Customer Reviews

Red Norvo Trio with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus: The Savoy Sessions

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The material on this cd is available at a ridiculously low price on a 4 cd Tal Farlow set from Germany. Search Amazon for Tal Farlow Quadromania. The first cd of the set is these sessions. The other 3 cds are tracks which are also on the earlier cds of the Tal Farlow Mosaic box set. If you are interested in Tal Farlow and you don't have either the Mosaic set or this material, check out Quadromania. Even if you do have the Mosaic set, check it out, because these sessions used to be difficult and expensive to obtain.

There are many other 4 cd sets of jazz and classical material. Search for Quadromania and see what gems are available.

Boy. No offense to the 1999 reviewer (things stay on here a while, don't they?), but don't think you need any prior jazz background to appreciate this stunning album. I got it for free when a radio station threw their lps out (!) and now I have the digital version. Apparently Red Norvo was a friend of Mel Torme's, and the trio backed him up a few times on his 50s TV show. I would love to find that stuff. Anyhow, I heard originally Mundell Lowe was supposed to play with this group, but had to bow out, and recommended Tal Farlow. They figured that old swing mallet man Red Norvo would be an easy gig. But, holy cow! He put everybody through their paces, and Farlow worked hard on the meteoric speed he became known for. The textural variety they get is beautiful. Bowed bass, neck-tapping on the guitar, just fantastic. This one of those durable works of art that catches your ear right away, and then continues to reward repeated listenings. Standards stay fresh with innovative enthused minds.

This album continues to blow me away. Incredible musicianship, by musicians having a great time. This makes for great wee hours listening with a scotch in hand.

I'm a jazz guitarist and collector of jazz albums. I think this is a very unique and special album. I confess, being a guitarist, Tal Farlow was the draw, and Tal does not disappoint (nor do Charles Mingus or Red Norvo). The musicianship here is pretty mind-boggling. Red Norvo had a penchant for FAST tempos, and many of these tracks absolutely burn. The arrangements all have a distinct, cool-swinging, 1950's vibe that I really enjoy. Retro-cool, baby. For listeners interested in jazz guitar, Tal Farlow was one of the most technically astounding guitarists that jazz has ever seen, and these sides clearly illuminate and underscore that fact. As such, I recommend this to jazz guitar enthusiasts. The only complaint is the audio quality, which, to my ears, seems fairly flat and poor, even by early '50's standards. Real jazz aficionados understand that you have to roll with poor audio quality when you're digging for pearls.

I ran out and bought 3 of their 78 rpm records, which I promply wore to a hiss. Years later, I bought a double LP with the same tunes as this CD. Now, I'm going to buy this CD. Over the years I've told anyone who would listen about that fabulous night at the Hague. It was, and still is the high point in my life with jazz. The other reviewers on this page got it right. No need to elaborate.

This CD should only be listened to/reviewed by those of us with jazz backgrounds. The phrasing and comping is so incredibly complex that it can only be appreciated by serious jazz afficianados! I listened to this with my with my wife, and where she would wrinkle her nose with "what's that?", I would raise my eyebrows with "my Lord! Listen to THAT!" If you want entertainment for entertainment's sake, buy this CD! The artists are at the peak of their "chops", and seem to be raising the bar for the other artists' solos. They lead in to the other's solo with a "top this!" attitude, and the result is a CD with incredible solos and masterful comps. I highly recommend this CD if you have an above average knowledge of jazz soloing and comping.