"o Lucky Man"

Alfonso Deidda's album Lucky Man, to be released in February, features a stellar cast of Italian artists: Fabrizio Bosso, Julian Mazzariello, Dario Deidda and Alessandro Paternesi.

This is a very good live album from Alan Price which features a good mix of his old and new original material and a nice set of covers, such as Simon Smith and I Put a Spell on You. While the songs from O Lucky Man would be the best known, there are other gems here, such as Between Today and Yesterday (the LP which followed O Lucky Man) and the set as a whole is great listening. The musicians are top-notch and the production sounds really good; the drum sound is well captured, for example. Alan is in fine voice and sounds as if he's really enjoying the show(s). Highly recommended for fans of Alan Price, R&B or Randy Newman type songwriters.

Lucky Peterson got his grounding in the blues from his father's friends, and since his father was blues guitarist and singer James Peterson, who also owned the Governor's Inn, a premier blues nightclub in Buffalo, New York, those friends included folks like Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and Bill Doggett. Peterson had a career as a child prodigy on the Hammond B-3, even scoring an R&B hit with the Willie Dixon-produced "1-2-3-4," the novelty of it all landing him appearances on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and others, and his debut album appeared in 1969. But it was the blues that claimed Peterson as an adult, by which time he was not only an accomplished piano and organ player, but also a quite competent vocalist and an impressive guitarist with a soaring and emotionally searing style on the instrument. This set finds him placed in a retro Chicago blues setting, with horns added in where appropriate, and Peterson is quite at home here, bringing an exuberant sincerity to the opener, "Proud to Love My Baby," and delivering the title tune, "Traveling Man," with passion and urgency, while bringing a funky groove to "Get on Down," which spotlights his piano playing.

This third volume of Lucky Millinder's complete works in chronological order brings together for the first time three Deccas from October 1947, 12 sides recorded for Victor between January and November 1949, and 12 titles waxed for the King label during the year 1950. Millinder is remembered as a shrewd bandleader who accurately assessed the prevailing trends in popular entertainment during the late '40s. His strategy seems to have involved a wide range of musical styles, a spectrum reflected in this grab bag compilation. Millinder clearly tailored the material to fit each record label and its assumed audience. Of course, Victor was selling to a more generalized public while King's clientele was predominately Afro-American. Listening through all 25 tracks is quite an experience…

Lucky Thompson was very active in the recording studios during his 1956 visit to France; this CD in Verve's attractive Jazz in Paris reissue series features the big toned tenor saxophonist with both a quartet and a tentet. Thompson's lush sound in sensitive interpretations of "The Man I Love" and the less familiar ballad "There's No You" brings Ben Webster to mind. Thompson's original "Tight Squeeze" is an up-tempo jump blues which showcases his harder blowing, more boppish side; while the venerable standard "Gone With the Wind" is a brisk swinger. Pianist Henri Renaud leads the potent rhythm section. The tentet session is less memorable. All of the songs were written by Renaud, and while they are comparable to much of the output of so-called "cool school" of the period, they tend to be a little too conservative. Still, Thompson's playing is at a high label throughout both dates, so bop fans should invest in this enjoyable CD.

A new concert film and album documenting the May 2016 tribute show honouring the late Keith Emerson…

Tenor saxophonist Eli "Lucky" Thompson came up in Detroit but made all of his earliest recordings in the Los Angeles area during the 1940s. This fascinating album of rare jazz opens with a mind-blowing Timme Rosenkrantz-sponsored jam session recorded on December 26, 1944. Thompson leads an ensemble combining violinist Stuff Smith, trombonist Bobby Pratt, pianist Erroll Garner, and drummer George Wettling. "Test Pilots" appears to be a collective improvisation during which, like many Stuff Smith dates, the mood is wonderfully relaxed and informal. Recording for the Excelsior label in September of 1945, Lucky Thompson's All-Stars consisted of trumpeter Karl George, trombonist J.J. Johnson, bop clarinetist Rudy Rutherford and a tough rhythm section in Bill Doggett, Freddie Green, Rodney Richardson, and Shadow Wilson…

Even more impressive than his previous Alligator set, thanks to top-flight material like "Don't Cloud Up on Me," "Let the Chips Fall Where They May," and "Locked Out of Love," the fine house band at Greenlee's King Snake studios, and Peterson's own rapidly developing attack on two instruments.

This Commodore material culls out tracks from sessions headed by others, but which feature tenor saxophonists Chu Berry and Lucky Thompson. The Chu Berry cuts come from separate Roy Eldridge and Hot Lips Page sets. Hot Lips Page also led the group, which included the Lucky Thompson tracks heard here. Berry was killed at the age of 31 in a car accident. Although he spent most of his performing career in someone else's sax section, there's no telling what heights he might have reached if he lived longer. His version of "Body and Soul" on this album was recorded 11 months to the day prior to Coleman Hawkins', the man usually given the credit for "setting the saxophone free." Yet Berry was as improvisational as Hawkins would later be…