Customer Reviews

Soul Time

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

 

 

This album is one of Bobby Timmons' best for Riverside. The under-rated Blue Mitchell provides the sole horn (trumpet), while Bass legend Sam Jones carries the bottom. Timmons who most jazz fans know from his work with Blakey, and Cannonball Adderly is brilliant as a leader. He works a whole spirit right out through your Hi-fi.

This CD is worth more appreciation! A young Blue Mitchell plays with true enthusiasm yet lyrical. Timmons composition's are always listenable. The tunes of Blakey and Sam Jones are swinging gracefully.

This album from Bobby Timmons is surely a good album, it is not something you can't do without but if you like me are always in search of nice historical jazz albums from the fifties or sixties this one would be a nice choice. It has its originalities anyway. The opener is nice a 3/4 blues infected tune, the second a tune which has a sort of rhumba feel that is alternated to a more common straight ahead swinging 4/4. The intro and outro clearly reminds "Mr. T" a tune from a Lee Morgan Vee Jay album. Memory is a nice thing if it works properly. Anyway this is a minor swinger, it is nice. Then we have a ballad, "lips" than "S'posin" at up tempo. "Stella B" is a medium fats blues with a melodic theme punctuated with an ostinato by Blue. "One mo'" is another swinger with Bobby improvising long enough to expose fully his skills but also his limits. There's space for a nice percussionist drum solo by Blakey. Mitchell did not solo on this track. "You don't know what love is" is a great standard, a sad ballad that the combo played properly.

Bobby Timmons is a very good pianist, he plays in the modern idiom somewhere near Wynton Kelly maybe, but he's not hyper technical, he's not Phineas Newborn. Nevertheless I like his playing it is inventive and interesting enough for me. He plays with strong time (hence the title of my review), good percussive bouncing sound and he comps very well. This is probably the reason why here someone suggested to insert another solo voice (Blue's trumpet), to give Bobby the space to let his comp chops shine. And they do because Bobby comps really well .. At the drums we have Blakey, he swings lighter than what he is used to. This is a plus, he reacted to the session atmosphere and to other musicians characteristics conferming that he was a true master. Sam Jones on the bass. Perfect in every sense, his playing is solid and has perfect timing. He soloed well too. A complete and mature musician. Blue Mitchell is not my favourite trumpet player ... his sound is light (maybe a little too much) and his playing quite melodically but not technical enough for me. He was the typical Clifford Brown wannabe, ... I mean he's good but a little light as a player. His playing has little musical weight if you know what I mean.

A good album, but one of many.
Not one to die for but a good Jazz album.
I would give it 3 stars and a half.