Anyone who thinks bebop means breakneck tempos combined with "bombs away" drumming should listen to this CD. Only one of these tunes is taken up-tempo, and Leroy Williams's drumming on it (52nd STREET THEME) is sensitive and lyrical. In fact, lyrical is the best word to describe this entire CD. Frank Morgan's alto playing is airy and delicate, and is most effective on medium-tempo selections, with John Lewis's MILANO a typical example.
2012 two CD collection devoted to the works of Motown session keyboardist (and Funk Brother extraordinaire) Earl Van Dyke. Originally, some of the Hitsville studio musicians would be ''allowed'' to cut soulful Blues and Jazz tracks for the company's Workshop Jazz label, as long as they handled the regular gig, cutting hits on the Hitsville U.S.A. assembly line. By 1964, however, Workshop Jazz was dead. Motown made good on their promise, somewhat, giving Earl Van Dyke a rare opportunity in the spotlight by issuing in his name a single and a subsequent LP, That Motown Sound. Earl's artistic disappointment belies the gems contained within those vocal-less Motown hits and the additional bonus tracks from Motown's vaults that comprise Disc One of this set. Additional previously unheard nuggets can be found amongst the bonus tracks on Disc Two.
Reissue with the latest 2014 DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Louis van Dyke, in fact his surname was van Dijk, but that didn't look English enough I guess. In 1961 he had won the Loosdrecht Jazz concours with his trio and made his first album, titled Trio / Quartet in June 1964. In the quartet recordings Carl Schulze, the vibraphone player, was added. He won with this LP an Edison Award, one of the most important awards in the Dutch amusement world.