''The Quintessence'' is an album by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

and his orchestra. It was released in 1962 and was his only album for Impulse! One critic called it "the sound of the modern, progressive big band at its pinnacle." Jones's band was an outgrowth of the orchestra used in the Broadway show ''Free and Easy'' and featured some of the personnel that Jones assembled in New York for the show's European dates.

Contributors

The core band consists of

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

Melba Liston Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, ...

Julius Watkins Julius Watkins (October 10, 1921 – April 4, 1977) was an American jazz musician who played French horn. Described by AllMusic as "virtually the father of the jazz French horn", Watkins won the ''Down Beat'' critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for M ...

, and bassist

Milt Hinton Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...

and pianist Patricia Bown on two sessions, with bassist Buddy Catlett and pianist Bobby Scott on another. The trumpet chairs are held alternately by players like Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry,

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

, and

Snooky Young Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of t ...

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album ''The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

, Frank Wess and

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

also contributed.

Track listing

# The Quintessence (

) - 4:21 # Robot Portrait (

Billy Byers William Mitchell Byers (May 1, 1927 – May 1, 1996) was an American jazz trombonist and arranger. Early life Byers was born in Los Angeles on May 1, 1927. He suffered from arthritis from a young age and was unable to continue his plans of a care ...

) - 5:25 # Little Karen ( Benny Golson) - 3:44 # Straight, No Chaser (

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

) - 2:26 # For Lena and Lennie (Jones) - 4:17 # Hard Sock Dance (Jones) - 3:20 # Invitation (

Bronisław Kaper Bronisław Kaper (; February 5, 1902 – April 26, 1983) was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper. He was also va ...

, Paul Francis Webster) - 3:35 # The Twitch (Byers) - 3:50 ''Tracks 5, 8 recorded on November 29, 1961; #2-3, 6 on December 18; 1, 4, 7 on December 22, 1961.''

Personnel

Tracks 1, 4, 7 *

Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (November 15, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played soprano sax, alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo. He played with C ...

- saxophone *

, Thomas Mitchell - trombone * Ernie Royal,

, Joe Newman,

- trumpet *

James Buffington James Lawrence Buffington (born May 15, 1922, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania; died July 20, 1981, Englewood, New Jersey) was an Americans, American jazz, studio, and classical French horn, hornist. Buffington was a busy studio and jazz player on ...

, Earl Chapin, Ray Alonge -

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

Harvey Phillips Harvey Gene Phillips, Sr. (December 2, 1929 – October 20, 2010) was an American tuba player. He served as the Distinguished Professor of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington (from 1971 to 1994) and was dedicated advocate ...

- tuba *Gloria Agostini - harp *Patricia Bown - piano *

- bass *James Johnson - drums Tracks 2, 3, 6 *

Eric Dixon Eric "Big Daddy" Dixon (March 28, 1930 – October 19, 1989) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger. Dixon's professional career extended from 1950 until his death in 1989, during which time he was credited ...

, Frank Wess, Phil Woods, Oliver Nelson - saxophone * Freddie Hubbard, Al Derisi, Snooky Young, Thad Jones - trumpet *

, Paul Faulise, Rodney Levitt - trombone *Julius Watkins - French horn *Patricia Bown - piano *Milt Hinton - bass *Bill English - drums Tracks 5, 8 *Phil Woods, Eric Dixon, Jerome Richardson - saxophone * Jerome Kail,

Clyde Reasinger Clyde Reasinger ''(né'' Clyde Melvin Reasinger; 1927 – March 26, 2018) was an American trumpeter known for his work in big bands and recording studios. Reasinger was born in Pennsylvania, and began his musical career in the late 1940s. He lat ...

, Clark Terry, Joe Newman - trumpet *Billy Byers, Paul Faulise, Melba Liston - trombone *Julius Watkins - French horn * Bobby Scott - piano *George Catlett - bass * Stu Martin - drums

Production

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

- producer *Frank Abbey - engineer * Pete Turner - cover photograph

Contributors

Track listing

Personnel

Production

References

See also