The Sextet’s Personnel
Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Cedar Walton, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Art Blakey, drums
Dave recalls...
Straight-ahead hard bop doesn’t get performed better than this by any small group. As you would expect, Shorter and Hubbard displayed their artistic expertise. The frontline surprise was Curtis Fuller on trombone. He had to have been overwhelmed by the creative company he was in, for he played way over his head, far superior to any recording of him I’ve ever heard.
Cedar Walton and Reggie Workman made a very compatible piano-bass combination, and Workman unexpectedly got a chance to solo at length, with conceptually brilliant results.
Point of interest: Workman relaxed Art Blakey so much that the diminutive leader smiled more than ever and played less ferociously, but with subdued taste. Oh, that we could hear Blakey in that frame of mind more often!