"Director: Jacob Jorgensen"

• The Eddie Lockjaw Davies Quartet - Vol. 1 And 2 | DVD | (26/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  EDDIE 'LOCKJAW' DAVIS has one of those immediately recognizable sounds in jazz. It is virile swinging sometimes a little aggressive and rough sometimes very romantic but always extremely emotional.It is quite clear when you hear him that Coleman Hawkins Ben Webster and Herschell Evans were his favourite tenor players. Just like those three tenors 'Lockjaw' played quite a bit with big bands. Self-taught he began playing his first gigs - just eight months after buying his first horn - at Clark's Monroe's Uptown House in Harlem. In the early to mid 1940's he played in the big bands of Cootie Williams Luck Millinder Andy Kirk and Louis Armstrong. In 1945-52 he had his own combo which played mainly at Minton's in New York.Then the first of many associations with Count Basie began. After his first tenure with the Basie he lead his own group which featured Shirly Horn on organ.'Lockjaw' recorded a great deal as a leader with the Basie and with artists as varied as Gene Krupa Ella Fitzgerald Arnett Cobb Bennie Green Zoot Sims and Fats Navarro. He was also a fixture at many European festivals throughout the 1970's and 1980's. But oddly enough he made very few films or video appearances which makes this very good club date especially interesting. In the relaxed setting of Jazzhus Slukefter Davis plays full bodied solos that are both intense and swinging but at times very tender and romantic. Seeing Davis play on this club date reveals that he was a consistent inspired and extraordinary performer.Recorded in 1985 at Jazzhus Slukefter Copenhagen Demark1. Take The A Train / 2. Just Friends / 3. Out Of Nowhere / 4. The Shadow Of You Smile / 5. If I Had You / 6 Light And Lovely / 7. S'Wonderful / 8. Shiny Stockings / 9. Meditation / 10. I Can't Get Started / 11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore