J. R. Monterose is the debut album by American saxophonist J. R. Monterose

J. R. Monterose

J. R. Monterose , born Frank Anthony Peter Vincent Monterose, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan,was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.- Early life :...

 recorded in 1956 and released on the Blue Note

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "J. R. Monterose's first session as a leader was a thoroughly enjoyable set of swinging, straight-ahead bop that revealed him as a saxophonist with a knack for powerful, robust leads in the vein of Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...

 and Coleman Hawkins

Coleman Hawkins

Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...

... In fact, the quality of the music is so strong, J. R. Monterose qualifies as one of the underappreciated gems in Blue Note's mid-'50s catalog".

Track listing

All compositions by J. R. Monterose

1. "Wee-Jay" - 6:56
2. "The Third" - 5:15
3. "Bobbie Pin" - 8:03
4. "Marc V" - 6:30
5. "Ka-Link" - 9:01
6. "Beauteous" - 5:24
7. "Wee-Jay" [alternate take] - 7:17 Bonus track on CD reissue
   • Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on October 21, 1956.

Personnel

• J. R. Monterose
  J. R. Monterose
  J. R. Monterose , born Frank Anthony Peter Vincent Monterose, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan,was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.- Early life :...
  
   - tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Ira Sullivan
  Ira Sullivan
  Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....
  
   - trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Horace Silver
  Horace Silver
  Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Wilbur Ware
  Wilbur Ware
  Wilbur Ware was an American jazz double-bassist known for his hard bop percussive style.Born in Chicago, Ware taught himself to play banjo and bass. In the 1940s, he worked with Stuff Smith, Sonny Stitt and Roy Eldridge. In the 1950s, Ware played with Eddie Vinson, Art Blakey, and Buddy DeFranco...
  
   - bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Philly Joe Jones
  Philly Joe Jones
  Joseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....