The Art Farmer Septet

Updated on Nov 25, 2024

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Released 1956 (1956) The Art Farmer Septet(1953–54) Early Art(1954) Release date 1956 Genre Jazz		Length 33:00 Artist Art Farmer Label Universal Music LLC Producers Bob Weinstock, Ira Gitler

Recorded July 2, 1953 and June 7, 1954 Studio New York City and Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey Similar Art Farmer albums, Jazz albums

The art farmer septet mau mau

The Art Farmer Septet is the debut album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1953 and 1954, arranged by Quincy Jones and Gigi Gryce, and released by Prestige Records. The cover art was done by cartoonist Don Martin.

The recordings made on July 2, 1953 are some of the earliest recordings of the electric bass. The four tracks with electric bass, played by Monk Montgomery, display his facility with walking bass lines, bebop melodies, and Latin-style ostinato, (Chuck Rainey said that Monk was the first to record the electric bass).

All of the players on the 1953 recording, except drummer Sonny Johnson, were at that time members of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Johnson was a previous associate of bass player Monk Montgomery, from Indiana.

Art farmer jimmy cleveland cliff solomon oscar estell quincy jones up in quincy s room

Reception

The Allmusic review called the album "An excellent early hard bop set". The Penguin Guide to Jazz commented that the album demonstrates that Farmer's "style was already firmly in place: a pensive restraint on ballads, a fleet yet soberly controlled attack on uptempo tunes, and a concern for tonal manipulation within a small range of inflexions".

Track listing

All compositions by Art Farmer and Quincy Jones except where noted.

"Mau Mau" – 5:15
"Work Of Art" – 5:46
"The Little Bandmaster" – 4:06
"Up In Quincy's Room" (Gigi Gryce) – 4:00
"Wildwood" (Gryce) – 2:55
"Evening In Paris" (Quincy Jones) – 2:41
"Elephant Walk" (Jones) – 3:25
"Tia Juana" (Gryce) – 4:52

Note

Recorded in New York City on July 2, 1953 (tracks 1–4) and at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on June 7, 1954 (tracks 5–8)

Personnel

Art Farmer – trumpet

Jimmy Cleveland – trombone

Clifford Solomon (tracks 1–4), Charlie Rouse (tracks 5–8) – tenor saxophone

Oscar Estell (tracks 1–4), Danny Bank (tracks 5–8) – baritone saxophone

Quincy Jones (tracks 1–4), Horace Silver (tracks 5–8) – piano

Monk Montgomery – electric bass (tracks 1–4)

Percy Heath – bass (tracks 5–8)

Sonny Johnson (tracks 1–4), Art Taylor (tracks 5–8) – drums

Quincy Jones – percussion (track 1)

Quincy Jones (tracks 1–4), Gigi Gryce (tracks 5–8) – arrangement

Production

Doug Hawkins – recording engineer (tracks 1-4)

Ira Gitler – producer (tracks 1-4)

Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer (tracks 5-8)

Bob Weinstock – producer (tracks 5-8)

Songs

1Mau Mau5:14
2Work Of Art5:45
3The Little Bandmaster4:04

References

The Art Farmer Septet Wikipedia

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