Dec 28, 2010

Nathan Davis - London By Night

barabara sounds sez:
In my book Nathan Davis can do no wrong. That said, if I had to choose a decade, I would always go for his '60s sides (such as Peace Treaty and Funny Girl) above his later works. But by anyone else's standards, London By Night — from 1987 and, yes, recorded in the UK capital over a couple of nights — is a fine album and Davis is in great fettle on his horns (soprano as well as tenor) and also flute. The title track swings nicely, though the standout track for me is the beautiful Rio de Janeiro. If there's one glitch, it's the anachronistic Beatles cover. But that comes right at the end so you can just program it out. This one's from the Disk Union CD reissue...

dusty sez:
Overlooked genius from reedman Nathan Davis – a later session that's a bit more straight ahead than some of his 70s work, and a date that really gets back to some of the best soulful energy of his records from the 60s! Davis is recorded here in very sympathetic company – players who share some of the best energies he picked up on the expatriate scene during his famous time overseas – Dusky Goykovich on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Al Leavitt on drums! There's an easygoing soul jazz groove to the whole set, with a slight touch of modernism – and in addition to tenor, Davis also plays some wonderful soprano sax – handling the horn with stretched-out soulfulness that makes him one of the undisputed masters of the instrument.

A couple more enthusiastic quotes:
Rough Guide sez: "Shows Nathan Davis at the top of his post-bop form"
Penguin Guide sez: "Could almost be from an undiscovered Jazz Messengers tape. Goykovich's flugelhorn has a fat, luxuriant quality that that blends well with Davis... there are fine, controlled solos all round, notably on 'Dr Bu', where the Blakey/Messengers debt is most openly acknowledged..."

personnel
Nathan Davis (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute); Dusko Gojkovic (trumpet, flugelhorn); Kenny Drew (piano); Jimmy Woode (bass); Al Levitt (drums); Stan Robinson, Jean Toussaint (tenor sax on Shades)

tracks:
Noite Em Leblon; I Thought About You; Rio De Janeiro; London By Night; Dr Bu; But Beautiful; You've Changed; Shades; Lament; If I Fell

recorded
Boathouse Studios, London (04/17/1987-04/18/1987)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Evening in London, daytime in Tokyo, whatever, whenever, let's hear from you...

http://www.mediafire.com/?hbckn95b8ye6p9a

Anonymous said...

love anything from nathan davis

Anonymous said...

Thank you - an upgrade for me.

Mimi Soul said...

Thank you so much ! A great share !

Peace

taro nombei said...

@ Mimi Soul (and various anons)

You're very welcome. Enjoy the holidays — wherever you are!

boogieman said...

Thanks mate, I really dig Nathan Davis. I had the opportunity to see him in Belgium in the Seventies in various settings. I remember a memorable concert with the BRT Jazz Orkest which at the time had the best jazz musicians in Belgium and sounded pretty close to the Clarke-Bolland Big Band.
Happy New Year.

taro nombei said...

@ boogieman
Sounds like it was great. I never had the opportunity to see the man play live.
cheers, and new year greetings for you and yours!

Arkadin said...

A Happy New Year to you and yours! Greetings to the land of the rising sun!

taro nombei said...

@ Arkadin
cheers!

Unknown said...

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Today I launched a new blog 'Rhythm And Groove' which you may want to check out when you have the time; http://rhythmandgroove.blogspot.com/

Una mas, muchas gracias para todo... and wishing you a prosperous 2011.

Sparks

taro nombei said...

@ Sparks
thanks and cheers.
'Rhythm And Groove' sounds good to me :-)
and greetings from over here...
All the best for 2011!