Horace Parlan - Up & Down (1961) [2005 Blue Note 決定盤1500] CD-Rip

In Memoriam. Horace Parlan RIP. We’ve lost another great jazzman. Horace Parlan died on Thursday evening peacefully in his sleep in Denmark where he lived since 1973. By adding guitarist Grant Green and tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin to his standard rhythm section of bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood, pianist Horace Parlan opens up his sound and brings it closer to soul-jazz on Up and Down. Green's clean, graceful style meshes well with Parlan's relaxed technique, while Ervin's robust tone and virile attack provides a good contrast to the laid-back groove the rhythm section lays down.

Stylistically, the music is balanced between hard bop and soul-jazz, which are tied together by the bluesy tint in the three soloists' playing. All of the six original compositions give the band room to stretch out and to not only show off their chops, but move the music somewhat away from generic conventions and find new territory. In other words, it finds Parlan at a peak, and in many ways, coming into his own as a pianist and a leader.


Tracks:

01 - The Book's Beat
02 - Up And Down
03 - Fugee
04 - The Other Part Of Town
05 - Lonely One
06 - Light Blue

Personnel:

Horace Parlan - piano
Booker Ervin - tenor saxophone
Grant Green - guitar
George Tucker - bass
Al Harewood - drums