Still rates five.
Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 09/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm practically shocked to see this one has been reissued. Now if only it could be noticed.
Downbeat Magazine awarded "Cohn on the Saxophone" five stars when it appeared on the Dawn label back in 1956, when inventively-played, heart-felt music counted as much as innovation and novelty. The well-worn disc remains one of the few genuine treasures in a collection of LPs, cassettes, and CD's that has become massive if not always selective over the past 40 years. Cohn may have become more aggressive and adventurous in his later years, sporting a harder tone, but he was never more "at home" with his horn or his musical persona than on this set. From the opening bars of "We Three"--as unforced and unaffected a performance as I've heard committed to record--to the soul-satisfying closure of "When Day Is Done" he's the plain-talking raconteur, a compelling story-teller precociously wise beyond his relatively young years at the time.
At one point in the fifties Cohn was practically revered as a master storyteller (listen to his climactic and definitive solo as featured instrumentalist on Manny Albam's ambitious "The Blues Is Everybody's Business"), someone who could be counted on to weigh in with only the most essential, vital musical words, no more, no less. Zoot was always the happy swinging dancer; Al the equally swinging but more coherent and purposeful narrative craftsman. I never felt that he performed "on" the saxophone or, for that matter, that he "played" saxophone. The horn was his voice: "The Saxophone IN Al Cohn" would have been my title for this session, made all the more satisfying by Al's sympathetic, genial company--Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson and, on a couple of engaging up-tempo tunes, trombonist and musical soul mate, Frank Rehak.
There are no big surprises, no tricks, no cutting-edge revelations destined to be dulled and blunted by later developments. This is indeed timeless and inexhaustible music. If it fits like a comfortable old shoe, it's of the highest quality leather--made to last."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1