Shellac (M): Gille Mellé Sextet - Four Moons/The Gears (Blue Note)

Gil Mellé (tenor sax); Eddie Bert (trombone); Joe Manning (vibes); George Wallington (piano); Max Roach (drums)

A Blue Note 78! The only one in my collection, there can't be many of them still around and even less by Gil Mellé. He recorded eight sides over four discs and this was the first.

Mellé, it appears, was quite an enigmatic character. Apart from playing tenor sax, composing and arranging, he was also an abstract painter who provided a lot of the artwork that enhances the very early Blue Note LPs.

As a player he was laid back with a coolish Warne Marsh  approach. As a composer and an arranger his skills were used in areas far beyond the jazz world writing for movies and TV.

Although these two sides were recorded in NYC in 1952 there's very much a west coast feel about them. The eight singles were, the following year, collated on a 10" LP.

The record has a faded stamp suggesting the disc was sold at Quigley's, 7 High St., Felling. Back in the day, Felling High St., had a fair number of pubs and most of them seemed to have honky-tonk pianists. It was like 52nd St. without the jazz. That turned up on a Sunday morning at the Blue Bell just around the corner.

Lance