Andre Previn was a man of many musical talents. Some of the greatest film scores of all time were written, orchestrated, and played by Previn, and his work extends beyond popular music into classical music. Sometimes his work in jazz is overshadowed or overlooked, in light of his iconic film scores, which is surprising given the enormous output of jazz recordings he was involved with in his lifetime.
A work that brings together his sensitivity to the music of the screen and more specifically the stage, is West Side Story, featuring Previn along with drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Red Mitchell, a 1960 release on Contemporary Records. Manne, known as one of the leading lights of the West Coast school of jazz, also had a considerable amount of film work under his belt as well at this point and Mitchell had played often with Previn, both in the studio and on stage.
This esteemed trio brings a light touch to what on the stage and screen, and in many jazz and pop interpretations, can often be heavy-handed and miss the subtleties of Leonard Bernstein’s original groundbreaking, iconic, and historic music. This was the third outing from Previn, Manne and Mitchell, interpreting music from the stage or screen, following their albums of the music from Pal Joey and Gigi.
Leroy Walks! By Leroy Vinnegar, was released only a couple of years before the West Side Story album but it’s a forward-thinking, heady release and marked the debut album as leader for Vinnegar and one of only two as a leader for the Contemporary label, with Leroy Walks Again!! released in 1963.
Legendary bassist Vinnegar is joined here by Victor Feldman on vibraharp, who nearly steals the show, Teddy Edwards on tenor sax, with whom Vinnegar played on many recordings from Edwards where Edwards was the leader; and Gerald Wilson on trumpet, Carl Perkins on piano, and Tony Bazley on drums.
While the walk wordplay song title’s theme is a little hokey, it takes nothing away from this cool jazz set before cool jazz had fully flowered. Along with the Vinnegar original, the sprawling “Walk On,” there are classics from the great American songbook and a few obscurities.
The album was originally released by Stereo Records, through Contemporary. The music here has an almost baroque/ third stream classicism, that never veers into the avant-garde, but at the time (1958) must have seemed quite cutting edge. The interplay between Vinnegar and Feldman in particular creates a rhythmic mood that is captivating, yet subtle. Lester Koenig’s production is seamless.
Both albums are now reissued on vinyl as part of the celebrated Contemporary Records, Acoustic Sound Series. They are both pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and include archival sleeves and period labels. The records are all analog, stereo recordings, mastered by Bernie Grundman. These recordings sound excellent, have a natural sound, and seem to have been mastered with the intent of keeping them as close to the sound of the original albums as possible.
While the Blue Note Tone Poet releases are receiving worthy praise, these Contemporary reissues should not be overshadowed by the longer-running related Blue Note releases.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Andre Previn and His Pals Shelly Manne & Red Mitchell,
West Side Story
B+
The Leroy Vinnegar Sextet, Leroy Walks
B+
