Search - Teddy Edwards, Howard Mcghee :: Together Again

Thanks Teddy!

N. Dorward | 03/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As an Edwards fan with 21 of his albums as leader (and another 41+ that he appears on), I keep coming back to this OJC release as one of my top 4. Howard McGhee, Phineas Newborn, Ray Brown all interact, in jazz it doesnt get much better than this. Good Gravy, Inimitable and Horn To Horn are the other three that i'm compelled to revisit regularly. Thanks Teddy!"

West Coast Swing

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 12/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Howard McGhee & Teddy Edwards first recorded together back in the 1940s. This album catches them freshly paired in 1961, after McGhee's absence from the scene for most of the 1950s due to what jazz magazines of the time would have discreetly called "personal problems". The rhythm section is irreproachable: Phineas Newborn Jr, Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen. This isn't a casual blowing date, with some carefully prepared themes & arrangements, including originals by Edwards (the title-track), Ray Brown ("Up There") & McGhee ("Sandy").It's good stuff, & will please fans of mainstream jazz. I'm not sure I find McGhee very attractive as a soloist here--his note choices are fine but delivered with such an even keel that their impact is reduced. Edwards is for me the main attraction, a player who's never quite got his due because of his decision to stay on the West Coast (he worked with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown quintet but when they left the West Coast Edwards decided to stay put, so Harold Land replaced him & ended up on the classic Roach/Brown recordings). Newborn also turns in some typically finger-busting (but always blues-inflected) solos, the quicksilver lines delivered in octaves or filled out with polytonal chords.The Cook/Morton Penguin Guide lists this as one of the best postwar mainstream jazz albums. That seems to me a stretch, but it's certainly worthwhile listening."

TOGETHER AGAIN, thank God!

Sandy Hines | 05/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD, although recorded almost 50 years ago is so lush and energized. Teddy Edwards is a gem and takes his music to new highs while Howard McGhee's horn transports the listener to new highs of excitment and his reputation for a lush sound is in every note. These two men, who have rocked together on many dates leave us, once again, blessed to have their music live on for future generations to know and remember. This is one for any serious collector to have and be able to play over and over again."