Primarily comprised of recordings made with pianist Tadd Dameron, The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 1 spotlights the fluid and inventive bebop trumpeter on nine master takes and several alternate versions. (The impressive bonus cuts will not only excite completists, but should please the casual fan as well.) From the…
Laid-back and loosely swinging, Good Move captures organist Freddie Roach near the peak of his form. Roach never leans too heavily on his instrument, preferring a calmer, tasteful attack, yet he is never boring because he has a strong sense of groove. He keeps things moving on slower numbers…
Ike Quebec‘s 1961-1962 comeback albums for Blue Note were all pretty rewarding, but Blue and Sentimental is his signature statement of the bunch, a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads. True, there’s no shortage of that on Quebec‘s other Blue Note dates, but Blue and Sentimental is the most…
With his thick, engaging sound and elegant romanticism, it only made sense for Ike Quebec to try his hand at the bossa nova boom Stan Getz kick-started in 1962, and that’s what he did with Soul Samba. However, Quebec makes the session much more than mere bandwagon-jumping. He takes some chances with the…
Working with the same quartet that cut Heavy Soul — organist Freddie Roach, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Al Harewood — Ike Quebec recorded another winning hard bop album with It Might As Well Be Spring. In many ways, the record is a companion piece to Heavy Soul. Since…
During his comeback years (1959-62) after a decade mostly off the scene, tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec recorded frequently for Blue Note. He started off with a session aimed at the 45 jukebox market and, although he eventually made a few full-length albums for the label, Quebec cut four 45…
Thick-toned tenor Ike Quebec is in excellent form on this CD reissue of a 1961 Blue Note date. His ballad statements are quite warm, and he swings nicely on a variety of medium-tempo material. Unfortunately, organist Freddie Roach has a rather dated sound, which weakens this session a bit;…
Originally issued in 1960 and subsequently reissued multiple times in a variety of formats, the trumpeter Dizzy Reece’s fourth Blue Note outing as a leader is here presented in Super Audio CD format by the APO label. While it would have been nice to see a bit more material…
Star Bright also included Taylor, but the rest were current and future Davis sidemen including Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, and Wynton Kelly. The rapport between Mobley and Reece is of particular interest because of the sharp contrast in their playing styles and tones. Mobley was already moving toward his soulful, bluesy approach and his tone was warm and fully juxtaposed to the…
