Search - Roy Eldridge :: Roy Eldridge 1935 1940

Portrait Of Genius With Horn

Iconophoric | 09/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the watershed collection of Roy Eldridge's work. His reputation may be built on his live engagements in the small clubs lining 52nd street back in the day, but this is the studio-recorded evidence of those days by which history judges him. It is breathtaking work. In these recordings, Little Jazz is the clearly seen as the bridge between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Adjectives that could be applied to the work include, but are by no means limited to: frenzied, burnished, controlled, impassioned, funky, cool, red-hot, swinging. --Which is to say the man covers a lot of territory in terms of technique and emotion in this collection.
Heartily unconditionally recommended"