Thad Jones - Mel Lewis / Live at the Village Vanguard

AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

The second recording by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra is the equal of the first. Most memorable here are "Little Pixie," Fats Waller's "Willow Tree," and particularly, the spirited "Don't Git Sassy." With arrangements by Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer and Garnett Brown, and an all-star cast that includes trumpeters Snooky Young, Marvin Stamm and Richard Gene Williams, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, the reeds of Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels and Pepper Adams (all of whom solo), pianist Roland Hanna and bassist Richard Davis, among others, this was one of the great big bands. Fortunately, the exciting music on this out of print LP has been reissued on CD as part of a very complete Mosaic box set.

Live at the Village Vanguard is a 1967 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Solid State Records label. The album was nominated for a 1967 Grammy award in the "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group..." category.^[2] All tracks are also included on Mosaic's limited edition boxed set, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and seven tracks were also re-issued in the 1990s on CD as Volume 3 of LRC Ltd.'s (and Laserlight's) series Village Vanguard Live Sessions.^[3]

Track listing 

LP side A:

1. "The Little Pixie" – 10:34
2. "A- That's Freedom" (H. Jones) – 7:01
3. "Bachafillen" (Brown) – 7:08

LP side B:

1. "Don't Git Sassy" – 7:22
2. "Willow Tree" (Razaf, Waller) – 5:04
3. "Samba Con Getchu" (Brookmeyer) – 12:17

Bonus tracks added to later Blue Note CD reissue:

7. "Quietude" – 4:48
8. "The Second Race" – 9:37
9. "Lover Man" (Davis, Ramirez, Sherman) – 4:53

All songs by Thad Jones except as noted.

Personnel 

• Thad Jones – flugelhorn
• Mel Lewis – drums
• Roland Hanna – piano
• Richard Davis – bass
• Sam Herman – guitar
• Jerome Richardson – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute
• Jerry Dodgion – alto saxophone, flute
• Joe Farrell – tenor saxophone, flute
• Eddie Daniels – tenor saxophone, clarinet
• Pepper Adams – baritone saxophone, clarinet
• Richard Williams – trumpet
• Bill Berry – trumpet
• Snooky Young – trumpet
• Marvin Stamm – trumpet
• Jimmy Nottingham – trumpet
• Bob Brookmeyer – trombone 
• Garnett Brown – trombone
• Tom McIntosh – trombone
• Cliff Heather – trombone

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