Customer Reviews

Straight Ahead [Vinyl]

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This is "Straight Ahead" jazz, no other way to put it. Known as one of the "tough tenors" Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis always came to play. Just listen to Jaws on his opening solo on "Lover;" he absolutely shreds! Even on the recordings two ballads, "The Good Life" and "I'll Never Be the Same," he is far from introspective. It's odd that the two ballads are programmed back to back. It would have been nice to spread them out between the uptempo numbers. For the most part pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Keter Betts, and drummer Bobby Durham hold their own. Incidentally the cover features a photograph of Jaws scratching his head looking rather amazed. It's as if he's amazed that he could play this hard.

This is a curious mix of musical personalities. Jaws is one of the toughest tenors of all time, and Tommy Flanagan is as tasteful as they come. Jaws seems to be thinking, breathing and playing hot flames whereas Tommy is chilling out. The result is a somewhat incongruous match-up, with Jaws sounding like he's laboring, trying too hard, and the rhythmic support just not in the same place the featured soloist is physically or emotionally. Keeter Betts' somewhat unobtrusive walking bass also serves to hold things back. The drummer, Bobby Durham, who can stoke fires with the best of them, chooses to adjust to his rhythm mates rather than to match Jaws' sound and fury. It's doubtful anyone was having a whole lot of fun on this session.

It may be that Jaws is short on breath support on this occasion and is overcompensating for it, cutting off many of his sounds too quickly and pushing his tones to the point of sharping the pitch. A shame because the audio, especially the recording of Flanagan's piano, is first rate.

A more satisfying Jaws date from about the same period is the one with the Oscar Peterson trio at Montreux.