Dizzy Reece: Star Bright – 1959

In the 1950s and ‘60s, there were two jazz trumpeters named Dizzy. One was famous. This is the other guy.

Dizzy Reece is a pretty obscure name, even among Blue Note fans. He was a young hard bop trumpeter from Jamaica who spent most of the 1950s playing in Europe, recorded four very good records as a leader from 1958 to 1962, mostly in America, then vanished for 20 years.

Fortunately, some of Reece’s best work was preserved on three Blue Note records: Blues in Trinity in 1958, Star Bright in 1959 and Comin’ On in 1960.

The middle album, Star Bright, shows incredible promise. This is a trumpeter who could have been a star. Though he was no innovator, unlike that other Dizzy guy, Reece was still a really good bopster.

Star Bright features six songs: three standard bop numbers, two blues pieces and one tune with a swing feel. The band, other than Reece, is full of well-known names, so it’s no surprise the music rocks. There’s Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. With this backing band, Rudy Van Gelder could have pulled any schlub off the street, handed him a kazoo and it would have sounded great.

OK, that undersells Reece, who really was a fine trumpeter. How fine is hard to tell based on scant evidence. Not a firestarter like Dizzy Gillespie, Reece was softer, more soulful, but still capable of keeping up with the fastest tempos.

Star Bright feels like one of those classic Blue Note affairs in which all the pieces click. To my ear, Kelly is the standout, especially on a truly terrific, jaunty blues number, “Groovesville.” But really, that’s a matter of taste. The bright piano is a great contrast to the hard horns. And Mobley is his usual terrific self.

Overall, Star Bright is a fun, hard-working, hard-bop record. Reece has the chops and, more important, the blues feel. If the record doesn’t stand out as a great one, it also doesn’t wilt, either.  It stands up well, and makes me wonder why this particular Dizzy never made a name for himself.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Availability: We’re in semi-rare territory.

Cost: All over the map — $15, $23 and $32 used on Amazon. Go figure. More than $100 new. I opted for the $5 MP3 version. Alas, no liner notes.

In Praise of Liner Notes

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

   — Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi”

Joni was onto something. You don’t miss liner notes until you don’t have them.

I admit: Many liner notes leave me cold, for two reasons. First, they’re way too detailed, especially in jazz. Every take has to be scrupulously annotated. Who played third trumpet in that big band? Was that Bird’s third or fourth take of “Now’s The Time”? Was that recorded in 1943 or 1944? Phooey.

Second, the actual commentary tends to be syrupy. Has anyone ever written objective liner notes? If so, I haven’t read them. Most idealize their subjects. And why not? The label pays for the liner notes. What do you expect – critical journalism?

And yet, take away the liner notes and the recording seems naked.

Over and over, I’ve come to this realization – and never more often than since I started collecting Blue Note CDs.

Here’s the problem: Many old Blue Note CDs are rare, so the temptation to just get the MP3 files is huge. For example, Gil Melle’s Patterns in Jazz, a 1956 cool jazz recording on Blue Note, ain’t cheap. A used LP goes for around $50. A used CD runs around $25 to $30. But the MP3 version is just $5. What a deal!

Except the MP3 version has no liner notes. And there are dozens of old Blue Notes just like Patterns in Jazz.

I love my Blue Notes. Mostly, I love the music.  But I also love owning the physical LPs or CDs. Part of that is owning and reading the liner notes, including the corny, fawning publicity from Leonard Feather and other writers. Strip away the hyperbole and you still have some pretty good history.

But sometimes, even with the best of intentions, I’m missing the liner notes. That happens often with used CDs. Recently, I bought Dizzy’s Diamonds, a wonderful 3-CD set of Dizzy Gillespie best Verve recordings. Great stuff. But when I opened the jewel case – no booklet! Which means it’s impossible to know who plays on what. There are 38 tunes and each one seems to have a different lineup. Who’s that saxman? Sounds like Getz… maybe. The piano? Oscar Peterson? Who knows?

So there’s the conundrum. Buy new CDs and you’re guaranteed to get the liner notes. Great! But when the price is high, and the MP3s are more affordable, there’s a choice to make: Get the music without liner notes? Or splurge for the whole package? And if it’s used – a crap shoot.

Got your own favorite liner notes story? Share it here. And for God’s sake – if anyone can copy the booklet for Dizzy’s Diamonds, please let me know!