Ab dab fabulous
Aaron Barnhart | Kansas City | 03/03/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"And I thought the first set of Last Recordings -- reissued after 20 years out-of-printness by Nimbus -- was the bee's knees. This is that and a couple more knees of bees. "Begin the Beguine" like you've never heard. TWO takes of "Autumn Leaves" each worthy of inclusion here. And if you thought "When the Quail Come to San Quentin" was hot, wait until you hear the ten-minute closing number, "Grabtown Grapple," a trot around the track with Artie's fantastic hand-picked small ensemble. There's more riffing here than the earlier Last sessions, from "Shave and a Haircut" to, brilliantly, "A Night in Tunisia" (again, on "Grabtown"). When Artie went small, it was the last virtuosic act of a bandleader who seemed capable of just about anything.
Or should I say the SECOND to last virtuosic act: Nimbus later this month is issuing Last Recordings 3, one more than the original reissue, with sessions from 1954-1956. Can't wait!"