3 ½* Who Didn?t Pack the Recording Equipment?
M. Allen Greenbaum | California | 08/31/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Some very good music here by players on the Black Lion label, but not as good as other CDs I've heard in this series. The only standouts are Bud Powell on "Shaw Nuff," Sonny Stitt and Howard McGhee on "Hello," and Don Byas on "Anthropology." The rest are fairly good, especially from Monk and Grant Green. Poor sound quality takes the punch out of some of the other songs.Bud Powell's version of "Shaw Nuff" (1960) is an excellent live recording, and a superb example of his playing (the best I've heard yet in the Black Lion series.) His unique piano style is fast and melodic, and there's swinging support from Klook and Pettiford. "Lady Bird" is a 1968 recording featuring Philly Jo Jones on drums. A late post-bebop effort highlighted by M. Pyne (p) on piano, but it never really coalesces. "For All We Know" highlights the unmistakable deep straight tones of Dexter Gordon (recorded in Copenhagen in 1967). Sensitive bass by NHO Pederson with a light touch on the drums by "Tootie" Heath. Pleasant, relaxed, but nothing very challenging (and probably a bit too long). I'd like to hear Ben Webster play this one.After an unimaginative start, Grant Green (guitar) and B. Gardner (piano) shake things up on "Reaching Out." Monk's "Criss Cross" demonstrates the master of swinging dissonance doing his thing, backed sensitively by Art Blakey (drums) and Al McKibbon (b). "The Jeep is Jumping" could have been so much better. This features one of my favorite tenor sax players, Ben Webster, with a 1965 sextet. A nice pared down Basie-like sound, but Webster is sometimes very poorly miked (as is Kenny Dorham's trumpet on the later "Soul Support"). This should not have been released. A. Meyer's trumpet bursts through but lacks sufficient shading-it begins to sound like a New Orleans band.Speaking of Basie, "In Case You Didn't Know" is the usual swinging performance with his 1954 band (4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 saxes, flute, an uncredited bassist, and the Chief on piano (though he doesn't play much here). The sax players tear into it and trumpets are crisp. M. Royal's clarinet seems out of place within the big sound here, but the clarinet is not one of my favorite jazz instruments.As mentioned earlier, Kenny Dorham (trumpet) is poorly recorded "Soul Support" but Frank Haynes is Webster-like on Tenor Sax and absolutely makes the recording. Sonny Stitt's performs some excellent, although sometimes slightly muffled sax work on "Hello", but my favorite here is the great Howard McGhee on trumpet. With enthusiastic work by Klook (d) and W. Bishop on piano, this is one of the most exciting songs here, something the CD generally lacks. "Anthropology" closes the album, with well recorded (!) tenor saxophonist Don Byas getting off some great riffs, somewhere between bop and swing. Excellent drumming by W. Schiopffe, and sizzling bass by NHOP. These are good, sometimes great, performances by jazz masters, but I am reluctant to give this a very high rating. There is some poor recording/mixing here, which enervates some truly exciting players. Some of the songs are just not inventive enough, and don't feature the musicians' best playing. By far, the top songs are "Anthropology," "Hello," and "Shaw Nuff." Newcomers to Byas, McGhee, and Powell may be interested in the CD for their absolutely superb work here."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
