Now in his early 70s, altoman Bud Shank has at long last ridden himself of the image of emotionally restrained cerebration that has dogged his trail ever since the years of West Coast Cool, when he first came to symbolize almost everything that the emerging hard boppers in the East openly derided. Indeed, on his most recent albums he has proven himself more than capable of joining the ranks of Art Pepper and Phil Woods as one of bop’s best hot altomen. Always a master of his instrument, he now incorporates heated growling and searing sax sonorities as if to the manner born, despite the many decades he spent in the studios as one of the foremost delineators of bossa and classically-tinged jazz flute. On the playlist heard here, the result of a “wish list” poll conducted by Japan’s Swing Journal, Bud-along with Cyrus Chestnut, George Mraz and Lewis Nash-plays ten standards and one original, with notable highlights being “Besame Mucho,” “Beautiful Love,” “Here’s That Rainy Day” and “I’ll Remember Clifford,” a number he has long avoided playing because of its unavoidable association with his own given name.
Bud Shank: By Request: Bud Shank Meets The Rhythm Section
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