This arrived yesterday. And went straight into the car CD-player. I like Ike! I’ve heard him before, as a sideman. But in my quest to build and enjoy a bigger Blue Note collection, I acquired these albums.
Words like gutsy, rich, louche, all spring to mind, regarding his tone. He has a sound and feel – languorous and throaty – that works most potently, for me at least, on mid-tempo and slower material. He’s great on ballads.
And as with all Blue Note recordings, he’s part of a stellar cast. I love drummer Al Harewood, who often played with Grant Green. And, speaking of Green, Grant is on the first album included here, Blue & Sentimental, sounding fab’, as ever.
One interesting and slightly unusual thing is that percussionist Willie Bobo plays drums, on the latin/bossa-flavoured Soul Samba.
These are all excellent albums. Grant Green’s contributions to B&S make it essential for me, and I love the mood on both Heavy Soul and It Might As Well, which both feature the same line-up, with Freddie Roach (new to me) on organ, and Milt Hinton and Al Harewood on bass and drums.
It’s pretty astonishing how much terrific music Blue Note put out in this era. The whole hard-bop and soul jazz period is, for me, a purple patch I simply can’t get enough of.