This album represents all of the things that makes collecting vintage jazz vinyl such a fulfilling endeavor. It's awesome music wise. It's very rare and desirable. The condition is astounding. The cover art is iconic and oozes jazz from the era. And the cats on this great album all play with fire and express themselves in a beautiful way.
The line up is top notch with Mobley on tenor, the fantastic Art Farmer on trumpet, Horace Silver on piano, Doug Watkins on double bass and Art Blakey on drums.
I adore these early Blue Notes. The raw energy. Playing that comes straight from the gut. Everything has soul. It's a pure joy to listen to these albums.
The ballad "Fin de L'Affaire" is one of my favorite ballads. It's melancholic, smooth and beautiful. The opening tune "Funk In Deep Freeze" is another hot favorite. I love Art Farmers first few notes when he takes his solo in the beginning of that tune. The entire album is great with each of the tunes adding something special.
BLP 1550 is one of those titles I thought I would have to wait on a good while until I could find it. Sure, it took several years but it's so difficult to find and so desirable that I thought I would have to wait until my beard turned completely grey before a copy made it's way onto my shelves. Like I mentioned, the condition of this copy is simply amazing. Extremely well preserved. An archival copy. To be able to find such a copy of this title is most thrilling and deeply satisfying.
Vacation time is here in just a few weeks. It feels like this spring has just flown by. I haven't purchased a single record this year up to this point, except for this one back in January. All the dough has been put aside for the summer vacation. I hope I will be able to purchase some new vintage jazz albums very soon. As a vinyl junkie I've definitely felt the withdrawal symptoms of not buying an album for a while.
I'm curious about what you guys think of this album and which Mobley album in the 1500 series specifically is your favorite? While we're at it, name your top 5 Blue Note albums in the 1500 series. That should be interesting to read.
Take care and stay tuned for more superb vintage jazz wax from the 50's and 60's... Cheers!