Trumpeter Howard McGhee was a vital figure in the emergence of bebop, a collaborator of Charlie Parker and a leader of distinction during the period when the formal parameters of the style were still being defined. Like many players, McGhee struggled with addiction, but his is not a tragic story; the peak of his comeback was 1961, the year Maggie’s Back in Town!! was released. Its 180 gram vinyl reissue is available August 9 through Craft Recordings’ Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series.
After playing in regional bands, Howard McGhee landed a spot with Lionel Hampton in 1941 and quickly moved on to Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy, where he made his recording debut and was featured on “McGhee Special.” McGhee then joined the bands of Charlie Barnet, Georgie Auld, and Count Basie before relocating to California with Coleman Hawkins in 1945, where he played on some noteworthy (and still highly satisfying) sides with the tenor saxophonist that document the stylistic transition from swing to bop.
Although no recordings survive, McGhee took part in the legendary Minton’s Playhouse jam sessions in 1941-’42 that lit the fuse of the bop explosion. This made his trumpet a solid fit in the Jazz at the Philharmonic initiative of Norman Granz, but far more importantly, McGhee was a participant in alto saxophonist Charlie Parker’s 1946-’47 sessions for the Dial label, recordings that are amongst the most essential works in 20th Century music.
McGhee’s own recordings for Dial from the same period are a consistent pleasure and are wholly necessary to a fully rounded collection of early bebop, showing just how sharp and distinctive a player McGhee was as he entered his prime. In 1976 the Spotlight label collected McGhee’s Dial material on the Trumpet at Tempo LP and around 20 years later they gave it the CD expansion On Dial – The Complete Sessions (Parker’s Dial sides have been compiled numerous times; the master takes are indispensable to any jazz collection).
Much of McGhee’s work for Savoy is also worthwhile and can be found on the Maggie 2LP from 1976, which was also reissued on CD in ’95. On Dial and Maggie are also available digitally, as is McGhee’s material as a leader for Blue Note; initially issued on two 10-inch discs in 1952-’53, those dates are long overdue for an LP reissue.
Thankfully, the best of McGhee’s comeback albums are freshly available. Maggie’s Back in Town!! follows Dusty Blue, a Bethlehem Records release from 1961 that was reissued by the New Land label in 2022. While Dusty Blue is a very good session, Maggie’s Back in Town!! has the edge on it, in part because the spotlight shines bright on McGhee; he’s the sole horn player on Maggie’s Back (four tracks on Dusty Blue expand to a septet).
Throughout the set, McGhee proves that he’d regained his prowess and had continued to develop as a player, but without imitating any of the new guys on the scene. However, “Demon Chase,” an original composition from the trumpeter (his only piece on the LP) still delivers some of that early bop flair in its opening melody; it’s when McGhee takes off and spreads out in his solo that his advances become clear. “Demon Chase” is lively but it’s not a sprint, as it lasts for nearly eight minutes.
Maggie’s Back also thrives through the strength of a band with no weak link. With Phineas Newborn Jr. on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums, the assembled can move from the unperturbed swing of “Demon Chase” to the bluesy business of “Willow Weep for Me” to a vigorous take of “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise” that recalls the energy of the bebop ’40s without coming off as a retread. And “Sunset Eyes,” a composition by McGhee’s friend and early bop cohort Teddy Edwards, offers a Latin vibe as the sophisticated verve of the group is quite appealing
Opening side two, the title track (and the record’s second Edwards composition) breaks ten minutes and brings Maggie’s Back its clear standout. The band swings mightily, with McGhee’s long solo a delight and Newborn’s after a total knockout as Vinnegar and Manne maintain exquisite groove. When McGhee comes back in, he’s swaggering like a champ. Vinnegar gets the final solo, stretching out while avoiding any standard tropes. Manne sets off some fireworks late.
McGhee gets the tone of “Summertime” just right, but the band turns it into a bit of a cooker. And it’s hard to shake the feeling that “Brownie Speaks,” a composition by the celebrated trumpeter Clifford Brown (who died young in a car crash just five years prior to this recording), was included here to definitively reestablish McGhee’s mastery. But if this was indeed the goal, then McGhee succeeded without turning it into an outright flex; it’s as much a tribute to a fellow blower who was gone too soon.
If one were limited to the purchase of a single LP from Howard McGhee’s comeback, Maggie’s Back in Town!! is the record to get.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
