Benny Bailey Sextett - Soul Eyes (Jazz Live at Domicile Munich) (1968/2017) [Hi-Res]

One of the series of highly successful live albums MPS produced at Munich’s famous Domicile jazz club, Soul Eyes unites four of Europe’s best known expatriate American jazz musicians. Quincey Jones marveled that trumpeter Benny Bailey “has so personal a sound and so completely avoids clichés. Benny is thrillingly himself.” Since his move to Europe in the 50’s, Bailey worked with a variety of top big bands as well as such legendary players as Dexter Gordon and Eddie Harris. Before saxophonist Nathan Davis made Paris his home he had worked with the likes of Ray Charles and Art Blakey. His Paris Reunion Band featured such greats as Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson and Nat Adderley. Pianist Mal Waldron was a unique stylist whose work with Billie Holiday and Eric Dolphy has earned him a special corner in the music’s history. Best known for his work with Duke Ellington, bassist Jimmy Woody worked with the who’s who of the American and European scene throughout is life. Add the rhythmic pulse of South African drummer Makaya Ntzhoko, conga player Charly Campbell, as well as compositions from each of the four front men and you have a lively mix of superlative jazz. Bailey’s Hard Bop masterpiece, Prompt jumps off with Benny taking the first solo flight followed by Davis’ hard-edged tenor, a mesmerizing Waldron, and Woode’s clean-edged lines. Long a jazz standard, Waldron’s Soul Eyes normally plays as a ballad, but here it’s given a relaxed bossa feel with Davis on flute and an extended coda. With its modal riff and African feel, Woode’s Roots, Grooves, Graves And Dimensions is an improviser’s paradise, allowing the soloists to stretch and explore, as Woode prods the percussionists on with shouts and chants. Beginning with Woode’s bass solo, Davis’ Mid-Evil Dance has a suspended minor feel, and a foreboding darkness to it. Check out Mal’s devilish comping in back of the hard-swinging, passionate solos! An album of personal compositions and exquisite solos by some of the top American jazz musicians in Europe.

Mal Waldron, piano
Nathan Davis, tenor saxophone
Benny Bailey, trumpet
Jimmy Woode, bass
Makaya Ntshoko, drums
Charly Campbell, congas

Engineered by Rolf Donner
Produced by Ernst Knauff

Digitally remastered