As popular music was drifting from jazz to rock, the missing link between the two was Rhythm and Blues. Tenor sax players either stayed to course on jazz, going bebop or free, or taking on the shuffling blues bandwagon. Of the saxists, King Curtis (1934-71) was one of the most popular, most recorded and most distinct, with his distinctive sound blessings the recordings of The Coasters, Aretha Franklin and even Jimi Hendrix. This reissue of his 1960 album has him in an intriguing setting, with strings, woodwinds and even a choir at times,
Curtis’s big, bold and bel canto tenor gives a wide vibrato on the moody “Close Your Eyes” as well as on the gentler “Unchained Melody” and lovely “When I Fall IN Love’ There’s a churchy feel with the choir on an ethereal “Our Love Is Here To Stay” and “Azure”, with “Misty” floating like a cirrus cloud. The disc also includes a couple of extra pieces, with some kitschy guitar on the C&W-ish ‘The Lone Prairie” and the most R&Bish tune, “Jay Walk”. A tenor titan to take in.