''Blue Trombone'' is an LP by J. J. Johnson. An early example of

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

, the album features pianist

Tommy Flanagan Thomas or Tom Flanagan may refer to: * Thomas Flanagan (bishop) (1930–2019), American Roman Catholic bishop * Thomas Flanagan (Irish politician) (died 1980), Irish civil engineer and politician * Thomas Flanagan (priest) (1814–1865), English Ro ...

, bassist

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop er ...

and drummer

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

. The album was released on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1957 and was reissued on CD by Tristar in 1994.

Reception

Michael Nastos of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated the album four stars and stated: "All of the music is excellent, and shows why Johnson was regarded as the very best jazz trombonist in the bop and post-bop movements."

Track listing

# Hello, Young Lovers (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) # Kev (J.J. Johnson) # What's New (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) # Blue Trombone (Part 1) (J.J. Johnson) # Blue Trombone (Part 2) (J.J. Johnson) # Gone with the Wind (Allie Wrubel, Herbert Magidson) # 100 Proof (J.J. Johnson) Tracks 4 and 5 above are two halves of the same studio recording, divided at the beginning of

' bass solo to fit on opposite sides of the original vinyl LP. Some later CD reissues and compilations present the piece as a single track, as listed below.

Track listing - reissue with bonus tracks

# Hello Young Lovers # Kev # What's New # Blue Trombone # Gone With The Wind # 100 Proof # Our Love Is Here To Stay # Portrait Of Jenny # Pennies From Heaven # Viscosity # You're Mine, You # Daylie Double # Groovin'

Lineup

J.J. Johnson J. J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biog ...

- trombone *

- piano (tracks 1 - 7) *

- bass (tracks 1 - 6, 8 - 13) *

- drums (tracks 1 - 6) *

Wilbur Little Wilbur "Doc" Little (March 5, 1928 – May 4, 1987) was an American jazz bassist known for playing hard bop and post-bop. Little originally played piano, but switched to double bass after serving in the military. In 1949 he moved to Washington, ...

- bass (track 7) *

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

- drums (track 7) *

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

- piano (tracks 8 - 13) *

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

- drums (tracks 8 - 13) *

Hank Mobley Henry Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neithe ...

- tenor sax (tracks 9 - 13)

References

*Columbia CL 1303 1957 albums J. J. Johnson albums Columbia Records albums Hard bop albums {{1950s-jazz-album-stub