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The Fox (1959)
The Fox (1959)
8
The Fox / Mirror-Mind Rose / One Second, Please / Sims A-Plenty / Little Chris / One Down
It’s time to throw in some jazz again, and with the dozens of sites telling you how innovative Coltrane or Coleman were, how unique Sonny Rollins’s tone was and how Rahsaan Roland Kirk could play 12 horns at once (and they’re all right), I thought it might be even more interesting to introduce a musician of a much lesser stature, but one that deserves to be rediscovered nonetheless. Harold Land’s biography reads like a classic example of those “what if?”-stories. It’s not that his career was cut short by drug abuse or premature death (Fats Navarro anyone?), but when his tenure with the rising Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet seemed on the verge of getting him some broader acclaim, he had to quit temporarily due to illness in the family (he was replaced by another rising star, Sonny Rollins). As a result of this, he based himself in Los Angeles afterwards, and at the time (the mid-50’s), the West Coast wasn’t exactly recognized as a hotbed of talent and innovation, so opportunities to attract attention and good deals were few. I guess that’s why The Fox remains a bit of a neglected album to this very day. However, among the inside crowd (people who make fun of me because I know **** about jazz) it’s supposed to be considered a minor classic of straightforward hard-bop, and each time I hear the title track, I cannot but agree.
Obviously rooted in the be-bop revolution of the previous decade, but tougher while maintaining an awe-inspiring tightness, “The Fox” is a fast and energetic prize-winner that’ll make your jaw drop in a split-second, and not only because of Land’s blend of Parker’s nervousness and Coltrane’s force. Trumpet player Dupree Bolton (who’s actually one of jazz’s enigmas – he only appeared on a handful of albums and nobody seems to know what he’s been up to since the ‘60’s) delivers a few searing solos, while pianist Elmo Hope’s lightness of touch keeps the composition from becoming too overbearing. In the meantime, Frank Butler keeps things swinging with varied playing, while 18-year old (!) bassist Herbie Lewis comes off as a huge talent (and he’d wind up playing with Cannonball Adderley and McCoy Tyner in the ‘60’s), capable of keeping up the frenzied pace. Unfortunately, “The Fox” is the only one of its kind on the album, which is not to say the remainder is sub-par, but it’s less exciting. Land’s other composition, “Little Chris” (dedicated to his son), always reminds me a bit of Coltrane’s “Spiral” (from Giant Steps, recorded a few months before these sessions), not only because of the remarkable single notes-intro, but also because of the way in which it develops into a light swing. The other four cuts were all penned by Elmo Hope, and while none of them is really striking, they’re all a showcase for the guy’s dependable qualities. The ballad “Mirror-Mind Rose” displays an elegance that’s a nice opposite to the title track’s playful hurry, while “One Second, Please” is probably the track that’s closest to mainstream jazz (on an already accessible album), swinging moderately and evolving as logically as possible, with especially Land delivering some impressively fluid solos. During “Sims A-Plenty,” the interplay between Bolton and Hope sometimes comes extremely close to Navarro’s hey-day with Tadd Dameron, while Butler tops it off with some nice drumming. Even better than those tracks, however, is Hope’s “One Down,” with latin-influences during the intro, and featuring extensive solos by all the members, save for Lewis, before returning to the classy ballroom-elegance of the intro at the song’s coda. The Fox is hardly ‘spectacular’ or ‘fearlessly innovative’, but it also proves it doesn’t have to be to make an impression, as it’s more than capable of keeping up with nearly all hard-bop from the late ‘50’s/early ‘60’s, and comes up with a classic (in my opinion, at least) in the guise of the kick-ass title track. For once, pick this one up instead of another Miles Davis or Coltrane-album.