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Art Farmer: Work of Art

By Jon Block
April 2, 2023
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My favorite (jazz) album is The Art Farmer Septet (1956 Prestige PRLP 7031 of 1953-54 sessions previously released on 10" disks). It features the arrangements and compositions of Art Farmer, Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones. It still makes me move and groove, from the first clave click on the steaming hot Afro-Cuban "Mau Mau" all the way through to Gryce's equally toe-tapping "Tiajuana," the playing is absolutely stellar. In addition to Art, Quincy and Gigi, the album offers a rich pallet of master musicians at their prime in a variety of septets: Monk Montgomery, Percy Heath, Art Taylor, Horace Silver, Charlie Rouse, Danny Bank, Oscar Estell, Sonny Johnson and Jimmy Cleveland. Later reissues on CD (the original from '53-'54 is mono) include an additional standard, the lovely "When Your Lover Has Gone." This album has held up since I first purchased and listened to it in 1965 on the Prestige/Status LP ST8278 reissue, Work of Art.

Contact Jon Block on All About Jazz.
Composer, improvising pianist, occassional reviewer "Ancient Victories Folk and Jazz Review." Live in Sausalito, CA.

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