the Boss of Blues in Bloomington, MN

During an era when
Big Joe Turner
recordings were often surprise hits with
rock & roll
fans (particularly
"Shake, Rattle and Roll"
), he occasionally recorded no-nonsense
blues
-oriented
jazz
dates too. This reissue album matched
Turner
for one of the last times with the veteran
boogie-woogie
pianist
Pete Johnson
and also includes a variety of top
swing
players: trumpeter
Joe Newman
, trombonist
Lawrence Brown
, altoist
Pete Brown
, tenor saxophonist
Frank Wess
, guitarist
Freddie Green
, bassist
Walter Page
, and drummer
Cliff Leeman
. It is not surprising, considering the number of
Basie-ites
on the date, that the band often sounds like a
Count Basie
combo.
is in top form on remakes of some of his early tunes (including
"Cherry Red,"
"Roll 'Em Pete,"
and
"Wee Baby Blues"
), a few
traditional blues
, and a couple of
standards
. This music should appeal to many listeners. ~ Scott Yanow