January/February 2000

Irvin Mayfield Sextet
Live at the Blue Note
Half Note Records

By Willard Jenkins

Irvin's band is enriched by the always complimentary Eric Reed on piano, and his frontline sound is capacious with the addition of Wes Anderson's alto sax and Delfeayo Marsalis' trombone. One thing that plagues Mayfield's date is its somewhat pedestrian repertoire. Other than Ben Webster's under-utilized "Did You Call Her Today" the repertoire is a no-brainer. How many times are we going to hear "Cherokee" with that corny, pseudo Chief Crazy Horse intro? Like so many young musicians, Mayfield needs to research the abundance of jazz tunes and come up with some of the legion of un-covered gems.