Tenoration

PEE WEE ELLIS: Tenoration
Art of Groove, 2011

SOUL-JAZZ – Two sides of Ellis, a funky tenor sax man who first came to prominence with James Brown’s band. Disc 1 is mostly soul with a solid groove; Disc 2 has more of a straight-up jazz focus. This may not knock you out (Ellis doesn’t quite have the chops of his JB colleague Maceo Parker) but it’s plenty of fun and perfect for summer.

Fo’s Picks: Disc I – 1, 3, 4, 5 Disc II – 2, 4, 6

DISC ONE

1. 7:13 – an easy tempo, greased-up slide: sax solo goes to town, slick guitar
2. 2:59 – upbeat JB shimmy: sax hops, smooth breaks in the middle
3. 6:59 – sweet little groove: sax solo has soul, light but dirty keys & guitar
4. 10:41 – jammin’ Cannonball Adderley wiggle with funky solos all around
5. 6:57 – winking slide/shuffle: sax gets into it nicely, keyboard plays it cool
6. 6:04 – classic soul ballad: smeared sax over laid-back band

DISC TWO

1. 4:27 – standard ballad, sax gets nicely bluesy over a loose band
2. 4:08 – same tune as #4 on Disc 1, but with more of a bop angle; gets hot
3. 4:27 – relaxed jam: solos wander a bit over a walking groove
4. 8:33 – Sonny Rollins strolls uptown: boppin’ sax, everybody gets solo time
5. 5:57 – upbeat strut with a catchy riff and a deep-fried sax solo
6. 4:47 – uptempo, tricky Eddie Harris classic handled with grit and soul

[ Fo ] 07/10/11