The Kicker (Tone Poet Edition)

£44.99

Format: LP, Vinyl

In stock

Release date: 26 Jun 2020
Label:
Genre:
Format: LP, Vinyl
Grade: New (About gradings)
SKU: 55758
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‘The Kicker’ was Bobby Hutcherson’s first recording for Blue Note. It dates from a session on 29th December 1963, though it did not get released until 1999 some 36 years later. Half of the album features a quintet; the other half becomes a sextet with the addition of Grant Green on guitar. The rhythm section features Al Harewood on drums, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Duke Pearson on piano, whilst the other main soloist is tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. The sextet line-up is identical to personal assembled for Grant Green’s stunning ‘Idle Moments’ one month earlier. The album starts off swinging on the standard ‘If Ever I Would Leave You’; the whole ensemble cooks on this one. Joe Chambers’ ‘Mirrors’ is suitably pensive where Hutcherson shows a mellow side to his playing that is sensitive and subtle. Joe Henderson ‘s tenor adds to the serene feel. The only Hutcherson original ‘For Duke P’, presumably a reference to Duke Pearson, the pianist for this session, is a pulsating Hard Bop number. Joe Henderson composed the fast, flowing title song, that was to be recorded by Horace Silver for his ‘Song For My Father’ album and was the title of Joe Henderson’s first Milestone album some four years later. It really is a kicker. The mood changes for the second Henderson piece ‘Step Lightly’, which had been recorded four months earlier for Blue Mitchell’s Blue Note debut set of the same name, which was ironically also kept in can for many years. This fourteen-minute track has a nonchalant air that is reflected in the title. Its length does allow all soloists to stretch out. The album concludes with a take on Duke Pearson’s ‘Bedouin’ that is hypnotic (also a standout on Pearson’s ‘Wahoo’ and Grant Green’s ‘Matador’). ‘The Kicker’ is a superb Hard Bop/ modal set that is quite different from Bobby Hutcherson’s more left-field 60’s Blue Note material.

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