Muted Brilliance: Art Farmer - "Art"
/
Art Farmer • Art • 1960 • Argo Records
Recorded September 21, 22 & 23, 1960 at Nola Penthouse Studios, NYC
The Tracks:
A1. So Beats My Heart For You
A2. Goodbye Old Girl
A3. Who Cares
A4. Out Of The Past
B1. Younger Than Springtime
B2. The Best Thing For You Is Me
B3. I’m A Fool To Want You
B4. That Ole Devil Called Love
The Players:
Art Farmer - Trumpet
Tommy Flanagan - Piano
Tommy Williams - Bass
Albert “Tootie” Heath - Drums
The Music:
Man, I love me some Art Farmer. He has a sound all his own, a full round warm tone that always hits the right mood in any multitude of settings. For whatever reason, he has fallen by the wayside when it comes to his rightful recognition as one of the great hard bop players of his day, despite his many classic albums and his pioneering work with The Jazztet, the group he co-founded and co-led with tenor saxophonist Benny Golson.
While Argo is far from being one of the more sought after jazz labels, it was the home of The Jazztet for their first four albums (recorded at various points between 1960 and 1961) which would explain why Farmer would stick with the label when he hit the studio to record Art shortly after completing the Jazztet’s second album Big City Sounds. He brought along the Jazztet’s drummer (Albert “Tootie” Heath) and bassist (Tommy Williams) for the sessions, while adding in the always amazing Tommy Flanagan on piano to complete the quartet. Flanagan is the perfect foil for Farmer, they are both highly reflective in their playing, with a clear and spacious lyrical quality that accentuates the best of both musicians style.
Art Farmer Feelin’ The Spirit.
The album is a subdued and laid back affair: an intentional decision by Farmer, who states in the liner notes that he had been planning this set for nearly a year before hitting the studio. That he wanted to achieve “a very intimate session. I wanted it to sound like I was just sitting and talking to someone with the horn, talking to just one person.” He accomplishes this in spades: one of the great feats of a session like this is to draw the listener in with a tender and warm sound, which then reveals a great depth of sophistication upon repeated listening. Farmer’s choice of tunes certainly bolster this effect, he picked a few that were rarely performed in a jazz context, allowing him to make them his own.
If Art had been released on one of the more renowned jazz labels of the day, I have no doubt it would be have a devoted following as one of the great jazz records of the early-1960s. As it stands today it is a diamond in the rough, waiting to be discovered by the discerning modern jazz fan, certainly - much like it’s creator - overdue for a much deserved reappraisal of it’s great charms.
Here is “Younger Than Springtime” showing off Farmer’s lyrical deftness on the horn, as well as Flanagan’s delicate yet assured touch on the keys that make these two the perfect complement to each other:
The Vinyl:
This is an original stereo pressing from 1960, with a deep groove blue label proclaiming itself to be a “Stereo Odyssey by Argo” along the top of the label. It was released only once (in both mono and stereo) in 1960, and would not be reissued again until 1975 in Japan and 1978 in the US. The cover portrait was painted by Ernest Fiene, referred to in the liner notes as a distinguished artist whose work hung in great museums all throughout the US, although I personally was not familiar with him before picking up this record. In any case, it is certainly a unique album cover, and one that must have stood out on the record store shelves when it was released. I had the good fortune of finding this Near Mint copy at a local record shop earlier this year, with the cover in ridiculously excellent condition. After nearly thirty years of hunting down vinyl in dusty shops, I am still amazed when I’m digging through the racks and find a 50+ year old LP that looks nearly as good as the day it was purchased. A lesson that taking care of your records is not only easy, but actually does work!
As for Argo Records, it was a division of the great blues label Chess Records, created to specifically release jazz music, which it did to great success for about a decade starting in 1955. Artists as wide ranging as Rasaan Roland Kirk, Kenny Burrell, Ahmad Jamal and Max Roach all had impressive LPs released on Argo, and the astute jazz vinyl digger will definitely come across them from time to time in record bins, so don’t sleep on them just because they’re not a more well known jazz label. In 1965 Argo changed their name to Cadet, so many of their classic jazz titles (including Art) were later re-released with new artwork under that imprint and both these reissues and originals can usually be had for very reasonable prices.
