BILL POTTS - Jazz Soul Of Porgy & Bess

BILL POTTTS

 The Jazz Soul Of Porgy & Bess

This recording from 1959 is an absolute classic on two fronts, arranging and petsonnel.  Here’s a short bio:

In 1957, Potts worked extensively as a composer, arranger, and performer for Freddy Merkle's Jazz Under the Dome album (which also featured Earl and Rob Swope).^[4] Soon after this he suffered a crushed vertebra in a car crash and ended up in a body cast for three months.^[4] During this time, he began working on charts and arrangements for an album consisting of jazz reinterpretations of many songs from George Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess. He had fully recovered by 1959, when he released a session under his own name entitled The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess. This album, recorded for Blue Note Records, featured a nineteen-piece band whose members included Al Cohn, Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Marky Markowitz, Zoot Sims, Charlie Shavers, Earl Swope, and Phil Woods. Down Beat magazine rated the album five out of five stars upon its release.^[2]

Alto Saxophone – Gene Quill, Phil Woods

Tenor Saxophone – Al Cohn, Zoot Sims

Baritone Saxophone – Sol Schlinger

Trumpet – Art Farmer, Bernie Glow, Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Marky Markowitz

Trombone – Bob Brookmeyer, Earl Swope, Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Rod Levitt

Bass – George Duvivier

Drums – Charlie Persip

Guitar – Herbie Powell

Piano – Bill Evans