notes by DOM CERULLI, associate editor of Down Beat
Wide Range is more than merely a tag for
Johnny Richards.
It’s a description of a way of musical life.
As a composer, Richards’ pen has ranged from
the subtleties of Annotations of the Muses to the
intensities of Cuban Fire, to the life of Young-
At-Heart.
As an orchestra leader, Johnny has assembled a
group of musicians whose talents range from the
delicacy of Burt Collins’ muted trumpet to the per-
cussive excitement of Jimmy Cleveland’s trombone,
to the incisive bite of Gene Quill’s alto. Although
studded with top caliber soloists, the band’s scope
includes an ensemble sound which rises to a virile
shout or falls away to the gentlest of whispers.
In sound, too, there is wide range. Richards has
utilized tympani, bass saxophone, and tuba to give
his band a bottom. The French horn, alternating
between blowing with the reeds and the brass,
helps add a distinctive coloring to the scores. There
is latitude here from the deepest rasp of the bass
sax to the airiest trill of the piccolo.
From this aural palette, Richards draws the
tonal colorings which mark each band selection
unquestionably his.
Johnny’s is a band of flexible mood. It can drive
and roar. It can be polite and proper. It can build
figures on a base of Latin-American rhythms until
the sparks start to fly. It can pulse in easy swing.
This is a band born of a need: Richards’ need to
express his creative writing and arranging talent
through an instrument geared to many moods; the
music world’s need to bring forth a band with some-
thing new; the musicians’ need to play challenging
and stimulating music.
Johnny’s is a band with team spirit. I can recall
dozens of rehearsals at Nola’s and Carrol’s in New
York when the men wandered in with Richards’
scores under their arms, thumbed and soiled from
hours of home practice. I remember a swinging
weekend at the Red Hill Inn near Camden, N.J.,
where the band made its debut. And a ‘Town Hall
concert at which the power and drive of the brass
nearly overpowered everything. |
The band, and its leader with it, has matured
and developed and profited by its experience. It is
a revelation, for instance, to note how much the
trombones have learned from each other, how they
seem to be thinking in unison, how their assurance
and exuberance spreads through the rest of the
group. The final percussively-tongued figures at the
end of Cimarron, for instance, were worked out by
Cleveland, Frank Rehak, and Jim Dahl as a sur-
prise for Johnny’s opening night at Red Hill Inn.
Johnny Richards is a composer and arranger just
now beginning to tap steadily his fund of musical
creativity. His band is a disciplined, but swinging
group of musicians.
This album, their first, is a collection encompass-
ing many facets of the orchestra.
Prepare to listen well; there is a wide range of
pleasure here.
side one
NIPIGON opens with a somewhat hollow-sounding statement
of the theme, followed by Burt Collins’ dainty muted trumpet,
a biting but moving statement on alto by Gene Quill and a
chorus by trombonist Frank Rehak. Billy Slapin’s piccolo is
heard in the opening and closing figures.
The old ballad SO BEATS MY HEART FOR YOU is mounted in
a low-keyed full orchestral setting, with Burt Collins again
blowing some lacy, muted trumpet figures, Hank Jones vary-
ing the theme with some fleet piano work, and Frank Socolow
contributing tasteful tenor.
A bit of the blues follows in WALKIN’. A simple riff structure
is embellished by tenorist Frank Socolow in a jocular vein,
followed by a declarative statement by trumpeter Doug
Mettome. Hank Jones takes over for some mid-20th century
observations, and Gene Quill contributes his aito to the grow-
ing ensemble figures.
NINA NEVER KNEW has long been a lovely, but rather neg-
lected ballad.in Richards’ book, the gentle mood is established
by the mournful sound of the French horn of Al Antonucci,
CAPITOL RECORDS
HIGH FIDELITY
RECORDING
TSsss
and carried through by Frank Socolow on tenor, Jimmy Cleve-
land on trombone, and forthright Doug Mettome on trumpet.
Hank Jones and Antonucci combine to set the tenderness of
the final statements. ,
THE BALLAD OF TAPPAN ZEE, a movement from Johnny's
suite saluting the beauty spots of America, is a moving solo
vehicle for altoist Gene Quill.
side two
CIMARRON is yet another tribute to nature’s craftsmanship in
America, and also to the craftsmanship of the trombone sec-
tion. It opens at a gallop, spurred by Gene Quill, alto; and
Hank Jones, piano. Then the trombones take over, Jimmy
Cleveland opening with a 48-bar chorus, passing it to Jim
Dahl for the same length, then to Frank Rehak for his 48. The
order of the impressive fours, following a brief orchestral inter-
lude, is Rehak, Dahl, and Cleveland. Willie Rodriguez and
Maurice Marks each bites off eight bars of percussion, then
the trombone section whips through two sets of eight-bar
solos, with Rodriguez leading Dahli and Cleveland.
STOCKHOLM SWEETNIN’ is a tribute to the late trumpet man
Clifford Brown. Unison trumpets at the opening quote from
Brownie’s solo on the piece. Burt Collins’ muted trumpet solo
and Jimmy Cleveland’s percussive bit are heard again briefly
before the close.
Frank Rehak’s solo vehicle is the fine ballad CLOSE YOUR
EYES. Frank is aided by Al Antonucci’s French horn and Bill
Slapin’s piccolo voiced together in the opening and closing
and by Burt Collins’ feathery muted trumpet background.
THE NEARNESS OF YOU is taken at a tempo brisker than
ballad style. The clean-booting feel of the opening bars is
sustained by Socolow’s easy-riding eight-bar solo, Quill’s
fluid eight, and a chorus split between Burt Collins and Doug
Mettome. Hank Jones is heard briefly on piano before the
ensemble takes the piece out.
Saved for last is Johnny’s lovely tune and the band theme
YOUNG-AT-HEART. Al Antonucci’s French horn is a vital part
of the arrangement and the mood. Solos are by Burt Collins,
muted trumpet; Frank Socolow, tenor; Gene Quill, alto; Bill
Slapin, piccolo. Slapin contrasts with the French horn to set
the closing mood.
Recorded July, 1957, in New York.
Leader Johnny Richards e Trumpets Burt Collins, Jerry Kail,
Paul Cohen, Doug Mettome e Zrombones Jim Cleveland, Jim
Dahli, Frank Rehak e Tuba Jay McAllister ¢« French horn
Al Antonucci e« Bass sax Shelly Gold e Baritone sax and
piccolo Billy Slapin e Tenor sax Frank Socolow e Alto sax
Gene Quill « Piano Hank Jones e Bass Chet Amsterdam e
Drums Maurice Marks e Tympani Willie Rodriguez
Frank Socolow appears through courtesy of Bethlehem Records Hank Jones appears through courtes
y of Savoy Records Jim Cleveland appears through courtesy of Mercury Records
MADE IN U.S.A.
FACTORIES: SCRANTON, PA.— LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
4 WIDE RANGE :
Oo JOHNNY RICHARDS
AND HIS ORCHESTRA
SIDE -1
1. NIPIGON
(Johnny Richards) -
2. SO BEATS MY HEART FOR YOU
(Ballard-Henderson-Waring)
CPN a ai
(Richard Carpenter)
CP Se aaa a a Ad
(Drake-Alter)
5. THE BALLAD OF TAPPAN ZEE
(Johnny Richards)
WIDE RANGE
Bre) Datel rU ted}
AND HIS ORCHESTRA
1, CIMARRON
(Johnny Richards)
2. STOCKHOLM SWEETNIN’ ad
(elisa ce) »& =)
3. CLOSE YOUR EYES y Ko
CaM) &
4, THE NEARNESS OF YOU % Ss
OW ceFiutial iim elaitlcciatet-yp) V4 IS]
5. YOUNG-AT-HEART as 2
(Leigh-Richards)
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