Sonny Clark – Dial "S" For Sonny (2LP, 45RPM, Mono, Number 0558)
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Rarity - Sealed
Piano - Sonny Clark
Trumpet (except D2) - Art Farmer
Trombone (except D2) - Curtis Fuller
Tenor saxophone (except D2) - Hank Mobley
Drums - Louis Hayes
Bass - Wilbur Ware
Written by Sonny Clark (A1, B1, C1, D1), Burke-Van Heusen (B2), George & Ira Gershwin (D2)
2LPs, gatefold jacket
Limited numbered edition (Number 0558)
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 45 RPM
Size : 12'’
Mono
Studio
Record Press : Record Technology Incorporated
Label : Music Matters
Original Label : Blue Note
Recorded on July 21, 1957 at Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, NJ
Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder
Produced by Alfred Lion
Mastered by Kevin Gray & Momchil Zanev at Cohearent Audio
Design by Reid Miles
Liner Notes by Robert Levin
Photography by Francis Wolff & William Connors
Originally released in November 1957
Reissued in 2013
Tracks:
Side A:
1. Dial "S" For Sonny
Side B:
1. Bootin' It
2. It Could Happen To You
Side C:
1. Sonny's Mood
Side D:
1. Shoutin' On A Riff
2. Love Walked In
Reviews:
“Dial "S" for Sonny, Sonny Clark's first session for Blue Note Records and his first session as a leader, is a terrific set of laidback bop, highlighted by Clark's liquid, swinging solos. Clark leads a first-rate group -- Art Farmer (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Wilbur Ware (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) -- through four originals and two standards, balancing the selections between swinging bop and reflective ballads. There are traces of Bud Powell in Clark's style, but he's beginning to come into his own, developing a style that's alternately edgy and charmingly relaxed. Mobley, Farmer and Fuller have their moments, but Clark steals the show in this set of fine, straight-ahead bop.” Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
"Original copies of Blue Note 1570—Dial "S" For Sonny—are among the rarer Blue Note records, often changing hands for thousands of dollars for even a mediocre copy. That's an awful lot of scratch for a fifty-six year old piece of pressed vinyl and a cardboard sleeve. Fortunately, there are better ways to hear pianist Sonny Clark's debut recording for the fabled label. The Music Matters series of two-disk, 45 rpm vinyl records is winding down after close to one hundred titles, and Dial "S" For Sonny made it in under the wire.
Clark's all too brief career was cut short when he died in 1963 at the age of 32, but he left a very well regarded, if relatively brief, collection of recordings. Growing up in Pittsburgh and then initially playing professionally on the west coast before returning to New York, he was essentially a blues player, but with a keenly developed sense of structural complexity in both his compositions and improvisations.
He plays with insistent swing and drive, even as he sticks to mostly mid tempos. On "Love Walked In" the horns sit out, and only drummer Louis Hayes and bassist Wilbur Ware accompany him. He opens the song with a tenderly romantic intro, but then delves into a solid well-constructed solo. He never gets too far off the tune, but fills it with his own harmonic textures and figures.
Clark's piano playing is excellent throughout, but most of the record is a septet with some of the most legendary musicians of the era (and in the case of Louis Hayes, even today). On the ballad "It Could Happen To You" Art Farmer blows a warm, bronzed trumpet, full of volume and weight, before clearing off for Clark's appropriately spare improvisation. Then Hank Mobley takes over with a soft-toned statement that fully captures the mood of the song. Finally, Curtis Fuller joins in with a short closing statement that makes a real case for the trombone's ability to convey subtlety and emotion in a ballad.
The Music Matters 45s are all about getting the best possible analog sound from the original master tapes, and Dial "S" lives up to the series standards. As a monaural recording it doesn't suffer from the sometimes controversial hard left-right panning of the stereo Blue Notes. The sound is rich, full and detailed, with a wide image. The record is a prime example of 'big mono' that marks the best mono recordings of the era. The pressing quality and printing of the gatefold cover is first-rate, befitting the premium price of the package.
Dial "S" For Sonny is one of those great old recordings that's worth seeking out to hear some young hard boppers playing their best. The musicians are brilliant, the music is solid, and—in the case of this Music Maters pressing—the reissue is first class all the way." All About Jazz review by Greg Simmons
Ratings :
AllMusic : 3 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.59 / 5 ; The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings : 3.5 / 4