Dick Morrissey: "It's Morrissey, MAN!" (Redial)
The British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey has been seriously ill for some time and this reissue of his stunning 1961 recording debut is a reminder of how much he has been missed. With the most basic of quartet settings, it announced the arrival of a major talent who had clearly listened to Sonny Rollins - the opening St Thomas is clue enough - allied to a speed of thought and execution worthy of Johnny Griffin. What is astonishing, aside from the sheer virtuosity and a joy in playing that sometimes makes Morrissey lose the run of himself, is the fertility of his imagination. The accompanying trio are not in his class, but it doesn't matter. This is one to cherish.
Ray Comiskey
Pepper Adams: The Master (BMG Camden)
The title is apt. The late Pepper Adams was one of the giants of the baritone, an imposingly gifted player whose enviable melodic, harmonic and technical facility put him in the same class as the great Serge Chaloff. This budget-priced double CD set brings together all his fine Muse recordings - three albums made between 1978 and 1985, two of them quartet dates with such pellucid performers as Roland Hanna, George Mraz, Billy Hart and Tommy Flanagan, the third a septet in which the brilliance of himself and Frank Foster consigns everyone else to minor league status. The quartets are especially rewarding; to hear Adams bring his gruff lyricism to bear on his own Lovers Of Their Time is a gorgeous experience.
Ray Comiskey