The circumstances surrounding this session which took place more than 30 years ago are an interesting footnote in jazz history. Drummer Lee Charlton struck up a friendship with Ellis Marsalis when working in New Orleans. In 1968, Marsalis notified Charlton he was coming to Nevada with New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt's band. He and three other members of the Hirt outfit collaborated with Charlton to record a tape which gathered dust until now. The music on the album is definitely not the type found in Hirt's band book. No disrespect to Hirt, but players were probably eager to get a break from tunes like Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and Beale Street Blues. The outcome is an album of music with a decidedly modern bent showing the influence of the then revolutionary style of John Coltrane. John Pierce's alto sax artfully merges Coltrane's ideas and some of Charlie Parker's on such tunes as Embraceable You and Broadway. The melody line is summarily dealt with in one chorus and from then on all bets are off as the chords of these standards are twisted and turned into an improvising frenzy. Chuck Foster on trumpet is a willing partner with Peirce in this undertaking. The tour de force is a 13-plus minute, hardest of hard bop rendition of Joy Spring with Chuck Foster's trumpet taking the lead and Charlton literally drumming up a storm with his AK-47 barrage on the skins. Marsalis bop antecedents are evident throughout, especially on a cacophonous Impressions. The only problem is that the sound is not up to the usual standard in this age of CD engineering. But this is not something most will have a problem getting past. Recommended. ~ Dave Nathan, Rovi

1		Impressions
2		No Clues, Minor Blues
3		Broadway
4		Embraceable You/Old Folks
5		12's It
6		Song for Nancy
7		Joy Spring

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