“Mad Thad”   Leonard Feather presents Thad Jones   Period Records   NYC, January 6, 1957

Thad Jones (tp) Henry Coker (tb -2,3) Frank Wess (ts, fl) Tommy Flanagan (p) Eddie Jones (b) Elvin Jones (d) with Frank Foster, Jimmy Jones, Doug Watkins, Jo Jones,   Quincy Jones

Bird Song, Cat Meets Chick, Quiet Sip

Late 1956 and early 1957 found Thad Jones in the midst of a rewarding flurry of recording activity.   During time off from Basie, however, Jones poured his energy into composing, arranging, and playing with fires of creativity that led Charles Mingus to call him “the greatest trumpet that I’ve heard in this life.” For Mad Thad, Jones recruited a few of his favorite Basie colleagues and a Basie veteran, drummer Jo Jones. For one session, he brought in his brother Elvin on drums and another fellow Detroiter, pianist Tommy Flanagan. Fully justifying Mingus’s enthusiasm, Jones played at the top of his game of melodic and harmonic invention. His compositions included a blues line that quickly became a jazz standard, “Bird Song.” – Concord Records

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