Harold Land (ts) Kenny Dorham (tp) Amos Trice (p) Clarence Jones (b) Joe Peters (drs)

Recorded in New York City; July 5 & 8, 1960

SIDE 1

1. So in Love (5:58) (Cole Porter)

2. Triple Trouble (5:46) (Amos Trice)

3. Slowly (7:02) (David Raksin)

SIDE 2

1. On a Little Street in Singapore (7:07)

2. Okay Blues (12:17) (Harold Land)

About This NEW Jazzland Recording –

　　　In this album, the combination of one of the “hardest” (and best) West Coast tenormen and an outstanding New York-based trumpet star produces an abundance of unpretentious, free-swinging jazz, spotlighting the spirited, highly individual solo work of HAROLD LAND and KENNY DORHAM.

　　　The LP came into being as a sort of reunion between these two long-time friends who, although they have much in common, have only rarely had opportunities to play together. Land, Texas-born (in December, 1928) but raised in San Diego and now a resident of Los Angeles, has rarely left the West Coast – except for his 1954-55 stay with the Max Roach-Clifford Brown group. Dorham, also a Texan by birth and four years older than Harold, has been an important fixture on the Eastern jazz scene since the mid-‘40s. While Land was with the roach quintet, Kenny would often sit in, and a strong mutual admiration developed; but Harold had left the group to rejoined his family in J.A. (his replacement was Sonny Rollins) before Dorham entered the band following the death of Clifford Brown.

　　　Except for their joint appearance as sidemen on an album by altoist Herb Geller a few years back, Land and Dorham had never recorded together until the Summer of 1960. At that time Harold arrived in New York as part of a Shorty Rogers quintet that also included the rhythm section with which Land had for some time been working in Los Angeles. The fact that Rogers, one of the deans of the now-declining West Coast “cool jazz” movement, had asked Harold to join him and had ended up using Land’s quartet I its entirety, is certainly a sign of changing times and increasing good fortune for Land, who for several years in California had found his hard-bop style out of fashion and quite over-shadowed by the cool.

　　　Jazzland utilized Harold’s presence in New York to set up a record date, as a follow-up to his first LP for the label (which had been cut in the West and features guitarist West Montgomery and trumpeter Joe Gordon). Land, while availing himself of the unity of his accustomed rhythm trio, suggested that he could also work to advantage with Dorham. The strong mutual rapport between them and the way each seems to take fire from the other underlines the wisdom of that choice.

　　　Two of the selections here are originals: Triple Trouble, an unusual waltz from the pen of pianist Amos Trice; and Okay Blues, dedicated by Land to a & r man Orrin Keepnews (whose initials are “O.K.”). The others are Harold’s treatments of relatively unfamiliar standards. Street in Singapore dates back to the 1930’s; So in Love is a Cole Porter show tune; and the ballads, Slowly, is the work of David Raksin (almost exclusively known as the composer of Laura).

Land’s previous JAZZLAND album is-:

　　West Coast Blues – Harold Land, with Wes Montgomery – JLP 20 & Stereo 920S

Other recent releases include:

　　The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon – JLP 29 & Stereo 929S

　　Tough Tenors – Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – JLP 31 & Stereo 931S

　　The Soulful Piano of Junior Mance – JLP 30 & Stereo 930S