Search - Red Garland :: Soul Junction

Soul Junction is Where I Get Off

Wayne Smith | Perth Australia | 03/19/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How could you go wrong with a lineup that includes Donald Byrd and Coltrane. Excellent listening."

Red Garland takes a turn at the front of the stage

Anthony Cooper | Louisville, KY United States | 12/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Red Garland is most famous for playing in Miles Davis' first great quintet with John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. This CD came out the same year the quintet was winding down. Red had John Coltrane, but Donald Byrd is on trumpet, George Joyner is on bass, and Art Taylor is drumming. The blues title track opens as a trio. Unfortunately, and perhaps it's the bass playing, but it sounds in parts like a second-rate blues band. Things get better when Coltrane and Byrd enter the song, but Red would have benefited from a song edit or another take. The rest of the CD is much better. "Woody 'N You" and "Birks' Works" are both Dizzy Gillespie songs. Coltrane's saxophone is average for Coltrane, but Donald Byrd sounds better than average for Byrd. The next two jazz standards, by Duke Ellington and then Vincent Youmans, are both taken at a fast pace and have good playing throughout.



Despite the rough start, the CD gets pretty good and earns its 4 stars. The songs are very typical of jazz in 1957, so anyone looking for a CD from jazz's classic era would be interested in this disc."