Search - Brew Moore :: Brew Moore Quintet

More Brew !

Ozzie | Brugge, Flanders | 09/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Milton Aubrey Moore, jr., a native of Indianola, Mississippi, had been playing in New York since 1943 when he got fed up with the Big Apple and left for San Francisco in 1954. This album was recorded in 1956, with Dickie Mills (trumpet), John Marabuto (piano), Max Hartstein (bass) and Gus Gustofson (drums), all musicians whose names languish in obscurity. Expect no revolutionary music from Brew, he's into swinging all the way ! A few old warhorses coupled with some nice originals make up this set of enjoyable mainstream jazz. Brew Moore cut another album for Fantasy Records later in 1956 (fittingly titled "Brew Moore"), but as far as jazz was concerned, San Francisco was on the wrong side of the country, all jazz produced in California being labelled "West Coast", hence highly suspect. Listening to this album is a treat : there are no "West Coast" influences, rather Brew seems a Lester Young-disciple through and through, i.e. a soft and mellow-sounding approach was his way. The others in the quintet sound like perfectly capable musicians, although there is nothing that will frighten the horses, they're definitely no amateurs either. Brew Moore was never a head-liner, rather a capable saxophonist who produced perfectly straigtforward swinging, melodic jazz. Brew Moore died in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1973 from a broken neck he sustained when falling down a flight of stairs, just a few days after he had received a substantial inheritance from an uncle. This man who had been living pretty much hand to mouth all his professional life, just didn't have luck on his side. Today he remains relatively unknown. It took Fantasy Records until 1998 to release this album on CD ..."