Von's 75th and Chico's 50th birthdays are celebrated with this live club date at the Blue Note in NYC. The two tenor saxophonists are joined by the unstoppable rhythm section of pianist George Cables, bassist Santi Debriano, and drummer Gene Jackson. Dianne Reeves sings and scats on two cuts. The material culled from the two nights' performances is pretty exciting; the electricity is evident from the crowd response and Von's occasional whoops and hollers. Father and son come out swinging hard on the 11-minute "Softly as a ...
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Von's 75th and Chico's 50th birthdays are celebrated with this live club date at the Blue Note in NYC. The two tenor saxophonists are joined by the unstoppable rhythm section of pianist George Cables, bassist Santi Debriano, and drummer Gene Jackson. Dianne Reeves sings and scats on two cuts. The material culled from the two nights' performances is pretty exciting; the electricity is evident from the crowd response and Von's occasional whoops and hollers. Father and son come out swinging hard on the 11-minute "Softly as a Morning Sunrise." They each have their own distinct sound -- Von tart sweet and fluid, Chico alternately languid or edgy -- and share the melody before blasting into feverish solo treatises, spurred on by the burning trio behind them. The post-bop aesthetic continues during good swingers like "There Is No Greater Love" and the ostensible encore "I Like New York, How About You?." On the former, Von leads while Chico plays contrary melody lines, and then they play together on second chorus, and great solos from their rhythm mates complete the performance, with over 14 minutes of music; the latter is Chico's feature as Von looks on. Von takes center stage on the 13-minute ballad "Lover Man," squeezing all of the heartfelt emotion out of this well-wrought evergreen, while Chico's gospel soul ballad "To Hear a Teardrop in the Rain" is added for contrast, with Von again laying out. Reeves is in the fray for a most unique arrangement of "Comes Love." The band intros and closes with a "Round Midnight" chorus, going into an easy, bluesy swing, and tagging the tune after Reeves' scatting bridge with a "Star Eyes" calypso pre-coda. The singer also wordlessly raps out the melody on "Tenor Madness" with both saxes, and then introduces the individual members of the band before their solo spots. Not only is this a fine musical outing; it's also a historical document trumping up the careers of a true Chicago jazz legend and his always formidable son. Recommended to all listeners of the post-bop idiom. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi
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