VARIOUS ARTISTS

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Original Release Date: March 26, 2010

Release Date: March 26, 2010

Copyright: 2010 LiquidJazz™

Total Length: 1:11:50

Guido Basso--flugelhorn
Frank Collett--piano
Andy Simpkins--bass
Terry Clarke--drums
Luis Baetti--- vocal arrangement and voices on "As Time Goes By" (2010)*

Producer: Fernando Gelbard, LiquidJazz LTD (BVI)

Recording Engineer: Phil Sheridan (1986)
Carlos Basurto ( As Time Goes By voices *) (Buenos Aires, 2010)
Associate Producer: Mitchell Glickman (1986)
Recorded and mixed June 19-20, 1986 at Sage & Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA
Carlos Basurto Studio, January 10 & 11 2010 Buenos Aires, Argentina *
Additional mixing, Mark Vincent at Multi Media Music, Hollywood (2010)
Mastering: (2010) Fernando Gelbard from the original U-Matic digital tapes
Album Design: Ed Francis, Charles Reimers, Martin Gelbard (1986)
Cover Video Photography: Martin Gelbard
Original CD Photography: Ken Roupenian

Liner notes:

In 1984, Rob McConnell's Boss Brass toured California. LaRue Brown Watson, the widow of trumpeter Clifford Brown, saw the Canadian orchestra at a club and was very impressed by trumpeter Guido Basso, telling him that he should make his own record. Two years later, this set was the result.

It is surprising that Guido Basso had not previously led his own album since he was 46 and had been a highly rated jazz soloist in Canada for decades. Born Sept. 27, 1937 in Montreal, Basso began playing trumpet when he was nine. He was well trained and as a teenager was already playing with local show bands. In 1957 Basso was working with the band of Maury Kaye when Vic Damone heard him and added him to his backup group. After a year with Damone, Basso toured with Louis Bellson's orchestra accompanying Pearl Bailey during 1958-60. After those valuable experiences, he moved to Toronto where he became a very busy studio musician, both on trumpet and occasionally on harmonica. He never neglected jazz, playing with vibraphonist Peter Appleyard, sometimes leading his own groups, and in 1975 working with both Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. Other associations included performances with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman and the Phil Nimmons 'N' Nine Plus Six. However Guido Basso is best known for being a regular member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass for more than 30 years, from its start in 1968.

By 1986, Guido Basso was long overdue to record as a leader. Producer Fernando Gelbard, whose first jazz album was Clifford Brown's Study In Brown (purchased in 1956 when he was 16), remembers being astonished when he heard Basso's playing on "Portrait Of Jenny" with Rob McConnell. While Guido Basso, who is heard exclusively on flugelhorn throughout this project, does not necessarily sound that close to Brownie, some of the spirit and warmth of Brown can be heard in his playing.

For the album, Basso is teamed with a top-notch rhythm section. Pianist Frank Collett and the late bassist Andy Simpkins were on a countless number of sessions through the years in the Los Angeles area. Collett worked with Carmen McRae, the Louis Bellson Big Band, the Terry Gibbs/Buddy DeFranco Quintet, Zoot Sims, Keely Smith and Dianne Reeves. Simpkins gained some fame as a longtime member of Gene Harris' Three Sounds throughout its prime years. He also had longtime associations with George Shearing and Sarah Vaughan, and worked with Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Monty Alexander and Stephane Grappelli among many others.

Drummer Terry Clarke is possibly the most famous of all Canadian drummers. While born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he first gained fame while living in San Francisco in 1965, becoming a member of the John Handy Quintet that caused a sensation at that year's Monterey Jazz Festival. He also worked with the Fifth Dimension before moving to Toronto. Like Basso, he became a greatly in-demand studio musician and a member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass. Clarke also worked with Jim Hall and Oscar Peterson, and has appeared on over 300 jazz albums.

Recorded in one day in Los Angeles and originally released as CD by Innovation
(Canada), the music is now being reissued with three additional and previously unreleased performances.

The opener, a classic version of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz," is full of subtle surprises. Beginning as a very pretty rendition of the verse played as a duet by Basso and Collett, it evolves into a cooker by the quartet. Notice how the jazz waltz becomes a 4/4 strut during the piano solo before a flugelhorn/drums chorus and the melody statement brings it back to being both a waltz and eventually a ballad.

Basso's puckish sound and wit sometimes recall Clark Terry with touches of Freddie Hubbard on "I Thought About You." An offbeat uptempo treatment of "I've Never Been In Love Before" precedes a touching and emotional melody statement by Basso on "Little Girl Blue." While that performance eventually goes into double time, the original thoughtful and melancholy mood returns at its close. Benny Golson's "Stablemates" features the quartet swinging joyfully with Collett taking one of his best solos of the session.

"As Time Goes By" is given a unique treatment. The original version, never released before, was a duet by Basso and Collett. Producer Fernando Gelbard thought that it sounded so beautiful that he wanted to add voices. He called his friend arranger-singer Luis Baetti in Argentina, and had him arrange and record a voice choir that fit perfectly around the flugelhorn. The results are exquisite.

"Born To Be Blue" receives a light Latin treatment. "Be My Love," originally a classical melody made famous by Mario Lanza, thrives in a jubilant jazz treatment by the quartet. Horace Silver's "Peace" and Basso's "Pecado" are heard in two versions apiece including previously unknown alternate takes. Both are well worth hearing twice with the two versions of "Peace" conveying haunting moods while the catchy "Pecado" is full of infectious playing, with Basso heard at his best. The set concludes with a flugelhorn-piano duet on a beautiful version of "The Very Thought Of You."

Guido Basso has since recorded other albums, but this quartet date ranks with his greatest work. It is timeless and definitely a highpoint in his career.

Scott Yanow, author of ten books including The Jazz Singers, Trumpet Kings, Bebop, Jazz On Record 1917-76 and Jazz On Film