Release date: 24-09-2010 (originally released in 1959)

2010 EU limited edtion High-definition premium 180gm vinyl-This is another in a series of remarkable collaborations between Gerry Mulligan and several of the major jazzmen of our time. Of a previous meeting that involved Gerry and Ben Webster. -stickered & sealed.

Tracks:
A1. SUNNY (Gerry Mulligan) 
A2. WHAT S THE RUSH (Gerry Mulligan-Judy Holliday) 
A3. BACK BEAT (Johnny Hodges)
B1. WHAT IT S ALL ABOUT (Johnny Hodges) 
B2. 18 CARROTS FOR RABBIT (Gerry Mulligan)
B3. SHADY SIDE (Johnny Hodges) 

BBC comments:
In the late 50's Gerry Mulligan recorded sessions with three of the most important saxophonists of a slightly older generation; Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Johnny Hodges. Hodges' work with Duke Ellington was a formative influence on the young Mulligan when he took the alto chair with Claude Thornhill's band, and remained when he made the switch to baritone.

By this time Mulligan's place in jazz history was assured, mainly due to his work with Chet Baker in the famous pianoless quartet, which became a cornerstone of the West Coast sound. Meanwhile Hodges (twenty years Mulligan's senior) was still making vitally important contributions to the Ellington Orchestra.

According to Nat Hentoff's sleevenote a fair amount of pre-planning went in to this session, and it's certainly not the usual run through a set of blues and standards that you usually find on such one-off meetings. Having said that though, there's a casual, informal vibe to the proceedings too.

Though the sound of the band is pretty typical of the West Coast style, Mulligan avoids the kind of intricate counterpoint that characterised his recordings without piano or meetings with contemporaries like Stan Getz or Paul Desmond. He's content to keep out of Hodges' way and even sits out on "What's The Rush", the album's only ballad. Here 'The Rabbit' demonstrates his mix of poise andbluesyemotingthat makes him one of the most instantly recognisable alto players of the 20th century.

Meanwhile Mulligan wears his influences proudly, so much so that at times you could be listening to Hodges or Lester Young pitched down an octave or so. Maybe that's just a consequence of hearing him in close proximity to one of his heroes, but the two men's styles do seem like different sides of the same coin. As the title suggests, this is a meeting rather than a cutting contest, and it's all the better for it. Lovely.Taylor's approach to three Cole Porter tunes with a trio and three of his own with a quintet is a lively combination, and one which, in lieu of his later work, reveals the construction of his system of improvisation better than his later records do when he is playing from the middle of it. Accompanied by Dennis Charles on drums and Buell Neidlinger on bass, Taylor dives deep into Porter's "I Love Paris," a shifty little pop song. Taylor goes head to head with Neidlinger in a contrapuntal statement of the melody -- illustrated by chord changes which are extrapolated from the melodic sequence -- against harmony before actually flowing into the main theme of the tune for a moment before kicking the rhythm section loose and treating the tune percussively, almost as if it were a series of rhythm changes instead of harmonic ones. On the title track it's much the same, except Taylor's tenderness shines through in his lilting right hand in the middle as he trades fours with Charles. There's a wonderful cut-time tempo here, and Taylor starts building scales harmonically in his solo only to answer them with the melody and original harmony. With his own three tunes, with trumpeter Ted Curson and saxophonist Bill Barron added to the fray, Taylor takes more chances. On "Little Lees (Louise)," he scores in an elaborate melody that is played without dissonance by the horn section as he and Neidlinger play entirely in counterpoint. But here, too, there is a sublime lyricism at work; there are no extra notes or chords, and everything falls in line with the chromatic architecture Taylor composes with. "Maities Trophie" is Taylor ringing in a blues jam à la Ellington -- or at least his version of Ellington. The solos by Curson and Barron are tight, narrative, and bordering on swing, but all that's taken care of by Taylor's solo. Love for Sale is a delightful anomaly in Cecil Taylor's long career. ~ Thom Jurek