| The Big Challenge | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1957 | |||
| Recorded | April 30 and May 7, 1957 | |||
| Studio | Webster Hall, New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 37:23 | |||
| Label | Jazztone J 1268 | |||
| Producer | George T. Simon | |||
| Rex Stewart chronology | ||||
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| Cootie Williams chronology | ||||
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The Big Challenge is an album by trumpeter Cootie Williams and cornetist Rex Stewart, recorded in 1957 and released on the Jazztone label. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
Scott Yanow of AllMusic states, "a fun and unusual Jazztone session. Six distinctive and very different veterans were teamed together ... the unique matchups are very successful. Each of the musicians has an opportunity to be featured and the tradeoffs are quite memorable. A colorful gem.". [2]
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
Lawrence Brown was an American jazz trombonist from California best remembered for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra. He was a session musician throughout his career, and also recorded albums under his own name.
Rex William Stewart Jr. was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra.
Gus Johnson was an American swing drummer in various jazz bands, born in Tyler, Texas, United States. After learning to play drums from his next-door neighbor, Johnson occasionally played professionally at the age of ten in the Lincoln Theater, and performed in various local groups, most notable McDavid's Blue Rhythm Band. Upon graduating from Booker T. Washington High School, Johnson moved to Kansas City, where he took up drumming full-time. He joined Jay McShann's Orchestra in 1938, with his music career being interrupted by his conscription into the military in 1943.
Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. He was musical director for albums by Cannonball Adderley, Dinah Washington, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich.
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The Metronome All-Stars were a collection of jazz musicians assembled for studio recordings by Metronome Magazine, based on its readers' polls. The studio sessions were held in the years 1939–42, 1946–53, and 1956, and typically consisted of two tracks which allowed each participant a chance to solo for one chorus. Earlier recordings feature more swing style, while the later sessions tend more toward bebop.
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Early Years of a Genius, 44–48, also known as Earl Bud Powell, Vol. 1, is the first of eleven volumes of Bud Powell material released by Francis Paudras on his Mythic Sound label. It features a selection of Powell's early work from 1944 to 1948.
Togo Brava Suite is an album by the American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington. It was recorded in England and released by United Artists Records in 1971. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1972. The album was later reissued on CD by Blue Note in 1994, and studio recordings of the complete "Togo Brava Suite" were released in 2001 by Storyville.
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Porgy & Bess Revisited, subtitled Played by a Very Unusual Cast, is an album of jazz interpretations of songs from the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess performed by cornetist Rex Stewart and trumpeter Cootie Williams, with saxophonists Hilton Jefferson and Pinky Williams and trombonist Lawrence Brown, that was recorded in late 1958 and released on the Warner Bros. label.