Cadence

THE REVIEW of JAZZ&BLUES: CREATIVE IMPROVISED MUSIC

CD
AL GREY & RICHARD BOONE with the ARNE MALTÉUS TRIO
SWINGIN` IN HELSINGBORG
* FOUR LEAF RECORDS 119. 1991

Al Grey's skill with a plunger mute has provided a special timbrat resource for many bands over the years, most notably that of Count Basie, where, for a while, Richard Boone was his section mats.
Swingin' in Helsingborg features the two of them before a live Swedish audience, accompanied by a local ryth section.
That rhythm section is a solid one, too, pianist Jonsson comping and soloing in an imaginative bopstyle (convincing despite occasional stiffnes in rhythmic articulation).
Basist Præstholm walking poweful bass lines, and leader/drummer Maltéus driving the beat with just the right amount of forward leon. Over that foundation Boone constructs smooth, relaxed, boppish lines simplified somewhat to meet the technical demands of his cumbersome instrument. Grey tends to be the more excitable one, showing an occasional bit of plungergenerated bluster. Unfornunataly, his lip let him down from time to time, so he´s at his beat when he takes it easy and just looks for the good notes. When he finds them, which he often does, his plunger-engendered expressiveness is hard to match. Boone contributes a couple of soulful vocals and the two of them effectively scat both head and solos on blazing “Cottontail”.
The Swedish audience and the musicians alike were obviously having a good time. That’s the kind of album this is.