The Metronomes: Something Big

To stand out and survive, jazz vocal groups in the 1950s and beyond had to have a certain amount of commercial appeal. Much of their success as recording artists and performers depended on their ability to harmonize, sound hip and connect with pop-minded audiences. This was as true of the Ink Spots and Mills Brothers in the 1940s as it was of the Four Freshmen, the Hi-Lo's and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross in the 1950s and the Manhattan Transfer and Singers Unlimited in the 1970s. Add the Metronomes to the list. The Metronomes?

The Metronomes were from Philadelphia and by my count recorded just two albums. The first was And Now...the Metronomes (1959) for the Wynne label. It was arranged and produced by Leroy Lovett, and featured Sam Reed on alto sax. The lineup on vocals was Charles “Woody" Woodford, Johnny Oglesby, Jules Robinson and Paul Benson.

The more studied jazz album came in 1962 with Something Big!, for Orrin Keepnews's Jazzland label. The vocal quartet this time consisted of Benson, Robinson, Woodford and Conrad Moore. In 1961 they had the good fortune to meet trombonist-arranger Melba Liston, who wrote the album's vocal and instrumental charts and conducted the session. [Photo above, from left, Paul Benson, Julius Robinson, Conrad Moore and Woody Woodford, with Melba Liston and Junior Mance at the piano]

The Metronomes were backed on the album by Mance (p) Les Spann (g) Henry Grimes or Arthur Harper (b), and Grady Tate or Roy McCurdy (d). The 10 tracks included On Green Dolphin Street, Back Door Blues, I Remember Clifford, 'Til I Met You, Monk's Mood, This Could Be the Start of Something Big, 'Round Midnight, Love Is the Thing, Night in Tunisia and Blue. [Pictured above, Junior Mance]

Liston first met the group when the Quincy Jones Big Band was booked into Philadelphia's Pep's Musical Bar. Liston was in the trombone section and wrote arrangements for the band. Liston was impressed and took a shot at turning what had been an R&B vocal group into jazz singers. Starting in the summer of '61, the quartet began rehearsing jazz songs with a tape recorder every Sunday at Liston's one-bedroom apartment in New York.

As Liston recalled in the LP's liner notes, progress came with On Green Dolphin Street and 'Round Midnight—songs that the Metronomes chose."I worked out a system of putting each part on tape and then playing all four parts back for them. After 4 to 6 hours of rehearsal, they'd take the tape back to Philly and work each evening and return the next Sunday with the number darn near perfect—they thought. When they first got the message that they were only singing a sort of outline, with many little things still to be inserted, they almost quit me: We'll never get through... What does she think we are... Nobody sings like that, with notes rubbing all up against each other... We're not instrumentalists."

With determination and Liston's patience and guidance, the Metronomes recorded a smart, harmony-rich and hip jazz album. What became of the singers? Unfortunately, I could find nothing on the web about what happened to Paul Benson, Conrad Moore, Julius Robinson or Charles Woodford. The only mention I could find of Robinson is that he started out in the early 1950s with the Buccaneers, a Philadelphia vocal group. These two albums are their legacy.

For those up on their doo-wop, this group should not be confused with the Metronomes of New York (Harold “Sonny" Wright, Al Avant, Bobby Vaughn and John Coleman ), who recorded two singles for Cadence in 1957 before disbanding. 

JazzWax tracks: I'm sorry to say that the Metronomes' Something Big! has not been released digitally and is rare on LP, with a couple of copies popping up at eBay. The same goes for And Now... the Metronomes.

JazzWax tracks: Here's Pennies From Heaven from the group's first album, And Now... The Metronomes, arranged and produced by Leroy Lovett...