Fifth For Frank – Gerald Wiggins
A bright and bouncy medium up swing. Lead sheets from two very different arrangements available.
- Recording: Cal Tjader - Cal Tjader Quartet
- Recorded on: May 24, 1956
- Label: Fantasy (LP 3227)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Vibes - Cal Tjader
- Piano - Gerald Wiggins
- Bass - Gene Wright
- Drums - Bill Douglass
Comparing the two audio excerpts you'll hear these are two very different arrangements of A Fifth For Frank. The Cal Tjader recording was first, and it's a light medium up 2-feel arrangement (with drums playing brushes). The recording, like our audio excerpt, starts right on the melody.
Gerald first recorded A Fifth For Frank with Cal Tjader (May 1956). Four and a half months later, pianist Carl Perkins recorded it with bassist Curtis Counce.
Gerald kept busy in 1956, first doing a Leonard Feather session in January, then Gerald's own trio session as well as a track with Buddy Collette on February 24 for the English Ember label. After the Cal Tjader date, he did at least 12 more sessions before the end on the year, including two of his own sessions that yielded Wiggin' With Wig (originally on the Dig label) and Relax and Enjoy It! for Contemporary Records, as well as another session with Buddy Collette and sessions with Louis Armstrong, John Graas and Russ Garcia.
Gerald kept busy in 1956, first doing a Leonard Feather session in January, then Gerald's own trio session as well as a track with Buddy Collette on February 24 for the English Ember label. After the Cal Tjader date, he did at least 12 more sessions before the end on the year, including two of his own sessions that yielded Wiggin' With Wig (originally on the Dig label) and Relax and Enjoy It! for Contemporary Records, as well as another session with Buddy Collette and sessions with Louis Armstrong, John Graas and Russ Garcia.
- Recording: Curtis Counce - Landslide
- Recorded on: October 8, 1956
- Label: Contemporary (C 3526)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (uptempo)
- Trumpet - Jack Sheldon
- Tenor Sax - Harold Land
- Piano - Carl Perkins
- Bass - Curtis Counce
- Drums - Frank Butler
The Curtis Counce recording features drummer Frank Butler, for whom the title is named. It's played more up tempo than the Cal Tjader version, 4-feel, with drums using sticks. Gerald made quite a few other changes in these two arrangements that make for an interesting comparison if you listen closely.
Note that pianist Carl Perkins, who played on the Curtis Counce session, also has compositions on jazzleadsheets.com. So does saxophonist Harold Land, who first came to prominence a couple of years before (1954) playing with Clifford Brown and Max Roach in California.
Gerald Wiggins
May 12, 1922 – July 13, 2008
Pianist Gerald Wiggins started his recording career in 1942 with Les Hite And His Orchestra, when trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was also a member of the band. Before that, Gerald was with Louis Armstrong in 1940-1941; he recorded with Armstrong in 1943. Wiggins started working with Benny Carter in 1942, recording with him first in 1944 and continuing to work on and off with him for decades, until 1992. Read more...