Here is a quintessential musical time capsule of the era when bebop was just coming into fashion. Imagine if Beethoven just arrived in Vienna in 1792; that’s the same effect that bebop had on the swing era in the post WWII years in California. Trumpeter Howard McGhee (who was actually on some of the very first bebop sessions with Coleman Hawkins)on this fantastic disc here leads a couple hot bands with the likes of Teddy Edwards/ts-cl, JD King/ts, Sonny Criss/as, Vernon Biddle-Hampton Hawes/p, Bob Kesterson-Addison Farmer/b and Roy Porter/dr on a mix of radio broadcasts from Hollywood nightclubs and some studio recording sessions and transcriptions.
The gig from the Streets of Paris nightclub bubbles over with excitement, as a highly hip arrangement of “A Night in Tunisia” and a boogie to bop “Howard’s Blues” make for a sweaty evening, while some moody vocals by the sensuous Monette Moore give hints of Sarah Vaughan. The recording sessions have Edwards in a greasy and gruff mood as he teams up with a wailing King on ”Mop Mop” while McGhee is gorgeous on ”Stardust.” The two tenors take turns on an infectious “Intersection”, and McGhee compositions such as “Night Mist” and “Lifestream” display a side of him rarely acknowledged. A clever arrangement of “The Man I Love” has some solid bop grooves, with Polytechnic High grad Criss sounding quite inspired, while “Ornithology” is as sleek as the back of a ’49 Buick. These guys sound like they have something to prove, and are passing their vision to the masses. Did they know back then of their potential long term impact? Where are today’s prophets?
There’s an insightful booklet chock full of cool pictures and background information to give you some perspective on the music and times.
Uptown Records