 Title - ‘So What’ (Eighty-Eights/Columbia)
Artist - Eddie Henderson
I am a casual jazz listener and don't really keep up with the field, and when I heard very pleasant bits of Eddie Henderson's So What on jazz radio I suddenly remembered him as a name I hadn't heard in decades. Well, obviously he's been busy all that time and I just wasn't paying any attention. In any case, I decided to request [from my Editor] a copy of the album to catch up a little. This is a disk of standards, featuring such items as Wayne Shorter's ’Prince of Darkness’ and ’Footprints’, Monk’s ’Well You Needn’t’ and ’Round Midnight’ and Miles Davis's ’So What’ (of course, given the CD title!) and ’All Blues’. These are not straight-ahead renditions of these classics, however, with a talented ensemble taking a very loose and improvisatory approach to the material. In some cases such as ’So What,’ ‘All Blues’ and ’Round Midnight’ you have to be paying attention to actually notice what the tune is!
Reviewed by MJ Stern
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