I’ve been after this one for a long time but never pulled the trigger on a copy. Circumstances be damned cause when this pristine copy showed up recently I had to get it, finally. We have Manne leading a group consisting of Coleman Hawkins on tenor and piano (on one tune for the first time ever), Hank Jones on piano, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes and George Duvivier on double bass.
Manne made his way from the West Coast to New York and reunited with Hawkins and Jones with whom he had played with in the 40’s.
The sound is absolutely stellar on this date with Rudy Van Gelder excelling. The album was recorded during two sessions on the 5th and 8th of February 1962. Released the same year.
My favorite tunes are perhaps their beautiful take on the classic standard ”Cherokee”, the trio performance on ”Lean On Me” and the duet between Manne and Hawk called “Me and Some Drums”.
One of my favorite albums in the Impulse catalogue and in the jazz canon overall. The vinyl sounds like new, zero noise and a cover in really nice condition to go with it. And how about that cover art image of Manne… beyond cool.
