Peerless Jazz Trumpet Man Swings with The Best of 'Em
James Morris | Jackson Heights, NY United States | 02/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a fan of Charlie Shavers since the first time I heard his amazing trumpet, which was right about the time he died. He worked with Count Basie in the 1930's and 1940's, and backed up Billie Holiday on some of her most celebrated sides for Norman Granz in the 1950's. He also solo'd on her original 1939 recording of Them There Eyes, and helped make it one Billie's most famous records. He had a full tone and rich sound that was unlike any other trumpet player in jazz, before or since. Although known among his fellow jazz musicians as one of Basie's most swinging musicians, he was also a peerless ballad player, possessing an almost super-human ability to sustain a note and still make it sound pretty.
In the late 1980's, I had a roommate who played trumpet with a Salsa band in NYC, who also dabbled in jazz trumpet. When I told him that the trumpet was my favorite jazz instrument, he asked me who my favorite trumpet player was - without hesitation, I answered, "Charlie Shavers". He'd never heard of him, so after I moved in, we spent a few nights getting to know each other while I played my rare collection of Charlie Shavers' LP's for him. The first time he heard Charlie play - I mean the very first track I played for him - he exclaimed, "Man what a set of lungs! That cat can really blow". My roommate, Lester, spent many evenings listening to my Charlie Shavers records and vainly tried to keep up with Charlie (he was never able to even come close). After a few weeks of good-natured trying, he gave up, but not before telling me he understood why Charlie Shavers was my favorite trumpet player, all the while trying to figure out why he hadn't heard of him. He was also suitably impressed when I told him that, during the last decade of her life, Charlie Shavers and Harry Edison were the only two trumpet players that Billie Holiday wanted to work with.
Some of the tunes here are from an album called, "Here Comes Charlie", which I acquired in a record store specializing in rare and out-of-print albums in the early 1970's. I paid the then-hefty sum of $15 for it, only to discover when I got it home that the LP was scratched and skipped; even so, I never returned it. The tunes from that album included here are All of Me, Loch Lomond, It's All Right With Me, Undecided, and Russian Lullaby. It's a shame they couldn't include Charlie's version of You've Changed from the same LP - nobody, and I mean nobody, has a way with ballads more captivating than Charlie Shavers. The LP Here Comes Charlie had another seven tunes that are unfortunately also not included here.
I'm not sure where the balance of the 20 great tunes on this CD come from; I do know that none are from the other Everest LP in my Charlie Shavers vinyl collection, "Charlie Shavers at Le Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris". As far as I'm concerned, that LP was Charlie Shavers' masterpiece. It included such gems as Man with A Horn, Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone, Jada, a flawless rendition of Fly Me to The Moon, a rare Charlie Shavers vocal on Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't My Baby and seven more wonderful tracks, and I have all but worn out my vinyl, which I used to treat like gold. Fortunately for me, I had the good sense to transfer it to digital as soon I got my hands on the software, so all is not lost, but if Charlie Shavers Live at Le Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris ever comes out on CD, I will snap it up the minute I hear it's out.
Meanwhile, I cannot recommend this CD too highly. If you are fond of jazz, and especially if you like jazz trumpet, check it out. Charlie had a sound that was as full and rich as any jazz trumpet player who ever lived, and I have never heard an album of his that didn't send me. Highly recommended."
An ode to a trumpet King...
Southern Slim | Memphis, USA | 05/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Beautiful recordings - a nice helping from each of the Everest LPs sounding just like the audiophile records they were for the late 50's, recorded on 35MM filmstock. And just dig Charlie's tone - superb. Highly underated and saorely missed."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1