Sunday 2 October 2022

Phil Urso born 2 October 1925


Phil Urso (2 October 1925 - 7 April 2008, Denver, Colorado) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. He towers among the premier tenor saxophonists of the cool jazz era -- his whispery, exquisitely nuanced phrasing graces now-classic records by West Coast giants like Chet Baker, Bob Brookmeyer, and Gerry Mulligan. 

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Urso grew up in Denver, and began playing clarinet at age 13 before making the switch to saxophone. During World War II he served with the U.S. Navy, cheating death in 1943 when a Japanese dive-bomber crashed onto the deck of his aircraft carrier near Saipan, vaulting him into the Pacific Ocean. After recuperating from the trauma in a California military hospital, Urso formally launched his music career, relocating to New York City in 1947 and signing on behind bandleader Elliot Lawrence (1948 – 1950). 

A devoted acolyte of Lester Young, Urso developed a potently expressive approach that eschewed flash and no doubt contributed to his relative anonymity outside of the jazz cognoscenti. Urso made his recorded debut in 1948 alongside Lawrence bandmates Howie Mann, Tom O'Neill, and Bob Karch in a progressive bop quartet that later expanded to include fellow Lawrence alum Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone. 

In 1951, Urso replaced Stan Getz in the Woody Herman Orchestra and also played with Jimmy Dorsey’s band, followed in early 1952 by a breakthrough session cut in collaboration with Mann, Tony Fruscella, Herb Geller, Gene Allen, Bill Triglia, and Red Mitchell -- the date not only spotlighted Urso's silken playing but also his innovative arrangements, and brought him to the attention of Savoy Records, which released his debut LP, The Philosophy of Urso, the following year. He also recorded with Terry Gibbs (1952) and Oscar Pettiford (1953). 


                             

After a session behind an up-and-coming Charles Mingus (later collected on the Complete Debut Recordings box set), Urso spent late 1953 and early 1954 touring behind Miles Davis before earning second billing on the Savoy release Bob Brookmeyer with Phil Urso. Around that same time he began the collaboration that defines his career, teaming with trumpeter Chet Baker for a series of landmark Pacific Jazz dates that embody the sound and spirit of the West Coast aesthetic. Urso partnered with Baker for more than a decade, and in 1956 took time out to cut an LP for Regent titled Sentimental Journey. 

Despite continued demand for his services, he returned to Denver during the late '60s, and largely confined his live performances to local clubs including El Chapultepec, Josephina's, The Hornet, and The Fourth Story up well into  the late 70’s. Urso was largely forgotten by the time he unexpectedly resurfaced in 1986 via the Spinnster release Taking Sides, a bop-oriented date that teamed him with another lost tenor legend, Allen Eager. Urso then promptly dropped back out of sight until 2002, when he partnered with trumpeter Carl Saunders for Salute Chet Baker, issued by the fledgling Jazzed Media imprint. The session proved to be Urso's swan song -- in his later years he struggled with dental problems that hampered his playing, and after a long illness he died on April 7, 2008, in a Morrison, Colorado, rehabilitation center. He was 83. 

(Edited from AllMusic & The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz)

2 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “ Phil Urso – The Philosophy Of Urso. Phil Urso's 1953 -1959 Sessions (2016 Fresh Sound)” go here:

https://www.imagenetz.de/fBZeq

Phil Urso Quartet
1.1 Little Pres 2:42
1.2 Three Little Words 2:45
1.3 Don'T Take You Love From Me 3:08
1.4 She's Funny That Way 3:09
Phil Urso - Bob Brookmeyer Quintet
1.5 Chiketa 2:58
1.6 Stop Watch 3:49
1.7 Wizzard's Gizzard 2:52
1.8 Ozzie's Ode 3:28
Phil Urso Quartet & Quintet
1.9 It's Only A Paper Moon 4:44
1.10 Too Marvelous For Words 3:44
The Jomar Dagron Quartet Featuring Phil Urso
1.11 Extra Mild 5:29
1.12 Squeeze Me 3:35
1.13 Blues #One 3:49
1.14 Satin Doll 4:39
1.15 Pent-Up House 4:12
1.16 Line For Lyons 5:02
1.17 Star Eyes 4:30
1.18 Dag's Scene 2:50
Phil Urso Duo & Trio
2.1 My Heart Stood Still 2:32
2.2 Easy Out 2:18
2.3 This Can't Be Love 2:13
2.4 Lush Tush 2:28
2.5 Where Or When 2:56
2.6 My Heart Tells Me 2:58
2.7 Blues To Remember Her By 2:42
2.8 They Can't Take That Away From Me 2:16
2.9 Moonlight Serenade 2:57
2.10 A Woman In Love 2:21
2.11 Sentimental Journey 1:59
2.12 11th Hour Melody 3:06
2.13 Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You 3:48
2.14 Diane 2:51
2.15 Memories Of You 3:46
The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet Bonus Tracks
2.16 The Pendulum At Falcon's Lair 4:43
2.17 Tamalpais (Song Of Love To The Winds) 3:53
2.18 Jack The Fieldstalker 4:32
2.19 Stockholm Sweetnin' 4:13
2.20 Low And Behold 3:27

This CD collection contains all of Phil Urso’s recordings from 1953 to 1959, as a leader or featured guest—point in case, his work on baritone, in addition to his usual tenor—with the Jomar Dagron quintet. You will hear Urso playing with such musicians as Walter Bishop Jr, Bob Brookmeyer, Horace Silver, Kenny Clarke,Bobby Timmons, Ron Washington, Bobby Banks, and as a bonus his album with the Oscar Pettiford new jazz sextet. They show a player of real stature—enough for Chet Baker to tell him (in a letter in 1971) “I have always felt you were and are the most underrated of America’s jazz players and composers.” (Fresh Sound notes)

Personnel on CD 1:

Tracks #1-4: PHIL URSO QUARTET
Phil Urso, tenor sax; Walter Bishop Jr., piano; Clyde Lombardi, bass; Howie Man, drums.
Recorded at Van Gelder’s Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, April 14, 1953

Tracks #5-8: PHIL URSO-BOB BROOKMEYER QUINTET
Bob Brookmeyer, trombone; Phil Urso, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
Recorded at Van Gelder’s Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, April 30, 1954

Tracks #9-10: PHIL URSO QUARTET & QUINTET
Phil Urso, tenor sax; Bob Burgess, trombone (only on #9); Bobby Timmons, piano; Jimmy Bond, bass; Peter Littman, drums.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, October 18, 1956

Tracks #11-18: PHIL URSO QUARTET & QUINTET
Phil Urso, tenor sax & baritone sax; Ron Washington, tenor sax; Dagwood Walton, Hammond organ; Gene Klingman, bass; Jo Jo Williams, drums.
Recorded in Louisville, Colorado, 1959

Personnel on CD 2:

Tracks #1-5: PHIL URSO accompanied by BOBBY BANKS
Phil Urso, tenor sax; Bobby Banks, organ.
Recorded at Van Gelder’s Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, February 18, 1954

Tracks #6-15: Same personnel as above but Rodney “Red” Alcott, drums, added.
Recorded at Van Gelder’s Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, March 27, 1956

Bonus Tracks #16-20: THE NEW OSCAR PETTIFORD SEXTET
Julius Watkins, French horn; Phil Urso, tenor sax; Walter Bishop, Jr, piano Oscar Pettiford, cello or bass (only on #17); Charles Mingus, bass (except on #17); Percy Brice, drums on #20. The only soloists are Pettiford and Bishop.
Recorded in New York, December 29, 1953

styles said...

Very wonderful period jazz, cool school, thank you, brilliant collector, boppinbob!