Trombonist Bennie Green's Blue Note albums were almost completely overlooked until this Mosaic Select compilation appeared in 2003. The first session, originally issued as Back on the Scene, features Charlie Rouse joining Green in the front line. Green's up-tempo "Bennie Plays the Blues" is the best blowing vehicle, while he and Rouse both contribute lyrical solos in Melba Liston's "Melba's Mood." Pianist Gildo Mahones wrote three of the six tracks recorded for Walkin' & Talkin', with Eddy Williams taking Rouse's place.
Bennie Green was no where near the technician Stitt was. In fact, his trombone vocabulary precedes J. J. Johnson's and the bebop revolution of Bird and Diz. Nevertheless, Sonny and Bennie sounded like soul mates on the two occasions I caught them together at McKee's Show Lounge 63rd and Cottage in Chicago. Their meetings didn't produce the sparks of Stitt and Jug (Gene Ammons) but a spirit of rare camaraderie (Stitt could be an ornery loner).
Back in the '80s, Paul Murphy developed a cult following as the U.K. DJ who fueled the parties at the WAG Club's Jazz Room. By drawing heavily on the soul-jazz and hard bop records of the '50s and '60s, he developed something of an underground dance craze, one that ran parallel to Northern soul and one that got big enough to attract patrons as prominent as Jerry Dammers of the Specials. A record called The Jazz Club presented highlights from these swinging parties and Murphy continued to DJ outside of the WAG Club, but the trend faded away by the early '90s and, along with it, so did Murphy. Many years later, producer Dean Rudland eventually reconnected with Murphy via Facebook, a rekindling that led to this Ace compilation from 2014. The Return of Jazz Club: Dancefloor Classics from the Original Jazz Dance DJ is a 15-track collection culled from the Prestige and Riverside vaults…
20 Original albums on 10 CDs! King Curtis, Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Shirley Scott, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Roland Kirk and more!
The tenor sax was to Rhythm & Blues-hits of the 40s and 50s, what the guitar went on to become to RocknRoll. Put on an R&B-single from that era and you will most likely hear a tenor sax break or solo. Eventually, the tenor players stepped out to make records under their own name. These Soul Tenors were expressing themselves by honkin, shoutin, riffin, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl, as Ted Gioia described it in The History of Jazz, all the while, carrying the moan in their tone, according to Cannonball Adderley…
This outstanding 77-minute edition includes two exquisite and rare dates of the incomparable alto saxophonist for the first time ever on one CD, as well as five exceptional bonus tracks. Joined by such talented sidemen as Joe Newman, Ola Hansen, Bennie Green, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Kenny Drew, Tommy Potter, Kenny Clarke and Buddy Rich, Sonny Criss gives truly inspired performances as only he is able. His intensity, soulful lines, and incomparable expressiveness make this edition a true gem.