I came across this when searching for Muse LPs on a dealers list, and was intrigued by the personnel. What a great record! The tracks with Woods playing clarinet are marvellous, Candoli has always been far more than the stereotypical West Coast trumpeter and Shoemake is the icing on the cake. On the basis of the one vocal track, I'd love to hear more of Mrs Shoemake. I wonder how many more albums of this standard are still buried out there awaiting a CD reissue?
Review by Scott Yanow:
"Trumpeter Conte Candoli and altoist Phil Woods make for a perfect team on this set, which has unfortunately only been released on LP by the now defunct Pausa label. In addition to the principals, the sextet includes vibraphonist Charlie Shoemake, pianist Terry Trotter, bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Bill Goodwin; singer Sandi Shoemake makes a cameo appearance for a chorus of "Don't Worry About Me." The music is essentially modern bebop with such tunes as Bud Powell's "Wail," Fats Navarro's "Nostalgia" and "Just You, Just Me" alternating with a few recent obscurities. Everyone plays up to par during what was one of Candoli's very few opportunities to lead a record session. Unfortunately this LP will be difficult to find."
Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1986 Review by Larry Kart:
"In these days of bebop and postbop revivalism, it`s instructive to hear the real thing, which is more or less what this album has to offer. The leader, trumpeter Conte Candoli, is a secondwave bebop player, originally inspired by Dizzy Gillespie back in the 1940s and later on deeply affected by Miles Davis. While Candoli never has been an improviser of the first rank, his solos always have a strong ``blowing`` feel to them, a sense that the course of the music is perpetually at risk. So now, merely by contrast with today`s relatively sober younger players, Candoli sounds quite daring and fresh.
Candoli also seems to have inspired alto saxophonist Woods, who cuts back on the ``jazzy`` licks that have come to mar his playing, pays close attention to the shape of his evolving lines and produces his best recorded work in some time.
The program is attractive, two bop classics (Bud Powell`s ``Wail`` and Fats Navarro`s ``Nostalgia``), three good standards (``Don`t Worry About Me,`` ``Just You, Just Me`` and ``Nina Never Knew``) and two original tunes. As a bonus, on two tracks Woods plays clarinet, an instrument that tends to bring out his more thoughtful side."
Wail Don't worry about me (ss vcl)
Just you, just me
Nostalgia (1)
Old acquaintance (1)
Nina never knew (1)
One more Once
Conte Candoli (tp) Phil Woods (as,cl-1) Charlie Shoemake (vib) Terry Trotter (p) Monte Budwig (b) Bill Goodwin (d) Sandi Shoemake (vcl)
Los Angeles, September 30 & October 1, 1985
