Customer Reviews

Meeting

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recorded live in Denmark in 1973 and released in two volumes this is a magic meeting between two great horn masters in joyous spirits. Dex and Mac are hugely inspired in each other's company and the rhythm section headed by Kenny Drew swings with reckless abandon. Sparks are flying. Just too good to miss.

I've had this disc in my collection for quite a few years now and have always wondered about the "Vol 1" on the reproduced LP jacket. It implies a "Vol 2" but if there ever was a second LP it has apparently never been reissued on CD. Volume 1 certainly leaves at least this listener yearning for more.

Indeed, it's passing strange to me that this gem has remained uncommented on by any of Amazon's discerning jazz reviewers (Samuel Chell? Michael Richman? Douglas Negley?) given the the line-up alone. J-Mac, the Long Tall one and a top flight rhythm section of long time Mclean associate Kenny Drew and the Danish duo of Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Alex Riel.

It's a live session, recorded in Copenhagen's fabled Jazzhuz, and the set is a generous one of five cuts (one composition by Gordon, two by Drew, one by Sahib Shahib and a version of the Ferde Grofe chesnut "On the Trail" from the Grand Canyon Suite that is as "right"--thanks especially to Dex's always delightful sense of humor--as it is unexpected. (Even if Riel does indulge in a bit of the percussionistic bombast that occasionally drove another notable expat saxman, Brew Moore, up the wall.)

My personal favorite is a haunting Drew composition entitled "Sunset" in which the two reed players really stretch out, complementing each other beautifully. No Stitt-Ammons-Gray-Griffin cutting session this, but in its own way every bit as absorbing. Memorably empathetic music-making and I never tire listening to their respectful and affectionate interplay. Two giants at the very top of their games!

Despite the competitive nature of both players (and Dexter could hang with the best of them--Stitt, Ammons, Jaws--and win, if only for his advanced harmonic conceptions), this is a meeting of two of jazz' more distinctive, inimitable voices, neither one of which has anything to prove to the other. Dexter at this time was making sporadic appearances in the States while living in Denmark and playing in Paris. Soon he would enjoy a mighty resurgence (at least his second major one), and by 1980 he could return to the States like a conquering champion, leader of his own tight rhythm section, honored by many as the most creative living improvisor in the music and, despite the obvious decline in his playing abilities by the mid-80s, he would go out a movie star (!) of arguably the best feature film ever made about jazz, "Round Midnight."

The big question might be: how will these two match up, especially tonally? Dexter, the indisputable jazz giant with a slow vibrato to go along with a lightning-fast allusive mind and penchant for the apt musical quotation, and with a style so deliberative that each note is like a dagger aimed directly at the listener's heart; McClean, the near-giant, with a distinctive "sour" sound (some musicians have said he played intentionally sharp; others have called his intonation a hair flat).

The answer is, of course, that the pair match up especially well, though to my biased ears the sound of Dexter's tenor is the more welcome one on practically all of the exchanges.

The rhythm section, though possibly unfamiliar to Stateside listeners, is first rate. Alex Riel is a drummer whom Bill Evans frequently used on his European tours, and Niels Pederson may be the best non-American bassist of all time. Kenny Drew was one of the top 3-4 Bud disciples, whose son would maintain the flame. This team keeps the boiler-room cooking for the distance, offering plenty of music worthy of the listener's attention even apart from the two principals.

I have owned this record since it was first available on lp. I believe that it was available initially in the US on a licensee of Steeplechase. It was called "Inner City." I had lots of those lp's. It was in the 1970's and the vinyl was awful. It was during the oil embargo days in the Carter administration. We often did not get "virgin" vinyl in those days on US pressed records. Sometimes the vinyl looked "patchy." Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

The album is part one of a two disc set or one of two discs that can be purchased separately. Jackie McLean is one of my favorite alto players. It is true that he has cultivated a sour tone that has made him unique. Some like it and some don't, but Jackie was always making progress in his style. He did not sit and rest on his laurels. His forays into "free jazz" always seemed to still make sense and have some structure. In this record, he really swings. I think that both his sound and his style mesh well with Dexter Gordon. My favorite song on the disc is "On the Trial." They play "On the Trail" in volume two as well, but I prefer this rendition. By the way, Wynton Kelley really likes "On the Trail" too and it is featured on two live performance discs--one featuring Joe Henderson on tenor and the other featuring George Coleman.

The rhythm section plays great. It was the standard rhythm section for the Jazzhus in Copenhagen. The rhythm section has backed up Dexter, Ben Webster, Brew Moore, and many others. Kenny Drew always swings. NHOP plays a wonderful bass. I agree with another reviewer that Alex Reil is a bit "busy" sounding on drums. It can get distracting, but I have grown to kind of like him because no one plays like him. He is bombastic though. He swings, but has no subtlety.

This record is also part of an actual two disc set (which I have) that is discounted rather than buying each of the two discs separately. I recommend that Dex and Jackie fans purchase the two disc set at approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of the price of buying each disc separately.

The only reason that I did not give it five stars is that the sound is a little strange sounding. It is not bad, but it is not as good as it should be. The Black Lion recordings of Ben Webster at the same nightclub (I believe) are approximately 10 years older, but sound better. Don't let this keep you from purchasing this record. It really does swing.