By the Book
“The Freedom Book” Booker Ervin Prestige Records 1963
Booker Ervin, tenor sax; Jaki Byard, piano; Richard Davis, bass; Alan Dawson, drums
Track List: A Lunar Tune, Cry Me Not (by Randy Weston), Grant’s Stand, A Day to Mourn, Al’s In.
Rudy Van Gelder produced.
Booker Ervin was an artist who bridged the gap in post-bop 1960s between straight ahead hard bop and the avantgarde movement that spawned mid-decade. He could play in a soulful Texas tradition yet could creep into edgy material. He seemed to keep his hard bop for his Blue Note sessions and bring his avant leanings to sessions with pianist Jaki Byard for Prestige. He made a series of “Book” sessions for Prestige with titles like Freedom, Space, Song, and Blues Book. The common denominator for all the “Book” sessions was that they paired Booker with bassist Richard Davis and drummer Alan Dawson. Ervin’s career was on the short side as he died of cancer in mid-1970, just shy of his 40th birthday. But thankfully, he left a large amount of recordings for us to remember him by.
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