Wilbur Ware is another beautiful soul whose presence goes easily unnoticed. I have had a lot of Ware in my collection for a long time, but only noticed him about a year ago. For some reason, his album The Chicago Sound caught my eye in the Penguin Guide, and I picked it up from eMusic. Then I noticed he played bass on one of the first jazz CDs I purchased, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. After a little investigation tonight I noticed he also played on Zoot!, a splendid album in the Zoot Sims folder on my hard drive.
The Chicago Sound is a marvelous album, moody bluesy all the way from New York (where it was recorded) to the Michigan Avenue Bridge.
Wilbur Ware/Body and Soul/The Chicago SoundHere's the band: John Jenkins (as), Johnny Griffin (ts), Junior Mance (p), Wilbur Ware (b), Wilbur Campbell (d). Griffin's horn didn't hurt anything. I think this is one of the most beautiful reworkings of b&s I have heard. But listen to Ware's subtle striking. Great good stuff.
As a bonus, here is a bit from Zoot! with Ware making a mark.
Zoot Sims/Osmosis/Zoot!
There's an excellent dissertation written by Karl Erik Haddock Seigfried, titled "At once old-timey and avant-garde": the innovation and influence of Wilbur Ware, available for download at http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/919
ReplyDelete