Delightfulee [Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Lee Morgan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Japan
• ASIN: B000034CCK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,096,423 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ca-Lee-So

2. Zambia

3. Yesterday

4. Sunrise Sunset

5. Nite Flite

6. The Delightful Deggie

Editorial Reviews

24 bit digitally remastered Japanese reissue on Blue Note of an original album cut for the label in a miniaturized LP sleeve limited to the initial pressing only & with the original artwork intact. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your typical hard bop session!, July 2, 2011

By 

JazzerMP (Athens, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delightfulee (Reis) (Audio CD)

I heard this album on its initial release and was immediately impressed by the obvious amount of preparation that went into it compared to some earlier Morgan "blowing sessions." Oliver Nelson's arrangements are beautiful and hearing all of the additional tracks makes this an essential album. The quintet with Morgan & Shorter is top notch and the playing - not as intense as "Search for the New Land" - is outstanding.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars: disappointing given astronomical expectations, January 9, 2008

By 

Frank S. Cohen "[e-mail]" (Leominster, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delightfulee (Reis) (Audio CD)

3 1/2 stars. This is a solid but disappointing Blue Note session given the strong personnel and that its recorded in 1966, a time when all these outstanding musicians are highly advanced in their musical development, approaches and familiarity with one another.

It is a mix of quintet and big-band numbers (two sessions, one for each group), with the big band numbers conducted by the great arranger, Oliver Nelson (who does not play on this session).

The players accompanying Morgan (trumpet) in this quintet are Joe Henderson (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums). Among his big-band mates are Wayne Shoter (ts), Tyner, Cranshaw, Phill Woods (as), and Phily Joe Jones (drums). Liner notes author, Bob Blumenthal, correctly criticizes Jones' drumming for weighing down the big band numbers.

When one sees personnel like this, circa 1966, the expectations are appropriately very high. Given the uniformly high quality of Morgan's numerous sessions for Blue Note, very high expectations become astronomical and, perhaps, unreasonable. It's impossible for this to be a bad album. It just simply falls short of expectations.

Highlights are Morgan originals, "Nite Flite," (the quintet version of ) "The Deliteful Deggie" and the big-band cover of "Sunrise, Sunset," where Shorter is clearly inspired in his soloing by the Fidder on the Roof tune. Nite and Deliteful and Sunrise are top flight affairs that alone make the album worth purchasing.

The album begins with pleasant but middle-of-the-road performances of Morgan originals "Ca-Lee-So" and "Zambia," which are fine compositions that are not fueled by the energy the quintet is capable of.

Again, besides "Sunrise," the remaining big band numbers are enjoyable but flat. "Filet of Soul," with its heavily swinging and catchy theme, just doesn't live up to its potential. The solos throughout the big band numbers simply don't reach the heights one would expect. The least effective among these numbers is the big-band arrangement of the Beatles' "Yesterday" where the band sounds like it's going through the motions minimally deviating from the melody. The solos on that number are conspicuously forced. Again, Blumenthal's comment on Jones' rather uninspired skins work probably points to the problem. Compare the quintet versions of Zambia and Delightful Deggie with the big band versions and you'll get the picture.

Don't get me wrong. There is much to enjoy on this album and any Lee Morgan fan will want this. Please keep in mind that I'm measuring this album against the gold standard set by Morgan's massive body of work with Blue Note. I have all of his Blue Note sessions issued on CD (non-boxset) up to now (Jan '08) and I find this one to be the least satisfying.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good but not great, January 14, 2008

By 

COMPUTERJAZZMAN "computerjazzman" (Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delightfulee (Reis) (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviewer here, given the list of great musicians performing on this album and the time when it was released (1966), I was expecting a better effort. It's a good album but not a great one, and being a big fan of Lee Morgan I was a bit disappointed overall.