I will be taking regular vinyl explorations this year, listening to and considering records from our collection. Let’s start with Paul Desmond’s 1974 “Skylark” on Creed Taylor’s jazz label, CTI.
The alto saxophonist and composer Desmond was considered a pioneer of “cool jazz” or “West Coast jazz.” Of course, he was Dave Brubeck’s primary collaborator for years and author of the Brubeck Quartet’s landmark hit, “Take Five.”
The sessions were recorded in November and December 1973 in Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio. Van Gelder is considered the best jazz sound engineer ever, used by most of the greats. Exceptions were Charles Mingus and a handful of others who believed Van Gelder altered their sound too much. That’s a story for another day.
The impressive band for “Skylark” included Ron Carter (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) and featured the Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó. I’ll sample one or two of his albums during this year-long journey. The arrangements were crafted by Don Sebesky. As with Van Gelder, the CTI label often worked with Sebesky. The cover photo was shot by acclaimed jazz photographer Pete Turner who created many of the CTI cover images over the years.
My favorite tune was the Skylark title track, the wonderful 1941 Hoagy Carmichael-Johnny Mercer standard performed by, well, everyone from Harry James to k.d. lang or Mel Torme to Gregory Porter. Unsurprisingly, the piece served as a platform for Desmond’s sax virtuosity as did his take on Take Five, entitled Take Ten.
The most interesting song was Romance de Amor, a traditional 19th Century piece of Spanish parlor music the derivation of which is disputed. The piece was a vehicle for Szabó’s excellent guitar work. Vincente Gomez performed Romance in the movie, “Blood and Sand” (1941) as did Narciso Yepes in “Forbidden Games” (1952). Andy Williams and My Chemical Romance covered the tune, as well, and how often do those two appear in the same sentence?
Also noteworthy on “Skylark” are Ron Carter’s bass lines in Music for a While that are followed by a beautiful cello solo by George Ricci. Desmond loved Simon & Garfunkel music. His entire previous album in 1969 featured his interpretations of their songs. On this “Skylark” album, he included Paul Simon’s 1973 Was a Sunny Day.
Paul Desmond died at age 52 just three years after release of “Skylark,” ravaged by years of chain smoking and alcohol. Szabó passed at age 45 from liver disease eight years after “Skylark." In happier news, Creed Taylor, Don Sebesky, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette are very much with us nearly 50 years after this impressive album's recording.
