First Place Again

First Place Again is the second album led by American jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond. The album was recorded in September 1959 and released on the Warner Bros. label.[1][2][3] It was the first of five studio albums Desmond recorded with quartets that included guitarist Jim Hall and drummer Connie Kay. Percy Heath, who was Kay's bandmate from the Modern Jazz Quartet, completed the quartet for this album. For most of August 1959, Hall, Heath, and Kay had been faculty members at the Lenox School of Jazz music workshop. During that same month, Desmond finished recording Time Out with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

First Place Again
Studio album by
Paul Desmond
Released1959
RecordedSeptember 5–7, 1959
New York City
GenreJazz
Length45:58
LabelWarner Bros. W 1356
ProducerBob Prince
Paul Desmond chronology
First Place Again
(1959)		 Desmond Blue
(1962)

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [5]

Allmusic awarded the album 3½ stars stating "Desmond, of course, being at that time the king of melodic improvisation on the alto – with the possible exception of Art Pepper's ascendancy – is in fine form. His whimsical, breathy, dry tone is sharp, on the spot, and full of ideas as he quotes from a vast number of tunes. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxed set if ultimately unmemorable".[4]

Track listing
  1. "I Get a Kick Out of You" (Cole Porter) – 8:38
  2. "For All We Know" (J. Fred Coots, Sam M. Lewis) – 5:33
  3. "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West" (John Lewis) – 7:28
  4. "Greensleeves" (Traditional) – 2:05
  5. "You Go to My Head" (Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 6:27
  6. "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)" (Brooks Bowman) – 5:45
  7. "Time After Time" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) – 6:13
  8. "Susie" (Paul Desmond) – 3:49 Bonus track on CD reissue

Personnel

References
  1. Paul Desmond Catalog accessed February 29, 2016
  2. Paul Desmond Discography Part Two: 1950-1959 Archived 2015-03-11 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  3. Berry, S. Jim Hall discography Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  4. Jurek, Thom. First Place Again – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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