A Slightly More Poppish Side of Freddie
Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 07/06/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is definitely not the best of Freddie, however, its still Freddie and one track on the album warrents puchase of it alone... and that's a ripping uptempo version of TENDERLY, retrospectively somewhat reminiscent of Groove Holmes' dance floor version of MISTY. The rest of the CD still grooves and swing quite heavily, however, his sound is definitely much lighter than the stuff he did for Blue Note and you get the impression that he was kinda trying to sound like other players, but still putting on an energetic performance.Anyway, Freddie was the master of the B-3. I've spoken about him in my other reviews, how he forged his own sound. He was one of the few players in the early years of the B-3 wave that wasn't just a Jimmy Smith copycat. Along with Big John Patton, Johnny Hammond Smith and later Larry Young he really forged his own perspective. - - Big John Patton himself told me what an incredible player he was, stories of bass pedal solos during his live performances, etc. etc. His ability to dig incredibly deep into the minor blues, rip out amazing chordal solos, and play ballads as well as hard bop definitely make him a force to contend with. - - He spent several years in Paris from what I understand, and like many organists went before his time, but fortunately, as of this writing atleast two selections of his are in print (including cuts of his on various Blue Note compilations.)To sum it up, get GOOD MOVE, and if you enjoy Freddie, I strongly suspect Johnny "Hammond" Smith's "Talk That Talk" (special guest Oliver Nelson) will definitely tickle your fancy."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1