2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Pleasant Surprise!, December 5, 2002
This is a compilation comprised of artists with whom I was unfamiliar except for the Heath brothers and Phil Woods. All cuts except one are led by sax players and that, "Old Folks" by Ben Sidran, on piano and vocals, has a good alto sax solo by Richie Cole. It's a good mixture of ballads.....but these ballads have a real tendency to swing...which is to say it really is for jazz lovers. The liner notes state, and I've always subsribed to this, that the best way to judge a musician is to hear his interpretation of a ballad because of the emotional challenge involved.
Nine of the ten qualify as standards, the remaining one "Twee" being an original by tenor saxist Andy Sheppard. My favorites are "Autumn In New York", a great interpretation of a gorgeous melody played by tenor saxist Jimmy Heath, "In A Mellow Tone" by Courtney Pine , another tenor, simply because the tune is a personal favorite, and "The Very Thought Of You", tenor James Clay's interpretation of the lovely Ray Noble composition. Phil Wood's interpretation of "My Old Flame " also rates high. I've never heard Phil do a ballad that wasn't appealing and definitely jazz.
If you've had one of those "hard days"... and presently who hasn't..... listening to this will have a purgative effect to your mental state and leave you in a much better mood.
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