Harry "Sweets" Edison Sweets CD

 SWEETS' BEST?
I've heard a lot of Sweets--from his Basie days on through his Verve years on to his Pablo sessions. (I once chanced to be present during a Lockjaw Davis session for Pablo--he played "Sweet and Lovely," I recall. You can imagine the awe of seeing Sweets arriving with Clark Terry.) I've always felt that SWEETS was Sweets at his best. There's something about his tone, his groove; he's really relaxed and often comes up with ideas, freshly different from his signature lick stuff. (Want to hear some other extrordinary Sweets? Get BUDD JOHNSON AND THE FOUR BRASS GIANTS on OJC CD. Why tht album isn't a big seller behooves me.) This SWEETS recording is a little heavy with reverb, but it's in the original and Verve was wise not to add any fake stereo reverb to it. Verve is getting better at reissuing; they still can't match the meticulous Japanese, but the audio is much better, with just a tadd of harshness at about 1000Hz. That's probably because I no longer see Richard Siedel's name among the production credits: GOOD RIDDANCE, you bum; you've messed up too many classic Verves with excruciating boosted highs and fake stereo reverb! Thankfully, for this issue Verve reproduced the original cover and liner, and you get a full repro folded inside the digipak. Another joy of this CD is Jimmy Rowles' brief but tasty piano solos. You know, this session's vibe would've been so much different with Oscar Peterson at the piano--it might've sounded like just another Verve. Why, oh, why was Peterson, and his sometimes annoyingly busy accompaniment, chosen by Norman Granz to play on so many Verve's!? Well, I gotta say, Granz chose all the right cats for SWEETS, making for one the most beautifully swingin' Verves ever, owing in big part to the layed back presence of drummer Alvin Stoller. Ben Webster... Ben sounds great as always, but for some reason, he just doesn't move me on this date. (Although it is not popularly known as a Ben Webster date, BILL HARRIS AND FRIENDS, an OJC CD, features some of the best Ben you'll hear on records--every solo's a gem; perfection. Finally, you may find that the star of SWEETS is actually guitarist Barney Kessell. Man, his lines! So creative, inventive. I'm ol' Mike DiMartino in Rochester, NY. Thank you.
Submitted by mdmartin (Rochester, NY, USA) 
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 sweets has taste and class.
I got hooked on Harry Edison because I would hear him on so many recordings and it was always painless- like, who's that hot cat on the horn, it takes half the tune to recognize him because unlike most trumpeters he never hits you over the head or drags you by the ears. A master of accompaniment, he also swings here with his own group and everybody gets to play and sound great. He listens to who he's playing with. I play the trumpet and I love him.
Submitted by entelekey (honolulu, usa) 
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