Sal Salvador

A chunky, urbane, 29-year-old New Englander, Sal Salvador is a former member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and one of current jazz’s cardinal guitarists. His words as quoted here were uttered in New York and taped by phone in Hollywood on March 3, 1955. In them he touches on his personal history, sketches in some background for the recording dates, and lets drop an opinion or two. Interspersed with his remarks are comments and information on the selections themselves, dealing with the numbers in playing order.

Sal: “When I was a kid in Munson, Massachusetts, I was crazy about music. After I got out of high school I helped out in my dad’s store for a while. In 1943 when I turned 18 I finally made a move I’d thought about for a long time: I took up guitar. I had a big record collection and as I was learning to play I think the people who influenced me most were the usual ones: Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, Dizzy and Charlie Parker.”

DOWN HOME—Composer Manny Albam’s curtain-raiser keeps faith with the classic spirit of its source, 12-bar blues. Sal named it for its rustic quality. Everyone solos except the drummer, and his tidy brushwork promises to hold up.

SALUTATIONS—A quick time-time salute -to Sal, of course tossed on the run by Albam. Clipped, talky lines, reminiscent of “Move,” give way to a good chorus by Sal, done in the assured style that marks all his work here. A dashing two-hands chorus by the pianist merits notice.

Sal: “I came to New York to work with Terry Gibbs. After that I worked with lots of small groups around town like the Eddie Bert Quartet and the Dardanelle Trio. Kenton called me long-distance in New York in 1952 and I joined the band June 16 of that year. The records I was featured on include Invention For Guitar And Trumpet and some of the Sketches On Standards like Sophisticated Lady. I left Stan in December of 1953 to form my own group.”

VIOLETS FOR YOUR FURS—A slow, sweet statement of the tune by guitar and vibes reveals a unity of approach. Sal’s group used to sit around and listen to Sinatra’s record of this, thought it would be a nice thing to play, and so asked Albam to arrange it.

NOW SEE HERE, MAN— A simple sprinter with sparsely noted phrases is adroitly handled by the quartet. Bill Holman says of it, This tune had two title changes, one intentional and one unintentional. I wrote a couple of things for a Zoot Sims date and submitted them without titles, designating them only as “Toot #I’ and ‘Toot #2.’ They were released that way. Later, when I rearranged “Toot #2” for Sal, I retitled it ‘Now See Here, Men’ because it reminded me somehow of a sales manager’s pep-talk. Somewhere in the copying, ‘Men’ got changed to ‘Man.’ Now I don’t know what it means.

Sal: The group I formed is the one that’s heard on the eight October sides and is still with me. Campbell, the drummer, is from Pennsylvania and around 26. My bass player Gannon’s 28 and from upstate New York. Ed Costa’s 25 and from Pennsylvania…Mt. Carmel, I think. When I started the group, Kai Winding told me he had a friend that he thought would fit in with what I wanted to do. That was Costa, and he certainly has.”

CABIN IN THE SKY—The first of the July items is a mournful, almost haunting rendition of this show tune, with a pervading suggestion of double-time in the solos. This performance was the product of thought association. Needing another tune for the date, the group wondered if there were some old Charlie Parker tunes they could do. Talk of Bird somehow drifted into talk about birds; then someone mentioned, “His Eve Is On The Sparrow,” the book by Ethel Waters, and that led to “Cabin,” the song she’s known for. The group ran through it, liked it, and did it.

SEE—The best of its session, this is a medium-fast composition built by Albam around a rhythmically clever repetition of a single note. Not surprisingly, considering its title, that note is “C.” Manny Albam, incidentally, is a former reed man who’s been writing and arranging around New York for a long time. In ‘49 he was arranging for Barnet; since then he’s worked for Basie, and in ‘55 he’s doing things for Woody Herman.

Sal: “Some people might wonder why we didn’t work out more of our material ourselves. Well, when the October session came up, we were busy working at Birdland; in fact we closed there the night after the date. We didn’t have any arrangements worked out that we felt were worth recording, so we asked Albam and Holman to do these things for us. I think they did a wonderful job.”

NOTHIN’ TO DO—This lazy sounding tune is played at a lazy tempo; Holman picks it as his best effort. A contrapuntal relation between the guitar and vibes is in evidence for a time. This number offers the first real chance to hear the piano man solo on his second instrument. Sal points out that it’s unusual to find a pianist doubling on vibes. Costa’s equally interested in the two, and is reluctant to work where he can’t play both.

BOO BOO BE DOOP—The title here refers to a phrase that occurs in the first release to this tune. Holman, a charter member of the “Kenton Presents” series, wrote this for the Kenton band when he and Sal were fellow workers in the organization. Sal liked it and later asked Bill to adapt it for him. Trombonist Frank Rosolino, another Kenton alumnus, included the tune in his Kenton Presents album, as well. Sal’s version is as attractive as the others, and it contains his best chorus.

Sal: “Like I said, Charlie Christian was one of my formative influences back in Munson when I was a kid just picking up guitar. I’ll always place Christian as one of the all-time greats. But one of the fascinating things about jazz is the fact that it never stands still, and I think our present era is molding its share of fine guitarists. Tal Farlow is, to my mind, unquestionably one of the best; I like his work very much. Among the others, Howard Roberts, out there on the coast, I like…and Jimmy Raney from Chicago.”

AUTUMN IN NEW YORK—Probably the most successful treatment of a ballad in the album, this performance has enjoyed some little success as a single record. A straightforward but sympathetic airing of the tune, it’s another case where Salvador’s choice of pretty material coincides with that of Frank Sinatra. Gannon contributes commendable bassing to it.

WHEELS—Just as a fine movie can come along and garner all the awards for a particular year, so sometimes can one tune monopolize the superlatives for an album. In the case of “Wheel,” the list of Oscars should read: Best Writing by Manny Albam, Best Piano Chorus by Ed Costa, Best Effort by Jimmy Campbell Best Performance for the quartet as a whole, and Highest Swing Content. Aptly titled, “Wheels” has wandering, pretty lines that seem to revolve rather than just follow each other, giving a definite sensation of rolling motion. Launched with four bars of quite cleanly played sixteenth notes by Campbell, and highlighted later by nice, if brief solos, again from the drums, “Wheels confirms Campbell as a stand-out at brush drumming.

Sal: “At the time the earlier date came off, in July, my quartet was scattered. Costa was around, but the others were out of town. Instead, this date employs a couple of other good boys and I think they turned in a fine job. Joe Morello, the drummer, is about 27 and from my home town; we grew up together. He was working with Marian McPartland at the time of the date. Kenny O’Brien and I met in New York. He’s about the same age and used to play bass for Charlie Barnet.”

ROUND TRIP—A choppy, tricky work that manages to sound both intense and folk-dancey, this engaging composition derives its name from the fact that both piano and vibes are heard on it. Fittingly, Costa, who is in charge of both instruments, wrote it.

YESTERDAYS—Jerome Kern wrote this song for “Roberta,” Bill Holman arranged it for Salvador, and the quartet, delivering it at a somewhat brisker pace than is usual, does so without noticeably belaboring it. It is, in fact, a more or less tranquil reading that rounds out the program, closing the proceedings as they opened on a sound note.

Sal: “My future, like my recent past, lies with the group definitely. As this album goes to to press [Spring 1955], we have just returned from a tour of the middle west, to New York and a brief hiatus. A musical hiatus, that is. Mrs. Gannon just had a baby, Mrs. Campbell just had a baby, the two husbands seem to have sufficiently recovered, and they, along with Costa and myself, are looking forward eagerly to getting back to work again, traveling some more, always trying to play better, individually and as a group. Frankly, we’re pretty happy with this album and gratified by the number of fellow musicians who have heard the recordings and like them. As far as the quartet is concerned, I couldn’t be happier with the group as it stands and I know the guys in it feel the same way. As to what we’ve been trying to do, and what we’ll be shooting for in the future, that’s one of those things it’s hard to put in words. I think it was a well-known alto man who used to talk about two schools, the ‘swingers’ and the intelligentsia.’ Don’t get me wrong, but I think we’d prefer to aim for that first one.