Found an excellent copy of the Julius Wechter Quartet's Linear Sketches from a Japanese dealer last week. I was surprised to see it was a re-release under the Toshiba-EMI label (TOJJ-5819) made (according to the obi) in 1993! (Who says the days of the mono LP are past?) Beautiful soft jazz album unlike anything later done by the Baja Marimba Band. The combination of vibes and alto sax works well. Maybe I'm prejudiced, but the 2 best cuts on the album are those written by Wechter.
Thought I would add the album notes for your perusal---
Julius Wechter is 21 years old, married and has lived in California since he was 8. He graduated from Los Angeles City College in 1954; while there, he majored in music, studying harmony, counterpoint, and arranging. It was at City College that he met Cy Colley and formed the quartet that won the annual Lighthouse College Jazz contest. The combined thinking and planning of Wechter and Colley, beginning in their college days and continuing over a period of one and a half years, provided the background from which this album emerged.
The instrumentation of the group (no piano) stems from Julius’ ideas about the inhibiting effect of block piano chords on freedom-loving soloists. He definitely does not think of his vibes as a substitute for piano; he prefers to consider it a linear horn rather than as a chordal instrument.
When asked, this is what Wechter had to say about his group:
“. . . Having worked with and without the piano we found that a much more liberated feeling can be attained by not being held down to the chords. Not that the chords aren’t there, but it’s a matter of feeling or suggesting them rather then actually hearing them.” “. . .the use of contrapuntal lines and basic chordal notes become a major part of our accompaniment.” “. . . a group of this type needs a very unified feeling and understanding; each man is individually essential. No rhythm section could have been more inspiring to work with then Frank Divito and Jimmy Bates.”
As the discography says there is no producer listed, but there is a note that the production was supervised by Herbert Kimmel.
For those completionists out there the same dealer lists 2 more copies of the same LP for sale. Try
http://www.vintagerecord.com/s-jazz.htm
Speaking of completionists; I have been unable to find any good copies of Wincle Lamoyan Coan or Baja Ska. Any one up for a swap?