Wow! – Matthew Gee
A swinging bebop riff on an old standard, Exactly Like You.
- Recording: Joe Morris - Joe Morris - Atlantic 870A
- Recorded on: September 19, 1948
- Label: Atlantic (870A)
- Concert Key: A-flat
- Style: Swing (medium)
- Trumpet, Vocals - Joe Morris
- Tenor Sax - Johnny Griffin
- Trombone - Matthew Gee
- Baritone Sax - Bill McLemore
- Piano - Elmo Hope
- Bass - Percy Heath
- Drums - Philly Joe Jones
The first recording of Gee's Wow! features the band with a vocal accompaniment, accentuating the swinging bebop rhythmic phrases, with a chord progression borrowed from Exactly Like You. The Joe Morris band made several recording for Atlantic Records.
Not only is this recording the first recording of Matthew Gee's Wow, but it is also the first recorded appearance of both Elmo Hope and Philly Joe Jones. The trio of Hope, Jones, and Percy Heath would go on to do two more sessions with Joe Morris before being the core of several of Hope's most important recordings, including "New Faces New Sounds - Elmo Hope Trio", "The Lou Donaldson & Clifford Brown Quintet", and "Homecoming."
- Recording: Gene Ammons - Gene Ammons Story: The 78 Era
- Recorded on: January 16, 1951
- Label: Prestige (805)
- Concert Key: A-flat
- Style: Swing (medium up)
- Trumpet - Bill Massey
- Tenor Sax - Gene Ammons
- Trombone - Matthew Gee
- Bari Sax - Sonny Stitt
- Piano - Junior Mance
- Bass - Gene Wright
- Drums - Teddy Stewart
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This immediately gets into a swingin' groove, with bebop rhythmic phrases and a chord progression borrowed from Exactly Like You.
Matthew Gee first recorded Wow! with the Joe Morris septet on September 19, 1948. In October of 1949 he first recorded with the "Gene Ammons Orchestra" in Chicago. By the next month he was recording in New York with Dizzy Gillespie's big band, and also again with Dizzy on January 9, 1950. Before the January 16, 1951, recording of Wow!, he was back in the studio in 1950 with Gene Ammons at least five times, on January 8, May 2, July 27, another July or August session, and October 8 (Sonny Stitt was the leader this time). A very active career for a jazz trombonist.
You can also check out more titles by Matthew Gee, recorded twelve years later with Johnny Griffin on "Soul Groove:" Here and Renee.
You can also check out more titles by Matthew Gee, recorded twelve years later with Johnny Griffin on "Soul Groove:" Here and Renee.
Matthew Gee
November 25, 1925 – July 18, 1979
Trombonist Matthew Gee started his recording career with Erskine Hawkins in 1946 and 1947. In 1948 he joined the R&B band of Joe Morris, whose other members included Johnny Griffin and the rhythm section of Elmo Hope, Percy Heath, and Philly Joe Jones. Matthew did his first recording with Gene Ammons on October 4, 1949, and on November 11, 1949 his first recording with Dizzy Gillespie And His Orchestra. Read more...