Great Scott

Many great jazz artists have recorded, with great success, a live album at the Olympia in Paris while they visited or lived on Paris. Among these greats is Rhoda Scott. Her vast discography on Barclay is more or less still in the master tapes vaults but the "Live At The Olympia" CD, reissued on the Jazz In Paris CD program, is very good pick in the vaults. Supporting Scott playing the Hammond B3, the trio are Joe Thomas on flute/tenor saxophone and Cees Kranenburg on drums. Scott has always had great nose for mixing musical genres and tunes on her records, and "Live At The Olympia" is no exception . The trio treats the standards Bluesette", "I Hear Music", "Wade In The Water", "Equinox" and "People" with great musical inventiveness and interplay - they really tells us a new story on known themes.

By sheer coincidence, this album was recorded a few months before and released just one month after the 1987 stock market crash; hence the upticking curve on the graph depicted on the jacket became a positive antidote of sorts to the financial screwups of the time. But without even seeing the jacket, one is always aware of the good vibes these tenor players generate in these small-combo contemporary swing sessions. Already in his 70s, Flip still plays with mature, husky soul, a slightly wailing upper register, and a feeling for space, while Hamilton's busier, directly booming tone becomes a neutral foil. Of the eight tunes, five of them are by Phillips, and the two rarely miss an opportunity to trade riffs good-naturedly in a friendly JATP manner. Good supporting cast, too, with guitarist Chris Flory making his mark as the ghost of Charlie Christian peers over the music stand.

Born in Ontario and raised near Detroit, Jack Scott was one of the most potent first-generation rockers to come out of the Midwest. If Scott's style wasn't quite rockabilly, it was somewhere in the ballpark, and on his best sides he conjured up the same swagger and menace that Link Wray made with an electric guitar. Scott's hits were few and far between, but no one who has heard "Leroy," "The Way I Walk" or "What Am I Living For" is likely to forget them anytime soon. Like many early rockers, Scott would later cut significantly more polished country and pop sides after he stopped having hits with the harder stuff, but true to its title, Jack Rocks concentrates on the cream of Scott's rock & roll sides (cut between 1957 and 1964), and it's one of the best Jack Scott collections extant…

A groovy groovy electric set from Hammond giant Shirley Scott - a set that really kicks things up in the rhythm department, in a way ties the album as much to Atlantic Records soul of the 60s as it does to some of Scott's earlier work for Prestige! There's a great pulse at the bottom of the tunes - thanks to guitar work from Billy Butler and Eric Gale, and some sweet electric bass from Chuck Rainey - working here in the rhythm section with Jimmy Johnson on drums and Ralph MacDonald on congas. The combination of all these great players on one date really makes things cook - and Shirley's organ sounds groovier than ever - so much so, she also seems free to try out a few sounds here on piano and ondoline as well. Things take on a nicely trippy feel at times, and a funky groove at others.