I’m not sure why Freddy Cole shuns the piano on his studio sessions. Oh, John Di Martino is absolutely fantastic here, don’t get me wrong. And, the rest of the team of Harry Allen/ts, Randy Napoleon/g, Elias Bailey/b and Curtis Boyd/dr can get as low down as a pole cat, as shown on “Muddy Water Blues” and “Goin’ Down Slow.” Whatever the reason, Cole only uses his voice, and that’s still enough to get you in the late night set mood, as he delivers a 3 pack a day sound through material like “Meet ME At No Special Place” and “An Old Piano Plays the Blues.” He teams up with Theresa Hightower for a couple of poppish R&B ditties that work well on “All We Need Is A Place” and “Pretending” and every time Allen blows his tenor, you feel like the storm clouds are swinging in.
High Note Records