New Jazz Sound of Showboat

For the life of me, I can't understand why great jazz albums are still left unreleased by major labels. The fact that I'm still digging them out of the ground like a dog to truffles just proves the vastness of the jazz and jazz-pop forest. One can spend a lifetime listening to this music every day and still not find or hear everything. What a gift the last generation of musicians left behind.

Case in point: In September 1959, John Carisi, composer of the jazz standard Israel, arranged an album for Columbia called The New Jazz Sound of Show Boat. It's certainly fair to call this album one of the finest jazz interpretations of any Broadway musical, and it features artists who were at the top of their game. The band included Carisi (tp,arr,cond), Phil Woods (as), Bob Brookmeyer (vtp), Barry Galbraith (g) and Jimmy Raney (g). The names of the third guitarist and the rhythm section are unknown.

The initial idea for the album was Galbraith's (above), who had turned to Carisi for an arrangement he could use for a rehearsal with a handful of guitarists. Carisi came back with a chart for Israel, but the arrangement started Carisi thinking. The result was this album, with Galbraith, Raney and a third guitarist up front. It's quite a remarkable album, especially if you love the sound of terrific jazz guitars. Or if you dig Phil Woods. Or Bobby Brookmeyer. Or Carisi.

Hopefully Jordi Pujol at Fresh Sound or another label will re-issue this one, which has never been issued digitally. This Show Boat has been in dry dock way too long.