Jazz Records

A Study in Frustration: The Fletcher Henderson Story (Columbia. 4 LPs). The man who anticipated Goodman, Basie and Ellington by building the granddaddy of the great swing bands, in a sampling of the incendiary brews he poured from the bandstand for 15 wonderful years (1923-38). Composer Henderson (whose "frustration" was that his greatest success came as an arranger with Goodman rather than as a leader) collected the most extraordinarily gifted group of sidemen in jazz history, and most of them are on triumphant display--Trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge, Saxmen Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter, Trombonists J. C. Higginbotham and Dicky Wells. Among the treasures: Wang Wang Blues, Christopher Columbus, Henderson's own exuberant Can You Take It?

Percy Humphrey's Crescent City Joy Makers (Riverside). Happy frenzies by a pickup New Orleans "joy maker band" that sounds superbly at home in such traditional numbers as Over in Gloryland and All the Gals Like the Way I Ride. Fine solo work by Trumpeter Humphrey and by Albert Burbank, a veteran Creole musician who uncoils his tart clarinet in nights of eloquent enthusiasm.

Aretha Franklin (Ray Bryant Trio; Columbia). A first album by a new young (18) singer who came out of a Detroit gospel church with a voice of impressive size and some annoying mannerisms--aching swoops and ecstatic quavers. Included are All Night Long, Maybe I'm a Fool, Who Needs You? rendered in moods that vary from torchy to tempestuous.

Rights of Swing (Candid). More fuel for a familiar argument: Is it possible to "compose" jazz and keep it fresh? The answer here is yes. Composer-Saxophonist Phil Woods, building in lines both propulsive and direct, has fashioned a five-part work that is always coherent and brimful of relaxed charm. High points are Woods's own sax solos--lean and subtly responsive to the humors of music and musician.

Dual Piano Jazz (Dave McKenna, Hal Overton; Bethlehem). An inspired teaming of two pianists who organize their twining duets with admirable clarity and liquid ease. Monk's Mood and Ruby, My Dear--both by Thelonious--are worth the price of the album.

Ida Cox: Blues for Rampart Street (Coleman Hawkins Quintet; Riverside). The storied 1920s blues singer was around 70 when she came out of retirement to record this album last spring--and her dragging tempo and uncertainty of pitch give her away. But her voice--more nasal and corrugated than ever--is still an impressive instrument in Fogyism and Wild Women Don't Have the Blues, as Ida sells her message with a conviction that singers a third her age cannot muster.

Goin' Up (Freddie Hubbard & Quintet; Blue Note). One of the most promising young (23) trumpeters attacks some showpieces--The Changing Scene, Blues for Brenda--in tones that can sigh contentment or choke with joy. A fine antidote to the sentimentally depressed rituals of the Miles Davis school.

Ezz-thetics (George Russell Sextet; Riverside). Exercises in introspection by six men whose style is occasionally so cool it congeals. In warmer moods, the soloists--particularly Don Ellis on a hoarsely tender trumpet--are first-rate, and the songs, with their lopsided choruses and barely articulated melodies, have their own tantalizing outer-worldly charm. Included: Russell's own Ezz-thetic and Lydiot, Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight.

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