Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years
Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years is a compilation album featuring recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in groups together and separately which were originally released on Mercury and subsidiary labels.[1]
Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years | |
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Compilation album by | |
Released | January 24, 1995 |
Recorded | August 3, 1954 - October, 1960 |
Genre | Jazz |
Length | 148:45 |
Label | Verve 526373-2 |
Producer | Bob Shad |
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Penguin Guide to Jazz | [3] |
Allmusic's John Bush noted "Verve's two-disc collection of the best recordings from the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet recorded for Mercury/Emarcy between 1954 and 1956 includes a parade of Brown-Roach classics ...The second disc, which doesn't include Brown at all, reels through a highlight film of Max Roach's varied quintets of the late '50s after the death of Brown in 1956. Of course, Roach's sessions during that time feature many great recordings -- trumpeter Booker Little is a competent replacement for Brown, and tenors Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, and Stanley Turrentine all have great spots -- but record buyers expecting this set to live up to its title might be disappointed".[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection.[3][4]
Track listing
Disc one
- "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) - 5:43
- "Joy Spring" (Clifford Brown) - 6:51
- "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) - 3:25
- "Mildama" (Max Roach) - 4:32
- "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) - 5:46
- "What Am I Here For?" (Duke Ellington, Frankie Laine) - 3:09
- "Sandu" (Brown) - 4:55
- "Daahoud" (Brown) - 4:02
- "Born to Be Blue" (Robert Wells, Mel Tormé) - 5:15
- "Jordu" (Duke Jordan) - 7:46
- "Gertrude's Bounce" (Richie Powell) - 4:10
- "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) - 3:24
- "Parisian Thoroughfare" (Bud Powell) - 7:19
- "Blues Walk" (Brown) - 6:46
Disc two
- "Dr. Free-Zee" (Roach) - 2:07
- "Just One of Those Things" (Cole Porter) - 7:21
- "Valse Hot" (Sonny Rollins) - 14:28
- "Tune-Up" (Eddie Vinson) - 7:46
- "Yardbird Suite" (Charlie Parker) - 3:54
- "A Night in Tunisia" (Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) - 8:15
- "La Villa" (Kenny Dorham) - 6:17
- "Max's Variations" (Harold Farberman) - 2:20
- "Prelude" (Consuela Lee) - 5:08
- "Juliano" (Julian Priester) - 5:43
- "Lotus Blossom" (Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow) - 5:34
- "The Left Bank" (Brown) - 3:17
- "Never Leave Me" (Gordon Jenkins) - 6:49
Personnel
- Max Roach - drums (All tracks except Disc One: tracks 5 & 9)
- Clifford Brown (Disc One), Kenny Dorham (Disc Two: tracks 1-5), Booker Little (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Tommy Turrentine (Disc two: tracks 10-13) - trumpet
- Julian Priester - trombone (Disc Two: tracks 9-13)
- Ray Draper - tuba (Disc Two: tracks 6 & 7)
- Herbie Mann - flute (Disc One: track 5)
- George Coleman (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Harold Land (Disc One: tracks: 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10 & 13-14), Hank Mobley (Disc Two: tracks 4 & 5), Paul Quinichette (Disc One: track 5), Sonny Rollins (Disc One: track 11, Disc Two: tracks 1-3), Stanley Turrentine (Disc Two: tracks 10-13) - tenor saxophone
- Danny Banks - baritone saxophone (Disc One: track 9)
- Barry Galbraith (Disc One: tracks 3, 9 & 12) - guitar
- Ray Bryant (Disc Two: tracks 1, 2 & 13), Jimmy Jones (Disc One: tracks 5 & 9), Richie Powell (Disc One: tracks 1-4, 6-8 & 10), Bill Wallace (Disc Two: track 3) - piano
- Joe Benjamin (Disc One: track 5), Bob Boswell (Disc Two: tracks 10-13), Nelson Boyd (Disc Two: track 5), Art Davis (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Milt Hinton (Disc One: track 9), George Morrow (Disc One: tracks 1-4, 6-8 & 10-14, Disc Two: tracks 1-4) - bass
- Roy Haynes (Disc One: track 5), Osie Johnson (Disc One: track 9) – drums
- The Boston Percussion Ensemble - percussion (Disc Two: track 8)
- Abbey Lincoln (Disc Two: track 13), Helen Merrill (Disc One: track 9), Sarah Vaughan (Disc One: track 5) - vocals
- Unidentified string section (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12)
- Irving Faberman (Disc Two: track 8), Neil Hefti (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12), Quincy Jones (Disc One: track 9), Ernie Wilkins (Disc One: track 5) - arranger and conductor
References
- Max Roach Discography: Session Index accessed May 18, 2016
- Bush, John. Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
- Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. "Max Roach". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 1219. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
- Penguin Guide to Jazz: Core Collection List, accessed May 18, 2016