Here’s one that I would consider one of the gems of the Impulse catalogue. The heavy duo of Elvin Jones and Richard Davis delivers the goods and it starts out with the groovy ”Raunchy Rita”, which sets the tone straight away. Besides the two leaders, tenor man and composer of this tune Frank Foster shines. Haven’t got much with him in the collection if anything at all, which I aim to remedy. Love his bluesy approach and tone on the opening tune.
The album continues with a calmer Foster original called ”Shiny Stockings”, where Elvin uses the brushes in a beautiful way. I’ve loved his brush work ever since listening to him on Tommy Flanagan’s ”Overseas”. Richard Davis was a master and his bass solos are always superb and innovative, like on this tune.
On we go with a shorter format tune called ”M.E.”. An upbeat composition featuring some lyrical playing by Foster.
The second side starts with a lovely rendition of the old standard ”Summertime”, which is a lenghty duet version with just Elvin and Richard. It’s a double bass extravaganza, both with the bow and fingers, where Richard is displaying his virtuoso technique. Elvin plays some great stuff as well and delivers a nice drum solo.
Next up is a quite special tune as Elvin plays acoustic guitar in the beginning. It’s aptly called ”Elvin’s Guitar Blues”. Mellow stuff with the bluesy sax a highlight.
The album concludes with the beautiful ”Here’s That Rainy Day”. Foster handles the ballad format superbly and after listening to this I’ll rush to seek out more of his stuff.
