Tex Book Tenor
was recorded in 1968 as a follow-up to
Booker Ervin
's debut date for
Blue Note
,
The In Between
, which was released in January of the same year. (
Ervin
had made two records for
Pacific Jazz
, which is now owned, like
, by
EMI
.) The album remained unreleased until 1976, when it was issued with an also unreleased
Horace Parlan
date on a double LP called
Back from the Gig
. This is its first appearance on CD. The lineup is stellar and includes
Billy Higgins
Woody Shaw
Kenny Barron
, and bassist
Jan Arnet
from Czechoslovakia.
Barron
and
had worked together before, and
Arnet
had worked with
three years earlier as a touring partner in Germany. The music here includes three
originals,
's wonderful
"Gichi,"
Shaw
's
"In a Capricornian Way."
The
Afro-Latin
-influenced grooves of
"Gichi"
display
playing his solo in prime snake-charmer mode. His own
"Den Tex"
is classic
hard bop
with
going head to head throughout.
"Lynn's Tune"
is a beautiful midtempo
ballad
with wonderful work by
and a loping solo by
. The closer is
"204,"
a steaming
tune with a killer head featuring the two horns just pushing the tempo before
goes off the map into his solo.
's playing is totally inspired, pushing huge chords at both players as they dig into the changes and come out breathing fire. This is a wonderful addition not only to the
catalog on CD, but to
's own shelf as well, and should be picked up by anyone interested in him as a bandleader and composer. ~ Thom Jurek