The 1970s, an era best known in jazz as the "fusion years," seemed like a very unlikely time to form a classic jazz/mainstream group. At Dick Gibson's annual Colorado Jazz Party in 1972,
Bob Wilber and
Kenny Davern so enjoyed playing together during one song that within a short time
Soprano Summit was formed.
Wilber and
Davern both doubled on sopranos and clarinets, and were originally joined by pianist
Dick Hyman, guitarist
Bucky Pizzarelli, bassist
George Duvivier, and drummer
Bobby Rosengarden, cutting their first two sets for the World Jazz label. By 1976, when the group really hit its stride,
Wilber and
Davern were teaming up with acoustic guitarist/vocalist
Marty Grosz and a variety of bassists and drummers. The band featured passionate versions of pre-bop standards and obscurities, and the interplay between the co-leaders was often quite intense and consistently exciting. Before their breakup in 1979,
Soprano Summit had recorded gems for Chiaroscuro, Jazzology, Concord, and Fat Cat's Jazz, in addition to a third album for World Jazz. In 1986,
Davern (who was now exclusively playing clarinet) and
Wilbur had an informal get-together, and they have played together on an occasional basis since, making recordings as Soprano Reunion with the original rhythm section (with
Milt Hinton filling in for the late
Duvivier) in 1990 and 1992. The Chiaroscuro and Concord sets have since been reissued on CD and are highly recommended. ~ Scott Yanow