Curtis Fuller -- Blues-ette (1959)

I find “amazing” such an overused word today. It's extremely rare that as far as description goes, amazing actually connotes to it. This cool as ice hard bop classic is an exception. Most of the stuff here is really basic, and pretty obvious as far as jazz goes. Nothing to get excited about. However, I find myself making tea or whatever, and the tempo of the title track “Five Spot After Dark” bursts into my head, and was warmly welcomed! I have Murakami to thank for introducing me to Fuller and this record, and now consider myself a fellow addict.

So I put the record on again, and find my head dancing along with tunes I'd not thought much about until that day in the kitchen. There's no real highlights here, the whole record is an enjoyable experience!

My jazz knowledge is limited but it turns out some of these solos by the quintet are top notch, and the tunes are considered standards. I'm fairly ignorant to 50's jazz , as I was introduced to Coltrane and Miles's 60s stuff. I've found this record in my playlist continuously over the past week though. If it doesn't work out for you straight away, wait until you're walking down the street and you'll be sorry you don't have it on your audio player. The only thing that surprises me is that this wasn't released as a Blue Note LP.

Hear it for yourself!

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BlHRPXPx-4