''Pure Desmond'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " ...

recorded in 1974 and released on the CTI label.CTI Records discography
accessed February 13, 2012

Background

In September, 1974, Desmond brought Canadian guitarist

Ed Bickert Edward Isaac Bickert, (November 29, 1932 – February 28, 2019) was a Canadian guitarist who played mainstream jazz and swing music. Bickert worked professionally from the mid-1950s to 2000, mainly in the Toronto area. His international reputat ...

to the United States to record the studio album, in a quartet setting with

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

and

Connie Kay Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay, was an American jazz and R&B drummer, who was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Self-taught on drums, he began performing in Los Angeles in the mid ...

. This was Bickert's first major appearance playing jazz on a U.S. record label in over a decade, and it served as a showcase for Bickert's guitar playing. “I consider it Ed’s album, really,” Desmond told writer

Gene Lees Frederick Eugene John Lees (February 8, 1928 – April 22, 2010) was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States, where he was a music ...

for the album's liner notes.

Reception

The

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 ...

reviewer Richard S. Ginell stated "With the ''

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

'' "experiment" behind him, Paul Desmond reverted to the relaxed quartet format that suited him well in the past... In fact, it sparked a Desmond renaissance where he regained a good deal of the witty spark and erudite cool".Ginell, R. S
Allmusic Review
accessed February 13, 2012

Reissues

The album was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

for the first time in 1987, with minor differences from the original LP release. Specifically, an alternate take of "Nuages" was used, an

guitar intro was restored to "Everything I Love", a half-chorus featuring bassist Ron Carter was restored to "Mean to Me", and a different Desmond saxophone solo on "Everything I Love" was featured. In addition, two outtakes ("Wave" and "Theme from M*A*S*H") were included in the first compact disc release. The album was reissued again in 2011 with additional session outtakes, and a new mix that narrowed the stereo image and new mastering that reduced the dynamic range of the album through the use of

signal compression Signal compression is the use of various techniques to increase the quality or quantity of signal parameters transmitted through a given telecommunications channel. Types of signal compression include: *Bandwidth compression *Data compression *Dyn ...

. New to the 2011 edition were alternate takes of "Just Squeeze Me" and "'Till the Clouds Roll By". The alternate take of "Nuages" featured on the 1987 compact disc was not included, though an edited version of the Nuages master take was included and designated as an alternate take. Both edits of "Nuages" on the 2011 compact disc reissues were released with missing measures from the opening section of the song. Both "Everything I Love" and "Mean to Me" on the 2011 CD edition used the shorter edits of the original LP release.

Track listing

# " Squeeze Me" ( Clarence Williams,

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

) - 4:31 # "

I'm Old Fashioned "I'm Old Fashioned" is a 1942 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the film ''You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942), where it was introduced by Nan Wynn who dubbed for Rita Hayworth as part of a song ...

" (

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

) - 4:55 # "

Nuages "Nuages" () is one of the best-known compositions by Django Reinhardt. He recorded at least thirteen versions of the tune, which is a jazz standard and a mainstay of the gypsy swing repertoire. English and French lyrics have been added to the piec ...

" (

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, Jacques Larue) - 5:13 # "Why Shouldn't I?" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

) - 3:34 # "Everything I Love" (Porter) - 3:48 # "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 ...

) - 4:26 # "Till the Clouds Roll By" (

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

) - 4:08 # " Mean to Me" (

Fred E. Ahlert Frederick Emil Ahlert (September 19, 1892 – October 20, 1953) was an American composer and songwriter. Early life He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially ...

Roy Turk Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

) - 5:46 # " Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" (

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

) - 3:01 Bonus track on 1987 and 2011 CD reissues # "

Wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

" (

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

) - 6:16 Bonus track on 1987 and 2011 CD reissues # "Nuages" lternate take(Reinhardt, Larue) - 4:48 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Squeeze Me" lternate take(Williams, Waller) - 4:05 Bonus track on 2011 CD reissue # "Till the Clouds Roll By" lternate take(Kern, Wodehouse) - 5:12 Bonus track on 2011 CD reissue :*Recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on September 24 (tracks 1, 12 & 13), September 25 (tracks 3, 4 & 7) and September 26 (tracks 2, 5, 6, & 8-11)

Personnel

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

- bass *

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 ...

Don Sebesky Don Sebesky (born December 10, 1937) is an American arranger, jazz trombonist, and keyboardist. Biography Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Do ...

- musical supervision

References

{{Authority control CTI Records albums Paul Desmond albums 1975 albums Albums produced by Creed Taylor Albums arranged by Don Sebesky Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio