Espresso Jazz  provides this page for jazz commentary

CD Review-  Edmond Hall: Profoundly Blue 

Label: Blue Note Records

Charlie Christian playing acoustic guitar? Yes! And that's just one of the historic aspects of these marvelous instrumental blues recordings made by Blue Note's Alfred Lion in the 1940s. Profoundly Blue is comprised of three groups led by the great swing clarinetist, Edmond Hall. Each group on this reissue is unique in style and instrumentation. The musicians are some of the finest jazz players of the period, from Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands, as well as from the jumpin' New York City jazz club scene. These recordings represent a once-in-a-lifetime chance to record together in completely spontaneous circumstances. The results are some of the best jazz on record.

Charlie Christian stood the jazz world on its ear as the first brilliant electric guitarist*. No less than Benny Goodman fell under his spell, and the two made some terrific records together. Profoundly Blue represents the only acoustic performances Christian ever recorded and in the very unusual context of clarinet, bass, guitar, and celeste. The sensitivity of the interplay between the players is extraordinary.

The group was billed for the session as "The Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet". They recorded four sides; with an alternate take of the title track Profoundly Blue, giving an opportunity to compare a merely superb rendering with a truly classic one. Three choruses of exquisite, sparce counterpoint with guitar, bass, and celeste set up one searing clarinet solo chorus by Hall. Meade Lux Lewis' celeste took the track to the final "out" chorus, with Israel Crosby’s acoustic bass solidly underpinning the entire performance. These four players represented the very best of their time, the unity on the recordings is truly astonishing; and to the best of my knowledge, none of them ever played together again. The three other selections are all blues, two up- tempo, and another slow blues, beautifully played.

The next session, made three years later in 1944, is a more sophisticated, but no less swinging ensemble. It consisted of the urbane Teddy Wilson on piano, Red Norvo on vibes, John Williams on bass, and Carl Kress, another acoustic guitarist. Kress's nifty chord solos are an interesting contrast to Christians single line soloing of the previous set.

All four tunes are Ed Hall originals, blues or "jump" oriented, with the up-tempo Smooth Sailing and Rompin' In '44 swinging brightly, and a fiercely paced Seein' Red literally blazing out of the original recording grooves. Blue Interval , in contrast to Profoundly Blue , is a very lyrical blues in Db, and is almost wistful, in a drifting, romantic way, that eloquently shows the incredible range of the blues form. Both these sessions were marked by a sort of "floating " rhythm that resulted from the absence of drums. The last session, by contrast, has one of jazzdom's all time great drummers, "Big Sid" Catlett, in the rhythm section, and the romping that results is a "cookin' " contrast to what has gone before.

The Edmond Hall Swingtet could easily be called an all-star group. In addition to Catlett, Harry Carney, the Duke's great baritone sax player appears in a rare non-Ellington ambiance. Benny Morton, late of the Basie band and one of the trombone giants is also here. The rhythm section is rounded out by a trio of players, the likes of which could probably have been found in New York City at that time: Junior Raglin on bass, Everett Barksdale on guitar, and Don Fry on piano.

There are four tunes, with alternate takes on I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me , a jam session favorite, and It's Been So Long , a superb Walter Donaldson tune that was one of Edmond's favorites which lays very nicely on the clarinet. These are joyful swing performances, with some carefree jamming and upbeat soloing by everyone, and are very typical of the kind of music you would hear at a New York jam session in the '40's. It was the unusual combinations of players and styles that made sparks fly, where unpredictability fired everyone’s spirits, and spontaneously improvised melodic explorations of great songs bounced off ceilings and walls in jazz clubs all over town. Give a listen!

- Bob Sparkman 

*Footnote - Historical accuracy requires a note that the Basie trombonist, Eddie Durham, who was also a guitarist, made the first amplified guitar recordings on Milt Gabler's Commodore label with Lester Young's "Kansas City" small groups. These dates featured "Prez" playing some of the most exquisite clarinet ever recorded. Those sessions have been reissued on Commodore CMD-402. They are "must" listening and also include some beautiful Buck Clayton trumpet. 

Return to  Sparkman Archives      

This site and all its content is
Copyright © 2007 Espresso Jazz Network
All Rights Reserved Worldwide