James Moody - don't look away now!

1997 CD reissue. With Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw, Alan Dawson, Eddie Jefferson

The consistently high creative level represented by a half century of James Moody’s music is something rare. With Dizzy Gillespie or a Las Vegas pit band, as a European expatriate or one of the most popular jazz artists in America, Moody has always delivered solos that provoked both thought and smiles.

On this 1969 album, a rare document from the period, Moody does not play flute, delivering a sax-exclusive recital over an exceptional rhythm section. "When I Fall in Love" and the title track feature alto, a pair of signature blues originals are revisited, and "Hey Herb! Where’s Alpert?" is Eddie Jefferson’s final appearance on a Moody session. Best of all are two contrasting examples, on the ballad "Easy Living" and the open-form "Hear Me," of Moody’s tenor at its most expansive.