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Chuck Wayne

Had Charlie Christian not died of tuberculosis at age 25 in 1942, he certainly would have been the first guitarist to record bebop. His single-string attack on Up on Teddy's Hill with Dizzy Gillespie, captured live at Minton's in 1941, was clearly ahead of its time. But the solo was more blues than bop, a jazz form that hadn't been fully formed yet. The first bebop guitar solo recorded in a studio would come three years later, on February 9, 1945 when Dizzy Gillespie led a sextet on two tracks for Guild Records.

The guitarist on the date was Chuck Wayne, who today is more closely associated with the George Shearing Quintet and Tony Bennett's early records. During the 1950s, Wayne appeared extensively as a sideman on other artists' recordings, making only three albums as a leader during the decade. Among the finest was String Fever in 1957.

Wayne was born in New York and began his career as a mandolinist in a Russian balalaika band. When his mandolin began to warp, he reportedly tossed it into the furnace and bought a guitar. To earn a living, Wayne worked as an elevator operator and began to play guitar professionally in 1941, quickly becoming a regular in the clubs on New York's 52nd Street.

Wayne first recorded with Gillespie on New Year's Eve of 1944, when they backed singer Sarah Vaughan, with saxophonist Georgie Auld, pianist Leonard Feather and others for the Continental label. Wayne and Gillespie recorded together again with clarinetist Joe Marsala in January 1945. By early February, Gillespie was ready to record two sides as a leader for Guild: Groovin' High and Blue 'n' Boogie. Gillespie used Dexter Gordon on tenor sax, Frank Paparelli on piano (who transcribed the music parts), Wayne on guitar, Murray Shipinski on bass and Shelly Manne on drums.

This is the first Groovin' High, which preceded by several weeks the more popularly known version with Charlie Parker. Wayne clearly understands the new music, and his solo lines are confident and distinctly bop. Throughout 1945 and into 1946, Wayne freelanced extensively, recording with a range of different leaders. In mid-1946, Wayne joined Woody Herman's band, remaining until mid-1947.

Later in 1947 Wayne recorded with Coleman Hawkins, and in late 1948 with Lester Young. In early 1949, Wayne joined the George Shearing Quintet [pictured] and was a key ingredient in the group's sound through 1951. Wayne's first leadership recording came in 1953 for Savoy with tenor saxophonists Brew Moore and Zoot Sims. In 1954, Tony Bennett used him on Cloud 7, arguably the singer's best pure jazz recording, and kept him on as his musical director until 1957. Wayne's next leadership date was for tracks included on Four Most Guitars in 1956.

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Album Review

Clifford Jordan: These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly

Read "These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly" reviewed by Chris May


These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly is an oft overlooked item in the canon of tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, whose chef d'oeuvre was undoubtedly Glass Bead Games (Strata-East, 1974), one of the most exalted jazz albums of its era. But These Are My Roots, which was originally released on Atlantic in 1965 and has in 2021 been reissued on vinyl by British audiophile label Pure Pleasure, is of more than passing interest. The hard bop ...

124
Album Review

Chuck Wayne: Morning Mist

Read "Morning Mist" reviewed by Russell Moon


What a find!

Guitarist Chuck Wayne was a member of George Shearing's original quintet, and he played on Shearing's 1949 breakthrough hit “September in the Rain." For much of the '50s he was Tony Bennett's musical director. He later was a staff musician for CBS television and radio. 1964's Morning Mist was one of only four albums he recorded as a leader.

This is an outstanding guitar trio album, 29 minutes long, with ten songs (three of which ...

139
Album Review

Chuck Wayne: Morning Mist

Read "Morning Mist" reviewed by Mike Neely


Chuck Wayne has long been a jazz connoisseur’s musician whose ability and technique has always outclassed guitarists with much larger reputations. Popularity seems never to have been Wayne’s primary focus; for decades he simply consistently did a first rate job in the studios and on stage, as both a sideman and as a leader. His music doesn’t jump out at you demanding your attention – it is thoughtful, subtle music that takes some listening before you realize you are experiencing ...

117
Album Review

Chuck Wayne: Morning Mist

Read "Morning Mist" reviewed by David Rickert


Chuck Wayne was one of many jazz musicians who made their living primarily in studio orchestras, forgoing any sort of fame they might have achieved as a recording artist or club fixture. Thus he falls into the perilous realm of being a “guitarist’s guitarist,” which is just a polite way of saying that his records weren’t popular with the general public when they were released.

At any rate, Morning Mist is a welcome reissue, especially for those ...

203
Album Review

Chuck Wayne & Tom Butts: Alberta Clipper

Read "Alberta Clipper" reviewed by Mike Neely


Alberta Clipper was the last recording of the great jazz guitarist Chuck Wayne. The CD is notable for the quality of Wayne's playing, for introducing the tenor saxophonist Tom Butts, and for reminding us that Chuck Wayne was also a composer of significance.

Wayne was one of the few jazz guitarists who was/is capable of soloing brilliantly and then effortlessly shifting into a beautiful accompaniment. It is often forgotten that Wayne was an accompanist for Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Sarah ...

216
Album Review

Chuck Wayne: String Fever

Read "String Fever" reviewed by Mike Neely


The re-mastering and release of Chuck Wayne's String Fever should begin to focus attention on a musician who was not only a brilliant guitarist but also a subtle and significant composer/arranger. On this recording Wayne became the first jazz guitarist to front a big band. He is the main soloist. He also conducted and arranged all of the compositions. Wayne's solo work, rising above an inspired band, is as good as jazz guitar has been caught on tape as he ...

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Video / DVD

Chuck Wayne in 11 Clips

Chuck Wayne in 11 Clips

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Fleet-fingered and an ear for the saxophone, Chuck Wayne was one of the first guitarists to play bebop. He recorded with Joe Marsala and Dizzy Gillespie in January 1945 and then with the Gillespie Sextet in February on Groovin' High and Blue 'n' Boogie with Dexter Gordon. He also was in Woody Herman's First Herd in 1946, the George Shearing Quintet in 1949 and was Tony Bennett's musical director and accompanist in the 1950s, starting in 1954. Throughout his career, ...

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Music Industry

'Solar' Wasn't by Miles Davis

'Solar' Wasn't by Miles Davis

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Who wrote what and when? This question pops up often when jazz fans try to figure out who composed their favorite jazz standards. And like most lamppost shadows that form in the dead of night, nothing is as it seems. For example, Richard Carpenter is credited as the composer of Walkin'. Yet little is known about Carpenter or his involvement in the song. Those familiar with Carpenter know that he was a music publisher whose name magically appears on songs ...

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Recording

"Solar" (Davis) or "Sonny" (Wayne)?

"Solar" (Davis) or "Sonny" (Wayne)?

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

A long-running discussion (or argument) about the authorship of a major jazz tune may have been resolved once and for all. The tune is “Solar,” copyrighted in 1963 with name of Miles Davis as composer, nearly a decade after he recorded it. It is a 12-bar piece based, with certain departures, on the harmonic structure of “How High The Moon.” Here, from the compilation album Walkin’, is the trumpeter’s 1954 recording with Davey Schildkraudt, alto saxophone; Horace Silver, piano; Percy ...

269

Recording

Chuck Wayne: String Fever

Chuck Wayne: String Fever

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Had Charlie Christian not died of tuberculosis at age 25 in 1942, he certainly would have been the first guitarist to record bebop. His single-string attack on Up on Teddy's Hill with Dizzy Gillespie, captured live at Minton's in 1941, was clearly ahead of its time. But the solo was more blues than bop, a jazz form that hadn't been fully formed yet. The first bebop guitar solo recorded in a studio would come three years later, on February 9, ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

These Are My Roots:...

Pure Pleasure
2021

buy

Morning Mist

Prestige Records
2004

buy

Morning Mist

Prestige Records
2003

buy

String Fever

Unknown label
2001

buy

Alberta Clipper

T.C.B. Records
2000

buy

Videos

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