Curtis Amy: Mosaic Select 7: Curtis Amy

Disc one contains The Blues Message and Meetin' Here, with a quintet Amy co-led with organist Paul Bryant. While these are both essentially typical early 1960's soul jazz/hard bop sessions, they offer driving swing, able solos by Bryant and the obscure valve trombonist Roy Brewster, and Amy's big-toned, cooking tenor.

Disc two gets a lot more interesting. The sextet session Groovin' Blue is creative hard bop with a sextet that includes Amy, the wonderful drummer Frank Butler, and two then-unknown young musicians named Carmell Jones and Bobby Hutcherson. The solos are sparkling, Butler's drumming is explosive, and Amy shows remarkable growth as a composer. He favors minor keys, arranged interludes, and unusual structures. His fast waltz "Bobblin'" is very challenging, yet still melodic. Way Down is another sextet, in which Roy Brewster alternates the brass chair with Marcus Belgrave, and a young Roy Ayers, on vibes, reminds us just how very good a jazz player he was. Amy's work on "All My Life" and his anthemic original "Bells And Horns" is particularly noteworthy.

Disc Three starts with the live date Tippin' On Through, a mix of Amy originals and standards, on which Amy and Ayers shine. Then comes the great Katanga!, an altogether remarkable effort in which Amy expands into the modal music that was being pioneered by John Coltrane at the time. Amy plays soprano sax as well as tenor, showing little of Coltrane's influence other than the use of modes for improvisations. Amy's soprano retains the purr and moan of his tenor, and it is heard to excellent advantage on the waltz "Native Land." In addition to Amy, Katanga features the little-known but gifted musicians Jack Wilson, Ray Crawford, and above all, the trumpeter Dupree Bolton, whose only known record dates are Harold Land's The Fox, and this one. Bolton's playing by itself is almost worth the price of admission.

After Katanga!, Amy didn't make another jazz record until 1994, when he recorded Peace For Love for Fresh Sound. In between, he was an in-demand studio musician and an executive for Ode Records. But thanks to Mosaic, Curtis Amy has been rescued from perpetual obscurity, with his fresh vision of hard bop made available once again. By the way, the remastered sound is excellent.

Issued in limited editions of 5000, this recording is available solely through Mosaic Records; 35 Melrose Place; Stamford, CT. 06902; (203) 327-7111. Check their website at www.mosaicrecords.com for more information.

Comments