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Eddie Daniels Quartet: Mean What You Say
ByEddie Daniels is considered foremost among performing clarinetists. He also plays a pretty mean tenor saxophone. Daniels opens the recording with Thad Jones's "Mean What You Say, allowing Jones' elder brother Hank an extended introduction. The piece provides a microcosm of the rest of the recording. Daniels plays tenor with a tightly focused, cylindrically dense tone. He navigates the head and solo fluidly. Jones's piano contains the history of jazz, from Lil Hardin Armstrong and Earl Hines to Junior Mance and Gene Harris. The piece sports traded eights among everyone, with a nuclear swing.
That was just the beginning. Daniels plays clarinet on the lion's share of the disc, beginning with a beautifully nostalgic "It Had to be You. Jones bounces with stride accents while Washington's ride cymbal dictates the swing time. Billy Strayhorn's "Passion Flower is delicately supported by Washington's supple brushwork and Richard Davis's fat bass notes.
"Why You...," based on a simple blues motif, is an original penned by Daniels and Jones that allows the principals to stretch out. The eights traded in this piece are thrilling. The two also attack bebop on the Charlie Parker vehicle "My Little Suede Shoes. Mean What You Say is a superb recording which deserves consideration as one of the best of the year.
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Track Listing
Mean What You Say; It had to be You; Passion Flower; Nagasaki; My One and Only Love; Why You...; Azure; The Touch of Your Lips; You and the Night and the Music; I'm Getting Sentimental Over You; My Little Suede Shoes; How Deep is the Ocean.
Personnel
Eddie Daniels
clarinetEddie Daniels: clarinet, tenor saxophone; Hank Jones: piano; Richard Davis: bass; Kenny Washington: drums.
Album information
Title: Mean What You Say | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: IPO Recordings
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