About once or twice a year, this tiny label from New York puts out obscure sessions that are like rummaging through someone’s attic; you’re bound to find a treasure that you never knew existed. This collection of tenor giant caught during one of his “comebacks” during a few November 1977 days at The Rising Sun club in Montreal is an absolute delight. He’s with his stablemates George Cables/p, Rufus Reid/b and Eddie Gladden/dr and they’re in the company of a very hip and appreciative crowd. Dexter speaks the lyrics to most of the songs like the poems that they are as intros, and then counts off glorious ballads like “Lover Man” and Polka Dots and Moonbeams” to create a lava ooze of sound that slowly undulates across the room. His sound is gigantic on these ballads as he takes his time and lugubriously caresses “You’ve Changed.” All of the songs stretch out for between 16-20 minutes, give or take, so no one is in a rush, and everyone gets a chance to tell their stories. Cables, as always is genetically engineered for this kind of material, so you’re in for a real treat, particularly on his history of jazz excursion on “Lover Man.” If you want to hear what the tenor is supposed to sound like, instead of the emphysematic gaspers we have today, get a load of this one!
Uptown Records