Recorded in 1958, this legendary date with the still-undersung
Sonny Clark in the leader's chair also featured a young
Jackie McLean on alto (playing with a smoother tone than he had before or ever did again), trumpeter
Art Farmer, and the legendary rhythm section of bassist
Paul Chambers and drummer
Philly Joe Jones, both from the
Miles Davis band. The set begins with one of the preeminent "swinging medium
blues" pieces in
jazz history: the title track with its leveraged fours and eights shoved smoothly up against the walking bass of
Chambers and the backbeat shuffle of
Jones.
Clark's solo, with its grouped fifths and sevenths, is a wonder of both understatement and groove, while
Chambers' arco solo turns the
blues in on itself. While there isn't a weak note on this record, there are some other tracks that stand out, most notably
Miles' "Sippin' at Bells," with its loping
Latin rhythm. When
McLean takes his solo against a handful of
Clark's shaded minor chords, he sounds as if he may blow it -- he comes out a little quick -- but he recovers nicely and reaches for a handful of Broadway
show tunes to counter the minor mood of the piece. He shifts to both
Ben Webster and
Lester Young before moving through
Bird, and finally to
McLean himself, riding the margin of the changes to slip just outside enough to add some depth in the middle register. The LP closes with
Henderson and
Vallee's "Deep Night," the only number in the batch not rooted in the
blues. It's a classic
hard bop jamming tune and features wonderful solos by
Farmer, who plays weird flatted notes all over the horn against the changes, and
McLean, who thinks he's playing a kind of snake charmer
blues in
swing tune. This set deserves its reputation for its soul appeal alone. [Some reissues include two bonus tracks: "Royal Flush" and "Lover."] ~ Thom Jurek
