It’s because of albums like this that every year I email my compatriot jazz critics and remind them to write in Fresh Sound Records as “Label of the Year” for the Annual Down Beat Critics Poll. No one, not even Mosaic Records, releases such important vintage material that needs to be re-heard and re-evaluated.
Case in point is this single disc by trumpeter Dave Burns (1924-2009). Never heard of him, right? Well, he had stints with Gillespie, Ellington, James Moody, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Milt Jackson, featured on Art Taylor’s classic AT’s Delight. Interested yet?
This album has him in three different bands, with teams of Herbie Morgan-Billy Mitchell/ts, Kenny Barron-Floyd Morris-Billy Wallace/p, Herman Wright-Steve Davis/b, Edgar Bateman-Eddie Williams-Otis Finch/dr and Bobby Hutcherson/vib being mixed and matched. Burns himself has a darkish tone, classic for the Blue Note-ish songs when open and Milesy hip when muted. Barron is Red Garland glassy with Burns on a classy “CB Blues” and confident with a robust Morgan on the crisp “Something Easy”. Morgan is a mix of Coltrane and Mobley with a muted Burns on “Secret Love”, while Bateman hits like Philly Joe Jones on a driving “Straight Ahead”.
With Hutcherson’s vibes, Billy Mitchell adds to the Horace Silver atmosphere on a rollicking “Three-Fourth Blue” and is gorgeous with Burns on “RBQ”. There’s an avalanche with Finch on “Automation” and and Burns sounding cutsie piefor “Tamra”. Brass that has aged amazingly well without any tarnish.
https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/dave-burns-albums/55241-1962-sessions.html