Search - T Charles, I Sulieman, J Jenkins :: Coolin

Very refreshing listening.

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 09/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another 1957 stellar recording. It's becoming almost boring (just joking). If you pay attention enough you will find that every 1957 album is superlative or it comes really really close. This one belongs to the "superlative" category not to the "close" one. It's not a simple blowing session, or better it's not only a blowing session. The fact that here they had two harmonic instruments (vibes and piano) lead to a much structured material, to richer arrangements. This doesn't mean that this is an "orchestrated" album. It mantains the freshness of a blowin' date but it has some more structured themes. The players did a great job here: I find especially interesting the Idrees Sulieman's trumpet playing, very melodical but technical too. Jenkins, Waldron and Charles played equally very good solos, inspired and flashy. The music is not "cool" as the title might let you think. On the contrary it is late fifties hard bop, dense, inspired, fast at some point but anyway always intense. The opener "Staggers" tells more or less the whole story. Wonderful fugues by the soloists over an hard bop vehicle. The tune runs and than finds an eight bar pedal bass note stop and after that the run (the swim?) begins again, ... cool! Spectacular the tune at the end of the album, the touching ballad "Everything happens to me" played by the combo with Sulieman as the only soloist and lead voice. This "rounded" OJC it's surely a musthave if you like me, love those late fifties hard bop dates. Let's dive into this magic refreshing hard bop thing! Splash!!"