Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
I'm not a big jazz violin guy. No matter how you slice it, the instrument reminds me of the guy in the movies who shows up at lovers' tables in restaurants. For me, the jazz violin is too high-pitched, squeaky and relentlessly annoying. Of course, my personal taste takes nothing away from the swing-era violin masters. To be sure, they are technically marvelous, but the instrument's sound is still like trying to enjoy something that belongs someplace else. Like watching guys in baseball uniforms play football, for example, or having to use bicycle wheels for a dining table. A great thing but not practical.
My sole exception is Harry Lookofsky. He was the first and probably the only violinist to play bebop on the instrument. His solos weren't improvised—they were written out for him and then he'd record with enormous bop feel. This is probably why Lookofsky, who recorded on dozens of jazz albums in the string section, recorded so few albums under his own name. Scoring bebop solos was too time consuming. [Photo above of Harry Lookofsky, left, at '60s recording session]
The one album that stands out is Stringsville for Atlantic in January 1959, which featured Bob Brookmeyer (v-tb), Hank Jones (p) Paul Chambers (b) and Elvin Jones (d). Stringsvillehosts eight tracks: Moose the Mooch, Dancing on the Grave, Champagne Blues, Little Willie Leaps, Give Me the Simple Life, Move, I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart and 'Round Midnight. Each arrangement is sophisticated, and Lookofsky swings in and out with clean bebop lines and feel. I have two clips for you at the end of this post.
Lookofsky was born in Paducah, Ken., in 1913. He started playing the violin at age 8 and received his training in St. Louis, Missouri. In his early teens he played the vaudeville circuit in the South with a small jazz orchestra. Following his departure from St. Louis in 1938, Lookofsky joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (above) and continued his career as a classical symphony violinist, rising to concertmaster at ABC following Toscanini's retirement in 1954.
Over the decades, Lookofsky recorded on many jazz albums and co-produced the baroque-pop hit Walk Away, Renee in 1966 by The Left Banke, a song that was co-written by his son, Michael Brown, a founding member of the group. Lookofsky also played strings on songs recorded by Stories, his son Michael's later band.
On Stringsville, Lookofsky plays violin, viola and tenor violin. Violinist Jon Rose interviewed Lookofsky and posted about him on his website (go here). [Pictured above, Lookofsky in 1943, without violin, to the right of the trumpeter]
How did Lookofsky pull of Stringsville?
"I did this on the first multitrack recording machine that was commercially available—an Ampex 8 Track. We put all the rhythm section down on one track, which left me with 7 tracks. So then I would record using 6 tracks and then transfer them over to the seventh. Then I would record on 5 and transfer them over to the sixth, and so on. Some of it was very deceptive stuff! Making each part start in a slightly different place, for example, is not so easy, but when you hear it back, it sounds like the whole orchestra is in sync, playing as one."
Who wrote the arrangements?
"Well Hank Jones wrote some very nice things and also Bobby Brookmeyer. Those two did most of the writing. But a lot of things I worked on myself. Bobby and Hank weren't string players. There was plenty of room to do what I wanted to do. The solo passages I worked on mainly with Hank, we tried things out. He might suggest a phrase and I would see if it could work on the violin or not."
Who wrote the arrangements?
"Well Hank Jones wrote some very nice things and also Bobby Brookmeyer. Those two did most of the writing. But a lot of things I worked on myself. Bobby and Hank weren't string players. There was plenty of room to do what I wanted to do. The solo passages I worked on mainly with Hank, we tried things out. He might suggest a phrase and I would see if it could work on the violin or not."
Here's Lookofsky on the tenor violin:
"I read about this kind of violin in a New York magazine and I went to Wurlitzer and asked the manager if he could get that instrument for me and he did. They were in business with this firm, it was a German Firm in Mittenwald. So they sent away and got it for me. It was like a viola but with much deeper sides and the strings were tuned an octave lower than a violin. It had strings on it that didn't sound so well, so I went to a string maker and he made up a special set for me. They were very thick! The instrument suited my purposes perfectly. I made it sound like a tenor saxophone. I don't have it anymore. Somebody stole that instrument from me."
"I read about this kind of violin in a New York magazine and I went to Wurlitzer and asked the manager if he could get that instrument for me and he did. They were in business with this firm, it was a German Firm in Mittenwald. So they sent away and got it for me. It was like a viola but with much deeper sides and the strings were tuned an octave lower than a violin. It had strings on it that didn't sound so well, so I went to a string maker and he made up a special set for me. They were very thick! The instrument suited my purposes perfectly. I made it sound like a tenor saxophone. I don't have it anymore. Somebody stole that instrument from me."
Recording solos that were written out is hardly a crime when you hear his feel and swing. And for whatever reason, bebop violin sounds just fine to me. Lookofsky died in 1998.
More about Lookofsky at Jon Rose's site (go here).
JazzWax tracks: Harry Lookofsky's Stringsville is 
available here as a CD and at iTunes as a download.
available here as a CD and at iTunes as a download.
JazzWax clips: Here's Give Me the Simple Life...
And here's 'Round Midnight...
A special thanks to David Langner.
Used with permission by Marc Myers
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