BUNKY GREEN - Playin’ For Keeps
Phono 870248
Bunky Green - alto sax; Billy Wallace, Willie Pickens, Wynton Kelly - piano; Cleveland Eaton, Larry Ridley - bass; Marshall Thompson, Harold Jones, Jimmy Cobb - drums
With, on tracks 16 & 17
Warren Kine, Paul Serrano - trumpet; John Avant - trombone; Kenny Soderblom - sax; Charles Stepney - piano
Chicago is a town famous for it’s big-toned bop and blues tenorists; Vernice ‘Bunky’ Green is a lesser known player, with the alto sax his chosen horn, but these sides he made in his adopted town (he moved to Chi from Milwaukee to start his career) show he could be every bit as powerful and individual a player as the likes of Von Freeman or John Gilmore. His acidic, slightly sharp tone and wailing attack invite comparisons with Jackie Mclean, to the extent that Mingus actually hired him as Mclean’s replacement in 1956 - but, perhaps sensing a chill wind beginning to blow as the 1970s approached, he forsook professional performance for an extremely successful career in jazz education. His highly personal style, deliberately attempting to escape from Parker’s all-embracing influence while remaining true to the bop lexicon, might have stood him in good stead as jazz music moved through to the free-swinging 1970s, and he’s cited as an influence by such modernists as Greg Osby and Steve Coleman.
You get a sense of what might have been from his cascading, modal, almost folkloric-sounding intro to ‘Green Dolphin Street’, and the proto jazz-rock of ‘Playing For Keeps’ where he sounds a bit like a higher-pitched Bennie Maupin. His band on both records are solid and swinging, if not revolutionary - Cobb and Kelly are on one track only, and bassist Eaton later found fame and fortune with Ramsey Lewis. Some of the choice of repertoire is fairly typical for the time - a Beatles cover, some original funky straight-8 vamps, a night-clubbish ‘Braziliano’ ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile’ - the latter hampered rather than enhanced by extra horns and percussion - but there are some interesting originals as well, and Edith Green’s ‘Orbit 6’ has a definite Mingus-does-gospel flavour that’s perfect for Green’s keening wail. He went on to play with Elvin Jones and enjoyed a revival in the 1980s, and the strength of his playing here makes one wonder how he might have fared in a more stimulating musical environment. The re-issue is as well presented as you’d expect from Phono - it’s good to have this original voice brought before the public after underserved neglect. Check out his 2006 comeback album ‘Another Place’ with Jason Moran, Lonnie Plaxico and Nasheed Waits, awarded 5 stars in Downbeat.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Phono 870248
Bunky Green - alto sax; Billy Wallace, Willie Pickens, Wynton Kelly - piano; Cleveland Eaton, Larry Ridley - bass; Marshall Thompson, Harold Jones, Jimmy Cobb - drums
With, on tracks 16 & 17
Warren Kine, Paul Serrano - trumpet; John Avant - trombone; Kenny Soderblom - sax; Charles Stepney - piano
Chicago is a town famous for it’s big-toned bop and blues tenorists; Vernice ‘Bunky’ Green is a lesser known player, with the alto sax his chosen horn, but these sides he made in his adopted town (he moved to Chi from Milwaukee to start his career) show he could be every bit as powerful and individual a player as the likes of Von Freeman or John Gilmore. His acidic, slightly sharp tone and wailing attack invite comparisons with Jackie Mclean, to the extent that Mingus actually hired him as Mclean’s replacement in 1956 - but, perhaps sensing a chill wind beginning to blow as the 1970s approached, he forsook professional performance for an extremely successful career in jazz education. His highly personal style, deliberately attempting to escape from Parker’s all-embracing influence while remaining true to the bop lexicon, might have stood him in good stead as jazz music moved through to the free-swinging 1970s, and he’s cited as an influence by such modernists as Greg Osby and Steve Coleman.
You get a sense of what might have been from his cascading, modal, almost folkloric-sounding intro to ‘Green Dolphin Street’, and the proto jazz-rock of ‘Playing For Keeps’ where he sounds a bit like a higher-pitched Bennie Maupin. His band on both records are solid and swinging, if not revolutionary - Cobb and Kelly are on one track only, and bassist Eaton later found fame and fortune with Ramsey Lewis. Some of the choice of repertoire is fairly typical for the time - a Beatles cover, some original funky straight-8 vamps, a night-clubbish ‘Braziliano’ ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile’ - the latter hampered rather than enhanced by extra horns and percussion - but there are some interesting originals as well, and Edith Green’s ‘Orbit 6’ has a definite Mingus-does-gospel flavour that’s perfect for Green’s keening wail. He went on to play with Elvin Jones and enjoyed a revival in the 1980s, and the strength of his playing here makes one wonder how he might have fared in a more stimulating musical environment. The re-issue is as well presented as you’d expect from Phono - it’s good to have this original voice brought before the public after underserved neglect. Check out his 2006 comeback album ‘Another Place’ with Jason Moran, Lonnie Plaxico and Nasheed Waits, awarded 5 stars in Downbeat.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
