Search - Arnett Cobb :: More Party Time

Sanctified Soul ! ! !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 08/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By the title "MORE PARTY TIME", I guess it would be safe to assume that this album is a follow up to Arnett Cobb's "Party Time" album, which was recorded about a year earlier in 1959.The concepts are similar, but this album seems more fully realized. - - The idea was to team Arnett Cobb, old school heavy bluesy swinging Texas tenor up with some cutting edge modern bebop young guns, and present Arnett's sound (which at the time would have been more associated with the Lionel Hampton big band of the '40s, not modern Jazz circa the 1960s) afresh. - - The earlier session featured Ray Bryant on Piano, Wendell Marshall on Bass and Arthur Taylor on drums.When I listened to "Party Time" I thought it was a great session - - but at times wished Chris Columbo had walked in the door, and took over the sticks. - - Arthur Taylor's playing was top notch no doubt - - but at times I felt the rhythm section would have worked much better for a "straight" player like Sonny Rollins, rather than a raw and earthy blues drenched(alebeit hip to bop) tenor like Arnett Cobb. MORE PARTY TIME revisited the concept however, the second time, it worked much better. - - ironically, this time, the players can be argued to be even more cutting edge : Tommy Flanagan and Bobby Timmons on piano, Sam Jones on bass, two sizzling conga players, and Arthur Taylor on drums. - - The arrangements are tight, soulful, and you can feel an extra spark... On both albums, Arnett delivers his sound soulfully and authoritively - -it is amazing to hear what the man described in the liner notes as an old "swinging warhorse stomper" not only hanging with the modernists, but moreso them hanging with him - - and its at that point that one realizes what an under-rated Jazz master Arnett Cobb was - - in many ways he sounds almost like Cannonball gone tenor... his phrasing is crisp, clear and in his choice of a number of gospelly themes as well, the session seems to anticipate the soulful turns Jazz was about to take as it entered the '60s.As a final note, another strong point of this session is the fact that it was recorded in Rudy Van Gelder's historic lair - - the sound is amazingly crisp and clear, yet warm at the same time, to the point that you can almost taste the music.This is definitely yet another must have Jazz selection !"

Forgotten history of jazz

C. Moore | Brownsville, Texas | 06/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arnett Cobb is a figure who's name would rarely come up when speaking of "jazz history," yet this is one of those shameful oversights that becomes apparent when you listen to his music with an open ear. Cobb's most obvious contribution to American music was his stint with Lionel Hampton during the period in which the bandleader was largely responsible for creating "rhythm & blues," a style which was to spawn a host of other styles including rock & roll, soul, Motown, etc. In Hampton's group Arnett's role as the "Wild Man From Texas" foreshadowed future wild men such as Little Richard and Elvis, and the wailing guitar solos that would become the staple of rock.



But Cobb's later recordings in a more straight ahead jazz setting were no less important. Cobb's voice on the horn was startlingly original, at once raw and bluesy and magnificently polished. His tone and timing are impeccable, and his note choices are sometimes like a more sparse Eric Dolphy, jagged and unexpected against the mostly simple song structures he chose to record.



"More Party Time" is as good a record as Cobb made, with all of his quirky phrases, humor, groans, and personality. Get it, and enjoy one of jazz's largely overlooked talents."