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The blues and jazz have a long history that is parallel and often overlaps. While there are plenty of blues performances that are distant from jazz, and jazz improvisations that do not make one think of the blues, there are also performers and recordings that are both jazz and blues. After all, the earliest jazz record, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's “Livery Stable Blues” from 1917, is a blues, and Mamie Smith's pioneering 1920 record “Crazy Blues” can be considered jazz.
Through the classic blues singers of the 1920s, the riffing big bands of the swing era (most notably Count Basie's), Charlie Parker's sophisticated blues, and the funky blues-oriented soul jazz performances of the 1960s, the blues have been part of jazz on a regular basis since its start.
Blowin' The Blues Away from 1961 is full of surprises. When one thinks of Bob Wilber, it is of a soprano-saxophonist and clarinetist who displays his own voice in dixieland, swing and classic jazz settings. But here he is heard on clarinet and tenor, playing somewhere between swing and bop. Dick Wellstood gained fame as one of the top stride pianists to emerge in the late 1940s, but on this CD he is a swing and modern mainstream stylist who ranges from Basie to Horace Silver.
And then there is Clark Terry. Terry, who developed his own unique sound on trumpet and flugelhorn during important periods with the big bands of Charlie Barnet, Count Basie and especially Duke Ellington, has always been an exciting player capable of playing practically any style of music. He even recorded with Cecil Taylor and worked in the studios. But C.T., whose sense of humor keeps everyone smiling, has always loved the blues, and he brings out the best in Wilber and Wellstood throughout this happy occasion.
"Bob Wilber (on clarinet and tenor) and flugelhornist Clark Terry team up on Blowin’ The Blues Away to create exciting versions of nine different blues. The quintet set, which co-stars pianist Dick Wellstood, has more variety than expected. Among the selections are a traditional 12-bar blues, a ten-bar blues in 12/8 time, a blues ballad, a blues with a bridge, a Latin blues, and a cooking uptempo blues. Wilbur and the always-jubilant Terry bring out the best in each other during this joyful album.
With support by bassist George Duvivier and drummer Panama Francis, the quintet performs nine separate blues on Blowin' The Blues Away that cover a surprisingly wide range of ground. The originals include a traditional 12-bar blues, a ten-bar blues in 12/8 time, a blues ballad, a blues with a bridge, a Latin blues, and a cooking uptempo blues. Throughout the date, the musicians show that one does not have to have the blues in order to play the blues. The joyous spirit of the players makes this unique get-together especially memorable" -Scott Yanow
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