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Pee Wee Russell enjoyed a significant comeback with the original release of this session. Not
content to live in the past, Russell doesn’t gaze in the rearview mirror as far back as we would
expect. First off, he has chosen a program of (at the time) modern works by the likes of Coleman,
Monk, and Coltrane, instead of the earlier jazz tunes that were his forte. Second, Russell dispenses
with a piano and instead shares the front line Marshall Brown on valve trombone and bass trumpet,
again showing a decidedly forward thinking line-up.
However, instead of coming across like the Coleman Quartet, Russell’s group achieves a sound
that shares more in common with the Mulligan/Baker collaboration, using counterpoint and harmony
to
create unique and novel melodies. Every tune is taken at a relaxed pace, which only serves to
emphasize the precise swing of George and Bedford. Most people felt that the clarinet had no place
in the direction jazz was heading, yet Russell’s wooden, earthy soloing nudges the instrument into a
fresh context.
As a result we have a jazz veteran who shows a remarkable facility for navigating new tunes
without sounding uncomfortable, and who as a result created one of the finest records of his career.
How many artists near sixty can say the same?
See Combing the Verve
Catalog for related reviews.
Visit Verve on the web.
~ David Rickert
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Track Listing: 1. Turnaround 2. How About Me? 3. Ask Me Now 4. Some Other Blues 5. I’d Climb The Highest
Mountain 6. Licorice Stick 7. Prelude To A Kiss 8. Baby You Can Count On Me 9. Hackensack 10.
Angel Eyes 11. Calypso Walk.
Personnel: Pee Wee Russell-clarinet; Marshall Brown-valve trombone, bass trumpet; Russell George-bass;
Ronnie Bedford-drums.
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