Customer Reviews

Prairie Dog

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4 star:		(1)
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This is a great album that has been long out of print and now is back into circulation thanks to Oldies. To the Penguin Guide is a neglected masterpiece and I don't disagree. It contains very diverse themes, from the opening track "The Fakir" that incorporates the forms of Brubeck's most famous compositions mixed with eastern rhythms, to "Prairie Dog", a very well crafted Old Far West song like. There are a couple of ballads ("Angel Eyes" particularly beautiful), a waltz, and a funky song "Soulin", composed by Joe Henderson. As always in Pearson, the delicacy, elegance, and exquisite taste are constantly present. One of his great qualities was his ability to arrange music for a medium band (eight musicians)that could sound at once as a smaller and way bigger assemble. Duke Pearson was a great musician, gifted as a piano player, composer, and arranger. One of his best works is in Johnny Coles'album "Little Johnny C", a terrific Blue Note date with Joe Henderson, that to me ranks right in the top of the Blue Note catalog as well as Pearson's "Wahoo".
This is a good start if you are not familiar with Mr.Pearson, a musician of incredible talent.

With Harold Vick soprano & Tenor sxophone, James Splauding flute & Alto saxophone, George Colemen tenor saxophone, Johnny Coles trumpet, Gene Bertoncini guitar, Bob Cranshaw bass, Mickey Rocker drums. This album is a pearl with very fine arrangement it sounds sometimes like Ellington.
A real discovery for me, difficult to explain the reason why it's not presented in the Pinguin Jazz guide ?

Duke's creativity was too much for Blue Note to handle,so he did a couple for Atlantic at the same time but this one is off the mark for me. There is at least one out of tempo tune,some soprano sax playing and Duke plays celeste on one tune. Duke's other Atlantic misadventure HONEY BUNS is not worth waiting for, if indeed they ever do re-issue it again. It's too light touched on already low sound quality.