Spanish Eyes in Bloomington, MN

This 1975 session, which originally was released as
Phillips' Head
by
Choice
, marked
Flip Phillips
' first date as a leader after a nearly a dozen years, although he had been recording during the period. With pianist
Mickey Crane
, bassist
Milt Hinton
, and drummer
Mousie Alexander
,
Phillips
ventures into a mix of vintage and current songs with great results throughout the date. A swinging rendition of
"Spanish Eyes,"
written by
easy listening
bandleader
Bert Kaempfert
, became a favorite of the tenor saxophonist. His melodious takes on
"This Is All I Ask"
and
"Nancy (With the Laughing Face)"
bring
Ben Webster
to mind. One surprise is the lively version of
Hugo Montenegro
's
"Jeannie,"
which is the theme to the 1960s sitcom
I Dream of Jeannie
starring
Barbara Eden
. He switches to bass clarinet (an instrument on which he excelled but played only occasionally on record dates) for several tracks. He performs an inspired call-and-response duet with
Hinton
on
"Nature Boy,"
a rather novel approach to a tune that can easily become hackneyed in the wrong hands, with the rest of the group joining him after a couple of choruses. His original
blues
"Fat Tessie's Ass"
is a swinger with a fine solo by
, while his use of the instrument on
"Everything Happens to Me"
adds to the already morose nature of this classic
ballad
. This 1997 reissue by
Candid
adds several alternate takes to this already worthwhile disc. ~ Ken Dryden