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Don Reitan piano; Mike Serpas, trumpet; Jay Cave, bass; Rick Bell, tenor sax; Lee Charlton, drums featuring Jackie Henderson, vocals
Recorded at Chez Joey in 1957
Forty years on and this recording has finally seen light of day - and deservedly so! This quintet, just a notch off the top quality of the time, enjoyed working together, a fact that is apparent in the enthusiastic playing on this recording.
Clearly the late Don Reitan was the guru who headed up this group of young players and it is a great pity that he isn't around to join in the rewards following the release of this music.
Reading the sleeve notes makes one jealous not to have experienced all the exciting happenings that were part of the musical activity these six musicians lived through back in 1957. The music itself varies between lowdown blues and uptempo bebop with the outstanding contribution being made by the superb playing of trumpeter Mike Serpas. The rest of the team are all talented and help to make the recording a worthwhile release.
It is often too easy to live on the past memories of the Jazz greats and whereas this band didn't aspire to that title, they certainly made their contribution to the scene, which is no less important than the master recordings of the past
by Al Merritt
U.K. Jazz
London England
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