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He was not as well-known as
Phil Woods or
Tony Scott, but the Philadelphia-born alto saxophonist-clarinetist and educator John La Porta was one of the most versatile jazz artists to have emerged in the 1940s and '50s (he worked as a sideman with
Charles Mingus,
Woody Herman, and
Lennie Tristano). This CD contains two LPs that summarize La Porta's forward-thinking bebop and baroque-influenced ideas. Tracks 1 through 14 contain his never-before-released 1956 work for octet,
Theme and Variations. La Porta's evocative opus contains solo features for every instrument except drums, and highlights the leader's extensive classical training. The swinging counterpoint on "2nd Variation (Jazz Canon)" and "5th Variation (Jazz Fugue)" echoes John Lewis's work with the Modern Jazz Quartet. The remaining tracks are from the previously released
Conceptions album from 1958, with virtually the same personnel. That recording expands on La Porta's bop-born counterpoint, especially on his "out" arrangement of the Duke Ellington-Juan Tizol classic, "Caravan," which anticipates the angular improvisations of
Ornette Coleman. All in all, this collection reveals what a master composer John La Porta is. If
Theme and Variations had been released in the '50s, the history of jazz would have been very different.
--Eugene Holley Jr.
See all 25 tracks on this disc
