Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow Cover
5 Impressions of Color Cover
The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions is a compilatation of saxophonist, composer and bandleader
Gil Mellé's recordings from 1952 to 1956 which were released on the
Blue Note label.[1] They were originally released as four 10 inch LPs; Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet (which featured
Rudy Van Gelder's first issued recordings); Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow; Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca; 5 Impressions of Color; and a 12 inch LP Patterns in Jazz.[2][3][4][5]
Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars and Richard S. Ginell stated "this collection leaves little doubt that he was (and remains) a marvelous saxophonist and an intriguing composer who hasn't been given his due".[6] On
All About Jazz John Sharpe said "These extremely rare sessions contain a mix of straight bop, a number of standards and many of Melle's unique third stream compositions. Melle's use of a guitar (Tal Farlow, Lou Mecca and Joe Cinderella) in place of a piano was seen as a bold, innovative step ... Although these discs do contain some sonic imperfections they remain a valuable document of one of the most cerebral and creative figures in jazz".[7]
Track listing
All compositions by Gil Mellé except where noted
Disc One:
"Four Moons" – 2:23 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"The Gears" – 3:06 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"Mars" – 2:46 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"Sunset Concerto" – 2:03 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"Cyclotron" – 3:13 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"October" – 3:41 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"Under Capricorn" – 2:58 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"Venus" – 3:40 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet/Sextet
"
Lover Man" (
Jimmy Davis,
Ram Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman) – 5:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"Spellbound" (
Miklós Rózsa) – 3:18 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"Transition" – 5:12 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"A Lion Lives Here" – 3:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"Timepiece" – 3:10 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"Gingersnap" – 3:17 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quintet with Urbie Green and Tal Farlow
"Ballad for Guitar" – 3:53 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
"Metropolitan" – 2:50 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
"Newport News" – 4:55 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on March 2, 1952 (tracks 1-4), January 31, 1953 (tracks 5-8), October 25, 1953 (tracks 9-15) and September 5, 1954 (tracks 16-19)
Disc Two:
"
Summertime" (
George Gershwin) – 3:59 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
"Quadrille for Moderns" – 3:31 Originally released on Gil Mellé Quartet featuring Lou Mecca
"Five Impressions of Color: Spectrum Violet/Sea Green/Royal Blue/Ebony" – 12:37 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
"Life Begins at Midnight" – 4:24 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
"Night Train to Wildwood" – 4:10 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
"Threadneedle Street" – 4:15 Originally released on 5 Impressions of Color
"Weird Valley" – 5:13 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
"The Set Break" – 4:48 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
"The Arab Barber Blues" – 9:05 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
"Nice Questions" – 8:17 Originally released on Patterns in Jazz
Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on September 5, 1954 (tracks 1 & 2), February 27, 1955 (tracks 3-6) and April 1, 1956 (tracks 7-12).