1. Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man
2. Mongo Santamaria - Yeh, Yeh!
3. Mel Tormé - Comin' Home Baby
4. Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Desafinado
5. Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro)
6. André Previn - Like Young
7. Jimmy Smith & The Big Band - Walk On
The Wide Side (Parts 1 & 2)
8. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
9. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder (Part 1)
10. Moe Koffman Quartette - The Swingin' Shepherd
Blues
11. Ramsey Lewis Trio - The "In" Crowd
12. Vince Guaraldi Trio - Cast Your Fate To
The Wind
13. Johnny Dankworth - African Waltz
14. Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto - The Girl
From Ipanema
15. Richard "Groove" Holmes - Misty
16. Ray Bryant - Shake A Lady
17, Eddie Harris - Exodus
18. Young Holt Trio - Wack Wack
19. Les McCann - The Shampoo
20. Hank Marr - The Greasy Spoon
21. Johnny Lytle - The Loop
22. Jimmy McGriff - I've Got A Woman (Part
1)
23. Cannonball Adderley - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
24. Victor Feldman Quartet - A Taste Of Honey
25. David Rockingham Trio - Dawn
26. Ray Barretto Y Su Charanga Moderna - El
Watusi
27. Cozy Cole - Topsy II
28. Nelson Riddle - Route 66 Theme
This is a useful compilation,
for several reasons. Its generous playing-time
of nearly 80 minutes allows the inclusion
of 28 jazz tracks which have been hits. This
will fill some gaps in many fans' collections
and it is just the thing to give to someone
who has the mistaken idea that jazz is never
popular or tuneful.
Another useful aspect of
the collection is that it supplies some hints
about what makes a jazz recording appeal to
a wide audience. There seem to be two major
factors: a simple, easily-remembered tune
and a catchy rhythm. Many of the tracks here
are basically blues, which means that they
have a structure which is easy to follow.
This doesn't necessarily mean poor quality,
as some tracks here are undoubted classics
- like Jimmy Smith's Walk on the Wild Side,
with that thrilling mid-tune drum roll into
Smith's solo. And Richard "Groove" Holmes'
version of Misty is a masterpiece of
swinging Hammond organ, upping the tempo of
a tune that is usually taken much slower.
These recordings all reached
the Hot 100 in Billboard's charts between
1958 and 1966. In April 1961, Billboard
was moved to publish a piece about the popularity
of jazz tracks when three such singles entered
the charts: Dave Brubeck's Take Five,
Eddie Harris's Exodus, and Cannonball
Adderley's African Waltz - the last
represented here by Johnny Dankworth's original
version (recorded at Abbey Road with George
Martin). The 24-page booklet inserted in the
sleeve is full of evocative illustrations
and fascinating facts. For instance, Vince
Guaraldi's Cast Your Fate to the Wind
was originally issued as the B-side of a single.
Two managers at a Sacramento radio station
liked the track so much that they played it
every two hours for a week, and its popularity
gradually spread throughout the USA.
My only reservation about
this album is that some of the tracks are
very short, probably because they were edited
to get them onto a single or to ensure radio
airplay. This means that, for example, Herbie
Hancock's Watermelon Man fades out
before you might expect. On the other hand,
it is good to hear rarities like Mongo Santamaria's
original single of Yeh Yeh (complete
with manic screams), recorded in 1963, two
years before Georgie Fame had a hit with a
vocal version. All in all, this is a worthwhile
and engrossing compilation
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Ace
CDCHD 1188
