1962 · Album
With The All-Star Big Band
Recorded 1962 · Not specified in provided source · Produced by Not specified in provided source
Ray Brown Conducts a Big Band Session
Brown steps into unfamiliar territory here, leading rather than supporting, with mixed results.
In 1962, Ray Brown assembled a big band around himself as leader—a deliberate choice that placed the bassist in an unusual position. Rather than anchor a rhythm section in the shadows, Brown conducted from the front, with Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone anchoring the horn section. The session aimed to showcase what a virtuoso bassist could do when given room to shape an ensemble sound, moving beyond his established role as sideman.
What emerged was a solid if uneven album. Brown's double bass remains the anchor it always was, but the big band setting—full horns, arranged textures, the machinery of a larger group—sometimes works against the intimacy that made his best trio and small-group recordings so compelling. Adderley brings his usual warmth and authority to the proceedings, and the arrangements have craft behind them. Yet the record never quite finds a singular personality. It sits somewhere between a leader's statement and a well-executed session date, competent and professional without surprising you.
AllMusic's three-star rating captures the album's position: respectable, worth hearing if you're curious about Brown's range, but not essential even among his recordings from this period. This is peripheral to his catalog—a document of ambition that didn't quite pay off, rather than a peak or a turning point. Listeners new to Brown should start elsewhere; this one's for committed fans only.
Who's playing
Ray Browndouble bass
Tommy Flanaganpiano
Cannonball Adderleyalto saxophone
Budd Johnsontenor saxophone
Seldon Powelltenor saxophone
Earle Warrenalto saxophone
Nat Adderleytrumpet
Joe Newmantrumpet
Ernie Royaltrumpet
Clark Terrytrumpet
Jimmy Clevelandtrombone
Paul Faulisetrombone
Melba Listontrombone
Britt Woodmantrombone
Yusef Lateefflute
Jerome Richardsonflute
Osie Johnsondrums
Where next?
More by Ray Brown
This One's for Blanton! 1975
Cannonball Adderley and the Poll-Winners 1960
That's the Way It Is 1969
Ray Brown / Milt Jackson 1965
The musicians on this record
Cannonball's Bossa Nova 1962
Cannonball Adderley
plays alto saxophone here
plays alto saxophone here
Eastern Sounds 1961
Yusef Lateef
plays flute here
plays flute here
The Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York 1962
Nat Adderley
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
The Magnificent Tommy Flanagan 1960
Tommy Flanagan
plays piano here
plays piano here
