Customer Reviews

Pure Desmond

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the Dave Brubeck quartet, Paul Desmond recorded primarily in three settings: a guitar based quartet with Jim Hall featuring Connie Kay on drums, on a series of flawed, over-orchestrated albums with Ron Carter on bass and many, many back-up musicians, and finally, in a humble quartet with little known guitarist Ed Bickert. This album is unique because it finds Desmond in the quartet setting that suits him the best, but with a mix of all the different musicians he'd played with: Connie Kay, Ron Carter and Ed Bickert; all together for the first and only time! These are four great musicians and the album does in fact live up to their promise. Fans of any of these musicians would do well to pick up this album as they all get a chance to shine. Kay drums smooth, Carter is one of the greatest bassists ever, and Ed Bickert's guitar is distinctly different from Jim Halls (it's a bit more plucky, in lay-mans terms, but in a good way- it's complimented by Carter's bass and provides great support for Desmond) and Paul Desmond, well, Desmond proves why he's the greatest alto sax player. This is one of the best solo Desmond outtings out there, so don't pass it up.

I bought this because i like Desmond and had heard some Bickert. I assumed they'd be good together, boy was i wrong....THEY ARE FANTASTIC! When listening to other jazz, at up tempo's, with complex harmony etc sometimes it just seems too much. Because of the speed i just can't catch everything that's happening and get frustrated. This album on the whole has good mid-tempo tunes, an excellent sound mix enabling you to hear all of the individual instruments, and plain good tunes. Desmond has his trademark sound and plays some nice musical ideas. As a guitar player I found Bickert to be amazing. Everybody plays fast, long single note lines these days, but Ed plays chords like nobody else, he kind of sounds like a piano, a bit of Bill Evans maybe ? Together they create amazing music with nice solos where you can hear that they are keeping the melody foremost in their minds as they play. The bottom line is that there is no ego here at all, just a great collaboration by the whole band, the nearest comparison i can think of is the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker. I'll let someone else have the final words, my wife, who said 'That's great, who is it ?'

You know it makes sense, buy this album !

As a huge Desmond fan (well, not so sizeable, but enthusiastic) for many decades, I've concluded that, for me, Desmond is best when he is in a minimal setting with a few capable musicians - this is usually a trio or quartet format without strings, orchestration or overdubs. I find that of the dozens of Desmond recordings I own, the over-produced and over-orchestrated ones get in the way of the true art and essence of Desmond.
The oft quoted "Desmond is (smooth) like a dry martini" has more than one truth to it - both are at their best with only four choice ingredients (gin, vermouth, olive, ice - or alto, bass, drums, guitar or piano). Desmond is so deceptively smooth, adept, and lyrical that he needs to be heard uncluttered and unfettered.
For me, some of Desmond's best recordings are in the quartet format with either Jim Hall or Ed Bickert on guitar. If you can't get the now out of print Mosaic label 4 CD set with Jim Hall (those 4 CDs would be 4 of my 5 desert-island-discs and I listen to a lot of music from Bach to blues), then at least get whatever you can of Desmond w. Hall or Bickert.
There is a saying that "if a man don't like the blues he's got a hole in his soul" - well, if someone can't appreciate Desmond at his best, they've got a void in their psyche - and "Pure Desmond" is one example of Desmond at his best.

I recently compared the new 40th Anniversary edition of this classic CTI album with the original CD release (from 1990, I believe). I was very surprised at the differences I heard.

First, the high frequencies of the 40th Anniversary have been rolled off, as if the treble control on your amplifier had been turned down substantially. On some songs, the cymbals seem to virtually disappear, and the overtones of the guitar and saxophone become muted and clouded.

Second, on the majority of the 40th Anniversary tracks, the instruments of the quartet have been all bunched up in the center of the soundstage, as if the album was mixed in mono. The original CD release has a more open soundstage with sax and guitar usually on opposite channels, Ron Carter's bass and drums in the center.

Third, the timing of the songs is not the same. Nuages is nearly a minute shorter in the 40th Anniversary release. Other songs vary in lesser degrees. I do not know the reason for this cutting and trimming. I don't like it.

This revisionism really puzzles me. Perhaps it is closer to the original vinyl, though I do not have the vinyl so that would be speculation. Other 40th Anniversary CTI releases I have found pleasing. But this one falls short. The original CD release sounds more detailed and open. The 40th Anniversary sounds tends to sound like a 1950s recording with the highs rolled off to hide the tape hiss. But there is no bothersome hiss on the original CD to hide.

They really dropped the ball on this release, in my opinion. However, if you are the type who thinks mono is better than stereo, and who is irritated by the upper overtones of the saxophone (even one played as sweetly as Paul Desmond does), then perhaps you'll find the new 40th Anniversary issue nearer to ideal.

The music is great, but you probably knew that already. You'll have to choose the presentation you prefer.

I was once solely a Bird and Stitt fan, but the more I listen to Desmond, the more I find myself captivated by his magical story-telling. Forget the "dry martini" stuff and all of the talk about the velvety tone, the instantly identifiable sound, the effusive praise about his unsurpassed lyricism, etc. What makes Paul so extraordinary is his uncanny ability to listen to himself and to tell a story in which tone, dynamics, textures, intervals, tension and release, climax and anticlimax all interact to reward the listener with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction regardless of how many times the same solo has been replayed.

Paul himself is the model of the perfect listener, constantly creating conversations with himself. He's the preacher issuing "calls," but he's also the congregation ever ready with the appropriate "response." Most of his solos are based on a minimal number of phrases, but each is subjected to numerous permutations, never repeated verbatim but perhaps an octave higher or lower, inverted or retroverted, the individual notes attacked and released with varied articulations, or a single note inflected until each of the microtonal pitches between the piano's arbitrary half notes has been sounded.

The problem with the production values favored by Creed Taylor is that the sound is approached as sufficient in itself to capture and hold the consumer's interest. Accordingly, for the listener who's content to put Desmond in the background, serving up "mood music," "Pure Desmond" should satisfy. But to the listener who's heard Paul at his inspired, passionate, alternately moody, fiery and jocular best ("Jazz at Oberlin" and "Jazz Goes to College" may be the two outstanding examples), the Creed Taylor dates--along with many of the overly homogeneous dates under Paul's own name--simply lack the dramatic interest capable of holding the listener's complete and undivided attention like the best Desmond-Brubeck encounters. (If anything, the occasionally tenuous, even tense, personal relationship between the two supports Oscar Peterson's characterization of even his trio performances as "battles to the death" between himself and a worthy peer, be it Barney Kessel or Joe Pass).

For hardcore jazz followers who are "either/or" when it comes to Desmond and Charlie Parker: I'm not sure which shock hit me harder: 1. the realization, when I got to college, that Paul Desmond along with many other "white, West Coast" musicians were "taboo" (get rid of your Columbia collection--except for Miles--I was told by the influential big-city clique whose collection was all black, East Coast, hard bop, Blue Note and Prestige) or 2. the recent discovery of a radio conversation between Paul Desmond--and Charlie Parker! Granted, it's short, but if anything Bird sounds more articulate and modest than the witty, introspective Paul. He compliments both Paul and Brubeck, prompting Paul to proclaim Bird the "greatest innovator" at this stage in the "history of jazz." Bird demurs! "That honor is yours for now, Paul. But I intend to make my contribution soon. " Not exactly an exchange between two antithetical creative spirits and certainly not a dividing line between two different schools--and even "levels"--of musical authenticity, requiring that a choice be made between the two.

Both men left us far too soon after this exchange (in the case of Bird, one year; for Paul, 20); but their respective voices continue to play themselves out in this listener's mind even now.

this is paul desmond's ABSOLUTE BEST album. all cuts are excellent. one will never get tired of listening to this album. a must have in your collection

There are so very few great jazz instrumentalists and Paul Desmond happens to be one. I am sure that you will enjoy the time and investment in this album.

Jim Hall recommended Ed Bickert, a Canadian jazz guitarist like yours truly for this gig in Toronto. Desmond said, after meeting & playing with Bickert, that "I had to go to my hotel & practice my butt off." True story. As for Desmond, he could do it all. Listen to "Just Squeeze Me. Bickerts' intro & comping are a joy to behold. And lets' not forget Ron Carter on bass & Connie Kay on Drums."I'm Old Fashioned" is another delight by these great artists. Some reviwer said it was
"cool jazz." It's not. It's east coast bebop all the way. I've named a couple of ballads they do on this CD for a reason. We jazz musicians say anyone can play bebop at breakneck speeds. But "it's the way you handle a ballad that separates the men from the boys." 'nuff said. 5 stars guys.

Great cool jazz album. I heard a lot of mentions about getting this album and I wasn't disappointed. There are great versions of Nuages and I'm Old Fashioned. Ed Bickert's piano-esque guitar comping is exquisite and smooth throughout the whole album. Desmond's lines float like a stream of consciousness over your head/ears. If you're a cool jazz fan, this is the album for you.

Originally released ON Vinyl in 1975...Then on Compact Disc in 1990 with 2 (Two) Bonus Tracks: "Theme From M*A*S*H" and "Wave"...Reissued again in 2003 on Compact Disc with the previous mentioned 2 (Two) Bonus Tracks Plus 3 (Three) Alternate Takes of: "Squeeze Me", "Nuages" and "Till The Clouds Roll By". Both Compact Discs cost pretty much the same, so if you really want to get some mileage out your money go for the 2003 Edition. Back to the music at hand...Paul Desmond with his signature style Alto Saxophone playing proved to the world he hadn't lost his touch. In a Quartet setting with Ron Carter (Is there ANYTHING this legendary Bass Player hasn't played on since the 60's???), Ed Bickett, and Connie Kay all show off their skills on: "Squeeze Me", "I'm Old Fashioned", "Nauges", "Theme From M*A*S*H" and "Wave" (Which has become a Radio Favorite!). Recorded at the famous Van Gelder Studios, so I don't think I need to tell you about the Sound Quality? Everything you'd expect from well seasoned musicians. Oh!, And let's not forget a well seasoned producer by the name of Creed Taylor ALL in their shining hour!