The Sonny Criss Orchestra - 'Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool)'

 

In the 1950s, alto saxophone player Sonny Criss was the West Coast’s Bird, not a copy of Charlie Parker but strongly and obviously influenced by him.  He recorded with Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Hampton Hawes and on a session with both Bird and Chet Baker. 

Sonny recorded an impressive twenty-three albums as a leader.  When you listen to Sonny, you can hear why he is appealing to Jazz fans.  His rich, full tone on saxophone conveyed confidence and positive energy.  He was equally fluent and on his second "axe", the soprano saxophone.  Sadly, his career was cut short, when he committed suicide at fifty after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.

It takes a lot of (what my friend Zelda calls) chutzpah (pronounced hutzpah, the c is silent) to subtitle a Jazz album "Birth of the New Cool", but that's what Sonny Criss did with his 1968 release 'Sonny's Dream'.  In fairness, it was meant to call attention to the similarity in instrumentation between this band and the legendary Miles Davis Nonet; but the Sonny Criss Orchestra has a style all its own.

Horace Tapscott

Despite Sonny Criss being the "protagonist performer", this essentially is a Horace Tapscott album, that could have easily been titled, 'Horace Tapscott Presents: The Sonny Criss Orchestra - Birth of the New Cool', and this in no way, is meant as a slight against Sonny Criss.  Horace comes off as a first-class composer and arranger, and far more than the avant-garde style in which he is usually identified.  Like Sun Ra & Charles Mingus, he favors a low, dark instrumentation, and the ensemble is characterized by prominent use of baritone sax and tuba.  It becomes clear that Horace had closely studied Mingus' work, especially, 'The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady', but make no mistake, this is not a pale imitation.  Horace's compositions, arrangements and charts here are bold, highly rhythmic, and a passionate.

That said, Sonny's playing is of a high caliber, with highly intelligent lines, his bright sound infuses everything he plays with a positive energy and an underlying sense of confidence to the whole recording.  Sonny adds many different musical "colors" to this outstanding album.

'Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool)' is one of my favorite Jazz album of 1968, which granted was a strange year for Jazz; John Coltrane had died the year before, Free Jazz was more or less on its way out, and fully realized Fusion was a year away.

The players:
Sonny Criss – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Horace Tapscott – arranger, composer and conductor
Tommy Flanagan – piano
Conte Candoli – trumpet
Dick Nash – trombone
Ray Draper – tuba
David Sherr – alto saxophone
Teddy Edwards – tenor saxophone
Pete Christlieb – baritone saxophone
Al McKibbon – bass
Everett Brown Jr. – drums

1968 was a wonderful year for music. For the freeload, tell us what albums released in 1968 do you listen to on a regular basis?