Quincy Jones – Hard Sock Dance (recorded December 18, 1961)
Written by the legendary composer and producer for his 1962 Impulse! LP The Quintessence, this superb jazz jam featured Freddie Hubbard on trumpet.
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On December 18, 1961, Quincy Jones and his Orchestra were at Capitol Studios in New York City, recording their 1962 Impulse! LP The Quintessence.
It was one week before Christmas, and Quincy had many talented players in the studio that day, including Patricia Bown on piano, bassist Milt Hinton, Julius Watkins on French horn, and drummer Bill English. The orchestra’s horn section consisted of Eric Dixon, Frank Wess, Phil Woods, and Oliver Nelson on sax; trombonists Melba Liston, Billy Byers, Paul Faulise, and Rodney Levitt; and Al Derisi, Snooky Young, Thad Jones, and Freddie Hubbard playing trumpet.
His orchestra grew out of an 18-piece ensemble that Quincy first assembled in 1959 when he invested in a European touring production of the Broadway jazz musical Free and Easy, which used his arrangements for a slimmed-down road band. Preview engagements were staged in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Sweden during December, 1959 before opening in Paris on January 15, 1960. Despite rave reviews, it closed the next month.
Quincy was left in dire financial straits until Mercury Records founder and president Irving Green gave him a personal loan. To make it up to the musicians, he enlisted most of them in a new touring big band, and began playing dates in the United States.
The orchestra recorded three tracks on December 18, one of which was Quincy’s own composition, the stellar “Hard Sock Dance.” It was a swinging big band workout that segued into a laid back, cool jazz jam on which Hubbard’s solo soared.
Another of the album’s highlights recorded that day was the superb cut “Little Karen,” written by saxophonist and composer Benny Golson.
Trombonist Billy Byers wrote the final track laid down at this session, the phenomenal, funky big band jam “Robot Portrait,” which featured another one of Hubbard’s killer trumpet solos and Oliver Nelson in the spotlight on sax.
The album was produced by Bob Thiele and engineered by Frank Abbey. Despite its high quality, The Quintessence did not chart and would prove to be Quincy’s only album for Impulse! as he returned to his main label Mercury Records for his next several releases. Jones had begun working at Mercury in 1960 as the musical director for its New York City division, and had been promoted to Vice President of the company in 1961.
See our earlier post on Quincy Jones for more on his legendary musical career.
Further info:
“Quincy Jones And His Orchestra: The Quintessence,” album review by Martin Gladu, All About Jazz, March 10, 2008.
“LP REVIEW: Quincy Jones and His Orchestra,” London Jazz News, April 23, 2018.
#jazz #swing #soul #QuincyJones