Seldon Powell - End Play
[CCD 79732]

£9.99

Track List:
1) Hackensack
2) Body and soul
3) Push and Pull
4) Just In Time
5) Park and Ride
6) Ow
7) Flintstones
8) Sel's Ideas
9) Straight No Chaser

Lineup
Seldon Powell (tenor saxophone)
Clark Terry (trumpet, flugel horn)
Barry Harris (piano)
Bob Cranshaw (bass)
Mickey Roker (drums)

Seldon Powell was born in Lawrenceville, Virginia on 15th November 1928, but spent much of his life in Brooklyn on Long Island. He worked with just about every major name from Don Redman to Woody Herman, from Benny Goodman to Count Basie, from Buddy Rich to Chet Baker.

While his main instrument was the tenor, he became proficient on all the saxophones, to which he added clarinet, flute and piccolo. This versatility stood him in good stead when jazz gigs became scarce, and he found ample employment in the pit bands of Broadway shows and in the busy television and recording studios of New York. He also enjoyed the very different demands of classical music, playing with orchestras and chamber groups. In later years he was largely known for his excellence on the baritone saxophone with numerous studio ensembles, where his ability to rapidly read the most difficult chart was a valued asset and truly, Seldon Powell was the complete musician. However, jazz listeners will remember this talented player as a forthright, swinging tenorman with a personal sound and style of his own.

Included in this set are three of Seldon's originals, of which the unusual 'Push and Pull' is outstanding, a wonderful account of 'Body and Soul', a neat arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's bop opus 'Ow!' a refreshed version of the standard 'Just in Time' and an engagingly perky performance of the cartoon jingle 'Flintstones'.

His death in 1997 at the age of 68 deprived jazz of a highly accomplished saxophone and woodwind who laboured creativity, but with scant recognition in the music scene for some forty seven productive years. He spread joy whenever he played, and the appearances at Birdland were no exceptions in that respect. Only now that Seldon had made his last 'End Play' can listeners, hearing these typically trenchant selections, perhaps full comprehend the extent of the loss.