Roy Haynes: Quiet Fire

Quiet Fire repackages two oddball Roy Haynes Galaxy discs, Thank You, Thank You (1977) and Vistalite (1978), into one intermittently interesting extra-length CD of duets, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets and septets.

Though the cast is strong (players include George Cables, Stanley Cowell, Ron Carter, Bobby Hutcherson, Cecil McBee and Joe Henderson), the music is less so, flailing all over the map (embracing soul, rock, R&B, tango, flamenco and—yes—even some straight-ahead jazz), with much electric piano and fuzz-tone guitar to be dealt with along the way.

Still, the record is not without its charms. There's a couple of swell Haynes solos on the otherwise silly "Bullfight"; the perennially under-valued Cables and McBee are in wonderful sync on the disc's now-titular track (with Haynes galloping over top of them for much of its eight minutes); Hutcherson makes the most out of Cowell's lovely "Sweet Song"; and the dearly missed Henderson swings "Invitation" hard.

A minor addition to the extensive Haynes legacy, Quiet Fire is more curio than anything else; nevertheless, patient listeners will find their rewards.

Comments