Polygon JTL2
Jazz Today
10” LP
Recorded on 16-25/2/55

Tracks

Side 1: Ballads
I’ve Got To Sing A Torch Song (Dubin & Warren)
(recorded 25/2/55)
You’re A Heavenly Thing (Frances Faye)
(recorded 25/2/55)
Imagination (Burke & Van Heusen)
(recorded 25/2/55)
Love Is Just Around The Corner (Robin & Gensler)
(recorded 25/2/55)

Personnel
Bruce Turner (alto sax.); Dill Jones (piano); Frank Clarke (bass); Cedric West (guitar);
Benny Goodman (drums)

Side 2: Blues
Farewell Blues (Rapollo, Mares & Schoebel) (A)
(recorded 16/2/55)
Blue Feeling (Duke Ellington) (A)
(recorded 16/2/55)
That’s The Blues, Dad! (Baker) (B)
(recorded 21/2/55)

Personnel
(A)
Bruce Turner (alto); with the Jazz Today Unit: Kenny Baker (tpt.); leading Jimmy Skidmore (tenor); Harry Klein (bar.); Keith Christie (trom.); Dill Jones (piano); Frank Clarke (bass); Ike Isaacs (guitar); Benny Goodman (drums)
(B)
As above with Cedric West (guitar) and Eric Delaney (drums) replacing Isaacs and Goodman

Cover design
Photography: Walter Hanlon
Typography: Ian Bradbery
Recording
Balance: Bernard Marsden
Supervision: Denis Preston

Sleeve Notes

Bruce Turner: an appreciation by Max Jones

Bruce Turner is the possessor of a dual talent not commonly found in British jazz today. At a time when jazz musicians are fairly sharply divided into two camps, traditional and progressive, he exhibits an astonishing ability to adjust his approach to suit the requirements of both schools. And, as one side of this record shows, he can give an excellent account of himself in extended alto performance of popular songs.

Technically, Bruce Turner is thoroughly accomplished, but he is not much given to the kind of florid saxophone display which catches the attention of the casual listeners. He plays often with telling restraint, almost always with swing and attack. His tone is full and forceful, his phrasing so graceful that his more elegant passages remind us of two alto masters; Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. Turner confirms that Hodges has been a favourite of his for some eighteen years, but says “I don’t try to copy him. If I sound a bit like Hodges it’s because he is the man I listen to most. But trying to copy him, that’s like trying to copy yourself… it’s no good !”

Born in Middlesbrough in 1923, Malcolm Bruce Turner was educated at Dulwich College and began his band career on clarinet. He first made records as a member of Freddy Randall’s band in 1951/2, when his alto and soprano saxophone solos, and especially his clarinet playing, brought him favourable criticism. Two years ago Turner joined Humphrey Lyttelton, still playing all three instruments but now concentrating on the alto. In these two years he has won considerable popularity, not only for his work with the Lyttelton band, but also for a more modern style which has been said to stem from Lee Konitz from whom he took lessons in New York.

On the “ballad” side of this LP, Turner offers extempore variations on four good popular songs, supported by Dill Jones’ piano, Cedric West’s guitar, Frank Clarke’s string bass and the drums of Benny Goodman. The first is a light, swingy rendering of “I’ve Got To Sing A Torch Song,” theme number from “Gold Diggers of 1933 ” which Coleman Hawkins introduced to jazz fans on a Fletcher Henderson recording. Then comes a jumpier version of “You’re A Heavenly Thing,” another song from the ‘thirties, followed by “Imagination,” a Jimmy Van Heusen number, played mostly in low register in slow, flowing vein. Finally, a fast “Love Is Just Around The Corner” on which Bruce employs a style not unlike that of a “booting” tenor.

On the reverse, Bruce is presented as one of six soloists with the Jazz Today Unit. The numbers are “Farewell Blues,” a jazz standard credited to Leon Rapollo, Elmer Schoebel, and Paul Mares of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings; Duke Ellington’s “Blue Feeling”; and a Kenny Baker original: “That’s The Blues, Dad!” Turner’s alto is a consistently attractive feature of these performances by a combination of highly regarded British musicians brought together for concert and record work under the leadership of trumpet personality Kenny Baker.

Media/mentions