William N. Law Blog: Johnny Glasel: The Brasstet

Last week, I misspelled a musician's name in a post. Actually, to be more precise, I picked up information from The Jazz Discography that incorrectly listed trumpeter Johnny Glasel as "Jimmy." The error brought an corrective email from my dear friend, saxophonist and educator Bill Kirchner. In the email, he added a few lines about Glasel that intrigued me. I was completely unfamiliar with him as a soloist.

So I did a little digging and found that Glasel recorded two obscure albums as a leader. The first was Jazz Session (1956), a trio and quartet date for ABC-Paramount with guitarists Dick Garcia and Perry Johnson, bassist Whitey Mitchel and drummer Osie Johnson. The second was The John Glasel Brasstet, recorded sometime in 1959 or '60 for the Jazz Unlimited label.

Then I worked a little web wizardry and, with the help of far-flung pals, pulled together the two albums mentioned above along with Mel Powell's Bandstand (1954), on which Glasel appears. Jazz Session and Bandstand are superb, but Glasel's Brasstet is easily his most intriguing and ambitious leadership date. First, a little background about Glasel. According to Wiki...

Glasel played with Bob Wilber in the 1940s. He attended the Yale School of Music in the 1950s, then played in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and chamber music ensembles in performances with jazz musicians. In New York City, he was a member of a Glenn Miller tribute band led by Ray McKinley. He performed in orchestras on Broadway and at Radio City Music Hall. He released several albums during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to his work with Gil Evans (most notably on Into the Hot), he recorded extensively as a pop session musician and often did so uncredited. Glasel became president of Local 802 of the New York City Musicians' Union early in the 1980s, maintaining the position until 1992.

You'll find more information about Glasel here.

The Brasstet album was recorded in two sessions. The first featured Johnny Glasel (tp), Louis Mucci (ts), Bill Elton (tb), Dick Cary (alto-hrn,p), John Drew (b) and Ed Shaughnessy (d). They recorded Vikki, Time for One More, It Don't Mean a Thing, More Than You Know and Stablemates.

On the second session, Jimmy Buffington (fhr) and Harvey Phillips (tu) replaced Dick Cary. They recorded Day Dream, Walt's With 'Em, Koll Ankor Vat, Stella by Starlight and Fugue for Jazz Orchestra.

The inhale-exhale quality of the arrangements are terrific. So is the musicianship throughout. The ensemble is like a pocket Gil Evans (above) orchestra. Instruments come and go fugue-like, the trombone and French horn mutter down below, Glasel's trumpet adds top-end brightness but never overwhelms, and Ed's drums keep the beat interesting. Every arrangement on the album is a standout for one reason or another.

Other standout albums that include Glasel includes The Six (1954), Bill Russo's School of Rebellion (1960), Barry Miles's Miles of Genius (1961), Gil Evans's Into the Hot (1961) and Dick Meldonian's 'S Wonderful (1982)