Philly Joe Jones - Six Classic Albums (2012) [6LP on 4CD]

This six-album set contains four albums on which Philly Joe is the leader (including his inaugural album), and two as a sideman. The two burning questions you probably have are (1) how is the sound quality? (2) What is in the set?

Sound quality is surprisingly good. Audiophiles will disagree with me, but I have no problems with it - at least there are no needle-drop transfers from scratchy old discs. Actually these sound like they were remastered by someone who knew what they were doing because the sound is clean and clear.

The contents for these poorly documented sets are usually a mystery, but I have tracked down the when, where and who for each source album. I have also linked to each source album so you can read what reviewers think about them as well as listen to sound samples for every track in this set. And because there is no track listing at the time of this review I have included those too.

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DISC ONE
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The first five tracks is the complete album titled Blues For Dracula. This was Philly Joe's first as a leader. It was recorded in NYC for Riverside on September 17, 1958 and released later that year. Personnel: Philly Joe Jones on drums and narrator, with Nat Adderley on cornet, Julian Priester on trombone, Johnny Griffin on tenor sax, Tommy Flanagan on piano and Jimmy Garrison on bass. Tracks:
01. Blues For Dracula; 02. Trick Street; 03. Fiesta; 04. Tune-Up; 05. Ow!

The remaining tracks on this disc are from the album titled Drums Around The World that was recorded for Riverside in NYC on May 4, 11 & 28, 1959 and released later that year. Philly Joe on drums on all tracks and the following on specific tracks:
Tracks 6 and 7 Were recorded in NYC on May 11, 1959 with Blue Mitchell and Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Benny Golson on tenor sax, Sahib Shihab on baritone sax, and a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly on piano and Sam Jones on bass.
06. Blue Gwynn; 07. Stablemates

Track 8 was recorded on May 4, 1959 in NYC with Philly Joe backed by Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Herbie Mann on flute and piccolo, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Benny Golson on tenor sax, Sahib Shihab on baritone sax, and a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly on piano and Jimmy Garrison on bass.
08. El Tambores (Carioca)

Track 9 is Philly Joe solo recorded in NYC on May 28, 1959.
09. The Tribal Message

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DISC TWO
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The first three tracks are a continuation of the Drums Around the World album from DISC ONE. Track 10 is from the May 11, 1959 session and tracks 11 and 12 are from the May 4, 1959 session described above.
10. Cherokee; 11. Land of the Blue Veils; 12. Philly J.J

Tracks 13 through 19 is the album titled Philly Joe's Beat that was recorded for Atlantic in NYC on May 20, 1960. Personnel are Philly Joe accompanied by Mike Downs on cornet, Bill Barron on tenor saxophone, Walter Davis jr. on piano and Paul Chambers on bass.
13. Salt Peanuts; 14. Muse Rapture; 15. Dear Old Stockholm; 16. Two Bass Hit; 17. Lori; 18. Got to Take Another Chance; 19. That's Earl Brother

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DISC THREE
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The first nine tracks on this disc is the album Showcase that was recorded for Riverside on November 17 & 18, 1959 and released the same year. Tracks 1, 4 and 6 though 8 were recorded in NYC on November 17 by Philly Joe on drums accompanied by Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Julian Priester on trombone, Bill Barron on tenor sax, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Charles (Dolo) Coker on piano and Jimmy Garrison on bass. The remaining tracks were recorded the next day with the following personnel changes: Sonny Clark is on piano and Pepper Adams is not present.
01. Battery Blues; 02. Minor Mode; 03. Gwen; 04. Joe's Debut; 05. Gone; 06. Joe's Delight; 07. Julia; 08. I'll Never Be the Same; 09. Interpretation

The remaining tracks on this disc and the first four on DISC FOUR are the album titled Blue Serge that was lead by Serge Chaloff with Philly Joe as a sideman. The album was recorded in a single session for Capitol in the Capitol Studios, Hollywood on March 14, 1956. Philly Joe is backing Serge Chaloff on baritone sax, with Sonny Clark on piano and Leroy Vinnegar on bass.
10. A Handful of Stars; 11. The Goof and I; 12. Thanks for the Memory; 13. All the Things You Are

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DISC FOUR
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The first four tracks are a continuation from Blue Surge on the preceding disc.
01. I've Got the World on a String; 02. Susie's Blues; 03. Stairway to the Stars; 04. How About You?

Tracks 5 through 11 is the album titled J. R. Monterose (Rudy Van Gelder Edition) that was led by J.R. Monterose with Philly Joe as a sideman. This was recorded for Blue Note at Rudy van Gelder's Hackensack, NJ studio on October 21, 1956. Montrose is on tenor sax backed by Ira Sullivan on trumpet, Horace Silver on piano and Wilbur Ware on bass.
05. Wee-Jay; 06. The Third; 07. Bobbie Pin; 08. Marc V; 09. La-Link; 11. Beauteous

The final track is a bonus track from an album titled Mood Jazz. It was recorded in NYC for Atlantic on November 19, 1956 featuring Joe Castro on piano, with Philly Joe and bassist Ed Shonk backing him.
12. You Stepped Out of a Dream

If you are studying Philly Joe, this is not a bad starting point. Of course, there is Miles Davis and a plethora of others who feature Philly Joe on their albums and demand attention as well, but this set does provide a good cross section of his work.

Review by Mike Tarrani, Amazon.com Top Reviewer

A fiery drummer and a masterful accompanist, Philly Joe Jones came to fame as a key member with the first classic Miles Davis Quintet. After serving in the Army, he moved to New York in 1947, became the house drummer at Cafe Society and played with a who's who of bop (including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Fats Navarro). He worked regularly with Ben Webster, Joe Morris, Tiny Grimes, Lionel Hampton, and Tadd Dameron (1953). Jones was with Miles Davis during 1955-1958, including the quintet years (1955-1956) with John Coltrane, Red Garland, and Paul Chambers and the beginnings of the super sextet that also included Cannonball Adderley (recording the classic Milestones album). In 1958, he started leading his own groups, recording for Riverside (1958-1959) and Atlantic (1960). Jones lived in London and Paris during 1967-1972 (performing and recording with some avant-garde players, including Archie Shepp). He eventually returned to Philadelphia, where he led a fusion group, Le Grand Prix, toured with Bill Evans during 1976, recorded for Galaxy in 1977 and 1979, and worked with Red Garland. Starting in 1981, he led the group Dameronia, which revived Tadd Dameron's music. But in reality, everything that Philly Joe Jones did after Miles Davis was anticlimactic.

Scott Yanow, Allmusic.com