Search - James Clay :: Double Dose of Soul

West coast cool jazz at it's finest!

A. Wilde | Los Angeles, CA USA | 05/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Really find it hard to believe that nobody has reviewed this work yet. Could it be possible that no one's heard this excellent record? Does everyone associate James with Hard Bop (which this isn't)? With 9 excellent tracks (2 of which have different takes so the actual song count is 7) it's a great play all the way through to the end. Maybe it's the vibraphone that's not P.C. (only on a couple of tracks) or is it because James is a flautist? But don't worry, he also plays the sax very, very well as far as I am concerned. Cornet is handled brilliantly by Nat Adderley, brother of "Cannonball". This was recorded in 1960 in Los Angeles, so this is as "Cool" as cool jazz gets. The sonics of this album are also top notch. And with a take on Ravel's "Pavane" titled with an extra "n" (which is one of my favorite classical music pieces), You know that James knows what He knows if You know what I mean! Very highly recommended!"