Cue for Saxophone

1959 studio album by Billy Strayhorn

Cue for Saxophone

Studio album by

Billy Strayhorn

Released| 1959
Recorded| April 14, 1959 in New York City
Genre| Jazz
Length| 39:54
Label| Felsted FAJ 7008
Producer| Stanley Dance
Billy Strayhorn chronology
| Great Times!
(1950)  | Cue for Saxophone
(1959)  | The Peaceful Side
(1961)

|
|

Cue for Saxophone is an album by pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn's Septet comprising members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded in 1959 and originally released on the Felsted label in 1959, then reissued by Vocalion in 1962.[1][2]

Strayhorn biographer David Hajdu has written that Cue for Saxophone was conceived by producer Stanley Dance as a Johnny Hodges small-group jazz album, much like the Hodges LPs that were being released by Verve Records at the time. It was released under Strayhorn's name (and Hodges was only listed under the pseudonym "Cue Porter") because Hodges was contractually prohibited from releasing albums on other record labels: "Since Hodges was under contract with Norman Granz to record exclusively for Verve Records, Dance found himself prohibited from releasing the album under Hodge's name. As an out, he titled it Cue for Saxophone, a hint at the featured player's identity, and issued the record in the name of Billy Strayhorn's Septet. 'Billy didn't care,' said Dance. Indeed, as [drummer Oliver] Jackson explained, Strayhorn seemed to exert a minimum of creative effort on the project. 'He showed up late, and he didn't have anything planned....He knocked off whatever arrangements we used off the top of his head. He didn't seem to give much of a damn, and the thing had his name on it....I said, 'Hey Strays, isn't this something, man? All those things you did for Duke, and all the people think Duke did 'em? And here there's finally a record with your own name on it, and it's really Rabs!'" For the same reason, a 1958 recording of the Duke Ellington Orchestra live at the Blue Note club in Chicago was originally released on Roulette Records under Strayhorn's name as Billy Strayhorn Live!!!"[3]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [4]

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "Composer/arranger/pianist Billy Strayhorn led surprisingly few sessions throughout his career, and this was only his second full-length album. Actually, the main star is altoist Johnny Hodges (who goes here under the pseudonym of "Cue Porter"), while Strayhorn (who plays piano on the seven songs) only co-wrote two basic tunes... The results are a fine mainstream session".[4]

## Track listing

[edit]

1. "Cue's Blue Now" (Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Hodges) - 10:07
2. "Gone with the Wind" (Allie Wrubel, Herb Magidson) - 4:18
3. "Cherry" (Don Redman, Ray Gilbert) - 5:54
4. "Watch Your Cue" (Strayhorn, Hodges) - 3:10
5. "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" (Irving Kahal, Pierre Norman, Sammy Fain) - 7:23
6. "When I Dream Of You" (Charlie Carpenter, Earl Hines) - 3:33
7. "Rose Room" (Art Hickman, Harry Williams) - 6:02

## Personnel

[edit]

* Billy Strayhorn \- piano
* "Cue Porter" (Johnny Hodges) \- alto saxophone
* Harold "Shorty" Baker \- trumpet
* Quentin Jackson \- trombone
* Russell Procope \- clarinet
* Al Hall \- bass
* Oliver Jackson \- drums

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Billy Strayhorn discography accessed April 14, 2015
2. ^ Felsted Records discography accessed April 14, 2015
3. ^ David Hajdu, Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996, ISBN 0-86547-512-1 page 198.
4. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. Cue for Saxophone – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2015.

* v
* t
* e

Johnny Hodges

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.

leader or
co-leader|

* Castle Rock (1951–52)
* In a Tender Mood (1951–52)
* The Blues (1952–54)
* Used to Be Duke (1954)
* Creamy (1955)
* Duke's in Bed (1956)
* Ellingtonia '56 (1956)
* The Big Sound (1957)
* Blues A-Plenty (1958)
* Johnny Hodges and His Strings Play the Prettiest Gershwin (1958)
* Not So Dukish (1958)
* Side by Side (and Duke Ellington, 1958–59)
* Back to Back (and Duke Ellington, 1959)
* Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (1959)
* Blue Hodge (1961)
* Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra (1961)
* Blue Rabbit (and Wild Bill Davis, 1963–64)
* Sandy's Gone (1963)
* Mess of Blues (and Wild Bill Davis, 1963)
* Everybody Knows Johnny Hodges (1964–65)
* Blue Pyramid (and Wild Bill Davis, 1965–66)
* Con-Soul & Sax (1965–66)
* Inspired Abandon (and Lawrence Brown, 1965)
* Joe's Blues (and Wild Bill Davis, 1965)
* Wings & Things (nd Wild Bill Davis, 1965)
* Blue Notes (1966)
* Stride Right (and Earl Hines, 1966)
* Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges in Atlantic City (1966)
* Don't Sleep in the Subway (1967)
* Swing's Our Thing (and Earl Hines, 1967)
* Triple Play (1967)
* Rippin' & Runnin' (1968)
* 3 Shades of Blue (1970)

With
others|

* Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate! (and Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge, 1962)
* Joya Sherrill Sings Duke (Joya Sherrill, 1965)
* Cue for Saxophone (Billy Strayhorn, 1959)
* Taylor Made Jazz (Billy Taylor, 1959)
* Duke with a Difference (Clark Terry, 1957)

Duke Ellington discography

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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