howard Mandel (he apparently didn't find it necessary to do even basic research, e.g.: he talks about the loft scene moving after the golden days of Young, et al---and mentions "Barry Harris's 'Jazz Center'" on 7th Avenue, which in fact was the Jazz Cultural Theater on 8th Avenue (I should know---I was on the scene as musician for its entire 5 year run). 2: Proceed immediately to your CD player and put disks on to hear some of the better players of the day (or any day)having a ball in a nurturing, incubating environment. 3: Flip through the leaflet to view terrific reproductions of David X. Young's highly individual and first-rate paintings (and photographs). 4: Read remarks by participants Brookmeyer, Crow, Charles.

If one bypasses the ancillary and useless commentary as indicated and goes to the meat of the art, a splendid time with a first-rate project that bears repeated revisiting is guaranteed.

This two-disc set features Zoot Sims on several occasions (most from a Christmas Eve, 1959 session) and Bob Brookmeyer with Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney (two sessions)at jam sessions recorded at artist David Young's loft in the flower district of Manhattan during the great flourishing of modern jazz in New York, 1955-1965. Sims, who thrived in this sort of informal environment, is wonderful throughout. Hall and Raney, especially on "Spuds," create some very exciting interplay. Brookmeyer (the notes hedge on his identity, but I think they are correct) has a wonderfully sui generis piano solo on one of the tracks featuring Zoot. Excellent reproductions of some of Young's paintings, some great photographs taken at these sessions, and some funny reminiscences from the participants. Howard Mandel's intro, though, is a rehash of the usual cliches about the 50s. I hope we get to hear more from these sessions.

Two discs 68,59 minutes each approximately. The sound is very good considering when these tracks were recorded (late fifties) and where (a jazz loft/tenement in N.Y. City. Included is a poster of Sonny Rollins,which is a painting by David X. Young. There is a nice soft-cover book (5 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches) accompanying the music,that is integral to understanding this era and the music captured in these jam sessions. The book explains a bit about the era that spawned this music,and about the loft's owner,David X. Young. Young's paintings are featured throughout the book,along with a number of small black and white photographs of a number of the jazz artists who visited and jammed at the loft. There is an introduction by Howard Mandel,the jazz writer,which,in some spots is informative and helps set the scene for both the music and the paintings,and in others is basically superfluous to this release. One small thing I don't like. The two discs are half-slipped,bare,into cardboard slots in the package-not the best for keeping them in pristine shape. I placed mine in a double jewel case for protection.

Along with the paintings,which are very visceral in execution and style,and help set the stage for this music,the most interesting writing is by Bob Brookmeyer,the jazz trombonist,Teddy Charles the vibraphone player,Bill Crow the bassist,and David Young,the painter (and piano player of some skill),all telling their tales of living,hanging out,and jamming at the loft. These writings alone give this music a solid foundation,and give the listener some insight into what went on everyday and at anytime of day or night. Most jazz listeners have no doubt heard jam sessions before. But for some reason,this set,along with everything else in this package,gives this music a real feel of a true fifties,loft,jazz session. There is an almost effortless feel to the playing,a relaxed swing to this music that's very infectious. On these tracks you can hear the various players trying out different approaches to the tunes. Above all there is a real feeling of excitement,of joy in making this music. Occasionally voices can be heard in the background,instructing someone to slow down,or to simply urge someone on during a tune. The players include,among others,Zoot Sims,Don Ellis,Dave McKenna,Steve Swallow,Mose Allison,Pepper Adams,Jimmy Raney,Jim Hall,and Brookmeyer and Charles.

This is a slice of a jazz music jam session that happened everyday back in the fifties,and this neat release is a real-deal look into the era. Not only is the music worthwhile,the paintings by Young also have the feel of the era and the music-an era that will never be repeated. But at least we have this inside look into a small,but important time in jazz history. The "loft scene" is an area of jazz that hasn't been well documented,considering how important it was for the progression of jazz in general. Nonetheless,this belongs in everyone's collection who likes jazz and wants a look into how it was created. This set has been available for a while now,but who knows for how much longer-pick it up while you can.

When I received Sam Shepherd's The Jazz Loft Project (Knopf, 2009) for review recently, I started looking for more information about the loft culture of the sixties, and in particular, the building and associates of photographer W. Eugene Smith, the subject of the book. Expressionist painter David X. Young occupied the floor beneath Smith and he too taped the music that was being played in the loft. Smith's audiotapes -1470 hours of recording!--are apparently tied up in litigation, so these tapes, recorded by Young on the spot, are what we have to judge the quality of the music being made in the freeform jam sessions conducted almost nightly at 802 Sixth Avenue in New York City. The musicians on these two CDs fall into two groups: tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims and assorted others (trumpeter Don Ellis, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, pianists Mose Allison and Dave McKenna, bassist Bill Takacs, etc.) and a combo headed by Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone and the two guitarists Jimmy Raney and Jim Hall. Steve Swallow plays bass in one or the other group. One of the drummers may be the legendary Ronnie Free, whose disappearance from the scene is explained in Shepard's book. There are two additional cuts on the CDs: on one, Zoot talks about his dog; on the other, Zoot and an unknown drummer duet. The sound quality on these cuts is muddied but bearable. The music is good but not as good in retrospect as it probably felt making it live and fresh. I'd give it 3-1/2 stars but since the rating system doesn't accommodate half stars, let's make it four.

I recently read (and reviewed on Amazon) the book "The Jazz Loft Project" about W. Eugene Smith's documentation (40,000 pictures and 1700 reels of tape) of life and music in and around a "jazz loft" in the upper floors of a decrepit, rat-infested building on Sixth Avenue, near 28th, in Manhattan. The book is magnificent, as I reported in my review. The only problem was that it did not contain any audio of the jam sessions that were the raison d'être for the jazz loft.

But DAVID X YOUNG'S JAZZ LOFT fills that gap marvelously. Young was a painter (categorized by the critics as an abstract expressionist) and he used the top floor of the lofts as a studio. But he also was a jazz enthusiast and he opened up the lofts to New York jazzmen as a place to gather, relax, practice, and jam. And he too, as well as Smith, recorded some of their music. (See the excellent review by Don Williamson from "All About Jazz", as reprinted above by Amazon.)

This package of 2 CDs contains eleven tracks of music. The sound is only fair and at times the balance among instruments is akilter, but the recordings are good enough for enjoyable listening. These are definitely jam sessions (six of the tracks are from one night - Christmas Eve, 1959). The musicians are loose and relaxed, as is their playing. There is no posturing or pretentiousness. (It is a world apart from John Coltrane.) Most of the tracks really swing, thanks in large part to the excellent rhythm set down by the assorted (in some cases unknown) bassists and drummers.

The biggest revelation for me, a real ear-opener, was Zoot Sims, who plays tenor sax on eight of the tracks. His tone is rich and mellow, and it is complemented by superior creativity and musical taste. Other musicians who I responded to favorably are Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney on guitar, Mose Allison on piano, and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone with also a wonderful piano contribution to "821 Blues" (for me, the highpoint of the CDs).

Included in the package is a 44-page booklet. It contains some interesting comments from three of the jazz participants - Bob Brookmeyer, Teddy Charles, and Bill Crow - as well as a few photographs and reproductions of 27 of David X. Young's paintings and drawings, most of which are jazz-themed. The booklet is an appreciated addition, but you will probably look at it only once whereas I'll wager that you listen to the CDs multiple times.