Red Allen Chapters 9 - The Jazz Archive

- 102 -
1/9-1/28/62, Chic. - London House - Red Allen Quartet, (housebands: Eddie Higgins/Larry Novak);
between 1/9 - 28/62 Chic., London House; 3/23/62 - WBBM-“Best Band on One Night Stand” - HENRY RED ALLEN
QUARTET: Red Allen (t,v) Sammy Price (p) Frank Skeete (b) Jerry Potter (d) tape 26:33
ONS-5567 1:03 theme: ALGIERS BOUNCE (H.Allen) on tape only/ RA-CD-22
5:37 LOVER COME BACK TO ME (S.Romberg) Flutegrove FL6/ RA-CD-22
6:13 ST.LOUIS BLUES (W.C.Handy) --- / RA-CD-22
5:29 THAT'S A PLENTY (Gilbert-Pollack) --- / RA-CD-22
2:40 MEDLEY: - I'VE GROM ACCUSTOWD TO HER FACE --- / RA-CD-22
- AUTUMN LEAVES --- / RA-CD-22
2:51 BIFFLY BLUES (H.Allen) --- / RA-CD-23
4:15 BILL BAILEY, WON'T YOU PLEASE COME HOME (Cannon) --- / RA-CD-23
0:34 leave out to ONS-theme and announcement RA-CD-23
same date & loc.; 3/30/62 - WBBM-ONST: same as above tape 30:00
ONS-5576 0:21 intro: ONST-theme only RA-CD-23
4.33 LADY BE GOOD (Gershwin) RA-CD-23
3:22 AUNT HAGAR'S BLUES (Handy) Flutegrove FL6/RA-CD-23
3:06 PRICE IS RIGHT (Sammy Price) --- /RA-CD-23
6:36 MEDLEY: - VOLARE RA-CD-23
- BYE BYE BLACKBIRD RA-CD-23
- THE MUSIC GOES ROUND AND ROUND RA-CD-23
3:54 JELLY ROLL BLUES (J.R.Morton) RA-CD-23
6:53 MEDLEY: - IT'S ALLRIGHT WITH ME RA-CD-23
- HAVA NEGUILA --- /RA-CD-23
0:48 theme: ALGIERS BOUNCE (H.Allen) RA
John Chilton in “Ride, Red, Ride” p172: … Although the
Allen-Price musical partnership was very success-ful,
socially they shared a love-hate relationship. … In his
autobiography Price spoke of their association:
“I was working with someone who understood me and
knew that I kidded a lot but most of the time I meant
what I said... I stayed with Red eight years... Red was my
best friend and I considered myself his best friend. He
was hell to get along with musically because he was so
sensitive, but I got along with him by telling him I made
him sound good.
Sammy Price's multifarious business interests combined
with his political activities often curtailed his availability
to play musical dates, and as a result pianist Lannie Scott
began doing some of Red Allen's work…. Lannie Scott
and Sammy Price continued sharing Red's work, and
each made separate trips to Chicago for the quartet's
London House residencies. the group was featured on
various broadcasts from that club, some of which were
later issued on albums. The balance is indifferent on most
of these 'airshots', Franklin Skeete's double bass playing
is almost inaudible and the sound of Jerry Potter's
cymbals adds an obtrusive 'sound-wash' to the
proceedings. There is also some 'wow' on the piano and
Red occasionally steps 'off-mike'; nevertheless it is a
fair portrait of the quartet at work in a club that did not
cater exclusively for jazz fans. Red encourages the
crowd and often uses his trade-mark exhortation 'Make
him happy!' to get them applauding the solos. He also
generously sprinkles the word 'Nice' throughout the
programme.
The material used by the quartet covered a wide area.
Following his appearance in the Chicago and All That
Yazz TV show, Red took to using a neat arrangement of
Morton's 'Jelly Roll Blues', which was issued on the 'airshots'
album. Sammy Price wisely makes no attempt to
copy Jelly Roll Morton, creating instead some fine rolling
piano playing that demonstrates his skilful, sturdy lefthand
work. Red does not blast his way to a climax here
and is similarly restrained on a tight arrangement of 'Aunt
Hagar's Blues' (to which Red had been reintroduced
during his European tour with Kid Ory); however his
playing exuberance is unchecked on an imaginative
version of 'Lover, Come Back to Me'. Lannie Scott was
also featured on some of the Chicago broadcasts (see Jan.1963) and
plays well on a faster than usual version of 'Satin Doll', on which
Red's solo is full of interesting gaps where he deliberately pauses
for dramatic effect. The quartet's version of 'I Want a Little Girl' is
a little too ornamental. but Lannie Scott shows that he, like Sammy
Price, was a versatile pianist.
Some of these Chicago performances are run-of-the-mill (by
Red's standards) but it must be remembered that, for the
musicians, this was an ordinary working night, which to their
surprise was later issued on record. Had Red known this in
advance he would not, one feels, have included the inappropriate
and showy version of 'Hava Neguila'.
In contrast, the material recorded by Red's quartet (Scott,
Potter and Skeete) for a Prestige-Swingville session in June
1962 was carefully selected. …
1/29-2/24/62, N.Y.C., Embers - Meade Lux Lewis, Henry Red Allen (see advertisement on page 100) New Yorker magazine 2/10/62:
THE EMBERS, 161 E. 54th St.(PL 9-3228): Unusually there are a couple of conventions down front, but Red Allen's horn
defies them as best it can. His quartet of traditionalists will be reinforced on Moday, Feb.12, by Meade Lux Lewis's trio.
Sundays offer potluck bouts between extra bands. .METROPOLE, 7th Ave, at 48th St.: The teeth of the gale are operated by the
band of Gene Krupa and Charlie Shavers' quartet. Guests work this street on Sundays. Friday and Saturday nights, there's Twist
music, and the tribal rites that go with it, upstairs in the haymow.