Get Connected To "The Connection"
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 09/10/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
""The Connection" was a successful underground play that opened at New York's Living Theatre in July 1959 about heroin addiction and the lifestyles surrounding it. Being true to life, jazz played a large role in the storyline. It is a tribute to playwright Jack Gelber that he used real jazz musicians as actors, and as a result he got some great original music as a bonus.Freddie (not Freddy) Redd wrote and played the music in the play, which was recorded here for Blue Note. (There is another album out there that has floated in and out of print on CD of a quintet recording of this music that featured Howard McGhee and Tina Brooks.) This disc features seven Redd originals and a band of Jackie McLean (who also had a long run as an actor in the play), Michael Mattos on bass and Larry Ritchie on drums. This the only recording I have featuring the bassist and drummer, and they both play admirably. This CD was available domestically as part of the initial Connoisseur series but that edition is now out of print. Blue Note fans won't be dissapointed however for dropping a pretty penny for the import version. This is timeless music."