Serge Chaloff - Completo!

Há muito eu ansiava por essa caixa: The complete Serge Chaloff sessions, da Mosaic (selo que merece um troféu pelos seus bons lançamentos). Agradeço ao Garibaldi que, retornando de sua última viagem a estranginávia, trouxe-me esse mimo. Serge é um baritonista histórico: grande improvisador, com sua linguagem fluida, promoveu momentos memoráveis a partir da segunda metade dos anos quarenta até o final dos anos cinqüenta. A sua curta discografia, correlata a sua também curta e atribulada vida (faleceu aos 33), é exponencialmente significativa: aqui, a qualidade redimensiona a quantidade. Escolhi quase aleatoriamente quatro faixas para os navegantes se deleitarem: Blue Serge, Love is just around the corner, Body and Soul e Susie's blues - Para ouvir basta clicar sobre os nomes e digitar jazzseen.

Para os estranginautas, fica a breve biografia que consta do Allmusic

In mid-1947 Chaloff also led his first recording session, leading trombonist Red Rodney, tenor saxophonist Earl Swope, pianist George Wallington, bassist Curley Russell, and drummer Tiny Kahn on several sides cut for the Savoy label. However, by this time Chaloff was deep in the throes of heroin addiction, and for years after leaving the Herman band in 1949 he was considered persona non grata throughout much of the jazz community, earning an abysmal reputation for missed gigs and erratic performances. Chaloff settled in New York City, assembling a group featuring the visionary pianist Bud Powell and trombonist Earl Swope that, sadly, never recorded. By early 1952 he returned to Boston, and that spring cut an unissued session with pianist Twardzik, trombonist Sonny Truitt, bassist Jack Lawlor, and drummer Jimmy Weiner. Championed by local disc jockey Bob Martin, Chaloff gradually eased back into the larger consciousness, appearing on television's The Steve Allen Show and leading the house band at the Beantown club Jazzorama. In 1954, he signed to George Wein's Boston-based Storyville to cut The fable of Mabel, recorded with local luminaries including alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano and trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, and a year later the label also issued his collaboration with altoist Boots Mussuli. After completing work on Boston Blow-up!, a loose but impassioned Stan Kenton - produced date for Capitol, Chaloff relocated to Los Angeles, where in 1956 he assembled pianist Soony Clark, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Philly Joe Jones to record his masterpiece Blues Serge, a gripping, evocative set that ranks among the finest jazz recordings of its era. But by the time of its release Chaloff was confined to a wheelchair, partially paralyzed as the result of a spinal tumor. The cancer spread, and he died July 16, 1957, at the age of just 33.