Trombonist Bennie Green's Blue Note albums were
almost completely overlooked until this Mosaic Select compilation appeared in
2003. The first session, originally issued as Back on the Scene, features
Charlie Rouse joining Green in the front line. Green's up-tempo "Bennie
Plays the Blues" is the best blowing vehicle, while he and Rouse both
contribute lyrical solos in Melba Liston's "Melba's Mood." Pianist
Gildo Mahones wrote three of the six tracks recorded for Walkin' & Talkin',
with Eddy Williams taking Rouse's place. The overall session isn't up to
Green's Blue Note debut, but his snappy blues "Walkin' and Talkin'"
contains some of his hottest playing within this boxed set. Williams is also on
hand for the ten selections first released in Japan as The 45 Sessions with
pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jerry Segal. The solos
are consistently hot and the quintet never wraps things in a perfunctory manner
as one would expect with recordings made for jukeboxes. All of the
instrumentals rate high praise, especially the loping "On the Street Where
You Live" and the leader's "Ain't Nothin' But the Blues." The
addition of singer Babs Gonzales on the last three cuts mar some otherwise
excellent performances. Tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons and Billy Root are on
hand for the session which produced Soul Stirrin'. While the material on this
date is uneven, Green's interpretation of "That's All" is very
satisfying. Unfortunately, Gonzales appears for two more numbers. The last five
songs come from a date led by tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec (eventually issued
as Congo Lament), adding Stanley Turrentine, Milt Hinton, and Art Blakey to
join Green and Clark. Green's exotic "Congo Lament" and Turrentine's
upbeat "Cue's Pill" are impressive.
Review: Ken Dryden
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mosaic-select-bennie-green-r641454
Disc One
1. I Love You
(A) 6:02 (Cole Porter)
2. Melba’s
Mood (A) 5:33 (Melba Liston)
3. Just
Friends (A) 6:59 (S. Lewis-J. Klenner)
4. You’re Mine
You (A) 5:15 (J. Green-E. Heyman)
5. Bennie
Plays The Blues (A) 8:24 (Bennie Green)
6. Green
Street (A) 5:08 (Melba Liston)
7. The Shouter
(D) 4:57 (Gildo Mahones)
8. Green
Leaves (D) 5:43 (Gildo Mahones)
9. This Love
Of Mine (D) 6:45
(Parker-Sanicola-Sinatra)
10. Walkin’
And Talkin’ (D) 8:57 (Bennie Green)
11. All I Do
Is Dream Of You (D) 5:32 (A. Freed-N.H. Brown)
12. Hoppin’
Johns (D) 5:29 (Gildo Mahones)
Disc Two
1. It’s Groovy
(C) 3:41 (unknown)
2. On The
Street Where You Live (C) 5:50 (A.
Lerner-F. Loewe)
3. Can’t We Be
Friends (C) 5:32 (P.James-K.Swift)
4. Ain’t
Nothin’ But The Blues (C) 5:13 (Bennie
Green)
5. Bye Bye
Blackbird (C) 5:24 (R. Henderson-M.
Dixon)
6. Minor
Revelation (C) 5:17 (Harold Ousley)
7. Why Do I
Love You (C) 5:58 (J. Kern-O.
Hammerstein)
8. Encore
(stereo LP take) (C) 4:16 (Babs
Gonzales)
9. Encore
(mono 45 take) (C) 4:29 (Babs Gonzales)
10. Soul
Stirrin' (mono take) (B) 6:44 (Babs
Gonzales)
Disc Three
1. Soul
Stirrin’ (B) 6:49 (Babs Gonzales)
2. We Wanna
Cook (B) 6:38 (Bennie Green)
3. That’s All
(B) 6:25 (B. Haymes-A. Brandt)
4. Lullaby Of
The Doomed (B) 6:00 (Babs Gonzales)
5. B.G. Mambo
(B) 8:15 (Bennie Green)
6. Black Pearl
(B) 5:45 (Billy Graham)
7. See See
Rider (E) 8:59 (Ma Rainey)
8. Congo
Lament (E) 6:50 (Bennie Green)
9. Que's Pill
(E) 5:37 (Stanley Turrrentine)
10. B.G.'s
Groove Two (E) 6:12 (Bennie Green)
11. I. Q.
Shuffle (E) 9:43 (Ike Quebec)
Bennie Green, Charlie Rouse, Gildo Mahones, Eddie Williams, Sonny Clark, Paul Chambers, Jerry Segal, Babs Gonzales, Gene Ammons, Billy Root, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Hinton, Art Blakey.
