Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Duke Pearson: WAHOO!

6

Duke Pearson: WAHOO!

By

Sign in to view read count
Duke Pearson: WAHOO!
Duke Pearson occupied an unusual position within Blue Note Record's roster of artists. In addition to recording as both leader and sideman he also served as the label's A&R man, following in the footsteps of Ike Quebec. Pearson also served as the arranger on many albums, including sessions—Stanley Turrentine's Rough 'n' Tumble, comes to mind—where other pianists took over the keys.

Pearson's own WAHOO! carries an exuberant title for what turns out to be a pretty laid back record featuring 1960s Blue Note stalwarts Donald Byrd and Joe Henderson, as well as the flute and alto of James Spaulding. Conceding that an album evokes only what's in the reviewer's head, the date has a transitional feel between the hard bop, already in vogue for half a decade and, in places, some of the more stylized arrangements that would come from the CTI label a few years on. Regardless of what it echoes or predicts, WAHOO! holds up really well.

The title track, a very stately mid-tempo blues, starts with a melody and three-horn harmonization that might have done duty as the Indian's theme on the sound track for a western. But that feel quickly gives way to Pearson's chord-heavy extemporization, pulling it all firmly back to New York in the mid-sixties. It's a great example of Pearson's triple threat as composer and arranger, where he could invoke atmospheres and images, and his first rate skills as an improviser.

On "ESP," Henderson reminds us why he was one of the era's tenor greats with a long improvisation that, at it's opening, finds him adding melodic layers over the theme before branching out into an imaginative, well structured solo. Byrd follows with brassy, harmonic scales dropped over Pearson's comping, highlighting the contrast between the stylistic interpretations of the two horns.

WAHOO! is a bit of rarity within the Blue Note catalog, possibly due to nothing more than a filing error. According to Ron Rambach at Music Matters, who is releasing this title as part of his Blue Note reissue series, someone had stored the tape in the wrong box making it difficult to track down. Whether or not that's the reason it's been infrequently re-released since it first hit the street in 1965, it's fortunate that it was uncovered in time to be included in final few Music Matters titles.

WAHOO! exemplifies the way jazz was evolving during the mid-sixties while also turning in first-rate performances from some of the label's most reliable performers. It's a record with compositional continuity, distinct arrangements and strong improvisations from everyone involved: a terrific jazz performance.

Track Listing

Amanda; Bedouin; Farewell Machelle; Wahoo; ESP (Extrasensory Perception); Fly Little Bird Fly.

Personnel

Donald Byrd: trumpet; James Spaulding: flute & alto saxophone; Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone; Duke Pearson; piano; Bob Cranshaw: bass; Mikey Roker: drums.

Album information

Title: WAHOO! | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Music Matters

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.