Blues a la Mode

Blues a la Mode
Studio album by Budd Johnson
Released	1958
Recorded	February 11 and 14, 1958
Studio	NYC
Genre	Jazz
Label	Felsted ; FAJ.7007
Producer	Stanley Dance
Budd Johnson chronology

Last updated March 15, 2019

Blues a la Mode is an album by saxophonist Budd Johnson which was recorded in 1958 and released on the Felsted label.^[1]^[2]

Albert J. "Budd" Johnson III was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with, among others, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Billie Holiday and, especially, Earl Hines.

Felsted Records was the name of two record labels. The UK version began as a subsidiary of Decca Records in July 1954 with music mainly in the jazz and dance band genres and recordings leased from the French Blue Star, Riviera, and Classique labels. The label took its name from the village where Sir Edward Lewis, the head of UK Decca, lived. The British label's only release of note was "Smokie", the first single by Bill Black's Combo, Black having been Elvis Presley's bassist, licensed from Hi Records.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]

Scott Yanow of AllMusic states, "The leader contributed all six numbers and stars in prime form throughout; Shavers and Bryant also fare quite well".^[3]

AllMusic is an online music database. It catalogs more than 3 million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musical artists and bands. It launched in 1991, predating the World Wide Web.

Track listing

All compositions by Budd Johnson except where noted.

"Foggy Nights" – 5:37
"Leave Room in Your Heart for Me" (Budd Johnson, John Dobson) – 7:16
"Destination Blues" – 5:19
"A la Mode" – 7:31
"Used Blues" – 7:05
"Blues by Five" – 6:06

Personnel

Budd Johnson – tenor saxophone
Charlie Shavers – trumpet
Vic Dickenson – trombone (tracks 1, 3 & 5)
Al Sears – baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 3 & 5)
Bert Keyes – piano, organ (tracks 1, 3, 5)
Ray Bryant – piano (tracks 2, 4, 6)
Joe Benjamin – bass
Jo Jones – drums

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the Alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭₂ to E₅ (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".

Charles James Shavers was an American swing era jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, and Billie Holiday. He was an arranger and composer, and one of his compositions, "Undecided", is a jazz standard.

A trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC; they began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape.

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References

↑ Felsted Album Discography. Retrieved July 6, 2017
↑ Discogs album entry. Retrieved July 6, 2017
1 2 Yanow, Scott. Blues a la Mode – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved July 6, 2017.

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[1] Felsted Album Discography. Retrieved July 6, 2017

[2] Discogs album entry. Retrieved July 6, 2017

[Allmusic-3] 1 2 Yanow, Scott. Blues a la Mode – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved July 6, 2017.