The Modern Touch

I'm giving it 5 stars because it is a 5 star album but the MP3 version is pure trash. It sounds very thin and distorted. Do not make the mistake I made by assuming Amazon knows how to encode music to MP3. It sounds nothing like the CD or even Spotify. What a joke.

great cd happy w/purchase

This is so musical, so wonderful. If you're exploring jazz, this disc makes obvious what people like about great tunes and arrangements, creative soloing, and virtuoso playing. Especially if you want something hip, but something non jazz experts can dig, try this very cool, very musical recording. Just great music.

I love Benny Golson's compositions, and on this album you can also hear solid evidence of of his arranging skills as well. This was only his second album as leader, but he was already experienced in a number of groups from which he absorbed Ellingtonian, bebop and other influences to coalesce into the style(s) evident on this album.Run through the sound samples for a taste of what this album is all about. I will say that the sound samples do not do it justice, but will at least pique your curiosity. For me there are moments of pure genius in come of the harmonic structures, but there is a larger scheme at work here too. For one thing the rhythm section of Wynton Kelley on piano and Paul Chambers on bass give a very familiar feel from that period, but Max Roach on drums adds fire that I do not think Philly Joe Jones would have brought. Jones was more integrated into Kelley's and Chamber's style because he had played with them often, and he was a genius in his own right. However, Roach manages to use a more melodic approach to his corner of the rhythm section that seems to fit the arrangements better than I think Jones would have done.I personally think that the brass section comprised of Kenny Dorham on trumpet and J. J. Johnson on trombone was a masterpiece of arranging. I especially like the contrast between the trombone's low end and what Golson and Dorham were doing on tenor sax and trumpet.Finally, the song selection is - to me - an interesting mix of Golson's compositions and Gigi Gryce's. Although Gryce is not among the musicians on the album, he was a very competent composer and arranger who was also a solid alto saxophonist. His compositions are tracks 2 and 4, which seem to fit the theme of this album nicely, in addition to complementing Golson's three compositions (tracks 1, 3 and 6.)This album was recorded for Riverside at Reeves Sound Studios in NYC on December 19 and 23, 1957,and released the following year.

Benny Golson, i'll confess, has never been one of my favorite tenor players. If you like pyrotechnical players, capable of filling the room with cascades of notes throughout the range of the horn (including the altissimo register), he's sure to satisfy. But attempts to create some semblance of excitement through busy-ness and strategic use of the altissimo register can grow old and stale in a hurry, especially after hearing a purposeful storyteller like Dexter Gordon or a melodic urban troubador like Hank Mobley or, for that matter, a pensive ("Naima") or unbridled ("I Want to Talk About You") Coltrane.But Benny has a lot more to offer than mastery of the tenor. He's a first-rate composer of jazz standards (practically the equal of Silver); and an effective leader of his own groups (the Jazztet, co-led with Art Farmer). He was also a constant producer and promoter--ranging from half a dozen Lee Morgan albums for Blue Note to, when given the opportunity, self--promotion (hearing Benny tell it, you would think Blakey's Jazz Messengers amounted to nothing before his arrival (most noteworthy on the commercially successful "Moanin'" album) or that the history of jazz owed as much to his contributions as to those by Louis, Bird and Trane (seeing him a few years ago, indulging in smarmy autobiographical anecdotes between tunes, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for tombonist Curtis Fuller, patiently holding his tongue while his frontline partner waxed on about his own accomplishments)."The Modern Touch" was released at the same time as Golson's "Modern Art." Though the latter was in part a play on the first name of his colleague, Art Farmer, it reveals Golson's preoccumpation with being acclaimed a "cutting edge," serious, modern artist. Just as "Modern Art" earned its place in my burgeoning collection because of the playing of Bill Evans, "The Modern Touch" can be strongly recommended because of the strengths of the supporting cast. Few rhythm sections could rival one comprising Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Max Roach. Moreover, Golson's blistering if predictable note-storms are necessarily limited because of the presence of two other soloists--both arguably without peer.This album came up on my car's CD deck long after I'd forgotten about it. Though Golson's horn was immediately identifiable (and perhaps there's something to be said about having an identifiable voice on your instrument), but of greater interest were the arrangements--sounding a bit dated by today's standards but nevertheless ambitious and challenging (in contrast to the blues and gospel riffs played in unison by numerous "hard bop" ensembles during this time). But the real reason I stayed with the album was the delightfully inventive work of Kenny Dorham (so unique that he could hold his own in the company of any other horn player--including Clifford--simply by virtual of the fact that there was only one Kenny Dorham, a musician who could play with economic understatement one moment and with volumes of complex melodic passages the next, never sounding less than fresh and originall. But then came the "clincher"--J.J. Johnson, reminding me that--even as the trombone as a "slide instrument" has seemingly broken all barriers in the hands of Rosolino, Fontana, Watrous--J.J. remains not only the most "published" trombonist in jazz history (with a discography 10 X larger than any other trombonist's, despite his devoting his time--from 1965 to1985--exclusively to composing and arranging) but the greatest jazz exponent the instrument has every seen.There was a time when I wondered if, in a blindfold test, it might be difficult to select J.J. from the "school" he virtually created (e.g. Curtis Fuller who, unlike J.J., made an album with John Coltrane). There was never a doubt in my mind--the articulations, the distinctive burnished sound, the carefully selected note choices, the use of silence and of the instrument's percussive qualities--the music simply acquired class and "coolness" with each of the contributions by the "Bird of the Trombone"--or, if you prefer, the "Miles Davis of the Trombone" (replacing Miles' rough edges with verbal eloquence that complemented his stylistic elegance). This is not to take anything away from the many greats before and after J.J.--players who, following in the tradition of Sam Nanton, Jack Teagarden, Dickie Wells, Bill Harris and Al Grey--played more "hot" than "cool," communicating through an animated "verbal language" that Ellington preferred hearing not from any vocalist but from the inimitable voices of the diverse instruments in his band. But J.J. chose to set aside the bag of tricks and to remain the master of "cool," making the sparest use of mutes, slide wizardry, flashy dexterity, and circular breathing. For him the music always came first--not the instrument or its player's virtuosity. Whether playing challenging neo-bop lines (see "The Eminent J.J. Johnson" on Blue Note) or popular ballads like "Laura" and "My Old Flame" the man had the temperament and the technique to make it all work--without any devices or trickery.Was he a genius? A "natural"? Maybe not. Hearing him interviewed on NPR, I was most impressed by his curiosity about the instrument itself--its mechanics--the principles that could "make it work." But he also kept a close ear on the evolution of the music, making adjustments that would ensure the trombone--which had been the instrument of the two best-selling band-leaders in America (#1. Glenn Miller; #2 Tommy Dorsey)--would not fall into disuse by the end of the "Big Band Era." Listen to his playing on a 1944 JATP session featuring Les Paul and Nat King Cole--it's sufficiently state-of-the-art to get him elected to first place in the annual jazz poll by Metronome Magazine. But it's also quite generic, not unlike the proficiency of numerous other trombone jazz players of the early '40s. J.J. would study Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and without trying to replicate their pyrotechnics on his instrument, he "distilled" their music to its essence, retaining the best qualities of modern jazz or, rather, the music that had acquired the moniker "bebop."As a result, J. J. Johnson not only absorbed and reflected "The Modern Touch": he became the ONLY trombonist who in the modern era--from 1948 to the present--had a remote chance of registering with a public so far out of touch with instrumental music and so fixated on guitar-playing singer-songwriters, that no other instrument or musician "mattered" enough to be taken seriously. But J.J. was the exception, a trombonist I'd heard playing long before I'd even heard "about" Dorsey and Miller. J. J. was the first and only trombonist under contract to mighty Columbia Recortds, and like thousands of other Americans I made his acquaintance through the LPs that were coming to my house each month thanks to the aggressive promoting of the new Columbia Record Club. The albums featured him with another trombonist (Kai Winding) or with as many as seven other trombonists. Small wonder I was soon playing the old slushpump myself (followed by viola, then baritone sax, then alto sax, then bass (acoustic and electric)--making me realize, in retrospect, why my mother's favorite story was that of Job from the Old Testament). But my favorite albums were the ones with just J.J. and a rhythm section ("Blue Trombone," "First Place," "J.J. in Person").Frankly, I hope that parents today chance upon Bob Dylan's assessment of the current scene along with his evaluation of the last century's musicians--performers and composers--who had the power to touch us all--not only with music that was modern or current but with art that will endure. Pay attention to what your kids are listening to. There's no need to take it away from them (which would merely increase their attachment to it). But anyone who thinks it's not unreasonable to know what a trombone is and how it sounds, should endeavor to remember a single name: J.J. Johnson -- a role model in his life and art and still the quintessential master of the trombone.

When your sophomore album features Kenny Dorham, J.J. Johnson, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Max Roach, you know you've arrived. Benny Golson's "The Modern Touch," recorded in December 1957, was only his second recording as a leader for the Riverside label, but by this point in his career he had already lent his compositional and arranging talents to dozens of other classic jazz albums. But in my opinion, Benny wouldn't hit his solo stride for another year-and-a-half, until his three amazing recordings from 1959 -- "Groovin' With Golson," "Gettin' With It" and "Gone With Golson" (see my reviews if you like). Don't get me wrong "The Modern Touch" is quite good, but Golson seems to get overshadowed by his high profile peers. Still, for Golson or Jazztet fans it is well worth getting, and since it's a limited edition (like most of his OJC discs), get with it soon.

Malgré ces presque 60 ans d'existence (1957), une composition tellement moderne : on a envie de retourner dans le temps et y participer. Une grande découverte pour ma part, néophyte en jazz. Une vraie joie à écouter !