''Blues and Other Shades of Green'' is an album by trombonist
Urbie Green which was recorded in 1955 and released on the
ABC-Paramount
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...
label.
Urbie Green discography
accessed January 24, 2019
Reception
Jason Ankeny of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
states: "''Blues and Other Shades of Green'' casts Urbie Green in a rare small-group setting, assembling a stellar quintet ... for a crisp, coolly efficient session that leaves just enough wiggle room to allow all of the individual contributors their moment in the spotlight. Green wields both the slide and the valve trombone here, and the simplicity of the arrangements affords his lovely, direct tone the perfect platform to shine".
Track listing
''All compositions by Urbie Green, except where noted.''
# "Reminiscent Blues" – 3:17
# "Thou Swell
"Thou Swell" is a show tune, a popular song and a jazz standard written in 1927.
History
The music was written by Richard Rodgers, with words by Lorenz Hart, for the 1927 musical '' A Connecticut Yankee''. The lyric is notable, as indicated b ...
" (Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
, Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...
) – 3:20
# "You Are Too Beautiful
You Are Too Beautiful is a 1932 song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1933 film ''Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (film), Hallelujah, I'm a Bum'', where it was sung by Al Jolson. It became a pop and jazz standard in the 1940s, with a notabl ...
" (Rodger, Hart) – 4:21
# "Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
" (Nacio Herb Brown
Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American songwriter, writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work ...
, Gordon Clifford) – 3:01
# "Warm Valley" (Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
) – 2:47
# " Frankie and Johnny" (Traditional) – 1:49
# "One for Dee" – 2:45
# " Limehouse Blues" (Philip Braham
Philip Braham (18 June 1881 – 2 May 1934) was an English composer of the early twentieth century, chiefly associated with theatrical work. From 1914, he composed music for such musicals and revues as ''Theodore & Co'' (1916) and '' London Call ...
, Douglas Furber
Douglas Furber (13 May 1885 – 20 February 1961) was a British lyricist and playwright.
Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song "The Lambeth Walk" and the libretto to the musical '' Me and My Girl'', composed by Noel Gay, from which ...
) – 2:02
# " Am I Blue?" (Harry Akst
Harry Akst (August 15, 1894 – March 31, 1963)
- accessed November 19, 2011
) – 3:03
# "Dirty Dan" – 2:45
# "It's Too Late Now" (Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...
, Burton Lane
Burton Lane ( Levy; February 2, 1912 – January 5, 1997) was an American composer and lyricist primarily known for his theatre and film scores. His most popular and successful works include '' Finian's Rainbow'' in 1947 and ''On a Clear Day You ...
) – 3:11
Personnel
* Urbie Green – trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
, valve trombone
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
*Jimmy Raney
James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and ...
– guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
*Dave McKenna
Dave McKenna (May 30, 1930 – October 18, 2008) was an American jazz pianist known primarily as a solo pianist and for his " three-handed" swing style. He was a significant figure in the evolution of jazz piano.
Career
He was born in Woonsock ...
– piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
*Percy Heath
Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...
– bass
*Kenny Clarke
Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...
– drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
References
{{Authority control
Urbie Green albums
1955 albums
ABC Records albums
Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
Albums produced by Creed Taylor
Albums recorded in a home studio