Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Booker Ervin's Brilliant Bop


Booker Telloferro Ervin was one of those jazz geniuses who don't quite make it into the Borders Jazz section. But that's all the more fun for collectors. He recorded a number of albums titled with puns: Blues Book, Song Book, Freedom Book, and Space Book. A good jazz library will have all of them. It's all straight page three jazz, with lots of invention and soft, soul twisting song, punctuated with whirling virtuosity.

Here's a haunting melody from The Freedom Book.
Booker Ervin/A Day to Mourn/The Freedom Book
Jakie Byard on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums. Enjoy. And if you like it, do me the honor of commenting. Oh, and buy the disc. It's available on eMusic and at Barnes and Noble.

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