CD1
Flip
1. Cake
2. Znarg Blues
3. My Old Flame
4. Cool
5. Swinging For Julie And Brownie
6. Lazy River
7. This Can't Be Love
8. Cookie
9. Drowsy
10. Vortex
11. Milano
12. But Beautiful
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Howard McGhee - Trumpet (tracks 1-4)
Hank Jones - Piano (tracks 1-4)
Ray Brown - Bass (tracks 1-6, 9-12)
J. C. Heard - Drums (tracks 1-4)
John D'Agostino, Buddy Morrow, Tommy Turk, Kai Winding - Trombones (tracks 5, 6)
Sonny Criss - Alto sax (tracks 5, 6)
Mickey Crane - Piano (tracks 7-12)
Shelly Manne - Drums (tracks 5, 6)
Billy Butterfield - Trumpet (tracks 7, 8)
Bennie Green - Trombone (tracks 7,8)
Pete Mondello - Alto sax (tracks 7, 8)
Sam Bruno - Bass (tracks 7, 8)
Max Roach - Drums (tracks 7, 8)
Jo Jones - Drums (tracks 9-12)
The Flip Phillips - Buddy Rich Trio
13. Lover
14. Don't Take Your Love From Me
15. Flip's Boogie
16. Feelin' The Blues
17. Lover Come Back To Me
18. The Blue Room
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Buddy Rich - Drums
Hank Jones - Piano
Ray Brown - Bass
Flip Wails
19. Cheek To Cheek
20. Funky Blues
21. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
22. Indiana
23. Be Be
24. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Bill Harris - Trombone
Dick Hyman - Piano (tracks 19-22)
Gene Ramey - Bass (tracks 19-22)
Jo Jones - Drums (tracks 19-22)
Harry Edison - Trumpet (tracks 23, 24)
Hank Jones - Piano (tracks 23, 24)
Billy Bauer - Guitar (tracks 23, 24)
Ray Brown - Bass (tracks 23, 24)
Buddy Rich - Drums (tracks 23, 24)
CD2
Flip Wails
1. Bright Blues
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Harry Edison - Trumpet (track 1)
Hank Jones - Piano (track 1)
Billy Bauer - Guitar (track 1)
Ray Brown - Bass (track 1)
Buddy Rich - Drums (track 1)
2. Broadway
3. Sojoro
4. Apple Honey
5. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
6. Long Island Boogie
7. Star Dust
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Lou Levy - Piano (tracks 2-7)
Jimmy Woode - Bass, vocals (tracks 2-7)
Joe McDonald - Drums (tracks 2-7)
Swinging With Flip
8. If I Had You
9. Cottontail
10. Blues For The Midgets
11. What Is This Thing Called Love
12. Singin' In The Rain
13. Gina
14. Goodbye
15. Salute To Pres
16. Swedish Pastry
17. Someone To Watch Over Me
18. I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
19. Trio Boogie
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Charlie Shavers - Trumpet (tracks 8-11)
Oscar Peterson - Piano (tracks 8-11)
Barney Kessel - Guitar (tracks 8-11)
Ray Brown - Bass (tracks 8-11)
Alvin Stoller - Drums (tracks 8-11)
Al Porcino - Trumpet (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Bill Harris - Trombone (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Charlie Kennedy - Alto sax (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Cecil Payne - Baritone sax (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Mickey Crane - Piano (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Freddie Greene - Guitar (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Clyde Lombardi - Bass (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Max Roach - Drums (tracks 12, 13, 17, 18)
Allen Smith - Trumpet (tracks 14-16)
Charlie Etter - Trombone (tracks 14-16)
Jerome Richardson - Baritone sax (tracks 14-16)
Richard Wyands - Piano (tracks 14-16)
Vernon Alley - Bass (tracks 14-16)
Earl Watkins - Drums (tracks 14-16)
Buddy Rich - Drums (track 19)
Hank Jones - Piano (track 19)
The Flip Phillips - Buddy Rich Trio
20. Carioca
21. Three Little Words
22. Sleepy Head
23. Bugle Call Rag
24. Take The "A" Train
25. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Flip Phillips - Tenor sax
Buddy Rich - Drums
Hank Jones - Piano
Flip Phillips was a significant member of Woody Herman's First Herd in the mid-1940s but he might not have become so famous had he not been spotted by Norman Granz, who used him in his "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concerts. There he became a useful foil to fellow-tenorist Illinois Jacquet, and they often competed in rousing the audiences with honking and shrieking on their tenor saxes.
These habits tended to conceal Flip's more subtle abilities, which are thankfully illustrated on this double CD. These are particularly notable on such ballads as Goodbye and Sleepy Head, but Flip was also a fine improviser at faster tempos, as on Cottontail. At times his tone is reminiscent of Zoot Sims or Ben Webster: alternately mellow and powerful.
Phillips is heard with groups of varying sizes: from a trio to a tentet, all of which include some first-rate musicians. Phillips' tenor blends well with Bill Harris's trombone, and Lou Levy supplies some energetic boogie-woogie in Long Island Boogie. Charlie Shavers adds some magical counterpoint behind Flip's theme statement in What Is This Thing Called Love? My particular preference is for the 13 tracks recorded with a trio completed by Buddy Rich and Hank Jones (plus, on six tracks, Ray Brown). Buddy's drumming keeps the temperature high and Hank Jones is a pianist for all situations. The line-up of this trio may remind you of the Gene Krupa trio, although Flip Phillips is not as forceful or resonant a tenorist as Charlie Ventura. But Buddy Rich was just the right person to insert some fitting four-bar breaks into several tunes.
These recordings from the late forties and early fifties show that Flip Phillips fully deserved his fame - not so much for the honking JATP battles but for his sensitivity in ballads and his fluent extemporization at faster speeds. And his abilites as a composer are shown by the 14 pieces he composed for these varied sessions. The remastered sound is - as with most of these Avid reissues - remarkably clear.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Avid AMSC 1070
