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MARIETTA, OH, USA - With a certain holiday coming closer, I plan to devote columns published prior to Dec. 25 to suggestions for Christmas buying at your favorite music store. My apologies to readers who've looked in vain for "Powerssound" over the past few weeks. I took an unscheduled vacation but have been dutifully listening to new CDs throughout my absent days.
Bob Powers GOODBYE - Gene Ammons entertained jazz fans with his excellent work on tenor saxophone. The new release from Prestige, "Goodbye," captures Ammons and a solid back-up group. The album's material was recorded just prior to the death of Ammons in 1974. Less than five months after he made this recording, he died of undetected cancer. Ammons, who carried the nickname of "Jug," sounds great on the disc after an unusually fine job of remastering. The band behind Ammons included Nat Adderley, Gary Bartz, Kenny Drew, Louis Hayes and Ray Barretto. Ironically, the final song recorded that day was "Goodbye." The album is worth your time and money.
CYMBALISM - Roy Haynes continues to be one of the world's better drummers, despite the passage of the years. And if he sounds great today, imagine how good he was in 1963. You don't have to imagine. "Roy Haynes Cymbalism" (New Jazz Records) will keep you smiling for a long time. Benefiting from another great remastering job, the album demonstrates once again how wonderful Haynes could be. And still is. The group includes Frank Strozier on alto sax and flute, Ronnie Matthews at the piano and Larry Ridley on bass. There's no special favorite here, just brilliant jazz played by some of the genre's best talents.
DREAM BAND RETURNS - John Sheridan has brought together the wondrous Dream Band for another go around. Besides Sheridan's superb talents as arranger and pianist, the band includes such dandies as Randy Reinhart on cornet, Russ Phillips on trombone, Brian Ogilvie on tenor, Ron Hockett on clarinet, Reuben Ristrom, Phil Flanigan and Ed Merz on guitar, bass and drums respectively. The excellent warbler Becky Kilgore is heard on eight of the 16 tracks. Good choices have been made for the program, including songs that haven't been done to death. Good fun can be promised if you like the way it used to be.
PEPPER'S CLASSICS - One of the greatest tenor performers in the long history of jazz was Art Pepper. There have been a number of old releases by Pepper made available in recent years. One of the best is a new disc from Contemporary Records, "Art Pepper + Eleven".
For veteran jazz listeners, the tunes on this outstanding album are some of the warhorse regulars, recorded over and over again. Pepper, who battled drug addiction for years, sounds in full control of his alto, tenor and clarinet in this invigorating release. The titles include "Move," "Groovin' High," "Bernie's Tune" and others, for a total of 15 tracks.
Backing Pepper were such jazzmen as Jack Sheldon, Pete Candoli, Russ Freeman, Herb Geller, and Richie Kamuca. This is great jazz, performed with zest and fever.
VIBES GUY -- Cal Tjader performed on vibes with some of the best jazz performers of the 20th century. His album, "Our Blues," has just been issued by Fantasy Records. It combines two albums from the past, one carrying only Tjader's name, the other from a concert recorded in 1960. Tjader, another musician whose life was cut short, played with distinction at times and this new CD captures him working in top form. It's another CD worth hearing.
BRUBECK AT HIS BEST - Over the years, I've had the good fortune to see some of the best jazz performers of our time, including Dave Brubeck. Sometime during the '70s Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Joe Morello and a bassist whose name escapes me came to perform at Ohio University in Athens. It was an exciting night, almost as much as getting the chance to sit in the row behind Brubeck and friends in old Crosley Field in Cincinnati. I didn't have the guts to tap him on the shoulder and say how much I enjoyed his work on piano.
Now from Fantasy Records comes "Jazz at the College of the Pacific" featuring an early incarnation of Brubeck's quartet. Desmond, Ron Crotty on bass and Joe Dodge on drums backed the wonder man. This concert goes all the way back to Dec. 14, 1953. Plus there's a 94-second look at Brubeck practicing in 1942 on piano in one of the college's practice rooms. It's a delightful snippet that should fascinate anyone interested in how a major star got started. Paul Desmond, who had the sweetest sound ever made on the alto saxophone, sounded fully developed as early at 1953. What a masterful magician he was.
See you next week, same time, same web site.
Bob Powers always is interested in hearing from record distributors who deal in jazz, rock, folk, and anything that's good. For instructions on getting your album reviewed, contact him at oldbob@localnet.com.
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