Sean Nelson

New London Big Band

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The lost music of Thad Jones written for Harry James

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Wayne Bergeron

John Riley

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Don’t Stop Now is a medium slow blues in C, with an intro that makes no doubt that this is
Thad’s work, through its voicings and the basic blues foundation. This appeared on Harry James
1967 album Our Leader! The great tenor solo by XXX starts slow and sultry, then expands to
make a strong statement, leading to a classic shout chorus.
Tip Toe is an mid-1960s, shorter version of Thad’s landmark composition based on the “I Got
Rhythm” chord sequence. Wayne Bergeron plays a beautiful muted solo that salutes the great
Snooky Young’s work on the famous 1970 Thad-Mel version. The shout chorus is completely
different from the famous 1970 version but is 100% Thad, and the band plays the heck out of it.
I like this ending better than the famous one!

More Than Once is a heartbreakingly beautiful ballad trumpet feature for Wayne Bergeron that
explores Thad’s genius at manipulating the cycle of fifths, with the melody in the evocative
upper structures of those dominant chords. Although the title implores us to play the tune…more
than once, it’s ironic that Thad only wrote this gorgeous melody to be played one time in this
arrangement. The only drawback of this miniature gem is its brevity – you will want to play this
track two times, or three!
Don’t Min-us is, as the title infers, is a minor blues. It features a guitar solo by XXX that
combines great sound with equally beautiful ideas, followed by a wonderful alto solo by XXXX.
The powerful ending builds to a climax in a typically unexpected Thad-ish way, through an
underlying riff figure and triplet brass figures that might evoke the Dizzy Gillespie big band.
Letter from Home is another Thad original composition, a medium-tempo swinger that takes
advantage of a question-answer figure in the brass. There’s another swinging Bergeron solo set
against the kind of active Thad backgrounds that propel and inspire any soloist. The swinging
vibe of XXX’s and XXX’s piano and bass solos continues in the sax solo, and the Bergeron-led
shout chorus.
If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight) is an old standard, composed in 1926 by James P.
Johnson and Henry Creamer, arranged by Thad Jones - the lone example here of Thad arranging
someone else’s composition, and one of only two that was previously recorded, appearing on
Harry James’ 1964 Plays New Versions of Downbeat Favorites. This tune is a classic Harry
James style trumpet feature, captured beautifully by Wayne Bergeron, amid Thad’s wonderful
shifting re-harmonizations. Brief interludes by tenor and piano lead to a shout chorus, and
Wayne stratospheric final note.
About Time is a feature for the trombone section with commentary from Wayne’s trumpet, with
XXXX’s trombone trading solos with XXX’s tenor. Presumably the title is a quote from those
trombonists, saying “It’s about time we got the spolight!” The trombones are heard from again
on the way out, and they even get a bit of the last word.
Three and One is a Thad original that first appeared as a small-group tune on the seminal “all-
Jones” album Keepin’ Up with the Joneses. That first recording features the three Jones brothers
(Thad, Hank, and Elvin) in a quartet with Basie bassist Eddie Jones (no relation) – thus the title:
Three Joneses who were brothers and One who wasn’t. This early sixties big band version is
more of a blowing session, with solos from Bergeron and XXX’s guitar. Make note of the truly
acrobatic sax soli, where 16 th notes abound, handled deftly by the section. The tight rhythms of
the shout section again bear Thad’s signature.
Hullabaloo is bandleader Sean Nelson’s composition and arrangement, a funky melody set
against a stop-time rhythm section. That sets up trombone and trumpet solos, and funk-based
riffs that start in the low end and build. This is a great, high-energy experience!
Reply All is another Sean Nelson composition that features a slinky blues melody and solos on
piano – and an unexpected unaccompanied features for the horn sections. The saxes start it,

joined by the brass, and another set of solos breaks out, this time on tenor by XXXX and XXX’s
trombone. The great John Riley gets a chance to shine as well, showing his decades of
experience succeeding Mel Lewis, now at the helm of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Sean Nelson’s arrangement of Sweet Georgia Brown features some fine clarinet work, not only
in XXX’s solo, but also in the shifting harmonies underneath the big band style head – perhaps
inspired by Thad himself. The big band era atmosphere of this fine chart is contrasted by the
shape-shifting clarinets return to offset the final shout chorus.

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The first thing to understand about the great composer/arranger/trumpeter/bandleader Thad Jones is that he was a genius. The mark of any great jazz is that it hits the ear and the brain on multiple levels: yes, there is the virtuosity of Thad’s complex voicings, his unique melodic twists, the technical challenges for the band – but his music also reaches the listener on a deeper gut level, with its bluesy, propulsive sense of underlying powerful swing and forward motion. These qualities hold true whether Thad was composing and arranging for the Count Basie Band in the 1950s, for the historic Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra that he co-led from 1966-78, in writing projects for a variety of guest solo singers, or writing for his later bands in Europe.

 

This multi-level magnetism of Thad Jones’ little-known arrangements for the great trumpeter Harry James is no different. Harry James may be best known as a big band era trumpet virtuoso, but he was also an ardent Count Basie fan. In his later years, James entered into retainer agreements with several well-known Basie arrangers, including Thad Jones as well as Ernie Wilkins, Neal Hefti, and Bill Holman. He contracted them each for one chart a month, over a period of several years. This gave rise to no less than 25 Thad Jones compositions and arrangements, written exclusively for the Harry James Band but largely unknown or forgotten until recently. Some of these were Thad’s own takes on big band era favorites like “Cherokee,” “Frenesi,” “Flying Home,” and “Harlem Nocturne.” Others were Thad’s own original compositions; those originals are the selections recorded so beautifully by Sean Nelson and the New London Big Band, with two virtuoso guests: the renowned trumpeter Wayne Bergeron and Vanguard Jazz Orchestra veteran drummer John Riley. It is important to note that most of these arrangements were never recorded by James himself – these are the first recordings of this music.

 

Most notable are Thad’s arrangements of his own tunes “Tip Toe” and “Three and One.” Both titles eventually became part of the legendary repertoire of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra – but these are earlier versions done for Harry James, apparently written three or four years before their famous later offspring! These early versions are shorter, less composed-out – but most definitely experimenting with the ideas that would soon become known as classics.

 

This is an important recording, not only because it brings to light Thad Jones’ artistic genius in these newly discovered arrangements, but also because of the high level of the New London Big Band’s performances with the great Wayne Bergeron and John Riley.

 

- Dr. David Dempsey, Curator of the Living Jazz Archives, William Paterson University

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1. Don’t Stop Now, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Cedric Mayfield, tenor sax

2. Tip Toe, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

3. More Than Once, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

4. Don’t Min-Us, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Erik Elligers, alto sax

   2. Gianni Gardner, guitar

5. Letter From Home, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Luke Wingfield, trumpet

6. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight), by Jimmy Johnson and Harry Creamer, arranged by Thad Jones (arr. 1964)

   1. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

   2. Cedric Mayfield, tenor sax

   3. Jen Allen, piano

7. About Time, by Thad Jones (1963)

   1. Sean Nelson, trombone

   2. Cedric Mayfield, tenor sax

8. Three and One, by Thad Jones (arr. 1963)

   1. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

   2. Gianni Gardner, guitar

9. Hullabaloo, by Sean Nelson (2023)

   1. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

   2. Sean Nelson, trombone

10. Reply All, by Sean Nelson (2022)

    1. Jen Allen, piano

    2. Cedric Mayfield, tenor sax

    3. Sean Nelson, trombone

    4. Wayne Bergeron, trumpet

11. Sweet Georgia Brown, by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, arranged by Sean Nelson (arr. 2022)

    1. Cedric Mayfield, clarinet

    2. Luke Wingfield, trumpet

    3. John Riley, drums

 

Saxes: Erik Elligers, Tyler Wilkins, Cedric Mayfield, Josh Thomas, Jeff Emerich

Trumpets: Wayne Bergeron, Don Clough, Seth Bailey, Renée McGee, Luke Wingfield

Trombones: Sean Nelson, Leroy Loomer, Vince Yanovitch, Wes Mayhew

Piano: Jen Allen

Guitar: Gianni Gardner

Bass: Lou Bocciarelli

Drums: John Riley

Tuba: Adam Crowe (track 9)

Harp: Megan Sesma (track 11)

 

Produced by Sean Nelson and Earl MacDonald

Recorded August 11-12, 2023, at Powerstation New England

Recorded and mixed by Evan Bakke

Mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering

Cover photo by Catherine King

Back photo by A. Vincent Scarano

Package design: Jamie Breiwick, B Side Graphics

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