The THEK Jazz Quintet Plays the Music of Sam Jones

The THEK Jazz Quintet
Plays the Music of Sam Jones
TNEK Jazz LLC

Bassist Kent Miller leads a quintet drawn primarily from the Mid-Atlantic on a musical exploration of the music bassist-composer Sam Jones. The other members of the quintet are pianist Darius Scott, drummer Greg Holloway, saxophonist Benny Russell, and saxophonist Antonio Parker. Jones wrote six and the great Kenny Barron one, of the compositions on this album.

Several of the numbers will be familiar to many from the great Cannonball Adderly groups that Sam Jones was a member of. The disc opens with a driving rendition of "Unit 7," that producer Ron Kearns observes was Adderly's unofficial theme song. Kent anchors a terrific rhythm section while Parker (on alto sax) and Russell (on tenor and soprano sax) are strong blues-rooted soloists. This and other performances evoke those great Adderly bands. Drummer Holloway kicks off "Bittersuite" trading fours with Scott, before the horns and Miller dive in. There is plenty of swagger in Russell's brawny solo on this. Miller establishes the groove with his energetic bass riff on "Some More of Dat," and Miller' displays his considerable technique as thoughtful playing on his solo. Then there is a lovely ballad, "Lillie," that showcases Parker's ballad style. "i" is another steamy performance that may be familiar from Adderly's recordings and performances.

Kenny Barron's "Tragic Magic" closes this recording with Russell standing out on tenor sax. Kent Miller picked some worthy tunes and led an excellent band on an exceptional hard bop recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a performance by The Kent Miller Quartet with everyone on this CD but Antonio Parker.

 

GOD BLESS JUG AND SONNY

GENE AMMONS & SONNY STITT
GOD BLESS JUG AND SONNY
PRESTIGE PRCD-11019-2

1 - Blue ‘n’ Boogie/ 2 - Stringin’ the Jug/ 3 -God Bless the Child/ 4 - Autumn in New York/ 5 - Ugetsu/ 6 - Bye Bye Blackbird. 68:03.

Ammons, ts exc. 4 & 5; Stitt, ts -1, 2, 6, as -4; Cedar Walton, p; Sam Jones, b; Billy Higgins, d. Baltimore, MD. June 24, 1973.

This is a welcome addition to the available collaborations between Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Recorded during a performance for The Left Bank Jazz Society, it features some good spirited tenor wailing by the pair who each also have a solo feature. For a location recording the sound is more than acceptable, especially for the time recorded although the rhythm section is a bit down in the mix. The terrific rhythm section of Walton, Jones and Higgins is featured on Walton’s “Ugetsu.” Ammons has some intonation problems opening on “Blue n Boogie” that dissipate as he warms up before Stitt takes his turn exhibiting a lighter tone and a bit less gut bucket in his solo before they start trading choruses and quoting pop tunes and blues. Zan Stewart notes that “Stringin’ the Jug” should be titled “String and the Jug” reflecting Ammons nickname for Stitt, and the performance is taken at a torrid tempo which provides little problem for the pair. Ammons has a bluesy reading of “God Bless The Child” that stays pretty true to the melody in contrast to Stitt’s reworking of the melody in “Autumn in New York,” with the alto accentuating the difference in his tone and attack on this day. After the trio’s superb performance of “Ugetsu”, Ammons and Stitt close out on a lengthy, medium tempoed, “Bye Bye Blackbird,” which provides a solid ending to a solid document of what surely was a terrific day to have been in Baltimore.




I likely received a review copy from Cadence for whom this review was written. While not from this album, here are Jug and Sonny doing "Blues Up and Down."

 

Cannonball Adderly at his best

I think most will know the tune. Great stuff.