Wessell Anderson [Warmdaddy In The Garden Of Swing]Well another disc i just pulled off the shelf from a Record Shop about 15 years ago, just because it looked good, boy have i bought some great discs this way, this is Wessell Anderson's debut as a leader, he plays Alto Sax, and is really great on the Sopranino Sax too.
Born in Brooklyn, he had a Jazz upbringing, the liner notes talk about being surrounded by Jazz, there was always a Jazz LP playing in his house, and it influenced him greatly, the notes are really inspiring, he worked hard at becoming a Jazz musician.
Today i really enjoyed the very first track, 'The Black Cat', there's a tremendous vibe coming from Eric Reed's Piano, i was so impressed with his playing i rushed out and bought one of his albums, the track starts with a deep groove on Ben Wolfe's Bass [0:00], and then Donald Edwards Drums comes in [0:06], and especially his cymbals keep tapping out this hypnotic morse code rhythm, with Reed giving off a vibe in the high registers of the Piano [0:09], a truly exceptional intro indeed, i just love it!, Anderson's Sax comes in with the tune [0:18], and it's perfect, the sound is like a deep south swamp boogie or something, he starts his solo [0:56], really strong and high, at the end of his solo there's this intense high pitched playing [3:20-3:56], he really lets himself go, a great way to finish a solo, and then Reed comes in [3:57], his solo is lazy to begin with, but he too gets intense, playing at the high registers of the Piano [5:04], with Edwards continually tapping out that hypnotic morse code rhythm on the cymbals, the original tune reprise [5:38] is a powerful moment, and as the piece comes to a close, Reed has his keys chiming out the morse code of the Drummer, and Wolfe's Bass brings the track to a quiet close, this is a breathtaking Jazz track, so simple, and yet so complex, and so satisfying.
