Blue Note aficionados know Pearson, and perhaps in general jazz fans as well, but you don't hear his name mentioned as one of the all time greats. Not as an arranger or as a pianist.
Duke Pearson is one of my favorite composer/arrangers of all time. His compositions are always light and bouncy, with very memorable melodies.
I love the larger band records he's cut as well, big band or nonet. Sweet Honey Bee is a sextet session that surely has cast its spell on me. The monster tenor of Joe Henderson, the alto sax and flute of James Spalding, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, and Micky Roker on drums.
James Spaulding's flute, other than the Pearson melodies stand out the most on the album. He, "Spaulding" is also well versed on alto, plus his flute on the title track is sublime.
A happy up beat tune from Pearson, according to Nat Hentoff's original liner notes: The title track and the cover's inspiration was Duke's new wife Betty, much of the music was created with her in mind.
"Ready Rudy" a play on the name of enginer Rudy Van Gelder presumably, is a nice hard bop vehicle, with a little bit of Thelonius Monk woven in, what Monk tune does it sound like to you?
Comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I like Pearson's tasty playing here, he's in the Monk mode of course, but also Horace Silver. You know, one of things that is so rewarding when you study music, being able to discern influences of other instrumentalists in their playing?
"Empathy" has a Middle Eastern vibe. Spaulding's flute once again owns this tune as well, Pearson reminds me of Horace Silver here with his comping, Hubbard breaks out the muted horn on this one, and it's nice, a different, and pleasant surprise. Henderson builds up a nice little solo on his tenor, staying down and subdued, and finally breaking out a little, but he never explodes.
"Big Bertha" bursts out of the gate with a nice little medium to fast paced Ron Carter bass strut, with Pearson and Roker playing support to his lead bass. Then the very nice classic hard bop theme kick in. Lots of great solos from all concerned. That Carter bass pulse is always there in the mind haunting every solo, I love it.
"Sudel" another upbeat number, it lets Hubbard and Henderson stretch out a little. But the strong melody is what wins here, a catchy sing-a-long quality. That's how I would describe Pearson's work, catchy and memorable if not groundbreaking, just damn good and sometimes great music.
"After the Rain" is a real winner as well, a ballad, that creates a very ominous and spartan mood, another great showcase for the flute of Spauding near the end. I told you before that flute is a really player on this set, I like it.
You can still get vintage original NY USA addressed vinyl copies for around 100 bucks, that's a pretty good deal honestly, I had a 21st century reissue that sounded OK to me. The remastered CD isn't bad to my ears, doesn't have that harsh tinny sound like some RVG remasters have had to my ears.
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