JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:


I’m not much for straight-up bebop, but I’ll make an exception for Maggie’s Back In Town (reissued on the Original Jazz Classics label).

There’s not too much to say about this release, really.

Howard McGee spins out endlessly inventive melodies on trumpet, Phineas Newborn Junior is very impressive, especially when he’s flawlessly executing blistering octave runs, Leroy Vinegar provides a solid structure for the two main soloists, and drummer Shelley Manne is the glue that holds the quartet together. This band really cooks, especially on the uptempo numbers.

The set is a nice mix of standards and originals, with plenty of hard driving swing and a ballad or two to round things out.

And I’ve got to put in a word for the recording quality, which is pristine. You can really hear the nuances of all the instruments, almost as if you were there in the recording studio with the musicians. The bass is especially well recorded, which is a real treat. All too often, all you can hear of the bass on recordings from the early 60s is an ill-defined thump, thump, thump.

In summary, if you care at all about straight up bebop, you need to own Maggie’s Back In Town, and that’s all there is to it.

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