Rights Of Swing (Remastered) Woods, Fuller, Bailey, Flanagan, Watkins, Shihab, Johnson, Dennis

• 1 Prelude And Part 1 (Remastered) 06:37
• 2 Part II (Ballad) (Remastered) 07:45
• 3 Part III (Waltz) (Remastered) 05:44
• 4 Part IV (Scherzo) (Remastered) 11:28
• 5 Part V (Presto) (Remastered) 07:17
• Total Runtime 38:51

Info for Rights Of Swing (Remastered)

When he first came on the scene, Phil Woods was often referred to as "The New Bird," in a nod to the legendary Charlie Parker - A testament to his genius on the saxophone to be sure. But while obviously indebted to Parker - as all modern jazz saxophonists of a certain era were - there is no question that Phil Woods was an original. After earning a degree in music from Juilliard in the early 1950's, Woods found himself in the orbit of the great Quincy Jones. At Jones' invitation Woods joined Dizzy Gillespie's infamous Jazz Ambassadors - a tour sponsored by the US State Department as part of a global cultural diplomacy initiative - and subsequently became a member of Jones' own touring band. This recording, his 9th album as a band leader, consists entirely of Woods' five-part Rights of Swing Suite. An ambitious large-scale composition based solidly on jazz traditions. A culmination of the influences the then 30 year artist had absorbed. Arguably considered one of Woods finest recordings, the record features a stellar section made up of Wood's fellow Quincy Jones band members. (It should be noted that these same musicians, for the most part, are also the section on Benny Bailey's Candid Records recording, Big Brass, recorded a a few months prior in November of 1960).

"Woods had created an enticing mélange of voicing, making the most of the off-beat combination of alto, trumpet, baritone, trombone (Curtis Fuller) and French horn. Julius Watkins is something else. Making the most of a cumbersome jazz instrument, he’s the velvet and satin touch among his section mates and, when he takes solos, it sounds so sweet and natural, it’s like watching a baby sucking the breast. Mother’s milk and all that jazz. Nice contrast to Woods, who takes the longest solos and is on top of his game and scares off the fire brigade. For all his zest though, he lets his flowing lines breathe, often tagging them with a moan and a cry." (flophousemagazine.com)

Phil Woods, alto saxophone
Sahib Shihab, baritone saxophone
Benny Bailey, trumpet
Curtis Fuller, trombone (tracks 1-4)
Willie Dennis, trombone (track 5)
Julius Watkins, French horn
Tommy Flanagan, piano
Buddy Catlett, double bass
Osie Johnson, drums (tracks 1-4)
Granville Roker, drums (track 5)

Recorded January 26 and February 10, 1961 at Nola Penthouse Sound Studios, New York City
Engineered by Bob d’Orleans
Produced by Nat Hentoff

Digitally remastered by Bernie Grundman

Phil Woods
One of the true masters of the bop vocabulary, Phil Woods has had his own sound since the mid-’50s and stuck to his musical guns throughout a remarkably productive career. There has never been a doubt that he is one of the top alto saxophonists alive, and he has lost neither his enthusiasm nor his creativity through the years.

Woods’ first alto was left to him by an uncle, and he started playing seriously when he was 12. He gigged and studied locally until 1948, when he moved to New York. Woods studied with Lennie Tristano, at the Manhattan School of Music, and at Juilliard, where he majored in clarinet. He worked with Charlie Barnet (1954), Jimmy Raney (1955), George Wallington, the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, Buddy Rich (1958-1959), Quincy Jones (1959-1961), and Benny Goodman (for BG’s famous 1962 tour of the Soviet Union), but has mostly headed his own groups since 1955, including co-leadership of a combo with fellow altoist Gene Quill in the ’50s logically known as “Phil & Quill.” Woods, who married the late Charlie Parker’s former wife Chan in the 1950s (and became the stepfather to singer Kim Parker), was sometimes thought of as “the new Bird” due to his brilliance in bop settings, but he never really sounded like a copy of Parker.

Woods popped up in a variety of settings in the 1960s — on Benny Carter’s classic Further Definitions record, touring Europe with the short-lived Thelonious Monk Nonet, and appearing on studio dates like the soundtracks to The Hustler and Blow Up. Always interested in jazz education (although he believes that there is no better way to learn jazz than to gig and travel constantly), Woods taught at an arts camp in Pennsylvania in the summers of 1964-1967. Discouraged with the jazz scene in the U.S., he moved to France in 1968. For the next few years, Woods led a very advanced group, the European Rhythm Machine, which leaned toward the avant-garde and included pianist George Gruntz. Their recordings still sound fresh and exciting today, although this venture would only be a detour in Woods’ bebop life. In 1972, he returned to the U.S. and tried unsuccessfully to lead an electronic group that featured keyboardist Pete Robinson.

In 1973, Woods formed a quintet with pianist Mike Melillo, bassist Steve Gilmore, drummer Bill Goodwin, and guitarist Harry Leahey that had much greater success. Their recording Live at the Showboat officially launched the band, which today, after a few personnel changes, still tours the world. After Leahey left in 1978, it was known as the Phil Woods Quartet until trumpeter Tom Harrell (1983-1989) joined; his spot has since been assumed by trombonist Hal Crook (1989-1992) and trumpeter Brian Lynch. Pianist Melillo went out on his own in 1980, and his successors have been Hal Galper (1980-1990), Jim McNeely (1990-1995), and Bill Charlap; Gilmore and Goodwin have been with Woods since the group’s start. Not just a bebop repertory band, Woods’ ensembles have developed their own repertoire, taken plenty of chances, and stretched themselves while sticking to his straight-ahead path.

Woods contributed the famous alto solo to Billy Joel’s hit recording of “Just the Way You Are” and has been one of Michel Legrand’s favorite artists, guesting with Legrand on an occasional basis; he has made dozens of rewarding recordings himself through the years. He debuted as a leader in 1954 and has since recorded for Prestige, Savoy, RCA, Mode, Epic, Candid (the brilliant The Right of Swing in 1961), Impulse, MGM, Verve, Embryo, Testament, Muse, Omnisound, Enja, and Chesky, and has recorded with his Quintet/Quartet for RCA, Gryphon, Adelphi, Clean Cuts, SeaBreeze (two sets adding Chris Swansen’s inventive synthesizer to the band), Red, Antilles, Palo Alto, BlackHawk, Denon, and quite extensively for Concord. Some key sets include 1960’s Rights of Swing on Candid, 1974’s Musique Du Bois on 32 Jazz, 1981’s Birds of a Feather from Antilles, and 2002’s Americans Swinging in Paris from EMI.

An Italian label, Philogy (which has some broadcasts and live performances from Woods’ bands), is named after the popular and still brilliant altoist. Still going strong well into the 21st century, Woods cut a live session with the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra in 2005 that was released by Jazz Media in 2006. American Songbook, which features Woods’ treatment of pop and jazz standards, appeared from Kind of Blue later that same year. In 2009, after years of attempting to secure the rights to interpret the work of writer A.A. Milne, Woods released Children’s Suite — a tribute to Milne’s classic book Winnie the Pooh. (Scott Yanow, AMG)

This album contains no booklet.