sinatra bassist, "under my skin"

[Nuno A.]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Yea, I just read several different things including Steve Hoffman's remastering notes that verify...


Joe Comfort!


The name Joe Comfort represents an important example of a musician's surname summarizing what is expected of them as an instrumentalist. It would be grand to say this man's name is thus synonymous with great jazz bass players, but unfortunately this artist has much less name recognition with jazz fans than some of the players that inspired him, a list that starts with Jimmy Blanton of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and continues with reliable mainstream jazz veterans such as Paul Chambers and Ray Brown. Comfort's discography rivals any of these players in size, nonetheless, the most extensively heard sides most likely being recordings with stars such as Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

Comfort's Los Angeles family were entirely musically talented, although the general alignment was the classics rather than swinging. The soon-to-be bassist's father taught him trombone initially; Comfort never lost his ease with brass, keeping up chops on an arsenal of at least four such instruments throughout his career. Comfort taught himself bass and by his late '20s was gigging with enthusiastic bandleader Lionel Hampton. Cole called a couple of years later and their relationship continued into the early '50s, including an extensive European tour. Comfort also worked independently with Oscar Moore, a guitarist whose style was considered an important element of Cole's original trio groove.

In the second half of the '50s the bassist began picking up a larger proportion of studio credits, soundtrack music for bosses such as Nelson Riddle as well as pop and vocal music. The aforementioned blue-eyed wonder was comfortable enough with Comfort to include him on anABC television series in 1957. A crime series entitled M Squad was even more of a jazz highlight for the boob tube set around the same time, featuring the bassist in the context of a studio band helmed by the brilliant Benny Carter. This amount of popular exposure and the bassist's rafter of commercial recording sessions apparently backfired in terms of maintaining interest amongst the jazz snobbery, however. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

you can watch the man himslef here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0

I have several Nat King Cole Trio recordings featuring Joe Comfort, if you want some, let me know
although i really like Johnny miller on the bass with the Nat King Cole trio, Comfort is my favourite N K C trio bass player

Nuno

[Damon Rondeau]

In those classic Riddle Sinatra sessions, were those bass parts completely improvised or were they written by the arranger?

[bribass]

Originally Posted by Damon Rondeau

In those classic Riddle Sinatra sessions, were those bass parts completely improvised or were they written by the arranger?

Hey thanks for finding that Phil!

I'd say like most big band charts, it's prolly a combination of what the arranger writes as far as specific lines, and what the player improvs over chord changes written on the part.

BG

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bribass

Hey thanks for finding that Phil!

I'd say like most big band charts, it's prolly a combination of what the arranger writes as far as specific lines, and what the player improvs over chord changes written on the part.

BG

That's my guess too by the way he plays. His walking sound like a player signature but he also bangs through what are obviously ensemble lines in between.

[Marcus Johnson]

Excellent. Well done, Phil.

[Damon Rondeau]

Originally Posted by bribass

I'd say like most big band charts, it's prolly a combination of what the arranger writes as far as specific lines, and what the player improvs over chord changes written on the part.

Obviously I haven't got much big band experience (some big bands but not jazz/pop, and some ancient old local big band charts a few of us around here saved from oblivion but playing them in a small band context), but would it have been normal for the arranger to write a bass part for the entire tune? The player then plays something tastier where he hears tastier?

[ZachDad]

Thanks for the hard work,Phil! Mystery solved!

[Uncletoad]

Yea man this dude's just made it to the top 3 of my "influences" page.

I never knew who that was but always loved his vibe on those recordings. Plays the perfect stuff. He walks totally down in the pocket, swinging like crazy, pushing the band. He plays fun notes that are interesting on their own but always serve the song and the arrangement.

Meanwhile he never shows his ass.

I wish I could do that.

[TimoMetzemakers]

Joe Comfort also plays his butt off on Ella Fitzgerald's Johnny Mercer Songbook (also with Nelson Riddle).

[RTB72]

....He's a badass.

[Damon Rondeau]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Yea man this dude's just made it to the top 3 of my "influences" page.

I never knew who that was but always loved his vibe on those recordings. Plays the perfect stuff. He walks totally down in the pocket, swinging like crazy, pushing the band. He plays fun notes that are interesting on their own but always serve the song and the arrangement.

Meanwhile he never shows his ass.

I wish I could do that.

Show your ass, you mean?

Seriously, though, back in Joe's day, and before that too, there used to be a pop aesthetic of making things look easy and doing things with class. Think about Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, a Cole Porter song -- that's the way I think of Joe Colombo's playing (just learned his name today, like a lot of us -- thanx Unc) on these sessions, which I've been listening to my whole life. Sinatra, Beatles, bossa nova -- my earliest musical memories.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by Damon Rondeau

Show your ass, you mean?

Seriously, though, back in Joe's day, and before that too, there used to be a pop aesthetic of making things look easy and doing things with class. Think about Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, a Cole Porter song -- that's the way I think of Joe Colombo's playing (just learned his name today, like a lot of us -- thanx Unc) on these sessions, which I've been listening to my whole life. Sinatra, Beatles, bossa nova -- my earliest musical memories.

Nobody wants to see this ass that's for sure.

I'm with you on the making things look easy and doing them with class. It's an aesthetic I wish was still around. There are no more starched shirts and pocket squares and well tailored clothes, we have to look at low hanging boxer shorts, no shirts and hear about "bitches" instead.

And it's Joe Comfort. Colombo is a detective.

[Damon Rondeau]

D'oh! Too much bandwidth getting chopped up too many ways...

[bruce malcolm]

[quote=Uncletoad;5169181]Yea man this dude's just made it to the top 3 of my "influences" page.

I never knew who that was but always loved his vibe on those recordings. Plays the perfect stuff. He walks totally down in the pocket, swinging like crazy, pushing the band. He plays fun notes that are interesting on their own but always serve the song and the arrangement.

phil's above take on joe comfort, is right on.
nice research dig phil.

rtb72...you dropped his name like you been checkin
him out for years. how are you aware of joe comfort?

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by RTB72

It's Joe Comfort on that stuff isn't it.

Nelson Riddle arr late 50'S

Originally Posted by brucemalcom

rtb72...you dropped his name like you been checkin
him out for years. how are you aware of joe comfort?

Yea man how the f... did you know that? I was just posting the Joe Comfort stuff when I noticed yer post on him.

Give up what you know man!

[RTB72]

I played alot of those arrangements for years in a local big band...@ some point I realized Joe's stuff had most of the lines that stood out to me while reading the charts...(liner notes I think) checked into it and became aware of him that way.....Also later had the same curiosity about some of Nat King Cole stuff...and there's Joe....anyway it kinda stuck after that....

[babaseen]

Been trying to find the name of a bassist who played with Sinatra and also the Peter Nero Trio (Joe Cusatis - drummer) back in the late 60's/early 70s anyone know who that might be?

Thanks for any assistance

[Don Higdon]

Originally Posted by babaseen

Been trying to find the name of a bassist who played with ... the Peter Nero Trio (Joe Cusatis - drummer) back in the late 60's/early 70s anyone know who that might be?

Actually, that was me.
But it was just for one night. I was subbing.
I had completely forgotten Nero, but I remembered Cusatis.
Thinking back since posting - wicked tempos, no amp. That's what I remember about Joe: chops.

[mflaherty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Cherico

[Scott McC]

I believe Joe Comfort is mentioned in John Goldsby's book. Its in a section on LA studio bassists. That book has got it all.