THE BOSS OF THE BLUES
JOE TURNER sings Kansas City Jazz.
Atlantic Records # 1234- High Fidelity
produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler
Arrangements by Ernie Wilkins.
Liner notes by Whitney Balliet
Recorded in NYC in 1956
Personnel.
BIG JOE TURNER - vocals
JOE NEWMAN - tpt.
LAWRENCE BROWN - tb.
PETE BROWN - alto.
FRANK WESS - TENOR.
PETE JOHNSON - pft.
FREDDIE GREENE - gtr.
WALTER PAGE - bass.
CLIFF LEEMAN - dms.
I left the UK for California in 1958, I brought this album with me, I've owned it for over 50 years and it's still in pristine condition even though it's been played hundreds of times: it's autographed on the cover "BIG JOE TURNER - KC."
I've seen Joe Turner in performance several times and I even attended his funeral in LA along with several hundred others, I love his music but this album stands out above all the others, probably because of the tight accompaniment by a group of predominantly Basie musicians, these guys played Kansas City jazz their entire lives. There's ten cuts on the album, I've selected five, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have over the years, if you do check out the Robert Altman film 'Kansas City' and the two music CD's that accompanied i, it's in this style. THE BOSS OF THE BLUES is available as a CD.
1. PINEY BROWN BLUES
2. HOW LONG BLUES.
3. CHERRY RED.
4. I WANT A LITTLE GIRL.
5. ST. LOUIS BLUES.
1 comment:
The musicians are fine, the overall feel is a little too bluesy for my tastes but definitely a great recording.
I met Count Basie in 1979, he asked me if I played an instrument. I stammered something about a harmonica. That seemed to go down well. (I was ten).
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