Customer Reviews

Blues on Down

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This album is just excellent. Nothing on hear will put you on the floor, but every track has its own magic. I often find myself giggling with glee over the musicians' melodic brilliance. Five-Spot's cool strut to #7's (I forget the title) sharp bop. The arrangements make each song full and interesting from the start to the soloists final notes. A true classic.

featuring the Jazztet and a compilation of the 2nd ("Big City Sounds" - 7 selections) and 4th ("The Jazztet At Birdhouse" - 4 selections) albums recorded by the group between 1960 and 1962. This is a varied collection of Bop, Cool and Post-Bop selections with some really great sounds from Art Farmer, tpt; Benny Golson, ts; Tom McIntosh,tb; Cedar Walton,p; Tommy Williams,b; and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums.

I hadn't heard of trombonist Tom McIntosh before but he plays a great trombone on the title cut and contributes his own hard bop composition " A November Afternoon" as well. There are some fine bass solos on Randy Weston's "Hi-Fly" and the title cut. I particularly enjoyed the tight ensemble work on the very boppish "Five Spot After Dark", the very lengthy "'Round Midnight", Golson's tenor work throughout, and the two burners "Bean Bag" and "Farmer's Market" where they cut Heath loose on the drums. I musn't fail to acknowledge Art Farmer's fine trumpet work, particularly on the standard "My Funny Valentine", a favorite, and indeed throughout the whole set.

This is a fine small group set that should appeal to a lot of jazz lovers, particularly those who are familiar with the work of these musicians.