Blue and Sentimental [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Ike Quebec

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 11, 2008)
• Original Release Date: March 11, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B0013D8KG4
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,814 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally an RVG !, March 31, 2008

By	Walter J. Von Ahn (Jersey City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The third time is a charm. I was disappointed with the sound on the first CD edition of Blue and Sentimental and later picked up the Japanese import that was not much better. The sound on this new RVG edition is outstanding. Rudy Van Gelder has his critics but I doubt they could fault him on this remastering. Certainly he and Ike Quebec knew each other well as Ike was the A & R man for Blue Note and worked with Van Gelder on many recordings. I also think the carefully spaced solos of Grant Green and Quebec lend themselves especially to RVG treatment. What took them so long is the question as this album is considered by many to be Quebec's best.

As usual Ike's selection of material is wonderful. There are two ballads, the title track and "Don't Take Your Love From Me" that Ike handles with such swinging ease and rich sound. It's easy to understand why Lorraine Gordon, the owner of The Village Vanguard still plays and is moved by Ike's music (and this woman, married to both Alfred Lion and Max Gordon has seen her share of greats). "Blues For Charlie" is mostly a Green vehicle and a tribute to Charlie Christian." Minor Impulse" and "Like" are up-tempo Quebec originals that highlight his command of the Blues. "That Old Black Magic" and "It's Alright With Me" are numbers that were left off the original album but sound just fine to my ears.

Finally " Count Every Star" is actually a number recorded and included on Green's " Born To Be Blue" album. I have always loved this number but used to grow impatient listening to Green's guitar work before Ike's solo. Now however I enjoy the intricate playing and Green's exquisite sound but with still a little impatience while anticipating the as near perfect and beautiful a solo as you will ever hear from any tenorman. So there you have it: a great new edition of a wonderful album by one of the best players to pick up a sax.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little bit of Ike and a lot of Grant, March 28, 2008

By	J. Thomas "jimmyjames8" (Out on the Lost Highway) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ike Quebec has a unique tenor sound and style. It is definetly more gut bucket and bluesy than it is sophisticated. The first few tracks on this disc deliver that sound in spades and that is a good thing. To me the rest of the disc is more of a Grant Green outing and that is a good thing as well but to call this record an Ike Quebec record is misleading. This is a good if not great jazz session from 1961 and it is typical Blue Note with RVG at the helm and the usual suspects as leaders and side men. All RVG reissues are worth owning and this is no exception.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sound of Relaxed Romance , March 13, 2008

By	Todd M. Stellhorn (baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

All of Ike Quebec's bluenote albums are superior efforts, but "Blue and Sentimental" , along with "Easy Living" (which came after this one and before "Soul Samba") take the proverbial cake. Quebec mesmerizes with the languid-smokey-late-night-romance that he breathes deeply into his tenor saxophone. Without the accompaniment of the piano there is more space and time for Ike to move about in at his lazy leisure, and in place of it is the gentle strumming of Grant Green, who is at his most relaxed with Quebec at the helm. This fits the mood just right, and Ike Quebec is nothing if not a master at sustaining the blue tinted mood of a seemingly endless night. Images of laying in a bed with no sheets, late on a humid night, a gentle rain smearing the windows and the black streets below, a woman asleep with her head buried in your shoulder and her body pressed against you swaying with her breath, blue wisps of smoke from a cigarette lingering in the thick still air. This music is the sound of relaxed-romance, romance after passion but before sleep. A strange mingling of melancholy and quiet satisfaction. This is an album that is totally complete in and of itself, perfectly capturing a frozen moment. A still, perfect, and beautiful moment. This is Ike Quebec at the summit, and the best deep tenor sound this side of Ben Webster. Highly recommended.
*(Note: this review is of the previous edition, not the RVG)