Roy Eldridge - Decidedly '2002

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Bees Bloos - 10:04
02. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) - 16:44
03. Undecided - 11:46
04. Hackensack - 15:12

personnel : 

Roy Eldridge - trumpet
Johnny Griffin - tenor saxophone
Ray Bryant - piano
Milt Jackson - piano solo 
Joe Pass - guitar
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - bass
Louis Bellson - drums

If a listener picks up a 50-minute jazz album that only contains four songs, he
or she will rest assured that the musicians really get a chance to stretch
things out. In the case of Decidedly, featuring tested players like trumpeter
Roy Eldridge, guitarist Joe Pass, tenor Johnny Griffin, and pianist Ray Bryant,
this is a good thing. Recorded live in 1975 in Antibes, France, before an
appreciative audience, the material is being issued for the first time in 2002.
The group kicks off with an Eldridge original, Bees Bloos, and settles into a
relaxed groove for the rest of the show. A 16-minute take of Lover Man (Oh,
Where Can You Be?) follows, with lengthy, soulful solos handed in by everyone.
Bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Louis Bellson offer tasteful
underpinning along with a little muscle on Undecided. The disc closes out with
an appearance by Milt Jackson on piano for Thelonious Monks Hackensack. It will
perhaps seem odd that this swinging set, performed in France while the fusion
movement was sweeping the states, will probably have a more receptive audience
today than it would have had over 25 years ago. But history, and good taste, are
never predictable. Decidedly is a lovely live disc, and will be appreciated by
fans of any of the participants.

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