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Title: Want to hear the most underrated tenor in jazz?
Review: Booker plays on all his recordings with a searing intensity and power seldom heard in jazz. That includes this recording. He is most famous for his stint with Charles Mingus. He was the perfect Mingus sideman, giving Mingus the uncompromising creativity that Mingus demanded. He died at age 39, so any recording by him is to be valued. Here, he recorded with equally marvelous musicians, including trumpeter Charles Tolliver, pianist John Hicks, with Lenny McBrowne and Red Mitchell on drums and bass respectivly. What an all-star group! Tolliver is as deserving of wider recognition as Ervin. If anyone has not heard of the late John Hicks by now, do yourself a favor, and get any of his many trio recordings. On this album, hear him build his solos to exciting climaxes. Also, I was blown away by Lenny McBrowne's drumming.The length of the numbers is relativly short on this album, but the musicians make good use of their time, swinging powerfully.
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