Ray Brown-Milt Jackson: Lined With A Groove

Track

Lined With A Groove

Artist

Ray Brown (bass) and Milt Jackson (vibes)

CD

Much In Common (Verve 314 533 259-2)

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Musicians:

Ray Brown (bass), Milt Jackson (vibes), Oliver Nelson (arranger, conductor), Clark Terry (flugelhorn),

Ernie Royal, Snooky Young (trumpets); Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green, Tom McIntosh, Tony Studd (trombones); Ray Alonge (french horn); Bob Ashton, Danny Bank, Jimmy Heath, Romeo Penque, Jerome Richardson, Phil Woods (reeds); Hank Jones (piano); Grady Tate (drums)

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(composed by Ray Brown)

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Recorded: New York, January 4, 1965

Brown

Rating: 100/100 (learn more)

This recording is with Oliver Nelson’s big band—Grady Tate is playing drums, Clark Terry is playing flugelhorn, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown, Hank Jones. It’s great to hear Ray Brown in this setting, because if I’m not mistaken, it was one of the first recordings---if not the first recording---that he made either as he was in the process of leaving Oscar Peterson’s Trio or had just left Oscar Peterson’s trio. He was starting to really focus on his development as a bandleader—or so he thought. That’s when he moved to L.A. and started becoming a studio ace on the West Coast. But it’s great to hear him play his tunes, and to hear the band sort of under his direction... Even though Oliver Nelson was the arranger-conductor on the date, somehow you got the notion that Ray Brown was running things! It’s also interesting to listen to Ray Brown during this period, because in the early to mid ‘60s you never really heard him play with too many other drummers other than Ed Thigpen. Now, you did hear him on a couple of sessions with Sinatra and people like that. But these were structured sections where he didn’t get much chance to stretch out. Now, this was one of the first times that Ray played with Grady Tate. It’s great to hear him hook up with somebody else, and you can hear that the hookup maybe wasn’t as instant as it was with Ed Thigpen. You can hear that there are some discrepancies in where the tempo might lay. But somehow, that blur in the tempo actually works. For some reason, I always liked hearing that. Ray always pushed. He was always ahead of the beat, just on the border of speeding up, and you can hear that Grady Tate is kind of in the pocket. You can feel this real hip tension, kind of like Ray going, “come on Grady...UNNH...” It’s fun to listen to.

Reviewer: Christian McBride

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