Show Bruce and the Blues By Bruce Bell The Playboy jazz poll is fini and again they have released an album of winners and various The liner notes are a in the two-pocket Witnessed by the statement that says the readers are very hip Why for we also find in the liner notes that Duke Ellington moved from fourth to second place behind Stan Kenton because of the impact of his CBS Spectacular Drum is a you have to make a national spectacle of yourself to place on the Playboy jazz Other stirring comments have to tell of the fact that Louis Armstrong gave up his first place to Chet Baker although Louis gets to sing in the album which is of since Louis received only votes as a but then Louis could only get my vote as the major leader against the Also we find that J. J. Johnson is in first place in the trombones and he made it without a In the piano game we find a mention in the notes about salaries which means to the perceptive reader that Erroll Garner made more than Brubeck and therefore took over first It was a relief to find that George Shearing won third place honors in the piano After all this is a jazz Shelly Manne's triumph in the drum section is referred tn in Hip notes as a victory over others in the skin game which must have some hidden meaning for Playboy readers that at the do not Further on it says the Dave Brubeck Quartet beat out the Modern Jazz Quartet a second time as the most popular instrumental combo in the land with popular being the key word in the So much for the They're just as terrible as some of the but for the most part the Playboy all-stars for 1958 is a great album with the only poor tracks coming from the losers who the album is a tremendous buy if you pick it up for no other reason than the Shelly Stan and Shorty Rogers Is there some significance in the fact that Brubeck and Disney's came to town at the same |