Search - Urbie Green :: Blues & Other Shades of Green

Hear the master early in his career, in 3 different settings

James A. Vedda | Alexandria, VA USA | 06/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sixteen tracks captured here span 1954-56 with Urbie's trombone featured in three different ensembles. His clarity, confidence, and technical prowess are on full display, and he's accompanied by great players like guitarist Jimmy Raney, pianist Dave McKenna, drummers Kenny Clarke and Joe Morello, and saxophonists Al Cohn, Frank Wess, and Med Flory.

One of the things Urbie is famous for is his interpretation of ballads, and his renditions of "You Are Too Beautiful," "It's Too Late Now," and "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" are superb. For something livelier, demonstrating how Urbie taught other trombonists how fast the instrument was capable of moving, there's "Thou Swell," and "Dirty Dan." "One for Dee" captures the essence of 1950s small group jazz. Among the standards featured here are a swinging version of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" (with some nice flute work by Frank Wess), and Urbie's rare switch to valve trombone for "Frankie and Johnny."

There are two additional tracks at the end of this collection that feature some nice solo piano from Dave McKenna, included to complete the set of recordings done at these sessions. Overall, a very enjoyable 72 minutes of music and a must for Urbie fans.

Note: The 2007 CD release "All About Urbie Green" duplicates 11 of the tracks on this CD, including nine of the Jimmy Raney collaborations and the two Dave McKenna piano solo tracks."