Paul Smith - The Complete Liquid Sounds Sessions 1954-1958 (2023)

Californian Paul Smith (1922-2013) was a brilliant and multifaceted pianist whose great talent and extensive training prepared him for any type of commission, becoming in the early ‘50s one of Hollywood’s busiest musicians. By then, and after all of the new and old sounds, the hot sounds and the cool sounds, it took a very imaginative musician to create something truly unusual... To this end, Paul Smith’s idea was to combine the flowing sound of woodwinds with the percussive attack of guitar and piano. He combined flute (Julius Kinsler), clarinet (Abe Most), guitar (Tony Rizzi), bass (Sam Cheifetz) and drums (Alvin Stoller or Irv Cottler).

In early 1954, he recorded the album “Liquid Sounds,” which included eleven tunes on which the ensembles came together extremely well; Smith’s writing was witty and flexible; and his own piano playing was as graceful as ever.

Three more albums in the same vein followed. The music of “Cascades” (1955), “Cool and Sparkling” (1956) and “Delicate Jazz” (1958) was sophisticated, often swinging, and always conveyed impeccable taste and good humor. They formed a string of hit albums in which he produced a type of superior cocktail music, plus something else when Paul, Toni Rizzi, Ronny Lang (alto sax), Bob Cooper, (tenor sax) and Stan Levey (drums) stopped and blew. Most of the melodies are taken at an energetic pace, with few ballads included. The solos are short, tasteful and swinging. The arrangements were cleverly conceived and attractively executed on the restrained terms set forth. Its style defied neat labels, as his appeal was too broad to be labeled “modern jazz,” “cocktail music” or “easy listening music.” It is all of these. If you like jazz blown with the slick, elegant courtesy of Hollywood, you’ll enjoy these Liquid Sounds by Paul Smith.