Search - Thad Jones :: After Hours

Another solid showing by Mr. Jones with an exceptional quint

JoeyD | los gatos, ca | 01/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this review page naked, and I just had to throw something on about this jazz sleeper. Great recording, all the players are in top form and the clarity of the sound on this one is to be greatly commended. Aptly entitled "After Hours", this one does emit a serene, relaxed, bluesy, early morning type of feeling.



Both Thad Jones (trumpet) and the much underrated Frank "Magic" Wess (tenor sax & flute) are given plenty of space to show off their warm and vigorous chops. Their solos are rich, rhythmical, and refined... very beautiful, and as I stated above, very bluesy. Jones in particular, is simply amazing, and arguably the most underrated trumpet player in jazz history (with all due respect to Donald Byrd and Kenny Dorham).



The rest of the sextet is definitely worth the price of admission as well. Kenny Burrell on guitar is the absolute perfect fit when it comes to playing bluesy and he, as almost always, fails to disappoint. Paul Chambers (bass) and Art Taylor (drums) are a perfect marriage, they both know each other so well and they definitely COOK to perfection on this one. And yes, you do get to hear plenty of Chamber's delightful solos as well.



Last but certainly not least is Mal Waldron on piano. It's essentially his show, as the four songs on this session are his original works. What a great composer this cat was, on top of being one fantastic piano player to boot. He has such a colorful, multifaceted way of playing and composing. He may not be the leader of this session, but as it says in the liner notes, he's definitely the backbone of this truly great 1957 Prestige recording.



Can't go wrong with this one! One of my personal favorites of anything Jones did as a leader. Enjoy!

"