Lucky Moments

Lucky Thompson is one of the most interesting saxophonists ever. He has a beautiful tone that can be compared to Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. His execution, vibrato and expressive power of his intonation belong to Hawk's school, whilst his sinuous phrases come from Don Byas. This CD offer an overall view of one of the most productive moments of Thompson's career by focussing on some of his many recordings of his time in Los Angeles, between 1945 and 1947, and also the very rare tracks recorded for Decca in early 1950's, in New York.


Tracklisting:
01. Avenue C (Buck Clayton) 3:04
02. I'm In The Mood For Love (McHugh-Fields) 2:39
03. No Good Man Blues (Thompson-Love) 3:11
04. Why Not (Thompson) 2:53
05. Irresistible You (Raye-DePaul) 3:22
06. Phace (Freddie Green) 2:45
07. Dodo's Bounce (Dodo Marmarosa) 2:41
08. Dodo's Lament (Dodo Marmarosa) 2:51
09. Slam's Mishap (Lucky Thompson) 2:30
10. Schuffle That Ruff (Lucky Thompson) 2:32
11. Smooth Sailing (Lucky Thompson) 2:39
12. Commercial Eyes (Lucky Thompson) 2:38
13. Just One More Chance (Coslow-Thompson) 3:11
14. From Dixieland To Bop (Lipschitz) 3:02
15. Boulevard Bounce (Benny Carter) 3:15
16. Boppin' The Blues (Lucky Thompson) 2:59
17. Stay In There (Thompson-Moore) 3:01
18. Over The Rainbow (Arlen-Harburg) 2:59
19. Flamingo (Grouya-Anderson) 2:35
20. Mambo In Blues (Lucky Thompson) 2:50
21. The Scene Is Clean (Lucky Thompson) 2:54
22. The Night Hawk (Lucky Thompson) 3:01
23. Little Boy, Blow (Lucky Thompson) 2:32
24. Moolight In Vermont (Suessdorf-Blackburn) 3:01
25. Bunny (Lucky Thompson) 2:28

Total time: 71:46 min.

Personnel and recording dates:

Track #1: COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Harry "Sweets" Edison, Al Killian, Joe Newman, Al Stearns (tp); Dickie Wells, Ted Donnelly, Eli Robinson, Louis Taylor (tb); Jimmy Powell, Earl Warren (as); Buddy Tate, Lucky Thompson (ts); Rudy Rutherford (bs); Count Basie (p); Freddie Green (g); Rodney Richardson (b); Joe Marshall (d).
Recorded in New York, possibly February 26, 1945

Track #2: FREDDIE GREEN AND HIS KANSAS CITY SEVEN
Buck Clayton (tp); Dickie Wells (tb); Lucky Thompson (ts); Sammy Benskin (p); Freddie Green (g); Al Hall (b); Shadow Wilson (d). Sylvia Syms (vcl).
Recorded in New York, May 7, 1945

Tracks #3-6: LUCKY THOMPSON ALL STARS
Karl George (tp); J.J. Johnson (tb); Rudy Rutherford (cl); Thompson (ts); Bill Doggett (p); Freddie Green (g); Rodney Richardson (b); Shadow Wilson (d). Thelma Love (vcl).
Recorded in Los Angeles, September, 1945

Tracks #7-12: LUCKY THOMPSON QUARTET
Lucky Thompson (ts); Dodo Marmarosa (p); Red Callender (b); Jackie Mills (d).
Recorded in Los Angeles, September 13, 1946

Tracks #13-16: LUCKY THOMPSON AND HIS LUCKY SEVEN
Neal Hefti (tp); Benny Carter (as,arr.); Lucky Thompson (ts); Bob Lawson (bs); Dodo Marmarosa (p); Barney Kessel (g on 14 &16); Red Callender (b); Lee Young (d).
Recorded in Los Angeles, April 22, 1947

Tracks #17-18: LUCKY THOMPSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Ray Copeland (tp); Ted Kelly (tb); Lucky Thompson (ts, vcl on #17), Pritchard Chessman (ts); Sahib Shihab (bs); Ed Swanston (p); Peck Morrison (b); Al Walker (d).
Recorded in New York, circa Spring 1950

Tracks #19-21: LUCKY THOMPSON AND HIS LUCKY SEVEN
Hal "Money" Johnson (tp); John Saunders (tb); Jimmy Powell (as); Lucky Thompson (ts); Clarence Williams (bs); Earl Knight (p); Beverly Peer (b); Percy Brice (d).
Recorded in New York, August 14, 1953

Tracks #22-25: LUCKY THOMPSON AND HIS LUCKY SEVEN
Gil Askey (tp); George Matthews (tb); Curby Alexander (as); Lucky Thompson (ts); Clarence Williams (bs); Al Williams (p); Beverly Peer (b); Percy Brice (d).
Recorded in New York, March 2, 1954

Reserach & track annotation: Tomás Gonzalez
Production assistance: Esteban Sánchez
Liner notes edited by John Clifford
Graphic design: Oscar Font
Multimedia technology: Toni Borja
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