Hadn’t heard anything from Joe Alexander or John Hunt before I heard this album, from what I can remember anyway. The rhythm section is a more familiar bunch though.
This is a highly enjoyable album. Quite straight forward and bluesy. Joe Alexander plays with a round, appealing tone which is steady and grounded. John Hunt is the perfect complement to that with his fragile, searching approach on his fluegelhorn. I wanna mention Bobby Timmons as well. He plays some excellent stuff on this. A constant stream of lovely assembled notes, soul and undeniable lyricism characterizes his playing.
I love diversity when listening to jazz. To put on some bluesy hard bop, then some post bop/modal stuff, some west coast stuff, a bit of bebop and then maybe some avant-garde. That is what makes jazz so great, it’s all connected in a special and beautiful way.
Favorite pick off of this album at the moment is “Weird Beard”, a 9 minute long excursion into the fabrics of hard bop improvisation with plenty of space for the soloists to stretch out.
This is actually my first title on the Jazzland label. There are some gems to be found on this label and I will be looking for more.
Stay tuned for more vintage jazz vinyl. Have a great Thursday, cheers!