[Review] Art Farmer and Donald Byrd: Two Trumpets (1957)
Farmer and Byrd go horn to horn in this energized bebop session.
Kronomyth 5.0: Two towers.
This is another of Prestige’s pairings where they bring together leading horn players for a little friendly competition/collaboration. It certainly wasn’t unusual to throw familiar players together and see what happened, with the results often falling somewhere between highly competent and inspired. Two Trumpets leans toward the latter; in fact, it’s one of the best Donald Byrd outings to date, in my humble opinion. I’m not well acquainted with the work of Art Farmer, although I have plans to rectify that in the near future. Farmer impresses throughout, and his solo performance on When Your Lover Has Gone is a highlight here. Byrd also gets one song to himself, ‘Round Midnight, which is a good, safe choice. The remaining numbers are covers and one original from Byrd, The Third, that gives everyone a chance to strut their stuff right from the get-go. On the bebop covers, Farmer and Byrd trade solos with alto sax player Jackie McLean; Farmer favors a smokier sound, Byrd plays with more clarity. For Miles Davis’ Dig, the two horn players hold nothing back with thrilling results. Kenny Drew’s Contour is less impressive and McLean’s solo never clicks. The rhythm section of Art Taylor, Doug Watkins and Barry Harris is, of course, steady as a rock. At this point, you know what to expect from Taylor and Watkins. I haven’t heard much from Barry Harris and this probably isn’t the session to start with, since he’s often in the background. I don’t listen to a lot of bebop, but among the trumpet-led bebop albums I’ve heard this is a very solid session and a nice introduction to Farmer and Byrd, although I can’t always tell the difference between the two. Prestige thought enough of the results to add a third horn player, Idrees Sulieman, to the mix for a follow-up titled, what else?, Three Trumpets.
Original elpee version
A1. The Third (Donald Byrd) (7:37)
A2. Contour (Kenny Drew) (7:35)
A3. When Your Lover Has Gone (Einar A. Swan) (5:10)
B1. Dig (Miles Davis) (14:26)
B2. ‘Round Midnight (Thelonius Monk/Cootie Williams) (6:39)
The Players
Donald Byrd (trumpet), Art Farmer (trumpet), Barry Harris (piano), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Art Taylor (drums), Doug Watkins (bass). Supervised by Bob Weinstock, recorded by Van Gelder.
The Plastic
Released on elpee in 1957 the US (Prestige, LP 7062).
- Re-issued on mono elpee in Japan (Prestige, VIJ-5041).
- Re-packaged w. Three Trumpets as Trumpets All Out on 2-for-1 2LP in 1972 in the US (Fantasy, P73443) with gatefold cover.
- Re-issued on elpee in 1982 in the US (Original Jazz Classics, OJC-018).
- Re-issued on compact disc in 1992 in Japan (Prestige, VICJ-23706).
