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Teddy Edwards: Sunset Eyes
The program is mostly blues or bebop-flavored originals based on or close to the chord changes of “I’ve Got Rhythm,” with the title track a Latin-flavored composition by the leader a ballad standard, and Leroy Vinnegar’s “Vintage ‘57” thrown in for variety. The CD issue augments the LP original with the first and the three final tracks, with the opener another Edwards blues, this time with a different rhythm section: Ronnie Ball in piano, Ben Tucker on bass, and Al Levitt on drums.
Edwards is a wonderful and distinctive tenor player, with a smooth tone in the middle and lower register, a bit brassier in the upper, and a great sense of swing. His work is replete with melodic ideas, a gestural sense of variation in dynamics, and a lot of freedom with the beat here relaxed and behind, there right on top of it or a little ahead. Pianists Trice and Castro both have that wonderful bebop-plus-barroom feel that I associate most with Sonny Clark. All three groups give the lie to the notion that music of the period from Los Angeles was necessarily “cool” or overly arranged. It’s just a pleasure to here these authoritative quartet performances from the middle of Teddy Edwards’ and Leroy Vinnegar’s long careers and the beginnings of Billy Higgins’.
This review copyright (c) 1998 by Larry Koenigsberg. You have permission to reproduce it in the on-line magazine ALL ABOUT JAZZ, edited as necessary for publication.
Tempo De Blues; Vintage ‘57; I Hear A Rhapsody; Up In Teddy’s New Flat; Sunset Eyes; Teddy’s Tune; Takin’ Off; The New Symphony Sid; My Kinda blues; Takin’ Off (alt)
Personnel
Teddy Edwards
saxophone, tenorAlbum information
Title: Sunset Eyes | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: Capitol Records
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