Early Art (1954)

About this title: Two of trumpeter Art Farmer's earlier sessions as a leader are reissued on this CD in the OJC series. Farmer teams up with an all-star quintet (which includes tenor-saxophonist Sonny Rollins, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke) for four songs and dominates a quartet (with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Addison Farmer and drummer Herbie Lovelle) on six other tunes. Farmer's sound is lyrical even on the uptempo pieces and he is heard throughout in his early prime. Highlights include "Soft Shoe," "I'll Take Romance," "Autumn Nocturne" and an uptempo "Gone with the ... read more

Tracks:

1. Soft Shoe [Farmer]
2. Confab in Tempo [Farmer]
3. I'll Take Romance [Oakland/Hammerstein]
4. Wisteria [Farmer]
5. Autumn Nocturne [Gannon/Myrow]
6. I've Never Been in Love Before [Loesser]
7. I'll Walk Alone [Styne/Cahn]
8. Gone With the Wind [Wrubel/Magidson]
9. Alone Together [Dietz/Schwartz]
10. Pre Amp [Farmer]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.