Ray Brown

Ray Brown (b), Dizzy Gillespie (tp), James Moody (ts), Herbie Mann (fl), Milt Jackson (vib), Oscar Pettiford (cello), Hank Jones, Jimmy Rowles, Dick Katz, Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Buddy Rich, Osie Johnson, Stan Levey, Ed Thigpen (d)
Tracklisting:

CD 1
01. For Hecklers Only
02. Smokey Hollow Jump
03. Boppin’ The Blues
04. Moody Speaks
05. Slow Down
06. Blue Lou
07. Song Of The Volga Boatmen
08. Little Toe
09. All Of You
10. Everything I Have Is Yours
11. Alone Together
12. After You’ve Gone
13. Will You Still Be Mine?
14. My Foolish Heart
15. Bass introduction
16. Blues For Sylvia
17. Blues For Lorraine
18. Bass conclusion
19. Cat Without A Playmate

CD 2
01. Body And Soul
02. Bass Ball
03. Bric-A-Brac
04. Upstairs Blues
05. Indiana (Back Home Again In)
06. The Nearness Of You
07. Take The “A” Train
08. Cool Walk
09. Jim
10. Mighty Cool Penthouse

CD 1 Sources:
Tracks #1-4 were originally issued on different Savoy 78 rpm discs: Savoy 976, MG 9012, MG 12110 & SJL 2225
Tracks #5 is a previously unreleased Clef recording.
Tracks #6-7 from the 78 rpm Clef 8936.
Tracks #8-11 & #13-19 from the 12" LP "Bass Hit!" (Verve MGV-8022).
Track #12 not included on the previous album.

CD 2 Sources:
Track #1 originally issued on the 12" LP "Historic Jazz Concert At Music Inn" (Atlantic 1298).
Track #2 originally issued on the double 12" LP "The Playboy Jazz All Stars" (Playboy PB-1957). Tracks #3-9 from the 12" LP "This Is Ray Brown" (Verve MGV-8290).
Track #10 originally issued on the 12" LP "The Playboy Jazz All Stars, Vol.3" (Playboy PB-1959).
Personnel in CD 1:
Tracks #1-4: Ray Brown Octet Ray Brown (b), Izzie Goldberg (alias Dizzy Gillespie), Dave Burns (tp), John Brown (as), James Moody (ts), Milt Jackson (vib), Hank Jones (p) and Joe Harris (d). Recorded in New York, on September 25, 1946.

Tracks #5-7: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Hank Jones (p) and Buddy Rich (d). Recorded in New York, April & July 1950.

Tracks #8-12: Ray Brown Big Band
Ray Brown (b), Pete Candoli, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Ray Linn, Conrad Gozzo (tp), Herbie Harper (tb), Herb Geller, Jack Dulong (as), Bill Holman (ts), Jimmy Giuffre (cl, ts & bs), Jimmy Rowles (p), Herb Ellis (g) and Alvin Stoller (d). Marty Paich (arranger & conductor). Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, on November 21, 1956.

Tracks #13-18: Same personnel, but Conrad Gozzo (tp) and Mel Lewis (d), replaced Candoli and Stoller. Recorded at Radio Recorders, on November 3, 1956.

Track #19: Ray Brown unaccompanied bass solo.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, on November 23, 1956.

Personnel in CD 2:
Track #1: Ray Brown / Oscar Pettiford Ray Brown (b), Oscar Pettiford (cello), Herbie Mann (fl), Dick Katz (p) and Connie Kay (d). Recorded live at "Music Inn", Lenox, Massachussetts, on August 30, 1956.

Track #2: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Herb Ellis (g) and Stan Levey (d). Recorded at Radio Recorders, on July 31, 1957.
Tracks #3-9: Ray Brown Quintet
Ray Brown (b), Jerome Richardson (fl), Oscar Peterson (org, p on #5 & 7), Herb Ellis (g) and Osie Johnson (d). Recorded in New York, on February 27 & 28, 1958.

Track #10: Ray Brown Trio
Ray Brown (b), Hank Jones (p) and Ed Thigpen (d). Recorded in New York, on July 10, 1959.

Ray Brown had not reached his 19th birthday when he arrived in New York in 1945 and made an immediate impact as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. The following year he was part of the memorable Gillespie big band that included James Moody, John Lewis, and Kenny Clarke. More or less simultaneously, Brown and the late Oscar Pettiford became the first significant representatives of the bass in the bebop revolution’s first generation. The second stage of his career as a nationally known artist lasted from 1948 to 1951, when his own trio accompanied Ella Fitzgerald (then Mrs. Brown). The third, of course, began in 1951, when his alliance with Oscar Peterson turned out to be one of the happiest and most durable in modern jazz. This set contains all the recordings he did as a leader, from his early be-bop days in the Forties, to the late Fifties, when every jazz poll considered him the top bass player in the field.