March 7, 2019
The graphics are kind of dull on this late-period Blue Note LP, but the music is anything but boring.Elvin Jones’ band had expanded during 1969-71 from a pianoless trio to a three-horn quintet. With Dave Liebman and the returning Joe Farrell on tenors and sopranos and Frank Foster contributing some tenor, alto flute and bass clarinet (bassist Gene Perla completes the group), it would not be an overstatement to call this a powerful unit. On five originals by band members (best-known is Jones’“Three Card Molly”), the musicians take long, heated solos that straddle the boundary between hard bop and the avant-garde. Their album (not yet out on CD) has plenty of invigorating music.
