Eddie Jefferson - Letter From Home (1962)
Eddie Jefferson - Letter From Home (1962)
1 Letter From Home 3:02 2 Take The "A" Train 3:13 3 Billie's Bounce (Take 4) 2:44 4 Billie's Bounce (Take 3) 2:48 5 I Cover The Waterfront 3:10 6 Soft And Furry 2:49 7 A Night In Tunisia 3:29 8 Things Are Getting Better 3:12 9 Keep Walkin' (Take 4) 2:58 10 Keep Walkin' (Take 1) 2:53 11 Body And Soul (I Feel So Good) 3:12 12 Parker's Mood (Bless My Soul) 3:28 Alto Saxophone, Flute – James Moody Arranged By – Ernie Wilkins Baritone Saxophone – Arthur Clarke Bass – Sam Jones Drums – Louis Hayes, Osie Johnson Guitar – Barry Galbraith Piano – Joe Zawinul, Junior Mance, Wynton Kelly Tenor Saxophone – Johnny Griffin Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland Trumpet – Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Joe Newman Vocals – Eddie Jefferson
This CD (which augments the original LP program with two alternate takes) is a fine showcase for vocalese master Eddie Jefferson. Backed by either a tentet or a quintet that gives solo space to altoist James Moody and the tenor of Johnny Griffin, Jefferson sings his lyrics to such numbers as "Take the 'A' Train," "Billie's Bounce," "I Cover the Waterfront," "Parker's Mood" (the latter differs from the famous lines immortalized by King Pleasure), "A Night in Tunisia," and "Body and Soul," among others. Jefferson is in prime form and these boppish renditions as a whole form a near classic. ---Scott Yanow, AllMusic Review
Eddie Jefferson believed that the addition of words in keeping with the spirit of the modern jazz instrumental is an important way of making jazz readily understood. For the vocalese fan, it does not get any better that this CD. He takes on instrumentals from Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderly, Dizzy Gillespie and Junior Mance that would help even a novice jazz fan understand the depth of this fine music. The only sad thing is because his life was cut short, we are limited to only a few CD gems from this master vocalist. ---Carolyn E. Spilly, amazon.com
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