Five Horns Trading in a Bright Room
A loose, swinging blowing session where two tenor players and a trumpeter trade solos over a tight rhythm section.
This is a small-group jam session cut in 1956, and it sounds exactly like that—five front-line players taking turns over a steady, unfussy rhythm section. Jackie McLean on alto and Gene Ammons on tenor anchor the horn line alongside Art Farmer on trumpet, with Duke Jordan comping piano, Addison Farmer on bass, Art Taylor on drums, and Candido adding congas for texture. The record opens with everyone loose and in the pocket, temperatures rising gradually rather than exploding from the start. There's no overdubbing, no second takes polished to perfection—just the sound of working musicians with good ears and better chops playing off each other's energy.
What makes this session distinct is the interplay between McLean and Ammons. Both are warm-toned players, neither trying to cut the other down, instead feeding each other ideas across four or five tracks that let the horns breathe. Ammons was a heavyweight by this point, and McLean—earlier in his career—holds his own without sounding like he's trying too hard. Farmer's trumpet sits nicely in the mix, sharp and clear without dominating. The rhythm section never gets out of the way, but never steps into the spotlight either, which is exactly what a jam session needs.
This is a solid small-label session from a period when recording was cheap enough to capture musicians just playing together. It's not a landmark record, but it's the real thing—no artifice, no concept, just good players making music on an afternoon. If you want to hear what that era sounded like in a room, this gets you there.
Who's playing
Addison Farmerdouble bass
Duke Jordanpiano
Gene Ammonstenor saxophone
Jackie McLeanalto saxophone
Art Farmertrumpet
Art Taylordrums
Candidocongas
Where next?
More by Gene Ammons
Boss Tenor 1960
Bad! Bossa Nova 1962
Jammin' With Gene 1956
Boss Tenors: Straight Ahead from Chicago August 1961 1962
The musicians on this record
4, 5 and 6 1956
Jackie McLean
plays alto saxophone here
plays alto saxophone here
When Farmer Met Gryce 1955
Art Farmer
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
