Back in the early sixties, Prestige Records – one of the titans amongst jazz labels at that time – started a series dubbed Moodsville. The goal was to find a midpoint between the improvisation-focused albums that most jazz fans craved, and the “mood music” trend that often relied on trite orchestration, but appealed to casual fans on the edges of the jazz world. By asking premiere artists to perform ballads from the Great American Songbook without compromising their own integrity, the results were a series of classic LPs that are often overlooked in the musicians’ catalogs. Through their Acoustic Sounds imprint, Craft Recordings looks to change that.
Released in 1960 and the first album in the series, Moodsville, Volume 1 features pianist Red Garland’s trio with bassist Sam Jones and Art Taylor, plus special guest Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis on tenor. With advanced skill but a penchant for melodic focus, Garland is a crucial link between bebop and the cool jazz and hard bop that was evolving out of it. Plus, having backed Miles Davis, Garland knows his way around a ballad – his playing on “Blue Room,” “I Heard You Cry Last Night,” and “Wonder Why” is absolutely exquisite. Plus he plays the blues like Otis Spann with a music degree on the self-penned “Softly Baby” and “The Red Blues.” None of this is a surprise, of course – what might be is Davis’ performance on “We’ll Be Together Again,” “Softy Baby,” and “When Your Lover Has Gone.” Best known as a crowd-pleasing firebreather, the saxophonist slathers on the smooth talk like he’s trying to seduce every lady in the house. Moodsville, Volume 1 is exactly the record to put on when the lights get low, dinner is done, and it’s time to relax on the couch with that special someone.
Saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was already a giant in the jazz realm by the time The Hawk Relaxes arrived in 1961. Living history even then, Hawkins had been a star on the big band circuit and an early bebop influencer – countless saxophonists cited him as a beacon. With his big, round tone, melodic sense, and ingrained swing, Hawkins was already known as a master of any type of music his bell touched, so this record was an easy lift for both artist and label. Just because the Hawk is relaxed doesn’t mean any diminution of effort, however. Just listen to “Under a Blanket of Blue,” during which Hawkins and his sidepeople – guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Andrew Cyrille, and pianist Ronnell Bright, all at the beginning of their careers – find every ounce of soulful beauty the tune has to offer, and make them their own. The same goes for the lush and dreamy “More Than You Know,” with the Hawk giving a performance so romantic you’ll be down on one knee before the first verse is over. Or spin the shuffling “I’ll Never Be the Same,” Latin-grooved “Speak Low,” or frisky “Just a Gigolo,” with Hawkins putting the cream in your coffee with the first note. This LP shows that there’s a good reason why Hawkins is considered to be one of the best to ever do it.
A mostly forgotten name now, flautist/saxophonist Frank Wess was a much beloved figure in 1960 as a member of Count Basie’s band, a session player for TV and Broadway, and a prolific solo artist. First issued in 1960 and featuring the leader backed by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Eddie Jones, and drummer Bobby Donaldson, Moodsville, Volume 8 features the kinds of ballads and swingers you’d expect from a musician with Wess’ experience. The winds master lights up his own “Rainy Afternoon,” an epic swinging blues that finds each member relaxing into the groove and laying a foundation for the boss’s liquid tenor. The sax returns for a lush “Stella By Starlight” and “Gone With the Wind,” but the record primarily features his work on the flute. Spin the lovely “But Beautiful,” the swinging “I See Your Face Before Me,” and the Latin-grooved “Star Eyes,” on which his slick tone and speedy licks bely any notion of the flute being too gooey an instrument for jazz. (Flanagan’s superb solos help.) Wess may no longer have the name recognition of his peers in the series, but Volume 8 earns his right to stand with the heavyweights.
