Album Notes

One of JazzTimes top 50 releases!

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES!
"This was a good idea: getting the 70-year old saxophonist Charles Davis, who has played in supporting roles with Dinah Washington, Steve Lacy, Kenny Dorham, Sun Ra, Barry Harris and others, to make a lasting artifact as a bandleader. For a tiny independent label, Reade Street Records, it didn't take much more than setting him up with the new version of the pianist Cedar Walton's trio, a crackling example of jazz's maturing mainstream."

"Mr. Davis is best known for playing the baritone saxophone, but for the first half of the album he plays tenor with a rather elegant understatement. He balances melodic embellishment with the kind of magpie's relationship to chords that Coleman Hawkins practiced, running up and down them, creating exotic intervals. And the material is well chosen: Mr. Davis's own elegant blues waltz "Texas Moon," tunes by his friends Frank Lacy and John Weston, and "A Beautiful Friendship" and "Blue Gardenia," not the most widely covered standards in the world. The rhythm section, with Mr. Walton, the bassist Peter Washington and the drummer Joe Farnsworth, plays impeccably, finding perfect tempos and a beautifully even projection of sound. If stores fail, you can find this album at www.readestreetrecords.com." -BEN RATLIFF

FROM ALL ABOUT JAZZ:
"Straightahead saxophone jazz rarely gets better than this"

FROM JAZZ CRITIC NAT HENTOFF:
"this recording is a classic definition of the lifeforce of jazz"

FROM BASS PLAYER MAGAZINE:
"This is a great collection of swinging jazz in the classic mold"

ABOUT CHARLES DAVIS:

Although he has performed previously on tenor and alto, Charles Davis is best-known for his fine baritone playing, both as a soloist and for his dependable work in sax sections. Early on, he gigged with Sun Ra (off and on from 1954 into the 1980s), Brother Jack McDuff, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington (1957-1958).

Davis gained some attention when he was with Kenny Dorham's band (1959-1962). He also played with Illinois Jacquet, Lionel Hampton, the Jazz Composers' Orchestra (1966-1976), Louis Hayes' Sextet (1972-1974), Clark Terry's big band, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In the 1980s, he was with Dameronia (1981-1984), Philly Joe Jones, Barry Harris, and Abdullah Ibrahim.