Personnel:
Charlie Shavers (tp), Ray Bryant (p), Tommy Bryant (b), Oliver Jackson (d)
Reference: LHJ10184
Contains:
- Like Charlie (complete LP Everest LPBR 5127)
- Excitement Unlimited (complete LP)
- At Le Crazy Horse Saloon (5 tracks)
The 3rd and final chapter in Lonehill's exploration of the Charlie Shavers/Ray Bryant team -- a pairing that's never gotten its full due until now, and which is featured in a great set of previously unreissued material! This set's got a bit less Bryant than the others -- and only features 12 tracks with the Shavers/Bryant group -- pulled from the 1960 album Like Charlie, a subtle gem that easily matches the strength of Shavers' other MGM work at the time. The remaining bulk of the CD features material from an unusual 1963 large group album called Excitement Unlimited -- one that features Shavers working with an octet that includes Billy Byers, Jerome Richardson, Budd Johnson, and George Barnes. The tunes on these sides have a more tightly arranged approach -- still with a strong focus on Shavers' fluid solo lines, but set up in a way that's a bit less relaxed than some of the Bryant albums in the series. The remaining 4 tracks on the CD complete the series' presentation of the Le Crazy Horse Paris recordings from 1964 -- and the set features a total of 29 tracks that include "Carioca", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", "Opus 5", "Night In Tunisia", "School Days", "Tenderly", "But Beautiful", "Jada", "Blues For Choo Loos", "In The Still Of The Night", and "Bossa Nova Petite". (5 tracks are from 'At Le Crazy Horse Saloon')
Tracklisting:
01. The Best Things in Life Are Free
02. Taking a Chance on Love
03. In a Little Spanish Town
04. You're My Everything
05. My Old Kentucky Home
06. Carioca
07. In the Still of the Night
08. Soon
09. I'm a Fool to Love You
10. Blues for Choo Loos
11. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
12. Don't Be Late
13. Is Might as Well Be Spring
14. Jada
15. But Beautiful
16. Fly me to the Moon
17. It didn't Mean a Thing
18. Period of Adjustment
19. Bossa Nova Petite
20. I Kid You Not
21. Porgy
22. Undecided
23. Opus 5
24. Night in Tunisia
25. Shiny Stockings
26. Minor Blues
27. Tenderly
28. School Days
29. Big Time Blues
Personnel and dates:
Tracks #1-12: Recorded NYC, October-November, 1960. Charlie Shavers (tp), Ray Bryant (p), Tommy Bryant (b), Oliver Jackson (d).
#13-17: Recorded in Paris ca. 1964. Charlie Shavers (tp, vcl) with unknown p, b, and d.
#18-29: Recorded in NYC, February 20-22, 1963. Charlie Shavers and His orchestra: Charlie Shavers (tp, vcl), Billy Byers (tb), Jerome Richardson (as), Budd Johnson (ts), Bruce Martin (p), George Bames (g), Tommy Bryant (b), Oliver Johnson (d).
