Jazz at the Philharmonic – The First Concert (Verve)

JATP: the concert that created a cottage industry and in the process sent many jazz critics cringing in contempt. Say what you want about Norman Granz’s populist bastion of bombast and crowd-goading histrionics, but this inaugural salvo swings like crazy from start to finish. An All-Star affair in every sense of the term, the seven cuts included contain some of the fiercest solos ever waxed by the participants. Illinois Jacquet’s freak register foray on the straightforward “Blues” sets the bar as phrases pour in squealing spouts from the bell of his upraised tenor. Saxophonist Jack McVea is no slouch either and he burns through his fair share of choruses, as during the opening hard-riffing rundown of “Lester Leaps In.” Les Paul and J.J. Johnson often act as cooling agents, the former displaying formidable jazz chops that counteract the later pop pap that would become his trademark. Then there’s Nat Cole, operating under the cryptic alias of Shorty Nadine, who spins out stride-stamped piano rolls that keep the beat to jumping. Amidst all the hoopla there’s even room for the ballad “Body and Soul.” Rampant wolf whistles and riotous applause which intersperse the solos are but one indication that this was an afternoon for the ages.