Search - Bobby Timmons :: Soul Man

Unknown gem

Ricard Giner (cootie@cootiesjazz.co | Brighton, UK | 06/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Soul Man! is beautiful, elegant music and, contrary to what one might expect from a straightforward Prestige session, it's made up entirely of compelling, memorable originals. When the album was recorded, both Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter were in the second Miles Davis quintet, and it appears from this record that they were willing to contribute original compositions for a smaller unit under someone else's leadership, even someone as modest as Bobby Timmons, who was essentially just a reliable, bluesy pianist, while Miles was a giant.The result actually is a small gem. Shorter is at the height of his maturity as a player, delivering eloquent, lyrical statements in that rich, confident tone, while Timmons lays down solos as witty as he ever played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the "school" that gave him (and Shorter, incidentally) an assured place in the business.What surprises me to this day is just how unknown and obscure this record is. The closing piece, Ron Carter's "Little Waltz" is a minor masterpiece, and ought to have become a standard straight away (it appears in several recordings made throughout the 70s featuring Ron Carter).It's never the wrong time for music as good as this. I love this record so much I almost never play it for fear of wearing out my desire to hear it again."