Gil Melle • The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions

 

Review by Richard S. Ginell
Blue Note raids the back of its vaults for all four of Melle's long out of print 10" LPs, plus the 12" Patterns in Jazz, in order to place back in circulation a musician who had been nearly invisible to the jazz world for a good three decades. Though Melle's entertaining self-penned liner notes may be outrageously self-aggrandizing, this collection leaves little doubt that he was (and remains) a marvelous saxophonist and an intriguing composer who hasn't been given his due. On the early sides, Melle plays an erudite, relaxed, always musical tenor sax, and "Transition" marks his recorded debut on baritone, which he uses in a thoughtful, even quizzical manner for the remainder of the set. As a composer, Melle was very much the uncompromising cool bopper, but was also equipped with a fascinating mind of his own. His first session is also the most startling: "Four Moons" is brilliant in its Kentonian harmonic way, with vibraphone striking the chords; so is his most famous jazz composition "The Gears," with its Monica Dell scat vocal lead doubled by vibraphone. Further on in the set, Melle does away with the piano in the cool tradition, but gives the lineup an unorthodox twist by using a guitarist (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca, or Joe Cinderella) in the keyboard role, and a trombonist (Eddie Bert or the swinging, vastly underrated Urbie Green) or even a tuba (Don Butterfield) on the front line. He also employs consistently first-class rhythm sections, with Max Roach and a young Joe Morello among the drummers. For those super-collectors who may have the extremely rare originals (now worth hundreds of dollars each), there is one unreleased track, "The Nearness of You"; the digitally remastered sound, flaws in the master tapes aside, is excellent.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-blue-note-50s-sessions-mw0000045187#review

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Reseña de Richard S. Ginell
Blue Note rebusca en el fondo de sus bóvedas los cuatro LPs de 10" de Melle, agotados hace tiempo, más el 12" Patterns in Jazz, para volver a poner en circulación a un músico que había sido casi invisible para el mundo del jazz durante tres décadas. Aunque las divertidas notas de Melle, escritas por él mismo, pueden ser escandalosamente engreídas, esta colección no deja lugar a dudas de que fue (y sigue siendo) un saxofonista maravilloso y un compositor intrigante al que no se le ha dado su merecido. En las primeras partes, Melle toca un saxo tenor erudito, relajado y siempre musical, y "Transition" marca su debut grabado en barítono, que utiliza de manera reflexiva, incluso inquisitiva, durante el resto del conjunto. Como compositor, Melle era un cool bopper intransigente, pero también estaba dotado de una fascinante mente propia. Su primera sesión es también la más sorprendente: "Four Moons" es brillante en su forma armónica kentoniana, con el vibráfono marcando los acordes; también lo es su composición de jazz más famosa, "The Gears", con su voz solista de Monica Dell doblada por el vibráfono. Más adelante, Melle prescinde del piano en la tradición cool, pero da a la formación un giro poco ortodoxo utilizando un guitarrista (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca o Joe Cinderella) en el papel de teclista, y un trombonista (Eddie Bert o el oscilante e infravalorado Urbie Green) o incluso una tuba (Don Butterfield) en primera línea. También emplea secciones rítmicas de primera clase, con Max Roach y un joven Joe Morello entre los baterías. Para los supercoleccionistas que tengan los rarísimos originales (que ahora valen cientos de dólares cada uno), hay un tema inédito, "The Nearness of You"; el sonido remasterizado digitalmente, dejando a un lado los defectos de las cintas maestras, es excelente.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-blue-note-50s-sessions-mw0000045187#review

Tracks:
1-1 - Four Moons - 2:23
1-2 - The Gears - 3:06
1-3 - Mars - 2:46
1-4 - Sunset Concerto - 2:03
1-5 - Cyclotron - 3:13
1-6 - October - 3:41
1-7 - Under Capricorn - 2:58
1-8 - Venus - 3:40
1-9 - Lover Man
Written-By – Ram Ramirez*
5:55
1-10 - Spellbound
Written-By – Miklos Rozas*
3:18
1-11 - Transition - 5:12
1-12 - A Lion Lives Here - 3:50
1-13 - Timepiece - 3:10
1-14 - Gingersnap - 3:17
1-15 - The Nearness Of You
Written-By – H. Carmichael*, N. Washington*
4:17
1-16 - Lullaby Of Birdland
Written-By – George Shearing
3:46
1-17 - Ballade For Guitar - 3:53
1-18 - Metropolitan - 2:50
1-19 - Newport News - 4:55
2-1 - Summertime
Written-By – D. Heyward*, G. Gershwin*
3:59
2-2 - Quadrille For Moderns - 3:31
 - Five Impressions Of Color - (12:37)
2-3.1 -  Violet -
2-3.2 - Sea Green -
2-3.3 - Royal Blue -
2-3.4 - Ebony -
2-3.5 - Spectrum Red -
2-4 - Life     At Midnight - 4:24
2-5 - Night Train To Wildwood - 4:10
2-6 - Threadneedle Street - 4:15
2-7 - Weird Valley - 5:13
2-8 - The Set Break - 4:48
2-9 - Moonlight In Vermont
Written-By – J. Blackburn*, K. Suessodorf*
4:52
2-10 - Long Ago And Far Away
Written-By – I. Gershwin*, J. Kern*
4:32
2-11 - The Arab Barber Blues - 9:05
2-12 - Nice Questions - 8:17


Credits:
    Baritone Saxophone – Gil Mellé (tracks: 1-12, 1-13, 1-15, 2-1 to 2-14)
    Bass – Bill Phillips (tracks: 1-16 to 1-19, 2-1 to 2-6), Clyde Lombardi (tracks: 1-5 to 1-15), Oscar Pettiford (tracks: 2-7 to 2-12), Red Mitchell (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4)
    Drums – Ed Thigpen (tracks: 2-7 to 2-12), Joe Morello (tracks: 1-5 to 1-15), Max Roach (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4), Vinnie Thomas (tracks: 1-16 to 1-19, 2-1 to 2-6)
    Guitar – Joe Cinderella (tracks: 2-7 to 2-12), Lou Mecca (tracks: 1-16 to 1-19, 2-1 to 2-6), Tal Farlow (tracks: 1-5 to 1-15)
    Liner Notes – Gil Mellé
    Mastered By [Using 20-bit Super Bit Mapping] – Ron McMaster
    Photography By [Booklet p.3] – Jack Lind
    Photography By [Front Cover] – Bill Hughes (5)
    Photography By [Traycard, Booklet p.12] – Francis Wolff
    Piano – George Wallington (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4)
    Producer – Alfred Lion (tracks: 1-5 to 1-19, 2-1 to 2-12), Gil Mellé (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4)
    Recorded By – Rudy Van Gelder
    Reissue Producer – Michael Cuscuna
    Tenor Saxophone – Gil Mellé (tracks: 1-1 to 1-11, 1-14)
    Trombone – Eddie Bert (tracks: 1-1 to 1-8, 2-7 to 2-10), Urbie Green (tracks: 1-9 to 1-15)
    Tuba – Don Butterfield (tracks: 2-3 to 2-6)
    Vibraphone – Joe Manning (2) (tracks: 1-1 to 1-4)
    Vocals – Monica Dell (tracks: 1-2 to 1-4)
    Written-By – Gil Mellé (tracks: 1-1 to 1-8, 1-11 to 1-14, 1-17 to 1-19, 2-2 to 2-8, 2-11, 2-12)

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey between 1952 and '56.
1-1 to 1-4: recorded March 2, 1952.
1-5 to 1-8: recorded January 31, 1953.
1-9 to 1-15: recorded October 25, 1953.
1-16 to 1-19, 2-1, 2-2: recorded August 5, 1954.
2-3 to 2-6: recorded February 27, 1955.
2-7 to 2-12: recorded April 1, 1956.

1-1 to 1-8: previously released on Gil Mellé Quintet / Gil Mellé Sextet - Gil Mellé Quintet / Sextet
1-9 to 1-14: previously released on Gil Mellé Quintet With Urbie Green And Tal Farlow - Volume 2
1-15: previously unreleased.
1-16 to 1-19, 2-1, 2-2: previously released on The Gil Melle Quartet Featuring Lou Mecca - The Gil Mellé Quartet Volume 3
2-3 to 2-6: previously released on Gil Mellé Quintet With Don Butterfield - 5 Impressions Of Color
2-7 to 2-12: previously released on Gil Mellé - Patterns In Jazz

Caption for uncredited photo on page 9 of booklet: Gil Mellé playing the worlds first drum machine, Percussotron III, in 1969 - for the "Andromeda Strain" (Michael Crichton) film score. It was designed and built by Mellé as well as two earlier versions in 1965.

Label: - Blue Note – 7243 4 95718 2 2, Blue Note – 95718
Series: - Connoisseur 10" Series
Country: - US
Released: - 1998
Genre: - Jazz
Style: - Bop, Cool Jazz
https://www.discogs.com/release/1518505-Gil-Mell%C3%A9-The-Complete-Blue-Note-Fifties-Sessions

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