Art Farmer

June 20 - June 27, 1 9 9 6
[Off the Record]

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*** Art Farmer

ART FARMER QUARTETS

(Chess)

Of all the lyrical trumpet styles fired in the crucible of bebop, Art Farmer's is one of the most perfectly conceived and fully realized. His improvisations, nearly always drawn from unusual originals and neglected standards, have a Spartan, almost classical beauty about them. Their perfect poise and poignancy can be deeply affecting; they rarely make you wish he'd added another note. His tone has always burned with a clear, blue flame, unwavering in the winds of perturbation or fashion.

Chess is re-releasing its long-gone jazz collection, and two rare old Farmer Argo LPs (from '60 and '61) with soulmate and fellow poet of understatement pianist Tommy Flanagan make a sublime two-fer of 14 no-fat tracks. Farmer cherry-picks prime tunes from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway ("Goodbye Old Girl" from Damn Yankees, "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific) and lesser-known Berlin and Gershwin not-so-classics, as well as bop gems like Benny Golson's "Out of the Past."

-- Fred Bouchard