Fiery bebop trumpet and a rhythm section for all seasons - who could ask for anything more? Not me, that's for sure!
Opening with an Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis number - For Gigi - the bebop groove was in. This wasn't the Globe, we were in Minton's or Birdland or some other jazz joint in NYC.
Things cooled (Coulled?) with Lee Morgan's Ceora. Played on flugel over a bossa rhythm the mellow tone of the flugel gelling nicely with Joe Steel's chords, Andy's bass line, and John's relatively restrained brush/stickwork.
The first big hitter of the night was There is no Greater Love which got the audience going. There are few greater tunes and, taken at a medium to up tempo it swung like nobody's business with Joe and Andy taking impressive solos and John dropping bombs when bombs needed to be dropped.
Time for a ballad and what better choice than Ellington's Prelude to a Kiss. The emotional content was high and, had it been a younger audience, who knows what it might have inspired...
Kenny Dorham was rightly described as an undervalued trumpet player and his quirky composition Pedro's Tune suggested he was also undervalued as a composer.
The set closed with Miles' Trane's Blues with, as was the now established format, solos all round, a blast of fours and a sort of trumpet cadenza to finish off with.
The ambience during the break was favourable, one regular telling me it was the best gig he'd been to in a long time - me too.
Back on stage the second set rolled on with another Kenny Dorham classic, Philly Twist from his acclaimed Blue Note album Whistle Stop. This was followed by No More Blues, Four and a memorable rendition on flugel of Monk' Ask me Now. Monk wrote a lot of fine tunes but this is the one that sends icy fingers up and down my spine - truly magical.
Yes a good time was had by all. Lance
1 comment :
What a great review! Thank you. It was a pleasure to play for you. Hope we can do so again
Post a Comment