"James Williams Meets The Saxophone Masters"

[Larry Kart]

Found a copy of this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Meets-Saxophone-Masters-James-Williams/dp/B000008CKR/ref=tmm_other_title_popover

the other day, and even though the three tenor saxophonists involved (Joe Henderson, George Coleman, and Billy Pierce) did not/do not always warm my heart, all are in exceptional form on this date, where they are backed by the late Williams, James Genus, and the late Tony Reedus (all vividly recorded by our friend Jim Anderson).

This was Williams' project (he picked the personnel and all the tunes -- one by himself, one by Coleman, the spiritual "Calgary," "The Song Is You," "Old Folks," and Harry Edison's "Centerpiece" (which is, as we know. really Johnny Mandel's "Keester Parade")-- and he seems to have been inspirational. One fairly sure sign of this is the togetherness of the ensemble work on what essentially was a blowing date; another is that the every tempo is just right.

I'm neither a Henderson nor a Coleman scholar/completist, but I'd guess this is top-level playing for both men in this period; Henderson very focused/committed (compared to his at times rather diffuse IMO Verve recordings of the '90s), Coleman unusually (again in my non-completist experience) expressionistic/adventurous. And Pierce more than holds his own.

The date was somewhat nostalgic in intent, which normally would be a turn-off for me -- "I wanted us to go in and do it and do it as a classic session that could have happened throughout the years, "Williams said, "like at JATP, but a contemporary version" -- but this is really intense, in-the-moment playing. OTOH, looking back at it from 2011, it inspires a frisson of nostalgia in itself.

[Stereojack]

A fine recording - glad to see it get some recognition.

[JSngry]

Pierce doesn't really too that much for me, but oh well about that. A good, loose George Coleman is always a thing of joy, and we get that here. And Joe, Joe is always loose, Joe = Loose, but he's got zones of his own, and this is one of the better ones, I think.

Good side!

[Rooster_Ties]

Have been meaning to get Saxophone Masters for some time, and been eying this one too...

Up to the Minute Blues (Disc-Union/DIW)

Anybody know it? -- according to the AMG it has 40(!) more minutes of material from the very same session(s) as Saxophone Masters. (Of the 6 tunes, the first and last are from another (unrelated) session -- but the 4 tunes in the middle are from the Sax Masters session(s).)

Of particular interest to me is them doing Joe's tune "Afro Centric", the 2nd track off "Power to the People" (1969) -- a tune I not aware of ever having been covered before (at least according to the AMG). That Joe's actually ON the tune too, is all the better.

I really should move on getting these sometime, have wanted both for ages.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Rooster_Ties

[John Tapscott]

I have it, and haven't listened to it for a while, but Larry's assessment is pretty much what I remember. A solid, if not spectacular date. Of the saxophonists Billy Pierce really impressed me. You get what you expect from Coleman and Henderson (ie. very good), but Pierce really stands in there and stands out, as I recall. Will pull it out for a listen.

[Peter Friedman]

I have both James Williams CDs with Coleman/Henderson/Pierce. Enjoy both of them quite a bit, though I would not consider either to be absolutely ESSENTIAL.

It should be noted though that there are many many recordings that I like very much, even though I wouldn't consider them to be absolutely ESSENTIAL.

[Tom 1960]

Glad to come across this thread since I was able to get ahold of this disc only yesterday based on a recommendation by a friend. Really nice date. I'll look for it's companion date, but for now the price is alittle out of reach. At least through Amazon Marketplace.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Tom 1960

[mikeweil]

I dunno - I can't help thinking that they could have challenged each other a bit more. It's good, but a bit polite for my ears.