Nat Pierce, Dick Collins, Ralph Burns & the Herdsmen - Play Paris, 1954 (Fantasy)

CD: Nat Pierce, Dick Collins, Ralph Burns & the Herdsmen - Play Paris, 1954 (Fantasy)

Review by Thom Jurek
Here's the deal on this set from "the Herdsmen": Dick Collins, Red Kelly, Ralph Burns, and a few other cats went over to Paris from Germany while they were playing with Woody Herman's Third Herd, the first to play Europe in 1954. All the players involved -- Nat Pierce, Cy Touff, Jerry Coker, Bill Perkins, Dick Hafer, Chuck Flores, Jimmy Gourley -- were either currently in the Third Herd or kicking around Europe anyway. Why have you heard of so few of these people? Simply because they are footnotes in jazz history, not major players. This is not to imply that they are not quality musicians, just that they were, most of them, workmen in various bands of the era, from Herman to Shorty Rogers to Kenton to Charlie Ventura, etc. Which is the exact importance of this wonderful, swinging West Coast-style date made in Paris for none other than French author and critic Charles Delauney. Trumpeter Dick Collins is who made it all happen after playing with the Dave Brubeck Octet, and studying in Paris with Darius Milhaud, the French composer who Brubeck and John Lewis studied with when he was in residence at Mills College later in his life. Collins picked up Kelly, Touff (bass trumpet!), Perkins (tenor), Hafer (tenor), pianist Henri Renaud, and drummer John Louis Viale-Coker. Pierce, Gourley, and Flores played on the next session a couple of days later. The program is an amalgam of originals, standards, and tunes literally unknown before or after this session, not credited to anyone. This is a blowing date. The arrangements are loose, the swing value is high, and there is a feeling of relaxation and reckless abandon found on few recordings from this period. This is West Coast jazz with a European elegance courtesy of Renaud -- one of the greatest pianists in any genre France ever produced. Most notable tracks here are the covers: Basie's "The King," Lester Young's "Blue Lester," Shelton Brooks' "Some of These Days," and one by Pierce -- who also did some arranging on "Honey Baby." A hot date, one that is welcome as a reissue on CD.
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Include two sessions:

The Herdsmen Play Paris, 1954 (Fantasy-OJC) LP

Dick Collins (tp) Cy Touff (btp) Dick Hafer, Bill Perkins (ts) Henri Renaud (p) Red Kelly (b) Jean-Louis Viale (d)
Paris, France, April 23, 1954

So What Could Be New?
Just 40 Bars
Palm Cafe
Pot Luck (Potters Luck)


Cy Touff (btp) Jerry Coker (ts) Ralph Burns (p) Jimmy Gourley (g) Jean-Marie Ingrand (b) Chuck Flores (d)
Paris, France, May 5, 1954

The Gypsy
Wet Back On The Left Bank
Embarkation
Thanks For You

** reissue of Fantasy LP 3201.

Nat Pierce-Dick Collins Nonet, 1954 (Fantasy) LP

Dick Collins, John Howell (tp) Cy Touff (btp) Jerry Coker (ts, cl, arr) Dick Hafer (ts, as, cl) Jack Nimitz (bars) Nat Pierce (p, arr) Red Kelly (b) Gus Gustafson (d) Guen Anderson (arr)

San Francisco, CA, January 27, 1954

Drop The Other Shoe Fantasy LP 3-14, LP 3224, FCD 24759-2
I'll Never Be The Same -
Honey Baby -
Easy Living -
Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now -
Some Of These Days -
Blue Lester -
The King -

* The Nat Pierce-Dick Collins Nonet - The Charlie Mariano Sextet (Fantasy LP 3224, OJC 118)
* Nat Pierce - Herdsman (Fantasy LP 3-14)


Review by Scott Yanow
Reissued on LP in the Original Jazz Classics series but not on CD, this fine set has two different groups headed by musicians who first gained important experience playing in the Boston area but were in San Francisco at that moment. Pianist Nat Pierce and trumpeter Dick Collins co-lead a nonet mostly drawn from the Woody Herman Big Band; featured along with the co-leaders are Dick Hafer and Jerry Coker on tenor, baritonist Jack Nimitz, trumpeter Johnny Howell, the bass trumpet of Cy Touff, bassist Red Kelly, and drummer Gus Gustafson. The band primarily showcases the underrated Collins, although the other horns have occasional solos, with quite a few of the songs (such as "Easy Living," "Blue Lester," "Honey Hush," and "The King") having been associated with the earlier Count Basie Orchestra. The flip side of the album puts the spotlight on the up-and-coming altoist Charles Mariano, who leads a sextet that includes trombonist Sonny Truitt (another former Bostonian), Dick Collins back on trumpet, pianist Richard Wyands (then a young unknown), bassist Vernon Alley, and drummer Joe MacDonald. They perform four standards and originals by Truitt and Vince Guaraldi ("The Nymph"). Overall, the album (which has 15 concise selections) should greatly interest bop and straight-ahead jazz collectors, since the playing is consistently rewarding and the performances are quite obscure.

*: Charles Mariano sextet session is included on other fantasy CD and I will post it soon.