After listening to this disc, I was going to create a new trophy, and call it the “Melchizadek Award.” For those of you who didn’t go to Sunday School, Melchizadek was this guy who came out of absolutely nowhere, meets Abraham (who gives him a financial tribute), and then goes back into obscurity. No other reference until about 3000 years later when the Apostle Paul tells us that this guy starts a line of kings that Jesus is a part of. Who knew?
Same with this tenor sax player Spike Robinson. First, you’ve got to love the guy’s name-sounds like a wide receiver for the Broncos or something. He was UK guy who became a local in Boulder Colorado-not exactly a swinging town of wild jazz-and essentially lived a musically obscure life before returning to his homeland.
Little did anyone of us know or appreciate that there was this guy near the Rockies who had a sound that has that lilt of vintage Stan Getz, which essentially means he was a Lester Young devotee. Still interested? Oh Yeah! He’s recorded here during a 1974 gig in Boulder with a hip little team of Dale Bruning/g, Dick Patterson/b and Derryl Goes/dr and are completely oblivious to the then-popular fusion strains that were permeating every corner of music. You’ve got the music here nice and acoustic, hitting the standards, and yet bringing the music an extra texture of exploratory improvisation at exactly the right time without sounding self indulgent.
He’s got an affinity for Gershwin here, and his solos on “Summertime” and “Our Love Is Here To Stay” roll in like the fog at Fisherman’s Wharf in SFO. He can agonize over a slower piece as well, as he moans like a love struck Neopolitan on “Embraceable You” and “Theme From Black Orpheus.” His bop chops are bona fide, as he veers through “Scrapple from the Apple” like Mario Andretti. All of the songs are from 6-7 minutes so the solos get to the point. Same with Bruning, who has some nice licks here and there and supplies a nice rice pilaf of a bed as a foundation for the leader. The recording sound is surprisingly warm, and the club atmosphere is palpable. This will hit you in all the right spots, and will definitely get you looking for more material by this guy. WOW!
Hep Jazz Records