Search - Johnny Lytle :: Nice & Easy

A vibist I didn't know about, but Griff's inside this album

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 01/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Frankly when I saw the name of the leader of this date on the cover, Johnny Lytle, nothing came to my mind. Who is this guy? I didn't know. The booklet says that he was sponsored as vibist by Lionel Hamton AND Milt Jackson. Nothing less! Anyway this guy was a drummer, an organist and a vibist. A pure multi instrumentalist but here he played only the vibes. I did buy this album for two reasons. The first, Johnny Griffin played here and it was a good year for him, 1962. Johnny is one of my favourite tenor players so letting this one go wasn't an option. The second reason is because I love the band were you have piano and vibes together I think they complement each other very well. This album belongs to the sixties so essentially, with people like Bobby Timmons on piano, Johnny Griffin on sax, how could you record a bad album in those days? It was almost impossible. Infact this album is ggod, if not very good. Consider that bass and drums players are Sam Jones and Louis Hayes, you know... A true all star band in the end. The program in essence is hard bop over standards and originals (even from Lytle himself). Lytle plays good vibes. He can play with these guys and you know that we're talking about some of the VERY best cats. So, he COULD play. The album is a good addiction to a very complete jazz collection (for all you OJC completists like myself). Nothing really essential in the end(this is the reason why I didn't rate this five stars) but a very good album for some nice relaxed listening sessions an another good one with the Griff inside."

Nice for a rainy afternoon

Matthew Watters | Vietnam | 07/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a pleasant but slightly half-baked set of mellow hard bop - soft bop, anyone? - with only the opening track "But Not for Me" and the album's title tune, the Johnny Griffin composition "Nice and Easy", really delivering the goods. Notably, these are the only two tunes on which Johnny Griffin plays a prominent role. On the latter tune, he and Lytle mesh with a wonderful sound, and Lytle trades fours with him at one point while dampening his vibes, to quite interesting effect. The rest of the cuts on this album, alas, seem a bit formless and are rather forgettable, although Bobby Timmons is a pleasant surprise throughout the album, doing a tasteful turn at channeling John Lewis and never dropping into any of his typical "soul jazz" cliches. All in all, Nice and Easy is as the name implies. It makes a fine listen on a rainy afternoon, but it's far from essential."