Customer Reviews

Blue Harlem

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It's hard to believe that no one has reviewed this great album. Ike Quebec was one of the best tenors to ever pick up a saxophone. He also pushed Alfred Lion and Blue Note from boogie- woogie to swing and then to the modern sounds of Monk, Powell and James Moody. He was out of the picture for most of the fifties with the jazzman flu but came back again in the late fifties and early sixties to make some wonderful recordings, such as "Heavy Soul", " Blue and Sentimental", " Easy Living" and " It May As Well Be Spring" before dying of cancer in January of 1963 at age forty four.

This terrific album however is about the beginning; the period from 1944 to 1946 when Ike put out one good record after another with some of best musicians of the day. While this is a compilation of six recording sessions it is perfectly cohesive as many of the same musicians are in attendance. Roger Ramirez (who wrote " Loverman") does most of the piano work and ditto for J.C. Heard on drums and Milt Hinton on base. Tiny Grimes handles guitar on more than half the numbers. But the sounds never get boring given the additions of players like trumpeters Jonah Jones and Buck Clayton and trombonists Tyree Green and Keg Johnson among others.

The selections are truly magnificent as is usually the case on a Quebec effort. Ike mixes them up with blues, bop and ballads all taken at varying tempos and they all swing like crazy. Six are Quebec originals including his hit " Blue Harlem" and my favorite "I.Q.Blues". The renditions of " Dolores" and " The Day You Came Along" are standouts. Ike always played with his dancing shoes on (he actually started out as a dancer) and this album is no exception. The sound quality is very good and I wish my Parker Savoy and Dial records from that period were nearly as clear. The CD is nicely packaged with savvy liner notes by Joop Visser. I hope this stays around but I wouldn't bet on it so get it while you can.

As a ballad player, Quebec had no superior. If I Had You also is the equal of any ballad from Hawkins, Jacquet or Webster. Ditto She's Funny That Way.