Search - Gigi Gryce :: Rat Race Blues

Outstanding jazz from an undersung legend

Todd Jenkins | San Bernardino, CA USA | 03/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gigi Gryce is one of the best jazz musicians that too few people have ever heard of, and this blues-steeped album contains some of his best work. Though his career barely spanned a decade before he quit the jazz life to become a respected schoolteacher, Gryce was beloved as a performer, writer, and human being by the musicians he worked with. This disc makes a nice companion to the same-titled book, by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald."

A Slightly Obscure Gem

James D. Spackman | Houston, Tx | 07/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gigi Gryce is best known as a writer and arranger, but this recording proves him to be a fine player as well. As the title suggests, the five tracks on this CD are all based on blues. There is some great work as well by the seldom-heard Richard Williams on trumpet; my favorite passages are those where the two horns engage in spirited interplay. Maybe obscure is unfair, but I've only run across a few people who seem to know this recording. Not a absolutely essential release, but well worth picking up for insight to a sometimes under-appreciated performer."

Super album

Bomojaz | South Central PA, USA | 11/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was Gigi Gryce's third and last album recorded for Prestige, all of them done in 1960, and my favorite of the three. The front line on all three albums remained the same (Richard Williams on trumpet and Richard Wyands on piano), and this one has the rhythm section of Julian Euell (b) and Mickey Roker (d). The tunes, which are all originals, are fantastic, especially the title track and BOXER'S BLUES; BOXER is a slow 24-bar blues that is absolutely compelling - it's hard to get the tune out of your head after hearing it. RAT RACE is at the other end of the spectrum - an up-tempo, 12-bar blues that cooks as well as seethes. Everyone plays brilliantly throughout. This CD has gotten repeated playing since I bought it years ago; it's Gigi Gryce at his best. Well worth getting."