BOOKLET

 

Serge Chaloff- Blue Serge

The faux-sophistication of dinner jazz haunts jazz history, but Blue Serge exhibits such control and elegance that it’s a paradigm of jazz development.

The album is entitled Blue Serge by Serge Chaloff. The cover is wahsed out gey- blue, with a sketch of a woman leaning against a tailor’s dummy, clutching a massive baritone sax. The music on the record has a similar air of sophistication, a small dignified group session elegant enough to qualify as dinner jazz, but with the momentuum to swing with fizz. This is a gentle album, but with after repeated exposure there’s an evident intensity to Serge Challof’s work.

Serge Chaloff’s life was blighted by drug addiction, and after Blue Serge he managed just a few stuttering group sessions. Perhaps the time was never right, except on Blue Serge. This is jazz as refuge from chaos, a controlled environment in which a perfect geometry between the band operates. The instruments swing in sympathy with each other- the bass makes strides melodically, the piano flutters chord-clusters, and the sax dominates the spectrum with sonorous, singing phrases.

The notion of swing is central to jazz, but this isn’t a New Orleans mardi-gras workout. Blue Serge is touched by the ballsy conviction of Lester Young, a gutsy, confrontational artist noted for his racous grandstanding solos. Lester Young played the star, charging premium rates for recording sessions and making his solos the sole focus of his records. His solos seemed to almost exist outside the backing music, breaking free of the tune to reach his usual plateux of rough riffing. Young always made a tune his own, rarely straying outside his usual repetoire of silky phrasing except to punch home an idea with a raucous honk or grunt

Blue Serge exhibits a similar degree of self-mastery and control. You experience the album from inside Serge Challof’s perspective, with his solid, familiar phrases taking centre stage of the record. There’s just enough variation to keep the listener interested, but the smoothness of the phrases and the naturallness of the ideas is what impresses you.This is deliberately simple jazz, with just one point of focus- the Baritone sax. Whereas swing jazz is played in a tribal, ritual way, every band member honking out the same themes, dinner jazz like Blue Serge is simplified and stratified in such a way that there’s just one theme developed at the one time. It’s not so much a ritual as a discussion, and it’s like Serge Challof is talking through his sax, so fluent is he.

It’s this sort of control and regulated communication which distinguishes this sort of jazz from everyday life. Jazz can be a perfect vision of collaboration, a paradigm of people working together, speaking a fluent, expressive language. Solos flower organically, a run of phrases becomes an idea to be developed but stated succinctly. As Chaloff said, they just turned up and starting blowing- they were obviously all masters of the same language.

By Reid Thompson

One of only four available CD’s by the unjustly overlooked Serge Chaloff, Blue Serge is a gorgeous, shimmering masterpiece that leaves one wondering why the baritone sax wasn’t used much more often. Chaloff’s complete mastery of the instrument combines a wide range with precisely executed bop lines and tender and effusive renderings of ballads. His effective use of dynamics and vibrato pierce the hearts of tunes like “I’ve Got the World on a String” and “Stairway to the Stars.” Although the sidemen present had little to no experience playing with Chaloff, a strong rapport among the four is immediately established. Sonny Clark, who sounds completely at home in this relaxed setting, shines as usual, and Philly Joe Jones makes it clear why Miles Davis gave him a steady employment. Chaloff’s decision to have the lights turned low while recording this session can be sensed throughout, as many of the tracks exude a distinctly after-hours glow. Ron McMaster has done an excellent job with the remastering, and my advice would be to spring before Blue Serge becomes discontinued like much of the Blue Note catalogue. This is essential music.

Personnel: Serge Chaloff (baritone saxophone); Sonny Clark (piano); Leroy Vinnegar (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums).

20Bit Mastered Reissue.

Track Listing:

1. A Handful Of Stars

2. The Goof And I

3. Thanks For The Memory

4. All The Things You Are

5. I’ve Got The World On A String

6. Susie’s Blues

7. Stairway To The Stars

8. How About You (bonus track)