Hayes would have made countless albums with many of the grats in this way, and we should be grateful that he is continuing to do so.
Savant SCD 2218
Louis Hayes (drums); Abraham Burton (tenor saxophone); Steve Nelson (vibraphone); David Hazeltine (piano); Dezron Douglas (bass)
Recorded January 25, 2024
At 87 years young, drummer Louis Hayes certainly knows how light a fire under a band and this set positively burns from beginning to end. The title, Hayes says, is for him a return to the music that influenced him and that he wanted to record, and in doing so has indeed revisited an artform and reminded us of its continued validity.
No hint of nostalgia, just solid hard bop performed by a top-notch quintet and with an authenticity and reverence that shines through on each and every track. Of course, we should not forget that Hayes was at the forefront of much of this music from 1956 after hitting New York at the age of 19.
Stints with Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley and later Oscar Peterson, alongside much freelance work witnessed Hayes develop into one of the finest drummers of the time and playing on some of the most influential albums of the period to boot.
His love for the music has never dimmed and this is apparent in the way he leads the quintet. The same line up that appeared on last year’s Exactly Right!, Hayes has managed to retain the same band for the last few years, and this new offering is perhaps even better again. The drummer appears to be working from the rhythm section up, having formed exceptionally close musical ties with bassist Dezron Douglas who produced the album with Hayes and it shows.
From the word go the band find their groove with Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Tour de Force’ setting the pace and the standard. The rhythm section is tight and swings hard and this leaves plenty of room for the tenor and vibes of Abraham Burton and Steve Nelson who both take excellent solos.
Next up is a brisk run through ‘Milestones’ by John Lewis and to be confused with Miles’s tune of the same name. This bebop feeling is nicely captured on three further compositions, all by Charlie Parker incidentally, in a blistering ‘Cheryl’ that pushes both Burton and Nelson into some cracking solos, the less well-known ‘Dewey Square’ that has a nice relaxed air and a bustling ‘My Little Suede Shoes’ (just listen to Douglas’s superb tone and bassline that propels the soloists along here).
However, it is not all brisk tempos and quickfire solos the two frontline soloists each take a ballad feature. First up is Abraham Burton with a fine reading of Bobby Troup’s ‘You’re Looking At Me’ that reveals a lovely solo with a warm tenor sound with Burton unafraid to venture into the saxophones upper register brining an extra dimension and weight to his improvisation.
Steve Nelson gets his turn in the spotlight on Billy Strayhorn’s ‘A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing’ and his vibraphone rings out in a delightful and delicately swinging solo that never strays too far from the melody, and is superbly accompanied by pianist David Hazeltine, who is incidentally splendid throughout.
This is how they made records in the old days, just one day in the studio and a set of tunes to dig into. Hayes would have made countless albums with many of the grats in this way, and we should be grateful that he is continuing to do so.
