March 7, 2019
As Dizzy Reece’s first album for Blue Note, Blues in Trinity goes a long way to establish the trumpeter’s signature sound. Reece doesn’t take chances stylistically; he prefers to stay within the confines of hard bop. Nevertheless, he has a bold, forceful sound that simply burns with passion. Even on slower numbers, there’s a fire to his playing that keeps Blues in Trinity from being predictable. The high quality of the album is even more impressive given the recording circumstances. The English-based Reece was playing in Paris at the time, and he assembled a sextet featuring the vacationing British musicians Tubby Hayes (tenor saxophone) and Terry Shannon (piano), visiting American stars Donald Byrd (trumpet) and Art Taylor (drums), and Canadian bassist Lloyd Thompson, who was playing in Paris with Zoot Sims. Although the band was thrown together, there’s a definite spark to this combo, which interacts as if it had been playing together for a long time. Throughout it all, Reece steals the show with his robust playing, and that’s why Blues in Trinity rises above the level of standard-issue hard bop and becomes something special. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
