Our Miss Brooks – Harold Vick

"Steppin' Out" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

Our Miss Brooks was first released on drummer Dave Bailey's LP "Reaching Out" on the Jazztime label (JT 003), and features the first New York session of California-born tenor saxophonist Frank Haynes. Haynes moved to NYC in 1960, but his career was cut short by cancer, at age 34. The first CD release of that album was under the name of Grant Green as leader, on the Black Lion label.

Composer and tenor saxophonist Harold Vick first recorded this composition himself with organist Jack McDuff four months after the "Reaching Out" recording, but that track remains unreleased. In 1963, Harold recorded his own version on two albums: first, with Jack McDuff for Prestige (early 1963), and then, four months later, on his own Blue Note album "Steppin' Out."

On this Harold Vick penned blues, Green starts out by comping in a supportive, understated fashion, sticking primarily to "Charleston" hits and simple voicings to provide support while avoiding clashes with Big John Patton's comping. However, when Vick's solo ends and Green steps out of the background, he does so in a thrilling fashion, with a greasy, declarative, hemiola-based triplet phrase that undoubtedly "takes house." This type of mid-tempo blues is one of Green's favorite stomping grounds, made evident by his seemingly bottomless pocket and sly, bluesy assertiveness throughout his solo. For any musician who wants to learn something about striking a groove and playing with intention, Green's performance is a true masterclass.

Grant solos 3 blues choruses.

Our Miss Brooks was first released on drummer Dave Bailey's LP "Reaching Out" on the Jazztime label (JT 003), and features the first New York session of California-born tenor saxophonist Frank Haynes. Haynes moved to NYC in 1960, but his career was cut short by cancer, at age 34. The first CD release of that album was under the name of Grant Green as leader, on the Black Lion label.

While recorded over two years prior to Vick's rendition on ""Steppin' Out," Green approaches Our Miss Brooks very similarly here, with "Charleston" based comping behind the melody and other soloists and a blues-saturated, rhythmic tongue-twister of a phrase that uncorks a swaggering solo. Of special interest is the slow tempo of the alternate take, which causes Green to dig into the time in an even deeper manner than the brisker takes, and puts his infectious time feel on wide display to the listener.

There are two takes from this session available;
take 1: Grant solos 4 blues choruses
take 4: Grant solos 2 blues choruses

Our Miss Brooks had been recorded by Harold Vick and Jack McDuff a year before this session, on July 14, 1961, during McDuff's "Goodnight, It's Time To Go" session. Guitarist Grant Green played on it, but that take has never been issued. Something about the performance on the January 8, 1963, session must have been more to the producer's liking.

Taken at a quicker tempo than the other recordings featured here (quarter note at ca.124), Jack McDuff's recording of Our Miss Brooks finds Kenny Burrell taking a quite different approach than Grant Green. While Burrell also plays "Charleston" hits behind the melody, his comping behind Vick and McDuff find him both playing a considerable amount of four-to-the-bar rhythm guitar and being noticeably interactive with the soloists. Additionally, Burrell's solo (6 blues choruses) makes serious use of double-stops and chord-soloing in addition to some smokin' single note lines, which frequently burst into double-time or extended strings of triplets. For those interested in Burrell's approach to a mid-tempo blues, his performance here is an excellent one to study.

Composer, tenor saxophonist Harold Vick is the melody instrument, as he was on his own "Steppin' Out" session, so we're recommending looking at that C treble clef lead sheet while checking out this recording.

Recorded about halfway through George Benson's tenure with Jack McDuff, his first high-profile gig, Harold Vick's Our Miss Brooks serves as a blistering feature for the precocious (then 21 years old) guitarist.

By this point in time, the McDuff quartet with Benson, Joe Dukes, and Red Holloway was a seasoned and well-oiled unit, having toured and recorded prolifically since June 1963. Indeed, July 1964 also found the quartet recording a big band album in Sweden, which was arranged and conducted by Benny Golson.

Interesting to note is the rhythm section of McDuff and Dukes, who also appear on McDuff's 1963 rendition with Kenny Burrell and Harold Vick.

It's first important to note the ways in which Benson and the rest of the McDuff group play the song differently than Harold Vick. First off, Benson opts to play the second chorus' ending to the melody both choruses. The group also significantly modifies Vick's original hits, adding a figure to the last measure of each melody chorus, starting the hits in the third measure of B on the second triplet of beat 3, and playing a Dsus7 with G in the melody in measures 5 and 6 of the interlude.

Playing the melody to the song, Benson shows off his masterfully dynamic and expressive touch, making use of a variety of techniques (bends, slides, slurs, etc.) and his precise picking to make the phrases pop out in the same way a skilled horn player would play.

When it comes to his solo, Benson lights a veritable fire for the listener, blazing through densely chromatic triple-time phrases and weaving them with moments of the deepest blues. Comping-wise, Benson mostly sticks to the hits laid out by McDuff, making extensive use of tremolo picked chords to mimic the sound of the Hammond organ. However, he also creates a fascinating call-and-response within his playing of "Charleston" hits, often significantly changing the register between the first and second hits to create a chordal conversation with himself.

Guitarists of all levels will find something suitable to study in this performance, from Benson's nuanced and creative approach to comping, to his speech-like articulations and inflections, and to his fearsome linear prowess.