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What can I say, vintage Farmer with his blessed flugelhorn is about as good as it gets. For the purists, I strongly recommed this collection. Very well recorded. Terriffic service by the supplier. I'll probably look at this vendor for future purchases as well.
IT'S TEN O'CLOCK on a Friday night in anybigcity, USA, and you are midway down the steps leading into the small Jazz Club on Second Street South. This Club, you have heard, is the place to see live jazz, a club where many up and coming artists perform live. You have heard live jazz only once or twice before, but definitely not in such an august setting. The poster outside confirms that Mr. X is playing with his quartet, composed of musicians whose names you don't recognize. But your friend, who purports to be an aficionado, has told you Mr. X is a living legend. Tonight's performance by Mr. X is a tribute to the musical genius of Art Farmer. Who is Art Farmer, you ask?
"One . . . two . . . one, two, uh, uh, uh," and the music begins.
Hey, you recognize the song! You can't remember the title or lyrics, but you have a CD of Joe Williams or some other great jazz crooner singing this song, and you love it, although this quartet seems to be playing it awfully fast. You triumphantly recall the title, "The Very Thought of You," and watch. Soon you are transfixed by Mr. X's fluid statement of the melody. Such is the transcendent power of Art Farmer's music. As you listen to the quiet thoughtfulness of his unmistakable genius, you immediately sense the familiar. His phrasing, though unique in its intent, is so reminiscent of Miles. The "Portrait of Art Farmer" is a memorable conversation between you and a close friend. It is a sketch of something well-known stretched over a bare canvas. It is spiritual and natural. It is lyrical and melodic. Yet there is no contradiction, only synthesis. You may be more aware of the commercial success of Mr. X., but it's time you met an original.
On this pleasant quartet date from 1958, Art Farmer is backed by his twin brother Addison on bass, along with pianist Hank Jones and drummer Roy Haynes. On the Original Jazz Classics CD, the bass sounds a bit distant, particularly on the faster tunes, and Haynes's ride cymbal has a slightly unnatural tinge, but otherwise the recording is fine, effectively showcasing Jones's touch, Haynes's dynamic range on the drums, and especially Art Farmer's warm, lush tone on the trumpet. (You could be forgiven for thinking he was playing flugelhorn here, though this album was evidently recorded before he made the switch.) I have not heard the 2023 vinyl reissue from Acoustic Sounds, but barring deterioration of the master tape I suspect it offers a small but significant improvement in sound quality. The music itself includes three standards, three of the leader's original tunes, plus Benny Golson's "Stablemates" and George Russell's "Nita"; the CD adds "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" as a bonus track. Nothing jumps out as a particular highlight, but it's all lovely, if a little restrained and polite – I wouldn't call it "background music," exactly, but if you did have it playing quietly in the background at a small gathering, it wouldn't be too disruptive or distracting.
Another one for Art Farmer. The man could really play, and how he does it in this really nice record. A portrait of early Farmer, on trumpet only, with a deluxe rhythm section, playing some originals and a couple of good standards. A classic.
I own this record. I'm buying it on cd just for convenience. Art's ideas are beautiful. Louis Hayes on drums is on top of the flow. It would seem that the songs were well rehearsed before the final edit. If you like Art Farmer, get this.
This 1958 Contemporary album points out the minimalist side of Art Farmer's playing. He plays trumpet without any use of vibrato and his approach is similar to Miles Davis's modal playing of the time: bare- and sparse. Never actually a cold or intellectually forbidding player, he gives the impression of purposely distancing himself from his surroundings. Interestingly, he notes in the liners that he admired the tune BY MYSELF because of its lyric "I'll face the unknown and build a world of my own." That aloneness comes through clearly here. Pianist Hank Jones is the other front-line player on this quartet date, and his single-note playing, especially on THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU and NITA, seems expansive in contrast to Art's diminutiveness. Only once before (and only a few times later) did Farmer record without another horn player joining him, and I find the results better with that extra support. This is a good album, but others, (his next one, for example, MODERN ART) are more satisfying.
This excellent quartet album by trumpeter/flugelhornist Art Farmer(1928-99) was recorded in New York City on April 19 & May 1, 1958 with Hank Jones(piano); Addison Farmer(bass) & Roy Haynes(drums). Art had complete freedom to choose personnel and the nine varied tunes which include three originals from the trumpeter, one each from Benny Golson and George Russell and four standards. Farmer's fluent and elegant trumpet playing, sometimes reminiscent of 1950s Miles Davis, is superbly supported by the rhythm section. Once selected by British critics as among the 200 essential post-war jazz albums, 'Portrait Of Art Farmer' deserves a place in any serious jazz record collection.
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