The great thing about the AVID reissue label is that they are able to bring back into focus either artists or albums that you had forgotten about. Lately they’ve been emphasizing Randy Weston and Yusef Lateef, and they continue that here, along with a couple of classic albums from other artists, namely…
Count Basie! Four of his all time most important albums are here, making this an ESSENTIAL purchase if you want to understand what KC Swing is supposed to sound like. The desert island disc of Atomic Basie put “The New Testament” Basie band back on the map in 1957, with eternal joys like “Splanky,” “Whirly Bird” and “Lil’ Darlin’” and band members such as Lockjaw Davis, Frank Foster, Joe Newman and the popping drums of Sonny Payne. The following year the team of Basie and arranger Neal Hefti teamed up again, starting the team of Frank Wess and Foster, and some hip charts such as “Pony Tail” and “A Little Tempo, Please.” The ante gets upped in 1962 when Ol’ Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra swings like he’s rarely swung before with some smoking charts and Basie’s band in V8 form on “Pennies From Heaven,” “I Only Have Eyes For You” and a finger snapping “The Tender Trap.” WOW! Basie strips down to a septet in March of ’62 with a flute heavy front line and lithely floating on “Shoe Shine Boy” and “Oh, Lady Be Good.” Can a cd be worn out?
The Big Bill Broonzy 2 cd set is culled from 5 albums that feature the master bluesman in intimate form. At the time they were recorded in 1957, Broonzy was at his most famous, so what he does here is sit with his guitar, play some tunes from his childhood and weave stories in and around each song. He answers questions about his family, the blues in general and other musicians, giving the feel of sitting by the fireplace with the gentle giant. Musically, you get a handful of earthy gospel tunes like “ Hush Hush” and “This Train,” as well as old time folk tunes such as “Old Folks At Home” and “John Henry.” But when he sits back and picks the strings and struts out tunes like “Key To The Highway” or “Trouble In Mind” and “Joe Turner Blues,” you know you’re in the presence of the real thing. This stuff makes you realize, as Broonzy states in one of the comments, that you have to live it to play it.
Yusef Lateef is having his cache mined by AVID, and there’s gold in them thar mountains! He mixes advanced bluesy bop a la Mingus with 3rd World sounds on these four+ albums. On tenor, he smokes like a Cuban cigar on “If You Could See Me Now” and “Yesterdays” while his flute on “Angel Eyes” is penetratingly haunting. The two 1957 sessions have Lateef with Curtis Fuller/tb, Hugh Lawson/p, Ernie Farrow/b and Louis Hayes, and they mix bop with exoticism on “Yusef’s Mood” and “Chang, Chang, Chang.” Lateef in 1959 creates a team with Bernard McKenney/euph, Terry Pollard/p William Austin/, ab and Frank Gant and reaches for exotic sounds on “Oboe Blues,” while later in the year a session with LonnieHilyer/tp, Lawson, Gant and Herman Wright/b create some deeply bluesy yet harmonically advance material on “Dopolous” and “Ecaps.” This material still sounds fresh after 60 years!
Pianist/composer Randy Weston (who’s still alive, well and touring) is another artist that has been getting a spotlight from AVID. Here are five, count ‘em, five sessions from the late fifties, displaying Weston in various milieus. A trio format with Connie Kay/dr and Peck Morrison/b from 1957 has the Monk-inspired leader spryly bouncing through “Earth Birth” and “Cocktails For Two,” while his read of the spiritual “Nobody Knows The Troubles I’ve Seen” takes you to the rural church. A team that includes Cecil Payne/bs-as and Ray Copeland/tp deliver a bopping take of “In a Little Spanish Town” and a fervent read of Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t.” Gunslinger Johnny Griffin loads up his tenor and delivers up with Thelma Liston a rich read of “Little Niles” in a 1958 session. A classic summit meeting at The Five Spot in 1959 teams Weston with Coleman Hawkins/ts (who is unbelievably modern sounding), Roy Haynes/dr, Wilbur Little/b, and Keny Dorham/tp for a lithe “High Fly” and freely swinging “Spot Five Blues.” A studio session from the same ear has Weston with a trombone section of Melba Liston, Frank Rehak, Slilde Hampton and Bennie Green as well as Elvin Jones at the drums for six short but sweet tunes adapted from the popular show “Destry.” Interesting, to say the least!
Avid Group