In June 1961, pianist Horace Parlan recorded the album Up & Down for Blue Note. On the session were Parlan (p), Booker Ervin (ts), Grant Green (g), George Tucker (b) and Al Harewood (d).
The title track was composed by Parlan, who plays superbly. As Leonard Feather wrote in his liner notes...
Up & Down, Horace's title number for the album, is so named because of the melodic vacillation of the theme between G and A-flat. At this demanding tempo, Horace demonstrates brilliantly his ability to feed the soloist with an aggressively swinging style of comping. Booker reminds us, in his solos, that basically he comes out of two major traditions, Bird and Prez [Charlie Parker and Lester Young]. The melodic continuity of his work is as important as his keen rhythmic sense. You always know where he stands in relation to the beat.
The track is perfection. Fans of Tucker and Harewood will be able to hear them clearly on bass and drums, respectively. Ervin has a strong, hoarse tone on the saxophone and Green's guitar swings and dances on his solo. Parlan had an interesting playing style influenced by the partial crippling of his right hand after being stricken by polio in childhood. For my last post on Parlan, go here.
Here's Horace Parlan's Up & Down...
Other Perfection tracks in this ongoing series...
- Paul Desmond and Jim Hall: Any Other Time, go here.
- John Coltrane: You Say You Care, go here.
- Quincy Jones: Funk Junction, go here.
- Art Farmer's Work of Art, go here.
- Miles Davis's A Gal in Calico, go here.
- Gene Krupa: Mulligan Stew, go here.
- Dave Brubeck's The Duke, go here.
- Horace Silver: The Back Beat, go here.
