Search - Lennie Niehaus :: Quintets 1

West Coast Jazz at its best.

tg_bern | Switzerland | 02/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for an incredibly smooth performance of one of the greatest west coast musicians, this CD is it: Beautiful, very tight sound of a small combo without drums."

Hard swingin' yet cool jazz

Don O. | Canada | 01/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you believed what the jazz pundits said about the West Coast sound being "filleted bebop," you were led down the wrong path.



This volume, and subsequent ones now available, is a swinging, bebop recording that showcases Lennie Niehaus's remarkable talents as arranger and soloist. Using well-written charts, the Niehaus ensemble plays tight harmonies yet have free rein to improvise on the choruses.



The tunes are well chosen standard fare but it's the Niehaus originals that stand out: "Whose Blues", "Prime Rib", "Inside Out", and "Happy Times". Make no mistake about this group. They swing and they swing hard."

The best in the west ! Among the overall best Jazz!

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 09/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jazz fellows, I don't know who said that west coast Jazz did suck. Who was? Miles? Who said that? I don't know. And who said that east coast Jazz was better? Who did that? Some kind of critic who maybe never played a single note in his entire life? I don't know either. Frankly I would say that west coast Jazz musicians produced some of the best jazz of the fifties (commonly known as the golden era of Jazz). Apart from Charlie Parker and the pure bebop experience and records of the forties- early fifties, I think that west coast Jazz from the middle-late fifties is the best jazz you can buy. Among the greatest west coast Jazz musicians surely ranks Lennie Niehaus an impressive alto saxophonist with remarkable chops. He was a great composer-arranger and instrumentalist something very rare in the whole hostory of Jazz music. His albums you can find in the OJC catalog are all worth buying (they are 5 if I remember well, I own them all). They are fresh, swingin', funny, pure jazz delight! This is the first of them and here you can find his recordings in quintet format. Absolutly to have! A MUSTHAVE! I don't have enough superlatives for these recordings. STELLAR!!!!! Lennie with these 5 albums without ANY doubt gained the right to enter in the Jazz all time Hall of fame. He's in mine that's for sure! GOLD! PLATINUM! ONE OF A KIND! LENNIEEEEEEEE why didn't you recorded more??!?!!!!!!!"