Another year has begun. Let’s hope this year will be better than the last one. There’s so much wrong with the world, but let’s keep it all about the jazz here. This record is quite rare from what I’ve gathered. You don’t see it often on the market. Duke Pearson is a cat I haven’t listened to much at all. This is my first album with him on the piano from what I can remember. It’s a mellow and enjoyable album. Not very adventurous, but with some nice and smooth tunes that are easily likeable. It features an unusual pairing of Donald Byrd and Johnny Coles, both trumpeters, as the only horns. I’m a trumpet kind of guy so that’s allright with me.
I can recommend this album if you enjoy straight ahead, lyrical jazz. It features a sweet, melancholy ballad called “Angel Eyes”, where Pearson’s lyrical playing really is on full display.
Last year, in terms of collecting vintage jazz vinyl, was great for me. I got some nice records onto my shelves. A few that were on top of the want-list. This one on display was more of a impulse buy. I saw it being offered on auction and I listened to it digitally first and thought it was great, so I jumped on the chance to try and secure it. Got it for a fair price as well.
I think the sound of the album is a bit muffled and dull. Quite low fidelity. Still, it’s enjoyable. It’s just not blowing my mind away sound-wise, like so many of my other albums do. When you get that energy, that punch and the details of everything makes you marvel over how this could have been recorded so long ago and been preserved so beautifully. This album sounds more like it was recorded in the early 50’s with not the best of equipment, even though it was actually recorded in 1962. It’s a good album and it’s a scarce historical artifact that I’m very happy to own. I now own two albums on the small Jazzline label, this one and “Bash” by Dave Bailey, which is a very good album indeed.
A couple of questions: What was your top find of last year? Favorite Duke Pearson album?
I hope you are staying safe and I like to wish you all a happy new year. Let me just say that I appreciate you guys visiting and commenting on my site very, very much. I love to interact with you guys and I hope we will continue to have some great exchanges during 2021 and beyond. I hope you all will find some great albums this year. Cheers!
