More Trombone!

The great J.J. Johnson

Is jazz trombone having a moment? Maybe it's just me, but recently I've been listening to some terrific new albums that showcase modern jazz trombonists. As a big fan of the instrument, it's a welcome development, even if we're still a long way from the trombone's glory days in the 1950s and 60s.

The trombone, like the clarinet and flute, doesn't seem to get a lot of attention or respect among jazz fans. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that clarinet and flute seem a bit dainty for hard bop. Trombone, on the other hand, suffers from the opposite problem. Like the bass clarinet or tuba - trombone is a fun addition to any group, but seemingly a bit too plodding to be seen as a serious solo instrument. 

Even so, the trombone has been an integral part of jazz since the very beginning. One of the most recognizable characteristics of ragtime and early New Orleans jazz bands are the unique sounds made by the slide trombone -- growling, scooping, and particularly the glissando, i. e. sliding up or down from one note to the next. (If you think of the "Hold That Tiger" lyric from the "Tiger Rag" you'll probably recall some of these sounds.)

But despite it's importance to the development of jazz music, the trombone has mostly been considered a secondary or complementary instrument. As jazz historian Gunther Schuller writes in the Oxford Companion to Jazz: "In a typical early jazz formation of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet, the three instruments were assigned quite specific roles, with the trombone providing commentary asides, countermelodies, and harmonic fill-ins to the main tune played by the cornet and the clarinet’s high-register obbligatos, in general providing a link between the melodic/thematic material and the rhythm section."

Kid Ory

It's not surprising then, that unlike, say, early trumpet or cornet stars such as Louie Armstrong or Bix Beiderbecke, the pioneers of the trombone are much less well-known. Among the great trombone stylists of the 1910s and 20s were legendary players such as Kid Ory, J.C. Higginbotham, and Miff Mole. But even hard core jazz fans might not recognize their names.

The trombone came into its own during the Swing Era in the 1930s. Popular big bands commonly employed three or four trombonists, all of whom would be expected to play solos. This, in turn, helped develop a new generation of trombone players attuned to a more melodic, lyrical style. Outstanding talents such as Jack Teagarden, Benny Morton, Lawrence Brown, Vic Dickenson, Juan Tizol, and Trummy Young came out of the big bands, playing solos with greater articulation and fewer slide gimmicks. In addition, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller -- two of the most popular big band leaders of all time -- were both trombonists.

In the 1940s, as the big bands broke up and bebop jazz began to take the place of swing, trombone players had to once again adapt and find a way of playing to keep up with the faster-paced, improvised rhythm of bop. The driving force behind this stylistic movement was J.J. Johnson. 

Born in Indianapolis in 1924, Johnson came of age at the tail end of the big band era, playing with groups led by Snookum Russell, Benny Carter, and Count Basie. In 1946, Dizzy Gillespie encouraged Johnson to develop a bebop style for the trombone. Years later, Gillespie says that he told Johnson: "I've always known that the trombone could be played different, that somebody'd catch on one of these days. Man, you're elected!"

Johnson eliminated most of the glissandos, growls, rips, and other novelty effects from his playing, replacing them with a precisely articulated, trumpet-like style, enlivened by augmented chords and other alterations characteristic of bebop.

Johnson met Gillespie's challenge and proved convincingly that anything Dizzy could do on the trumpet he could now match on the trombone. Johnson developed astounding speed and agility on the instru­ment, and became a charter member of the bop revolution. Trombonist and Smoke Session recording artist Steve Turre sums up Johnson's legacy: "J. J. did for the trombone what Charlie Parker did for the saxophone. And all of us that are playing today wouldn’t be playing the way we’re playing if it wasn’t for what he did. . .he is the master of the trombone — the definitive master of the century.”

J. J. and Kai

The period from the 1950s through the 1980s proved to be the golden age of trombone jazz. Following Johnson's lead, a slew of talented trombonists were soon fronting bands and headlining recording sessions. Among the breakout stars were Kai Winding (who had a brief, but very successful partnership with Johnson), Jimmy Knepper, Frank Rosolino, Bennie Green, Jimmy Cleveland, Bob Brookmeyer, Curtis Fuller, Bill Watrous, Urbie Green, Carl Fontana, and Slide Hampton. Their output during the decades following the second World War set a high-water mark for the popularity of bebop trombone.

Since the 1980s, when the last of these headliners faded from the scene, trombone jazz hasn't really been the same. However, it is alive and well if you know where to look.

A very good place to start is with the Smoke Sessions Record label. Smoke Sessions is a record label and NYC jazz club with a stellar calendar of live shows and a growing list of fabulous, mostly straight-ahead jazz releases. Among the players in the Smoke stable are two fine trombonists, Steve Davis and Steve Turre. 

Turre is a veteran jazzman who has played with the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Woody Shaw, Hilton Ruiz, Chico Hamilton, and Lester Bowie. To date, he has cut five discs for Smoke Sessions, including the 2024 release Sanyas. (Unfortunately, only two of Turre's releases for Smoke are available on LP.)

As jazz writer Thom Jurek says, Turre's style "hovers between blues, hard and post-bop, Eastern and Afro-Latin sounds, and modal grooves." On Sanyas, Turre is backed by an exceptional group, including Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Isaiah Thompson on piano, and Buster Williams on bass. Like a number of record labels in the past, including Concord Jazz and Contemporary, Smoke Sessions has a talented stable of musicians who alternately lead their own sessions, appear as sidemen on other Smoke artists' albums, or perform in ever-evolving ensembles at the New York club. 

One of Turre's labelmates at Smoke Sessions is trombonist Steve Davis. Davis began his career with Art Blakey in the 1980s, and has shared the stage and studio with Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, and Hank Jones, among others.

Davis has released six albums on the Smoke Sessions label, although once again, only two of them are available on LP. Davis's 2023 Smoke Sessions release, Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1, is a killer trio date with the great Hank Jones on piano and Peter Washington (of the Bill Charlap Trio) on bass. Music writer Dave Linn at All About Jazz calls this disk "A glorious late addition to the Jones discography and a reminder of Davis' massive abilities."  

The session was recorded in 2008, and is one of the last dates that Hank Jones played before his death in 2010. There is apparently enough material in the can for Vol. 2, which hopefully will be released on vinyl in the near future.

If you dig Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1, you will also want to check out Davis's 2024 Smoke Sessions release, We See. This sextet session features an all-star front line of Davis on trombone, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, and Ralph Moore on tenor sax. 

Kudos to Smoke Sessions for releasing so many exceptional trombone jazz albums by Turre and Davis. However, with two stellar trombonists on board, Smoke Sessions might want to think about pairing them up to try and capture some of the magic of the J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding outings.

I realize that a few disks does not make a trend. And I think it's unlikely we're going to see another jazz trombone renaissance anytime soon. Luckily, there is no shortage of great older recordings to hunt down. So, keep your eyes peeled for any J.J. Johnson or Kai Winding titles you see in the used bins. Nearly everything they did together or separately is worth picking up. As are just about anything by Urbie Green, Jimmy Knepper, Jimmy Cleveland, or Slide Hampton. Some of my favorites from this quartet of musicians include Urbie Green's 1977 release Senor Blues on the CTI label, Knepper's 1980 album Hot Knepper And Pepper on the Progressive Records label (a fabulous pairing of Knepper with Art Pepper on baritone sax), Jimmy Cleveland's 1957 debut, Cleveland Style on the Mercury label, and Roots, the 1985 release by Slide Hampton on the Criss Cross label. 

Enjoy the music!