The great trumpeter Art Farmer (1928-1999) had a long career as an in-demand sideman in his early career and as a leader, releasing about an average of a record per year from 1953 until the year before his death in 1998. Raised in Phoenix, Farmer moved to Los Angeles in 1945 and was part of the Central Avenue jazz scene there. He played with a number of big bands led by Horace Henderson, Johnny Otis, Gerald Wilson, Jay McShann, Roy Porter, and others. He recorded with Wardell Gray in 1951-1952 and toured with Lionel Hampton's big band in 1953. After moving to New York, he co-led a group with Gigi Gryce (1954-1956) and worked with Horace Silver (1957-1958) and Gerry Mulligan (1958-1959). After leading the Jazztet with Benny Golson (1959-1962), he began playing flugelhorn and led a quartet with Jim Hall on guitar and Steve Swallow on bass (1962-1965). After leading another one with Jimmy Heath on tenor saxophone (1966-1968), he moved to Vienna, Austria for the rest of his life.
On
Homecoming, he sticks to flugelhorn throughout and it's wondrous sound. Capable of great warmth, he already had a warm sound in the 1950's. Coming up in the 1940's with Dizzy Gillespie having the dominant trumpet sound, Farmer took a different route like Miles Davis. Like Davis, he favored the legendary warm trumpet sound of Freddie Webster (1916-1947). Primarily a section player, Webster played in the big bands of Earl Hines, Erskine Tate, Benny Carter, Lucky Millinder, Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway, and Dizzy Gillespie. There are no recordings of him playing solo, but he's heard a few bars at a time on late 1940's recordings of Sarah Vaughan. Farmer decided to go against the grain and carved out a unique career for himself---being that rare versatile hard bop musician who was also able to fit in with the cool concepts of Gerry Mulligan. Not that it's unheard of, but I find it interesting too that Farmer recorded with white musicians. As the Civil Rights Movement was making headlines in 1962-1964, Farmer worked and recorded with Jim Hall and Steve Swallow.
Jimmy Heath (b.1926) is one of the great jazz tenor saxophone players, unfortunately he was far overshadowed by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon and others. He almost joined Miles Davis' group which probably would have changed his visibility, but he has had a long career and is, at this time of writing, one of the last jazz musicians of his generation that is still alive in 2020. Jazz musicians are not known for their longevity, making Heath, age 93, a valued member of the community. He also soprano on a few tracks and overall is not as hard driving as other tenor players of his generation. He has a big sound but he's not one to overwhelm you and so perhaps this made him an ideal partner with Farmer.
Homecoming is the first recording I know of the members of the Magic Triangle Trio playing together: Cedar Walton (1934-2013) on piano, Sam Jones (1924-1981) on bass, and Billy Higgins (1936-2001) on drums. Their combined talents includes experiences in hard bop (Walton with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers), soul jazz (Jones with Cannonball Adderley), and even modern (Higgins with Ornette Coleman). As a trio, they maintained a strong foundation in bebop and hard bop and in quartet or quintet settings, they made some of the best straight-ahead jazz recordings in the 1970s, under Walton's name and as the Eastern Rebellion. During an era of electronics, amplification, and excess, they were helping keep the tradition of acoustic straight ahead jazz with Walton's new originals becoming jazz standards. I've always admired their tenacity and dedication to bebop (though Walton did record some fusion in the mid-1970s).
Homecoming was recorded in the summer of 1971 and so titled because it was his first recording in the United States since his move. Released on Mainstream records, two tracks feature his quintet with Jimmy Heath (listed as 'James Heat) on saxophones, Cedar Walton on piano, Sam Jones (listed as 'Samuel Jones') on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The other three tracks add Warren Smith, Jr. on percussion and James Forman/Mtume on conga drums.
It's a bit of an uneven recording, not fault to Farmer or the musician, but mostly with the mix. Especially on the tracks with percussion, there's not enough distinction between the drums, percussion, and congas. Without percussion, the quintet tracks sounds much stronger. Given that this is 1971 the bass sound is ok, but it sounds like a cheap piano. Walton still takes great solos, but the sound qualities are sometimes hard to ignore.
Besides three latin jazz tunes (with percussion), "Homecoming" an original by Farmer and two fast sambas, Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa" and "Cascavelo", the set is rounded out by the quintet performing a ballad and one swing tune. Of the latin jazz tunes, "Cascavelo" is the standout with extended solos by Farmer, Heath, and Walton. Heath is on soprano and he is just as fluid on this instrument than on tenor. He has a little bit of the freedom sounds in him and for a brief moment he goes there. Again, the extended rhythm section is a bit much and detracts from the playing. I'm used to hearing Jones in swing situations, but he has a nice feel on the samba tunes. He even gets a chorus on "Blue Bossa" but doesn't stray far from his bass line. Like I've talked about with Curly Russell, Jones understands the role of the bass as an accompaniment instrument.
Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time" sounds enchanting with Farmer's sparse interpretation. Rather than decorate the melody, he holds his notes out and lets his tone do the work. It's a great performance and Jones is surprisingly active behind Farmer, initiating some energy with fills and pedals. But this happens at the peak of the flugelhorn solo. During the melody, Jones is appropriately spare and stays out of the way, letting his own magnificent sound shine through.
The swing tune "Here Is That Rainy Day" is taken at a medium tempo. Jones is surprisingly busy in his two feel à la Ray Brown as is Higgins who continually changes his brush pattern. It sounds fine, but deliberate as I associate Jones especially as being a simpler player. But when they finally break into 4/4 swing behind Farmer's solo, everything comes together and for the first time on the album, I hear magic. It hasn't been fashionable for for jazz musicians to record standards in a long time, but finally, on the last few minutes of a very short record, the musicians are in familiar territory and everyone sounds comfortable.
Formed in 1964, Mainstream had a roster of reissues and current jazz artists who were roughly of the same generation as Art Farmer. Yet they also released soundtracks composers like Maurice Jarre, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Barry and blues, before expanding to include singer-songwriters and soul/funk artists in the 1970's. They are perhaps best known for releasing the first record by Janis Joplin's band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Most of the jazz releases are out of print: Homecoming has never been reissued in the U.S. since 1971, though it was released on compact disc in Japan in 2017! The label is the brainchild of producer Bob Shad and the releases are still owned by the family---currently run by his grandchildren, one of whom is the actor Judd Apatow.
Black and white photos from the inside cover
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