(Swing) Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips - Mayhem In Manhattan - 2003, FLAC (tracks+.cue) lossless

All those petulant trad versus modern prejudices aside, there was nothing quite like a Jazz At The Philharmonic concert to put critics and fans at each others throats.
Jazz critics hated Jazz At The Philharmonic with a vengeance insisting that it represented the very depths of vulgarity. Fans, at the other extreme loved every note, buying up the recorded souvenirs in their hundreds of thousands. At one juncture, it was claimed that approximately 50 percent of all jazz records released in the US stemmed from the Norman Granz stable. Granz always insisted that his three main goals in life were to promote integration, present good jazz and to show that good money could be made from promoting good jazz. He succeeded on all counts. "I endeavor to present the best possible jazz to the widest possible audience."
Away from the furore, the fact remains that Jazz At The Philharmonic was one of the most important post-WW2 phenomenons in jazz.
Working along a swing-into-bop bias, Norman Granz assembled a cast of around a dozen of the biggest jazz stars of the day to create, on the stages of the world's major concert halls, the intimacy of those competitive jam sessions that often took place in after-hours basement clubs and then released the highlights on a succession of best selling discs.
Interestingly, a watertight case for the Genesis of rock 'n' roll taking place in Los Angeles on Sunday, 2 July 1944, during a fund raiser - organized by 26-year old MGM film editor Norman Granz - for Mexican youths wrongly jailed for a killing following the Sleepy Lagoon "Zoot Suit" riots, can be supported by an on-the-spot recording of a foot-on-the-gas jam entitled 'Blues'. On that night, tough tenor saxmen Illinois Jacquet and Jack McVea squared off against one another, cutting contest style, for an almighty blowing showdown of skill, excess and endurance. The crowd went wild reacting like spectators at a Main Event boxing match rather than a jazz show. Originally recorded by the American Forces Radio Service (AFRS), 'Blues' was not released commercially by Granz until a full two years after its broadcast. And, when it eventually hit the stores, it became a best seller along with the first JATP album, which sold a phenomenal 150,000 copies. In doing so, Norman Granz heralded the advent of genuine 'live' recordings as a legitimate accepted form. And, by recording ail his shows and releasing them commercially in a blaze of publicity, Granz built himself a multi-million dollar music empire to rival anything in pre-Elvis pop.
By 1954, JATP Inc grossed four million dollars and, soon after, Granz could guarantee his main line stars $50,000-plus a year and, when she was touring, Ella Fitzgerald banked $5,000 a-week.
From the start, Norman Granz regarded his JATP presentations as "A variety show of the finest jazz", for nowhere else could the public witness tenor sax titans Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips holding centre stage, fiery trumpet top-guns Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Buck Clayton and Fats Navarro in confrontational mood, the subsequent fall out when drummers Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa faced-off for Richter-scale rumbles or that magic occasion when Charlie Parker met his mentor Lester Young in a single spotlight. As Gene Krupa insisted: "Working with Jazz At The Philharmonic is about the best job in the world." From those early beginnings in Los Angeles, until he mothballed the US arm of the operation in 1957, Granz undertook twice-yearly tours, each lasting ten weeks and taking in 60 cities. In Europe, JATP toured right up until 1960, when a combination of escalating economics and inflated egos left him with no alternative but to restructure his entire operation, but not before they'd visited Japan.
Said Granz: "Jazz has always been, to me, fundamentally the blues and all the happy and sad emotions it arouses, I dig the blues as a basic human emotion, and my concerts are primarily emotional music. I've never put on a concert that didn't have to please me, musically, first of all." Emotions ran much higher than normal on 27 September 1947, when Granz staged a Midnight Matinee at Carnegie Hall. Such had been the stampede for tickets that an afternoon performance had also been arranged at the most prestigious of Manhattan's concert halls situated on 7th Avenue at 57th Street.
Aside from tenor saxmen Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips, the rest of the troupe comprised, trumpet player Howard McGhee, trombonist Bill Harris supported by an A-list rhythm section made up of Hank Jones (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Jo Jones (drums). The concert also featured solo spots by another tenor sax icon Coleman Hawkins and singer Helen Humes. Having been featured soloist with Woody Herman (1944-66), Flip Phillips joined JATP in 1946 where he remained a heavyweight attraction for the next 11 years. Said Phillips: "We toured every place. I did see the world.... Jazz At The Philharmonic was the greatest thing that ever happened in music. Whoever was on JATP was the best in the world. Nobody but Norman Granz could put them together the way he did. Norman use to trade on building up this competition between the players with the
trumpet battles, the drum battles and those tenor sax battles that often featured me and Illinois Jacquet."
In later years, Illinois Jacquet claimed to have certain reservations about his musical profile while a JATP regular - "I'd hit those high notes mainly because people wanted it. But to be frank, I never liked that stuff". However, since when, at just 19-years young Illinois not only blew his way into history on Lionel Hampton's 1942 hit 'Flying Home' but he epitomized a relentless flagwaving approach which spawned a plethora of copyists. As noted writer Gary Giddins opined about Illinois Jacquet: "In the few minutes it took Lionel Hampton's Orchestra to record 'Flying Home', he put it on the map....jazz was now finally as erotic and vulgar as Ladies' Home Journal had warned, and the crowds that came to hear Jacquet with Hampton, JATP and Basie expected nothing less than a shot to the glands."
Taking all this (and more) into account, the tenor sax showdown that took place on 27 September was, depending upon one's personal viewpoint, either a day of infamy or one of the most exciting confrontations ever!
The previous year, a New York correspondent for Down Beat Magazine had described a JATP audience as "A howling mob". Later the same year, Down Beat again carried a similar observation of what took place at a Chicago concert. "Everything that is rotten in contemporary jazz was to be found in this musical catastrophe." Umm, nice!
Ever protective of both his operation and his artists Norman Granz would answer his critics thus: "If the people liked it, it wasn't jazz. Jazz has a cult mentality and cannot deal with acceptance without feeling a whore!"
As for the impressive cast of the Carnegie Hall concert: Howard McGhee was one of the first generation of bebop trumpet stars who worked regularly with Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker and was a JATP regular between 1947-48. Bill Harris had played along side of Flip Phillips in Woody Herman's Orchestra. One of the all-time trombone stylists, he was a popular JATP regular and, as his solo on 'Perdido' affirms a most exciting performer. Hank Jones joined JATP in 1947 as the house pianist and between 1948-53 also worked as Ella Fitzgerald's musical director. Ray Brown, one greatest of all bass players, was a long-time cornerstone of the JATP organization as well as long-term member of the Oscar Peterson Trio. Jo Jones, through his immaculate work with Count Basie (1934-1948), has long been venerated as the ultimate big band drummer, but as his work with JATP demonstrate, he could drive the smallest of line-ups with great skill. Of the music recorded during this most memorable evening:
On 'Perdido' Flip Phillips steps up to the microphone to take the first tenor sax solo. Almost immediately, the audience is whistling and shouting out their encouragements as Flip feels the measure of the crowd with a few honks, slides, growls and repeated licks, thereby setting the mood for the evening before he giving way to Howard McGhee who, in turn hands over to Illinois Jacquet. The Man from Texas motors along smoothly for some time before he thickens his gravelly tone and slips into overdrive with Papa Jo upping the excitement by accurately emphasizing the saxman's phrasing. The track ends with some brief jousting. For the more uptempo 'Mordido', it's Illinois who kicks off the round of solos. Again, he takes a straight-ahead tact, before Flip who has to bide his time until after, McGhee, Jones, Harris and Brown have all had their say.
The slower 'I Surrender Dear' affords the musicians to briefly catch their breath. It's Illinois who is the first of the two tenor sax soloist. Flip the last..
'Endido' is a full throttle flag-waving finale as both tenor sax titans repeatedly hit notes that only dogs can hear! As for the audience...they're on their feet and cheering from the sidelines as though it were New Year's Eve in Times Square As with 'Perdido', it's McGhee who separates the tenor men: Illinois jumps in first and Flip, second Like Flip Phillips insisted: "If you wanna earn a dollar, you've got to make 'em holler." And what became known as the 'Dido Suite' did precisely that. This was still the era of the 78 rpm 10-inch single and the contents of this CD were originally released over a total of TEN singles. It broke down like this. 'Perdido' was spread over both sides of three 78s, likewise 'Mordido'. 'Endido' took up all four sides of two 78s , as did 'I Surrender Dear'. All sold like there was no tomorrow.
Aware of criticism that attached itself to events such as this, Norman Granz had an effective rejoinder, "I may give the audience honking, but it's the best honking there is!" No argument there.
ROY CARR, author
Jazz On CD (Mitchell Beazley)
The Hip: (Faber & Faber)
A Century Of Jazz (Hamlyn)

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 2003
REM DISCID 3A0DE304
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.99pb5"
PERFORMER "Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips"
TITLE "Mayhem In Manhattan"
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    PERFORMER "Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips"
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FILE "02 - Mordido.wav" WAVE
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    PERFORMER "Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips"
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FILE "03 - I Surrender Dear.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "I Surrender Dear"
    PERFORMER "Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "04 - Endido.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Endido"
    PERFORMER "Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 6. February 2011, 17:29
Illinois Jacket, Flip Phillips / Mayhem In Manhattan
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