[1] Lush Life (B.Strayhorn) - 12:33
[2] Conrad (G.Coleman) - 11:15
[3] My Romance (L.Hart/R.Rodgers) - 13:37
[4] The Sheik of Araby (H.B.Smith/T.Snyder/F.Wheeler) - 3:00
[5] You Mean So Much to Me (G.Coleman) - 8:57
[6] Old Folks (D.L.Hill/W.Robison) - 13:43
1992 CD Verve 314511922
1992 CD Polygram 511922
1992 CS Polygram 511922
2002 CD Disques Dreyfus 37005
Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 4 & 5, 1991.
On this excellent set, George Coleman plays his usual tenor on four
tunes, alto on "Old Folks," and soprano on "Conrad." With the
assistance of pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer
Billy Higgins, Coleman is heard at the top of his game, coming up with
interesting variations on lengthy version of "Lush Life," "My Romance"
and "Old Folks." Recommended for hard bop and post-bop collectors.
If the promo people at PolyGram have half the success with
George Coleman's label debut that they've had recently with fellow
tenorist Joe Henderson's-LushLife has topped both the Billboard and CMJ
jazz charts-then he should finally achieve his long-overdue
international breakthrough. To my way of thinking, Sonny Rollins,
Henderson and Coleman are the reigning tenor monarchs, and even a
cursory listen to My Horns Of Plenty-a quartet session on which the man
they call The Chief plays soprano and alto saxes (in addition to tenor)
with breathtaking authority-will testify to his worthiness among such
exalted company. The brawny Coleman, possessor of a robust,
room-filling tone and a bluessoaked, straight-ahead conception that
proudly proclaims his allegiance to his hometown of Memphis, is poised,
in musicbiz argot, to happen. While the 56-year-old tenorist has lived
in New York City for 30 years and been a dependable, often explosive
live performer - the true measure of royalty, many believe - his
popularity with both critics and the record-buying public has waxed and
waned, partly because he has recorded infrequently and for small
independent domestic or foreign labels (Amsterdam After Dark and
Eastern Rebellion, both for Timeless, are terrific but often hard to
find). Coleman's star is surely on the rise now, not only with the
release of the new My Horns Of Plenty but also the reissues of
Manhattan Panorama (a mid-'80s quartet side for Theresa) and some of
his most bravura playing in the mid-'60s with the Miles Davis Quintet
(My Funny Valentine and Four & More). Welcome though these releases
are, the real story is My Horns Of Plenty, a 1991 DDD recording from
Rudy Van Gelder's studio that displays his multiplereed prowess-he's
heard on tenor, alto and soprano for the first time-in the company of
his longtime pianist Harold Mabern and kindred spirits Ray Drummond on
bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Released earlier this year in France
on the PolyGram- affiliated Birdology label, My Horns Of Plenty
captures Coleman (who, like Rollins, is far more comfortable and
expressive on stage than in the recording studio) at his sometimes
relaxed, other times burning best for 63 minutes with musicians who
anticipate, when they don't shadow, his every move. Coleman's main axe,
the tenor, which he took up upon joining bluesman B.B. King's band in
1955, is warmly resplendent on the opening track, "Lush Life," which he
treats not as a ballad but as a waltz. "The Sheik Of Araby" (a onetime
vehicle for tap dancers), the 13-minute ballad "My Romance" and the
leader's own "You Mean So Much To Me" (rendered as a fox-trot) are also
handled on tenor, whereas he returns to his first horn, the alto, for
the nearly 14-minute "Old Folks." Another tune, "Conrad," a Coleman
original named after and dedicated to his longtime driver, now
deceased, showcases Coleman's continuing development on the soprano, an
instrument he introduced to fine advantage on record last year-after
but one year of woodshedding - as a duet with pianist Richie Beirach
(Convergence, Triloka). Despite his short acquaintance with the
soprano, to say nothing of its devilishly difficult intonation, Coleman
plays with assurance and abundant imagination. He's even managed to
adapt his patented circular-breathing technique-a crowd-pleasing,
simultaneous inhaling and exhaling-to the straight horn. Perhaps
coincidentally, but certainly to Coleman's advantage (and ours),
Columbia (P.O. Box 4450, New York, NY 10101-4450) has reissued on CD
Coleman's superb work with Miles Davis circa 1963-64. Seven Steps To
Heaven and the two-CD set My Funny Valentine + Four & More: The
Complete Concert: 1964 fill an important gap in the company's Davis
catalog. These albums represent a transition period for the fabled
trumpeter-Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams were already
aboard, and Wayne Shorter would shortly replace Coleman-but the
performances (especially the standards and staples from Davis' earlier
repertoire) are outstanding. Evidence Music (1100 E. Hector St., Suite
392, Conshohocken, PA 19428/ 215-832-0807), the company responsible for
bringing out on CD five titles from Sun Ra's Saturn label of the
mid-'50s through mid-'60s, has acquired the Theresa label and reissued,
among other things, Coleman's Manhattan Panorama, a 1984 quartet
session, most of which was recorded live at the Village Vanguard.
