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Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton |
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Reviews
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Tuesday, 07 February 2006 00:02 |
Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton
Produced by Jerry Brock, Andrea du Plessis & George Hocutt
Verve 314 537 062
By John Sinclair
Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham passed away June 3rd at the age of 91, but not without leaving ultimate evidence of his mastery: a magnificent final recording shared with 23-year-old trumpet star Nicholas Payton and a sweetly swinging New Orleans jazz ensemble, simply titled Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton.
The fourteen selections were chosen by Doc himself and served up with supreme reverence and joy by Payton and the band, making warm, happy music out of a program of pop chestnuts and show tunes which is almost miraculously transformed into a thing of great beauty and emotional depth.
Doc's gorgeously idiosyncratic trumpet sound is beautifully set off by Payton's sensitive obligatti and lucid solo turns. Nick listens hard and makes his musical comments with great precision and taste, always performing at the very top of his immense talent.
Clarinetist Jack Maheu and trombonists Tom Ebbert and Lucien Barbarin contribute excellent solos and, with the superb rhythm section--Les Muscutt, guitar; Butch Thompson, piano; Bill Huntington, bass; and Ernie Elly, drums---provide bouyant ensemble support.
What's more, Doc's uniquely expressive singing style stamps old warhorses like "Jada" and "Jeepers Creepers" with the full force of his personality and invests rarities like "Save It Pretty Mama," "Do You Believe in Love at Sight?" and "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" with fresh new musical import.
The four instrumental features are themselves worth the price of the album. Doc's own favorite was the magniloquent "Stardust"; he and Payton bring intelligence and light to "I Cover The Waterfront," "Out Of Nowhere" and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue".
Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton is modern music at its very best--a brilliant recorded legacy carefully distilled from Doc Cheatham's 91 years of immersion in the music of the 20th century.
--New Orleans
June 10, 1997
(c) 1997, 2006 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
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