Taking a day off from touring with Count Basie, members of The Atomic Band such as Joe Newman-Thad Jones/tp, Al Grey/tb, Frank Wess/fl, Billy Mitchell-Frank Foster/ts, Freddie Green/g, Eddie Jones/b and Sonny Payne got together with pianists Barry Harris or Jimmy Jones as well as vo-cool vocalist Beverly Kenney for some swinging sounds.Kenney’s overlooked career has been revisited by Fresh Sound Records in the past, making this set with a large handful of songs by the vocalist all the more rich. She sounds wonderfully ironic on “A Fine Romance” and “Makin’ Whoopee” and sounding West Coast cool during “Isn’t This a Lovely Day” and a delightful “Old Buttermilk Sky.” Grey gets featured on a rich “ When I Think About Lovin’ You” and “September Song” and gets joined in by Joe Newman on a boppy “How High the Moon.” The rhythm section has the pulse of a long distance runner, steady and reliable. Relaxed, casual and as warm as 5 year old Bass Weejuns.
Fresh Sound Records