1. Bop City
2. Sleepy Bop
3. Crossing The Channel - Bebop Spoken Here
4. Wallington's Godchild - Bebop Spoken Here

April 10, 1949

 LINER NOTES

Naturally, a term like Early Modern varies in meaning according to the perspective from which it is seen. In the late 1930s it might have applied to the Louis Armstrong records of the '20s; a decade later it could have referred to the precedent setting work of the Benny Goodman orchestra that launched the swing era. Possibly a decade from now the most avant-garde jazz of today will be "early modern" to listeners who will have become accustomed to the new sounds and ideas that are bound to develop in years to come.

THE WINDING GROUPS

Kai Chresten Winding was an early modernist long before the brand of jazz he represented began to enjoy national acceptance and incorporation into the mainstream of jazz. Born May 18, 1922 in Aarhus, Denmark, he came to the U.S. with his family in 1934 and made his professional debut six years later with Shorty Allen's band. After working with such dance orchestras as Sonny Dunham's and Alvino Rey's, he joined the Coast Guard in '42 and played in a service band led by Bill Schallen. Returning to civilian life in 1945 he worked a few months with Benny Goodman, but it was in 1946-47, when he was a featured soloist with Stan Kenton's orchestra, that his virile, bop-inflected style made its first impact on jazz audiences. After working with Charlie Ventura in 1948 and with various small groups at such modern jazz emporia as the Royal Roost, Bop City and Birdland, he began to work his way into the commercially-secure world of radio TV and recording studio work. Not until he teamed with Jay Jay Johnson to form a novel two-trombone combo, in 1954, did he return to jazz on a full-time basis. Kai, with his volatile and emphatic solo style, ranks with Jay Jay as one of the two major trombone products of bop; he was a pacesetter in 1945 and is still a major influence in 1957.

Kai's most important henchman on four of these performances is Gerry Mulligan, who played baritone sax and wrote the arrangements for George Wallington's composition Godchild, for the Winding originals Bop City and Sleepy Bop and for Crossing the Channel. Mulligan, born in New York City in 1927 but raised in Philadelphia, came to prominence with the bands of Gene Krupa, Elliot Lawrence and Claude Thornhill and was a major policy maker in the unique nine-piece Miles Davis band that is credited by some critics as having started the tendency toward "Cool Jazz" in 1949-50. Since 1952, when he formed a unique pianoless quartet, Gerry has fronted various small combos of his own and has enjoyed phenomenal success both here and in Europe, where he has made two visits and is a tremendous idol of the fans.

Brew Moore, who plays tenor sax on all eight Winding titles, also is a Thornhill alumnus and was heard with Gerry and Kai in various combos at the Roost and Bop City around the time these sides were made. Born in Indianola, Mississippi in 1925, he played trumpet and clarinet before working around New Orleans as a tenor saxophonist; for the past year or two he has been in comparative obscurity in San Francisco, though his work here reveals him as one of the foremost exponents of the newer school of tenor originally inspired by Lester Young.

On the four titles on which Mulligan plays, the rhythm section is composed of three musicians who pioneered in the bop movement, working in Dizzy Gillespie's quintet in 1944. They are pianist George Wallington, who was born in Palermo, Italy in 1924 but came to this country as an infant; bassist Dillon "Curley" Russell, born 1920 in New York City, and Brooklyn's own Max Roach, who was only 19 when he joined Dizzy and has been a major force in modern drumming ever since.

THE WINDING SELECTIONS

Bop City, named for a now-defunct club where these musicians often worked in 1950, is a fast-paced riff tune, its main phrase based on the four notes usually identified as "We Want Cantor." After Brew, Kai, Gerry and George have each wailed an exciting chorus, the three horns, in the same order, trade four-bar passages with Max before the closing ensemble.

Sleepy Bop shows the group in a more relaxed groove. An excellent example of Mulligan arranging, it shows Kai at his improvising best; he plays the bridge of the first chorus as well as the whole second chorus. Brew and Gerry then split one, George shows an imaginative single-note style in his 24-bar solo on the fourth chorus, and the ensemble closes with a brief passage, ending on a flatted fifth.

Crossing the Channel moves into top speed, with a theme that combines three 12-bar blues passages with an eight-bar release. Brew Moore is at his Lesterian best in the second chorus; Kai and George divide the third, and Mulligan has the fourth to himself, showing how he helped develop a new role for the baritone sax with his imaginative style. After a break by Max, the number concludes with twelve bars of ensemble.

Godchild, introduced fittingly by some Wallington piano, is an ingenious rhythmic composition built on ascending phrases. In addition to the composer, Kai takes an excellent solo, and there are swinging contributions by Mulligan and Moore.