Paul Quinichette - 1957 - On The Sunny Side

Paul Quinichette

1957

On The Sunny Side

01. Blue Dots
02. Circles
03. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
04. Cool-Lypso

Alto Saxophone – John Jenkins (2) (tracks: A2, B2), Sonny Red (tracks: A1, A2, B2)
Bass – Doug Watkins
Drums – Ed Thigpen
Piano – Mal Waldron
Tenor Saxophone – Paul Quinichette
Trombone – Curtis Fuller (tracks: A1, A2, B2)

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, May 10, 1957.

This CD reissue adds a previously unreleased version of "My Funny Valentine" to the original four-song program. The swing-based tenor Paul Quinichette is heard with a more modern group of players than usual: trombonist Curtis Fuller, both Sonny Red and John Jenkins on altos, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Ed Thigpen. Waldron's three originals (highlighted by "Cool-Lypso") allow plenty of room for swinging, and Quinichette (who also performs "On the Sunny Side of the Street") sounds comfortable interacting with the younger musicians. An enjoyable and underrated release.

Paul Quinichette was a tenor player who sounded so much like Lester Young you almost have to wonder why you listen to him rather than to the master himself. He was, however, a very good player, fluent and swinging, and one who worked very well with hard bop musicians, where Lester never really felt at home. This record has him playing with Curtis Fuller (tbn), John Jenkins and Sonny Redd Kyner (alt), Mal Waldron (p), and rhythm of Doug Watkins and Ed Thigpen. It works very well, with the leader being both a pleasing contrast to the tougher sounds around but also fitting comfortably in to them.

Everybody plays pretty well. Curtis Fuller works up a fair head of steam on some tracks but also spends periods doing a sort of involved muttering, to which he was always a bit prone. On the slower tunes he adopts a much more closed velvety tone, and is very effective. Both altos play very well throughout, both very strongly influenced by Bird and not having grown very much away from that, although there is a bit of Jackie McLean in Jenkins as well. Both could have been exceptional had they had the opportunity to develop, but neither did. They produce a good sound.

Mal Waldron was one of the most original pianists working in, and frequently out of, the style, and his spiky, meandering lines are a constant pleasure. You can almost hear his mind working. Watkins is a constant source of rhythmic strength and the supple swinging Thigpen is almost the perfect drummer for such a varied group.

The three original tunes are all swingers, with good solos all round. The title tune is taken as a slower ballad and is mainly a feature for the leader, who plays beautifully, but in a very Lestorian mode. The final track, My Funny Valentine, has a fine alto solo and Fuller's best solo of the session but no audible Quinichette at all. The sleeve note tells us that Fuller and Sonny Redd are out for this track, the rest of the band playing, so something is wrong somewhere. Otherwise the sleeve is detailed and identifies all soloists.

This is a Prestige reissue. That company recorded a lot of stuff in New York at about this time. They don't seem to get the attention that the Blue Note label has, but there are a lot of gems in there. This isn't quite that, but it is a pleasing surprise.