Johnny Hodges & Charlie Shavers - Half and Half (1981/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Shavers and Hodges were genii: unflawed musicians, total original minds, two of the great burnished talents that were ablaze in those fiery jazz years. Both seminal figures: Johnny Hodges, one of the three classic alto-saxophonists in jazz, Charlie Shavers, one of the two or three greatest trumpeters of his era. Both had the gift of making perfection sound easy, and both revelled – with an almost Casanova sensuality – in every tonal, and technical richness that their instrument was capable of. On this record, the two old masters perform in two settings each, both with the kind of ripe luscious talent that grows only in the summertime of an art.

In these days, when jazz has turned to consolidation rather than innovation, records by old masters like Charlie Shavers and Johnny Hodges achieve gold standard almost by definition. Sleeve note accolades can often do little more than acknowledge and applaud the fact, for Shavers and Hodges were genii, of course: unflawed musicians, total original minds, two of the great burnished talents that were ablaze in those fiery jazz years. All that we’ve long known. The two masters on this record led separate musical lives publicly. Like most jazz history this is probably (as Henry Ford once remarked) bunk – who can document the meetings on a neon-lit Swing Street, or lonely midnight roads? – But on this record they occupy separate sides and exclusive treatment in this annotation.

Both, for the most part, are accompanied by Al Waslon, a discreet and highly musical pianist who understands exactly how to let his guest stars shine most tightly, an efficient bassist and drummer, and a prefatory studio announcer whose super-rehearsed superlatives sound a little too good to be true until you remember that true they are. Shavers in just seven tunes parades every banner of this talent; beautifully natural yet harmonically aware improvisation, formidable technique, and that chameleonesque ability to switch, at the flick of a red light, from the serpentine cup-muted temptations of Embraceable You to a no-holds barred flaring attack on "What Is This Thing Called Love". Surely no more perfect trumpet player ever lived. Exactly the same give or take a saxophone, could be said of Johnny Hodges, who crafted his program with the skill of a sculptor and the dignity of a statue.

Tracklist:

01 - Perdido
02 - Jeep's Blues
03 - All of Me
04 - C Jam Blues
05 - I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
06 - In a Mellow Tone
07 - Bye Bye Blackbird
08 - Breezin' Along with the Breeze
09 - Embraceable You
10 - What Is This Thing Called Love?
11 - Time on My Hands
12 - Undecided
13 - I'll Make Fun for You

Musicians
Tracks "1-5" - Johnny Hodges with Al Waslon Trio:
Johnny Hodges - alto saxophone
Al Waslon - piano
Joe Schmalz - bass
Ed Knil - drums
Recorded in Columbia, Ohio (date unknown)

Track "6" - Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra:
Johnny Hodges - alto saxophone
Shorty Baker - trumpet
Lawrence Brown - trombone
John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Remaining personnel unknown (date unknown)

Tracks "7-12" - Charlie Shavers with Al Waslon Trio:
Charlie Shavers - trumpet
Al Waslon - piano
Joe Schmalz - bass
Ed Knil - drums
Recorded in Columbia, Ohio (date unknown)

Track "13" - John Kirby's Sextet:
Charlie Shavers - trumpet
Russel Procope - alto saxophone
Buster Bailey - clarinet
Billy Kyle - piano
John Kirby - bass
O’Neil Spencer OR Specs Powell - drums
(date unknown)

2xHD was created by producer/studio owner André Perry and audiophile sound engineer René Laflamme, two dedicated music lovers determined to experience only the warmth and depth of the music without hearing the equipment.

This album contains high-resolution digital transfers of material originating from an analogue master source.

Thanks to the Original customer!