JAZZY REVIEWS: Supersax - "Play Bird with Strings"

Supersax was a jazz group created in 1972 by saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark as a tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group's music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Parker's improvisations played by a saxophone section, rhythm section, and a brass instrument or two. They put out a half dozen tasty albums and along the way won a Grammy in 1975 for best jazz instrumental album.

You may know the names Med Flory and Buddy Clark from the Woody Herman band. The concept for the group was to bring a new appreciation for the one and only Charlie Parker and they did this in a satisfying way, with a 5-piece saxophone section, rhythm and, in the case of this album, a 20-piece string section. Reminiscent of the old Verve album, “Charlie Parker with Strings”, Med, Buddy and Wayne Marsh arranged all of the selections to take Parker’s solos and expand them to the full section. The album opens with a fine medium tempo version of “April in Paris”, followed by an up-tempo treatment of “All the Things You Are”. Then back to the haunting rather relaxed “My Old Flame” and closing side one with a Dizzy Gillespie original aptly called “Blues ‘n’ Boogie”. The 6 selections on side 2 follow in similarity but to me the stand out track on the B side has to be “If I Should Lose You”, always one of my favorite old standards. The tonal qualities and phrasing of the saxes are simply ear candy to me. This album was recorded in one take from start to finish in the Hollywood Capitol Studios and they did a magnificent job of picking up the reedy quality of 2 altos, 2 tenors and a baritone sax, along with some nice solos by ex-Kentonites Conte Candoli and Frank Rosolino trumpet and trombone respectively. The rhythm section holds the beat perfectly with Jake Hanna, Lou Levy and Buddy Clark, drums, piano and bass. Add in a harmonious background of strings and you have the near-perfect album!

Ratings:

Content: 8 of 10 - The standards are flawless, but the relaxed mood is sometimes sharply broken by “Orinthology” and “Blues ‘n’ Boogie”, making a rather jarring transition.

Musical quality: 8 out of 10 - The strings are nicely recorded, no harsh overtones here, just smooth slightly swinging strings throughout. But again, I think a more cohesive relaxed mood would have made me bump this album to a full 10.

Overall album: 8 out of 10  -A fine addition to my Supersax collection, not disappointing at all, one I’ll play often but may have to skip around omitting the swingier tracks. I would recommend this album to either introduce you to or add to your jazz collection. And please find the remaining Supersax albums to have a clear representation of the sax mastery of the late Charlie Parker, captured in super hi-fi!!