Jivin' With Fritz – Paul Gonsalves
An elegant medium swinger in the instantly recognizable Gonsalves style.
- Recording: C Jam All Stars - Diminuendo, Crescendo and Blues
- Recorded on: November 15, 1958
- Label: Bertelsman (61134)
- Concert Key: B-flat
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet - Clark Terry
- Tenor Sax - Paul Gonsalves
- Piano - Carlos Diernhammer
- Bass - Jimmy Woode
- Drums - Sam Woodyard
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Paul Gonsalves' inimitable style is certainly evident in this 32-measure song. The melody rises and falls in an elegant, Ellingtonian fashion, with several notable chromatic passing and surrounding tones (for example F♯ A G in the third measure). The bridge melody is at first simpler than that of the A section, but goes into 16th-note runs in the last two measures. The changes are quite simple, recalling Perdido or Tadd Dameron's Our Delight. There is a coda that extends the last melody phrase in a circle of 4ths ultimately resolving back to B♭maj7b5.
This album was recorded in Munich, Germany, during a European tour by Duke Ellington's band. The local pianist on this session, Carlos Diernhammer, is rather obscure. He recorded three sessions with drummer Freddy Brocksieper in 1952, 1955, and 1957, as well as two songs on guitarist Attila Zoller's first album as a leader, "Night Bounce," in 1962.
Paul Gonsalves
July 12, 1920 – May 15, 1974
A unique and very individual tenor saxophonist, Paul Gonsalves was born in Boston, MA, and raised in Pawtucket, R.I. Back in Boston, he was featured with the Sabby Lewis band, and after Army service (1942-1945) he made his first recording with Sabby Lewis in March 1946. Later that year he joined the Count Basie band, replacing Illinois Jacquet. He made his first official recording with Basie on January 3, 1947. He remained with Basie into 1949, then joined Dizzy Gillespie's bop-oriented big band later that year, recording with them on November 21, 1949, and January 9, 1950. Read more...