Herbie Mann & Bobby Jaspar - Flute Flight 1957

The rest of the recording features Jaspar leading a quintet with Flanagan and Donaldson returning and adding Doug Watkins on bass and Eddie Costa on vibes. Flanagan, Watkins and Jaspar each contribute a tune to the session, and there are strong solos from each member of the group. It continues in the same softly swinging, straight ahead mode of the Mann tracks.

Every player is a master of his axe, and the material is first rate throughout. This is a welcome reissue, and a must hear for any fan of jazz flute.

The use of the flute as an instrument of jazz improvisation goes back to Wayman Carver in the early 1930s. Harry Klee played it in the mid-Forties, but the flute did not become firmly established in jazz until the early 1950s, and then primarily as a secondary instrument for saxophonists. Herbie Mann, however, made it his primary horn and in the minds of the general jazz public quickly became synonymous with the flute. For recording, Mann occasionally teamed up with another flutist. One of his most successful partnerships was with Bobby Jaspar, a young Belgian who as a member of J.J. Johnson's quintet made an impact with both flute and tenor saxophone. In Flute Flight, as in Flute Souffle (OJC-760), Mann and Jaspar work with the elegant pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Puma, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Bobby Donaldson. In his own session, Jaspar retains Flanagan and Donaldson and adds vibraharpist Eddie Costa and bassist Doug Watkins, both on the upswings of their too-brief careers.


1 Tutti Fluti 10:05
2 Bo-Do 5:53
3 Flute bass blues 7:19
4 Flute Bob 6:57
5 Solacium 5:50


Herbie Mann - flute, alto-flute
Bobby Jaspar - flute
Eddie Costa - vibraphone
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Joe Puma - guitar
Doug Watkins, Wendell Marshall - bass
Bobby Donaldson - drums

Recorded Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey March 21, 1957