Buddy Arnold: Wailing

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

In the late 1940s and early '50s, tenor saxophonist Buddy Arnold played in a wide variety of New York big bands. These included the orchestras of Joe Marsala, Georgie Auld, Herbie Fields, George Williams, Tex Beneke, Claude Thornhill, Buddy DeFranco and Jerry Wald. In January 1956, he recorded his first and only leadership album called Wailingfor ABC Paramount. It also happened to be one of Creed Taylor's first albums produced for the label after coming aboard from Bethlehem, where he had produced since 1954 after arriving in New York. Last week I spoke to Creed about Arnold:

"That's a long time ago. I remember Buddy was a nice guy. I met him at one of the musicians' hangouts, like Charlie's Tavern [on 51st St. between Broadway and 7th Ave.] or Jim and Andy's [on West 48th St.]. I had heard Buddy play at jazz joints in Greenwich Village and loved how he sounded. I loved no-vibrato reed players, and Buddy had a uncommonly dry tone that wasn't affected. He could swing. The guys I brought in for the record date and the arrangers I knew from hanging out with them at those places. That's how it was back then. We became good friends, and many of the guys I used on sessions over the years I first met this way. We were able to build mutual trust." [Photo above of Creed Taylor]

Wailing is a swinging small-band album with musicians and arrangers who were hitting their stride at the start of the 12-inch LP era. The album was recorded in two sessions. The first featured Dick Sherman (tp,arr), Frank Rehak (tb), Gene Quill (as,cl), Buddy Arnold (ts,b-cl), John Williams (p,arr), Teddy Kotick (b) and Shadow Wilson (d) with Nat Pierce, Bob Brookmeyer and Phil Urso (arr). This ensemble recorded Oedipus (np arr), Patti's Cake (ds arr), It's Sand, Man (np arr) and No Letter Today (bb arr).

The second session featured Dave Schildkraut (as), who replaced Quill, and Osie Johnson (d), who replaced Wilson. This ensemble recorded Old Devil Moon (jw arr), Footsie, P.U. Stomp [Phil Urso Stomp] (pu arr), Moby Dick (ds arr) and You Don't Know What Love Is (ds arr). [Photo above of Buddy Arnold and his wife, Carole Fields-Arnold]

Arnold had a troubled drug history. According to his obit in the Los Angeles Times in 2003 by Dennis McLellan, "In 1950, a year after making his first recording, Arnold used heroin for the first time, setting off a 31-year addiction that led to 34 narcotics arrests, including a 1981 conviction that sent him to San Quentin." [Photo above of Jerry Wald]

While struggling with his habit, Arnold played in Stan Kenton's bands in the second half of the 1950s and '60s. Once he was released in the early 1990s, Arnold and his wife co-founded the Hollywood-based Musicians' Assistance Program, a unified effort by the recording industry to combat drug abuse by musicians. Arnold died in 2003 of complications from open-heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Buddy Arnold's Wailing here.

JazzWax clip: Here's P.U. Stomp...

A special thanks to David Langner.

Used with permission by Marc Myers