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LP
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LT 988LP
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2025 restock; exact repro reissue. Recorded 3/4/67. Featuring Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), James Spaulding (alto sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), McCoy Tyner (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). "Although the melody line of 'The Big Push' is rhythmically unusual, the solos by Shorter, Hubbard, Spaulding and McCoy flow in straight four. Wayne's solo entrance is arresting and wry as he playfully and creatively juggles a simple two note motif and weaves into a full blown solo. 'The Soothsayer' is a burning, delightfully descending line that engenders the kind of fire that makes Spaulding fly. He and Wayne steal the show here. Shorter launches his flight with those fragmented, punctuated lines that were a trademark of his playing in the sixties. Shorter has always been a master composer of ballads. And his tribute to Billy Holiday's 'Lady Day' is no exception. He gives an unbelievable reading that is set off by a lovely, lyrical piano solo from Tyner. A year and a half before this session, Wayne had recorded his own 'Dance Cadaverous' (on Speak No Evil) and credited the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' 'Valse Triste' as an inspirational source point. Here he arranges Sibelius' own music for the sextet with solos from all except Williams. Coincidentally, this ensemble is VSOP with McCoy in place of Hancock and with Spaulding added. But this was no planned all-star reunion. This was merely the music of the period played unselfconsciously by the musicians who were playing it best." -- Michael Cuscuna, from the back cover.
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