This rare opportunity to hear veteran bassist
Bill Crow
as a leader came about in 1995 to serve as "musical accompaniment" to the Japanese translation of his autobiography,
From Birdland to Broadway
, though the CD was only released in Japan.
Crow
, who is an accomplished soloist when he chooses to take a chorus or two, is joined by veteran tenor saxophonist
Carmen Leggio
, guitarist
Joe Cohn
(son of tenor sax legend
Al Cohn
), and drummer
David Jones
. The packaging is a little confusing, with the outside cover showing only eight tracks, but there are actually 11 in all on this CD, which was evidently simultaneously issued on LP.
starts off with two originals. The title track is a catchy
blues
with a snappy strut rhythm and fine solos by both
Cohn
and
Leggio
, while
"Share a Key"
is a tasty
bossa nova
.
also revives an oldie,
"News From Blueport,"
which the bassist had written in the early '60s while a member of
the Gerry Mulligan Quartet
; this memorable
still inspires musicians to shine. In addition to several enjoyable arrangements of
standards
,
's subtle scoring of
Oscar Pettiford
's
"Tricotism"
Mulligan
's underappreciated
ballad
"Night Lights"
round out this highly recommended release. ~ Ken Dryden