Charles McPherson - Beautiful!

Now here is one of those contributions I've been sitting on a while, an lp rip of a Xanadu date for McPherson with a very appropriate title which comes to us from Jazzpracticum Soest. Please direct your thanks to him.

Charles McPherson - Beautiful!

Xanadu 115, 1975

 Charles McPherson - alto
Duke Jordan - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Leroy Williams - drums

01 They Say It's Wonderful
02 But Beautiful
03 It Could Happen to You
04 Lover
05 This Can't Be Love
06 Body and Soul
07 It Had to be You

 From the opening notes of 'It Had to Be You' you can tell exactly why Clint Eastwood chose McPherson as the horn voice of Bird in his movie. This whole session is testimony that bop was alive and well and certainly in safe hands with this quartet. It is interesting that in the 40's and 50's, even into the early 60's the specter of comparison to Bird had many scurrying to other horns than the alto but by the 70's there was no longer a stigma to sounding like Parker. McPherson and Sonny Stitt both recorded unabashed Bird like albums, both in sound and song selections, repeatedly through the 70's and all are worth hearing. 

The rhythm section supporting Charles is sublime and Jordan's piano is nicely miked so that the sensitive touch and key pressure is well reproduced. Sam Jones bass is huge and full-throat-ed, right at the edge of too much but I kind of like the sound. Williams is always the epitome of classy timekeeping, punctuating with style but never overbearing. The leader is in lovely voice here as he is on all his material at Xanadu; I suspect that Charles remembers this time of his career fondly as it seemed all the experience of the Mingus band and the Prestige years had crystallized into a fully mature artist. One the highlights of any visit to the San Diego area ought to be catching a McPherson gig.