= THE BLUES AND THE BEAT =

If jazz could be taken into a laboratory and put through a distilling process, two things would remain after everything else had evaporated : the blues and the beat. The blues would remain because jazz began as the voice of the opressed people who used music to ease the burden of living. The beat would still be there because the physical motion of rhythm helps release everything more bearable.

For this album we borrowed this "essence" of jazz. We attempted to take the mood, feeling and ocassionally the structure of the blues and use them as a basis for building a distinctive musical approach and sound. Thus After Hours, Smoke Rings, Mood Indigo and the others on the first side have a blue feel without being restricted to the blues form. Likewise, we preserved the stirring jazz beat while trying new sounds on Sing, Sing, Sing, Big Noise from Winnetka and the others on Side Two.

Above all, we were striving for fresh, new and appealing musical sounds. To achieve a mellow flavor we added four French horns to the trumpets and trombones. In addition to the usual saxophones, the reed men "double" on alto flute, bass flute and piccolo. This provides an unusual sound which still manages to preserve the emotional quality of jazz. 

A glance at the list of musicians who perform on this album should give ample that the music is well played. Most of them will be readily recognized as being among the very top musicians of our time. They make a fine contribution to what we hope is the overall effect of this album; modern, listenable music which preserves the essence of jazz . . . the blues and the beat !

- HENRY MANCINI