Kwamina by The Billy Taylor Orchestra Mercury (MG 20654) Publication date 1961

 THE 

ORIGINAL 

JAZZ 

SCORE 

OF 

AS PLAYED BY THE 

CLARK TERRY 

JIMMY CLEVELAND 

FRANK WESS 

PHIL WOODS 

JEROME RICHARDSON 

JAY McALLISTER 

JULIUS WATKINS 

GEORGE DUVIVIER 

LES SPANN 

OSIE JOHNSON 

MERCURY hi-fidelity {|G 

Recorded Sept. 12, 13, and 14, 1961, at Bell Sound Studios, 

New York City. Personnel: Billy Taylor, piano and 

leader; Clark Terry, trumpet and flugelhorn; Jimmy 

Cleveland, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Jay 

McAllister, tuba; Phil Woods, alio saxophone; Frank 

Wess, tenor saxophone; Jerome Richardson, baritone sax- 

ophone; Les Spann, guitar; George Duvivier, bass; Oste 

Johnson, drums. All arrangements by Jimmy Jones. 

Side One . 

SOMETHING BIG “% 

ercear Awer sonata Mier, ine. (ASCAP) oc ei SG Sia ee es ee 3:36 

VM SEEING RAINBOWS 

Clee cr) ahora mee, TRC. CA SOAP) re oe bis ee RS A ee ag ee ale as P54 

ORDINARY PEOPLE 

tivicuar each) oanara Wieic. Ime (ASCAP) 3.66 Or ie a ale ob eg ee ee heZl 

THE COCOA BEAN SONG 

Cachan ace) oanre Were. Inc. UA SG AP) eo oe Oe ve 8s TI Ce cee ge ee ae ae Ee?) 

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME 

(Richard Adler) Sahara Music, Inc. CASON oe es Same, ce ny ee ee ee 2ia38 

Side Two 

NOTHING MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO 

(iewcnara Adler) Sahara Music, Inc. (ASCAP) >). 222 a ee ee. Pea en ne op te ceen Nobles ints <-idee air oe ee She Ai3h 

ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE 

Meee ees a tt te AE gy i hy eee see 8 ae ee a Loe in ek CE ee Bee ee ee 3:40 

HAPPY IS THE CRICKET 

Cierra ee Ce CAO A a i i ew ee ae eS EEE eS LA Bee ere 4:23 

SUN IS BEGINNING TO CROW 

ee er ie, Fhe (A CAL) i ees i si es eR we ed ea PR ee eee eee 3:08 

Hi-Finformation 

This album was recorded monaurally and stereophonically at Bell Sound Studios, New York City, with Phil Macy at the 

engineering controls. The orchestra was grouped as naturally as possible in a quarter-circle facing the rhythm section. Micro- 

phones used included a Beyer M-160 on the brass, a Western Electric RA-1142 on French horn, and an RCA 77 on tuba. 

The saxophones played into an M-19 Telefunken. The drums were picked up with a U-47 Telefunken on snare and cymbals and 

an Electro-Voice 665 on the bass drum. An Electro-Voice 654 was used on the bass andan RCA 44BX on guitar. Billy Taylor’s 

piano was picked up with a Telefunken U-47. The session was recorded on an Ampex 350 tape recorder at 15 inches per second. 

ee 

: Jack Tracy 

Mercury Recording Director 

This Mercury Custom Hi Fidelity recording is the result of the most modern recording technique of our time. The masters 

for this album were transferred through an Ampex 301 tape machine, a Pultec Filter and Equalizer, Altec limiting amplifier, 

Mac oe monitor amplifier and a 150 watt power amplifier designed especially to drive the BBC Grampian Feedback 

‘Cutting Head. 

ae monaural disc can be played equally well with either a STEREO cartridge or a STANDARD 1 mil microgroove 

cartridge. 

Base of the fine technical equipment used in the recording. of these masters, one is assured of the most faithful repro- 

- duction in the transfer from original recording to the final masters used for processing. 

MG 20654 

ALSO AVAILABLE ON STEREO 60654 

Play your Mercury regular Monaural long-play recordings 

on a Stereo phonograph? Please do. The sound quality of 

any Mercury long-play recording is actually enhanced on 

a Stereo phonograph. 

Early this past August I received the score to Kwamina, music and lyrics by Richard 

Adler, a show scheduled for October 20 opening on Broadway. It struck me as being 

not only as the best score I had heard since My Fair Lady, but as music which begged 

for jazz treatment. It would fit Billy Taylor like a-glove. 

A quick telephone call ascertained Taylor’s availability and willingness to record 

it, dependent on whether or not he liked it. His reaction was as instantaneous as 

mine. ‘‘When do we cut?’”’ he wanted to know. 

We would cut as soon as we had it planned. First, an arranger, Jimmy Jones was 

our prime choice, and he said he could start writing at the beginning of September, 

after finishing some charts for Dinah Washington. Immediately, however, the three 

of us got together for two days to-decide how the tunes should be treated, the size 

of the orchestra, and the men we wanted. September 12, 18, and 14 were set as session 

days—the latest possible dates we could record and still have the finished record 

ready for release coincidental with the Broadway opening. 

Then we talked about the men. There was no question about Clark Terry. He’l! 

do anything you ask of a trumpet player, and also will contribute the ultimate in 

enthusiasm and professionalism to any session. Jimmy Cleveland’s trombone sound 

is like Clark’s trumpet tone—warm, a little furry, pungent, They would biend 

perfectly. 

Julius Watkins, French horn, and Jay McAllister, tuba, were quickly decided 

upon. They are exceedingly fine musicians. 

Saxes? Jerome Richardson on baritone—probably the most underrated man now 

playing that instrument. Phil Woods on alto because he knows how to lead a section 

and plays exciting, imaginative solos. Frank Wess on tenor because he can play, and 

not enough people know about it. Se 

The rhythm section next. Start with George Duvivier, because you can’t find 

them any better, and pray he isn’t already booked for the days you want him. Then 

Osie Johnson on drums, a pro among pros. Add Les Spann, to our ears the best young 

guitarist on the scene, and that takes care of that. 

We now had a band that was as good as it wanted to be. Clark Terry got the 

assignment of calla them all and making sure they could be at Bell Sound a month 

hence. They could. 

Jones and Taylor then spent countless hours in discussing approaches, voicings, 

tempos, keys, and all the other details that too seldom are done thoroughly before- 

hand, thus creating hassels and headaches at the session. 

Jimmy finished four arrangements, then disgustedly tore them up and started 

all over again. He wasn’t satisfied. September 12 suddenly seemed ominously near. 

He arrived at the first date that day looking as if he hadn’t slept for two days. 

He hadn’t. 

That first session got off to a great start. One of the men was a half-hour late 

and we simply had to sit and wait for him. 

Ordinary People was the first tune, and for a while it appeared that all our advance 

preparation had been useless. The band was listless and out of tune, nothing seemed 

to get together, and after nine takes we were still apparently 10 miles from home. 

The tenth take was little better, ending midway with a horrible clam. But then, all 

of a sudden, the sun came out and everything meshed on take 11 as if they had been 

playing the tune for months. But the one arrangement had taken two precious hours 

out of our three. 

Another Time followed, and the ultimately fine performance on it by the band 

ended the day’s work. 

We got three tunes in the next day, starting with a surging performance on Jimmy’s 

great arrangement of Nothing More To Look Forward To, a fairly easy time of it on 

Happy Is The Cricket, and a humorously perky rendition of Cocoa Bean Song. 

The final session again got off to an optimistic beginning as the band wailed 

delightedly through Something Big, then needed only one take to storm through I’m 

Seeing Rainbows. They then hit the album’s biggest log jam— What’s Wrong Wath Me. 

Billy must have taken the title to heart, for time and again he’d make a good take, 

listen to it, shake his head doggedly, ask to make another. At the end of 16 tries he 

said ‘‘That’s it. Finally.’? And obviously it was—he had played marvelously. 

Another 40 minutes to do Sun Is Beginning To Crow and an album was complete. 

By this time it must be obvious that all of us connected with the project are too 

close to it to make any sort of objective judgment of its merits. We think we’ve come 

up with the finest jazz version yet of a Broadway musical—one that has individuality, 

breadth, texture, a high level of inspiration, and some real spirit. But we really don’t 

know. From here on, you’ve got it. 

Jack Tracy 

Printed in U.S.A. Mercury Recording Director