For this unusual set, reissued on CD in 2000, clarinetist
Buddy DeFranco is exclusively heard on bass clarinet while joined by drummer
Art Blakey and an interesting group of players, some of who were with
Blakey's
Jazz Messengers at the time.
DeFranco,
Blakey, pianist
Victor Feldman, and bassist
Victor Sproles are featured as a quartet on four numbers while the other three songs add trombonist
Curtis Fuller and either
Lee Morgan or
Freddie Hill on trumpet. The seven selections are all bluish with many of them actually being blues. Highlights include "Straight No Chaser,"
John Coltrane's "Cousin Mary,"
Ornette Coleman's "Blues Connotation," and
Leonard Feather's "Twleve Tone Blues." This is intriguing music which makes one wish that
Buddy DeFranco still played bass clarinet now and then.
–
Scott Yanow, Rovi