This interesting album was recorded in April 1960 then released the following year on Vee-Jay, and in the liner notes it was argued by saxophonist Cannonball Adderley that there was a tension in modern jazz between those who preferred the traditional style and those who were into the avant garde, and that if musicians adhered too rigidly to one or another then the movement would suffer. This album was to demonstrate there could be another way and brought together Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Frank Strozier (alto sax), Bobby Timmons (piano) and Bob Cranshaw (bass) along with drummers Louis Hayes and Albert Heath (they played on different sessions). There are only five songs, three by Shorter and one each by Timmons and Morgan, but they immediately remind me of the style of jazz my father preferred back in the Sixties.
With a couple of members of the Jazz Messengers here, including Wayne Shorter who later worked with Miles Davis and founded the mighty Weather Report, it is of little surprise that this is a fun and boisterous journey. All those involved were highly active in the scene, in multiple different bands, and were used to recording very quickly even if they were playing with musicians they did not know very well, and here they just blast through the numbers with an energy and delight which is palpable. One certainly gets the impression there is a lot of smiling take place while the session is on as they are feeding off each other, taking the lead when the time is right but also sitting back and letting others into the spotlight. Another great remaster in this series.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://craftrecordings.com/