Customer Reviews

10 to 4 at the 5-Spot

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is supposed to be one of the earliest attempts at live recording-and I think it should still be used as a model. It has everything going for it-a great club and the attacking-style of one "bad"
group.I love all the cuts, but I'm with the other reviewers on 'Hastings Street Bounce'.A casual check shows it was recorded once before in the forties by Paul Williams;hopefully someone brings it back.Anyway,Detroit should've "chosen" it as a city anthem-and the driving ruff and tuff baritone sax sound of Adams-and fellow Detroiter's Elvin Jones on drums,Doug Watkins on bass,Donald Byrd on trumpet-and non-Detroiter Bobby Timmons on piano,hopefully is the people's choice for this ode to a street that was mostly replaced by the I-75 freeway,but was once supposed to be the hippest street in the history of Detroit;if you see 'The Purple Gang' with Robert Blake,you'll notice a 'Hastings Street' sign at the beginning of the movie-which went downhill quickly after that.The street went from a Jewish neighborhood,which included a movie theatre run by by great grandparents(The People's Theatre,Hastings and Montcalm,1917-1921) to 'Black Bottom';thank you Pepper Adams for bringing it all back.

Nice recording. I particulary like "Hastings Street Bounce". It sounds like it has a bit of New Orleans in it. The ELVIN Jones drum solo, as is often the case, sounds out of control--one wonders when he's going to lose the beat entirely. Then, somehow, he comes back on the one and WHAM! it hits you on the nose.

This is not an absolute masterpiece in the history of jazz. However, the musicians are very inspired: Pepper and Donald blow very hard;Elvin Jones and Doug Watkins support them as a very solid rythm section, giving rise to a very enjoyable record, fully representative of the hard bop mainstream.

Hastings Street Bounce is the highpoint. A young Elvis Jones and Donald Byrd play like crazy. More than a historical footnote, this is really worth listening too.