Red Holloway - Red Holloway & Company (1987)

Underestimated as a bop or straight jazz player. This CD finds Red in a quartet setting where the group plays two originals and six others more or less familiar tunes. Highlights: "But Not For Me", which starts off with a mellow first chorus before Red displays his individualistic improvisation while still retaining the melody. The group really wrings out all the possibilities of "Caravan". "Passion Flower" sounds good as a tenor sax spotlight almost as well as the unforgettable alto treatment by Johnny Hodges. Holloway shows some break-neck chops on a burning "Well, You Needn't". "Summertime" has a real unusual treatment with the lead off beat and first few notes which had me thinking of "St. Louis Blues". On "What's New?" Red switched to alto sax and from what I heard, he's one of those few players that is equally adept at playing both tenor and alto. The rhythm section on this set is tremendous, led by pianist Cedar Walton. The best accolade for Cedar is a comment made by Sonny Stitt, "If you play with Cedar, be sure to solo first. He sure is a tough man to follow". Bassist Richard Reid and drummer Jimmie Smith are the other two members of this superb section. ~ Extract by Robert J. Ament, Amazon.com. 

Concord Jazz, CCD-4322, 1987
Recorded January, 1987 at Coast Recorders, San Francisco, California 

Musicians:
Red Holloway - Alto & Tenor Saxophones
Cedar Walton - Piano
Richard Reid - Bass
Jimmy Smith - Drums 

Tracks:
1. But Not For Me {George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin} (6:14)
2. Caravan {Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol} (5:37)
3. Passion Flowers {Billy Strayhorn} (5:02)
4. Blues For C.J. {Red Holloway} (5:38)
5. Well, You Needn't {Thelonious Monk} (4:21)
6. What's New? {Johnny Burke, Bob Haggart} (6:37)
7. Summertime {George & Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward} (5:46)
8. Tokyo Express {Red Holloway} (4:52) 

Total Time: 44:07 

Credits:
Producer - Carl E. Jefferson
Recording & Mixing Engineer - Phil Edwards
Cover Photograph - Don Saban
Art Direction - Tom Burgess

Red Holloway, Clark Terry Sextet - Locksmith Blues (1989)

Excellent Red Holloway/Clark Terry Collaboration.......on a straight-ahead sextet offering comprised of six jazz standards and three Holloway originals. Red has always been known as an excellent R&B player but the man also plays some fine jazz sax......an excellent alto as well as his tenor. Clark Terry, St. Louis jazz icon, also plays some extremely fine trumpet/flugelhorn, both muted and open, on this set. Both musicians seem to enjoy the interaction throughout and my personal favorites are "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" which is a relaxed showcase feature for Red, "Come Sunday", which likewise, is almost a signature for Clark since he has performed it so often over the years. "Hitting The Road Again" is a catchy medium tempo blues which also has a great but short bass solo by Rufus Reid. The title tune features some humorous vocals by both Red and Clark plus some exceptional guitar work by Phil Upchurch. "'Round Midnight" is taken at a usual sedate pace with Clark's solo which contrasts nicely with the double time alto solo by Red. Clark's muted and open solos nicely complement Red's excellent alto work on "I Got It Bad....." which , indeed, evokes memories of the great Johnny Hodges. This is an excellent straight ahead jazz sextet displaying the talents of two master horn men with an equally great supporting rhythm section in a very enjoyable program......one that would be welcome in any jazz library. ~ Robert J. Ament, Amazon.com. 

Concord Jazz, CCD-4390, 1989
Recorded June, 1989 at Sage & Sound Recording, Hollywood, California 

Musicians:
Red Holloway - Alto & Tenor Saxophones
Clark Terry - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Gerald Wiggins - Piano
Phil Upchurch - Guitar
Richard Reid - Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass
Paul Humphrey - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Red Top {Lionel Hampton, Ben Kynard} (4:32)
2. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe {Harold Arlen} (4:48)
3. Hitting The Road Again {Red Holloway} (7:23)
4. Come Sunday {Duke Ellington} (4:30)
5. Locksmith Blues {Red Holloway} (5:44)
6. 'Round Midnight {Thelonious Monk} (4:35)
7. The Junk Man {Red Holloway} (5:18)
8. I Got It Bad [And That Ain't Good] {Duke Ellington, Ben Webster} (9:39)
9. Cotton Tail {Duke Ellington} (5:10) 

Total Time: 51:42 

Credits:
Producer - Carl E. Jefferson
Assistant Producer - Nick Phillips
Recording Engineer - Jim Mooney
Assistant Recording Engineer - Jerry Wood
Remixing Engineer - Phil Edwards
Mastering Engineer - George Horn
Art Direction - Paul Francis
Cover Photography - David Fischer
Liner Notes - Miles Jordan, JazzTimes

Locksmith Blues