The Teddy Wilson Trio & Gerry Mulligan Quartet With Bob Brookmeyer & Bill Evans - At Newport (2016) [SHM-CD]

Although in 1957 some listeners considered swing and cool jazz to be at the extreme poles of the jazz world, this LP, recorded at that year's Newport Jazz Festival, shows just how similar the two idioms were. The Teddy Wilson Trio (with bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Specs Powell) plays lightly swinging versions of four swing era standards and welcomes baritonist Gerry Mulligan to sit in on a spirited rendition of "Sweet Georgia Brown," and then Jeru's quartet (with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, bassist Joe Benjamin, and drummer Dave Bailey) plays cooly exciting versions of "My Funny Valentine" and "Utter Chaos"; one could easily imagine Wilson helping out on those two songs. Strangely enough, this LP reissue of the original set also contains three standards by the Don Elliott Quartet with pianist Bill Evans, but never lists the full personnel (mellophonist Elliott, bassist Ernie Furtado, and drummer Al Beldini) or acknowledges the music in the liner notes. Worth acquiring anyway. -- Scott Yanow