Ernie Watts [Reaching Up]This is a disc i bought in 1994, after checking it out at my local library, i liked it enough to get my own copy, over the years my library has yielded a number of useful discs i wouldn't have otherwise considered.
This is a Hard Bop session, Watts is a fairly mellowish player, but on this disc he has Mulgrew Miller on Piano, and Jack DeJohnette on Drums, who really play hard and intense, bringing out the best in Watts, he's also accompanied by Arturo Sandoval on Trumpet on two tracks, and he also pushes him hard, it's a shame Sandoval wasn't on the whole album, a Quintet setting would have been ideal here.
On this listen, i loved track 6 'Inward Glance', an Ernie Watts original, a lovely ballad tune, it starts off with a roll of the Drums [0:00], and we're away, i like the way that DeJohnette creates this clicking sound, i'm not sure what device he uses, but it's great, not uniform, but broken and stuttering, it permeates the whole track, great stuff, Watts joins on the Tenor Sax [0:15], and plays a really smooth funky tune, Miller comes in with his solo [1:29], and you can hear him vocalising softly, Watts plays his solo [2:40], a nice intense solo, especially towards the end, and then immediately restates the theme/tune, and the whole thing winds down to a close, a nice short Jazz track of beauty and invention.
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