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A.C. Reed may joke about being in the wrong business, but one listen to this record will reveal a man still in love with his music after a lifetime in blues.

He's been called "the definitive Chicago blues sax player," and has been in constant demand for both recording and live shows with such artists as Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Son Seals, Earl Hooker and Bonnie Raitt. Described by The Nashville Tennessean as "the kind of guy that could get an audience of librarians stompin' and screaming," A.C. has finally captured that excitement on vinyl with I'm In The Wrong Business! It's an irresistable package of contemporary blues rooted firmly in the Chicago tradition.

While known primarily as an eminently soulful tenor saxophonist, A.C. also showcases his wryly humorous songwriting and gritty vocals on this album. Those talents will come as no surprise to those who know him from his long associations with Albert Collins and Buddy Guy, or from his criss-crossing the country with his road band, The Spark Plugs. Written and produced by A.C., I'm In The Wrong Business! features members of his own band as well as long-time admirers like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bonnie Raitt. Above all else, this record demonstrates why A.C. has long been one of the most respected musicians in the blues world.

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Sax ala Carter! was originally released in 1960, and as the liner notes point out, was meant for a general audience. That means that the songs are popular standards and the renditions offered here are fairly short (none reach the four-minute mark). Having said all this, one might expect Sax ala Carter! to resemble cocktail jazz, but it doesn't. Instead, the listener... More is treated to an intimate set made up of fine ensemble work by Carter, pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis on favorites like "Far Away Places," "I Should Care," and "Everything I Have Is Yours." The solos by Carter and Rowles are compact, with both players sticking close to the melody line. Nonetheless, their solos are tastefully energetic and achieve an air of grace. Standouts include a bouncy take on "All or Nothing at All" and a soulful version of "I'll Never Smile Again." The walking bass of Vinnegar also adds buoyancy to the performances on Sax ala Carter!, guaranteeing that the music is always flowing freely. The 2004 release of the album adds three bonus cuts, "Ennui" and two takes of "Friendly Islands." Incredibly, this entire album was recorded in one day on February 5, 1960. A fun treat. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., All Music Guide

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A jam session feel pervades this set. Pianist Eddie Higgins is matched with no less than three trumpeters (Pete Minger, who often takes honors, John Swan and Bill Prince, who doubles on tenor) plus bassist Lew Berryman, drummer Red Hawley and Nancy Weckwerth, who plays French horn on "Stockholm Sweetnin'." Minger's work on his ballad feature "Once In a While," which contrasts with the heated "Oleo," is a high point of this long-out-of-print, boppish LP. ~ by Scott Yanow, AMG

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Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt had a longtime musical partnership and friendship. The two tenors first teamed up on a regular basis in 1950 and they recorded together on an irregular basis over the next two decades. Their similar styles and combative approach made their musical encounters quite exciting and this Prestige LP, their last joint recording, has some strong trade-offs. Actually, the two saxophonists only appear together on three of the six selections (all Ammons originals), while Ammons takes "The More I See You" and "I'll Close My Eyes" as his ballad features and Stitt is the only horn on "For All We Know." With pianist Junior Mance leading the rhythm section, this is a fine date (which has yet to be reissued on CD) that is recommended to fans of the two tenors. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

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The second of five LPs that find Horace Silver's Quintet (which by 1976 featured trumpeter Tom Harrell and tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg) augmented by a group of other players, this set has six reeds and two trombones, giving Silver more tone colors to work with than usual. The two sidelong works ("The Tranquilizer Suite" and "The Process of Creation Suite") are not all that memorable but the music overall (helped out by strong solos) is typical Silver hard bop. ~ Scott Yanov, All Music Guide

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In October of 1956, in the wake of the success of This Is Teagarden, Capitol Records had the legendary trombonist enter the studio to record a series of spirituals, using Van Alexander (who had worked on the prior album) as arranger. The results are impressive but sometimes slightly uneven, owing to the superfluous presence of the Five Keys singing group behind him on many of the tracks. But when Jack Teagarden sings on his own, as on the first number from the sessions -- an outstanding version of "Goin' Home" -- the listening is overpowering in its subtlety and sincerity; he could do gospel as well as jazz, and needed no help. Teagarden's singing and Jack Chaney's tenor sax solo (following Teagarden's trombone on one chorus), and preceding some lively clarinet ornamentation by Gus Bivona, are the highlights of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen." "Deep River" is another Teagarden vocal classic, this time working at two distinct tempos, opening in a dirgeful mode before launching into its quicker, jazzier section that, as Richard M. Sudhalter points out in his essay on Teagarden at Capitol, echoes the early-'40s Tommy Dorsey version. The numbers spotlighting the Five Keys behind Teagarden aren't really less good than those featuring the his vocals alone -- the embellishment is simply unnecessary, as on "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," where there's more than enough interplay between Chaney and Teagarden instrumentally without the vocal ornamentation, which is the least interesting aspect of the record; the group's answer vocals also add little to "This Train," which is more than enticing enough with its interplay between Teagarden's trombone and the trumpet section. And "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" is almost a case of split personality, the vocal portion of the song as handled by the Keys much too pop-oriented, and sandwiching a first-rate trombone break. As a meld of blues and gospel, "Shadrack" should be the highlight of the session whence it came, but it's eclipsed by "Sing and Shout," which features something new on record -- using multi-tracking at the session, Teagarden the singer offers a musical dialogue with Teagarden the trombonist; that "duet," plus an unexpectedly bluesy opening on guitar by Al Hendrickson, makes the track the standout. And Teagarden turns in some of his best and most affecting singing on "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," which juxtaposes beautifully with the exultant "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" from the same January 11, 1957, session that topped off this album. One does sometimes find oneself wishing that the recordings had allowed Teagarden and the band to stretch out a tiny bit more -- there were LP tracks, after all -- but Capitol wasn't looking for that kind of recording in those days or on these sessions, and what's here is superb in its economical way. It's worth finding and also worth reissuing. - by Bruce Eder,AMG.

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A stunner from Kenny Burrell – one of his most sophisticated and soulful sessions of the 60s! Kenny's working here with the ultra-cool arranger Johnny Pate – best known for his work with Curtis Mayfield, and his 70s soundtrack fame – but a heck of a creative talent when it comes to a jazz session like this! For the record, Pate's created these spare little backdrops – not nearly as full as those penned by Don Sebesky or Claus Ogerman – and with a gentle sort of grooving quality that really pushes Kenny along nicely. Burrell's guitar is very strongly upfront in the mix – working chromatic magic at a level hardly ever matched again on record! Side one features the extended "Asphalt Canyon Suite" – a magnificent tune that's simply sublime – and side two features 5 shorter tracks, "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "Going To Jim & Andy's", and "Sugar Hill". © 1996-2011, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

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This release contains the complete recorded collaborations of pianist Horace Silver with trumpeter Art Farmer First, we focus on their quintet dates, including the complete original albums Hank Mobley Quintet (Blue Note BN1550), The Stylings of Silver (Blue Note BLP 1562), which received a five-star rating in its original Down Beat review, and Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet (Blue Note BLP 1589), as well as two earlier quintet sessions. Farmer and Silver’s collaborative works are completed at the end of CD3 with two further dates, one in a septet format, and the other featuring an all-star nonet.

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This release presents a complete never before heard live concert by the great Ben Webster in his only known performance with trumpeter Benny Bailey. They are the only horn players featured on more than half of the tracks, resulting in a buoyant and swinging session reminiscent of the Basie band. Accompaniment is provided by a group of first-rate European musicians. As a bonus, a rarely heard broadcast recorded at the Café Bohemia a decade earlier, which finds Webster paired with another great trumpeter: Roy Eldridge. The sound quality on both sessions is excellent.~ jazzmessengers.com

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Bill Coleman, one of the finest trumpeters of the swing era, and Ben Webster, whose tenor saxophone every jazz fan must surely know, were both in Britain in April 1967, and Alan Bates managed to record them with Alex Welsh's rhythm section. It was the first time in twenty years the two Americans had recorded together, yet their styles match as if they had been at it regularly. Unfortunately they are only really together on three numbers here, two of which (Pound Horn and Bill Coleman) are blues. Bill Coleman has a rather plodding quality but Pound Horn gets off the ground nicely, with good solos from both Coleman and Webster. Their third joint number is For Max, also well up to standard. For All We Know is a nice ballad feature for Webster, good but rather familiar, and in fact the brightest tracks are Coleman's own, particularly Sunday (on which he also sings), which dances along and on which, after the theme statement, he recaptures the mercurial quality of phrasing which made his music so outstanding in the thirties and forties. He also sings on Satin Doll—his voice is light and swingy—and plays flfigelhorn instead of trumpet. Fred Hunt's piano playing is brilliant (I wish I could say the same of guitarist Jim Douglas's only solo, that on Pound Horn), but Lennie Hastings's drumming is unusually inflexible. A good session for mainstream fanciers, though both principals have played better.~ from Jazz Review.

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Sonny Stitt (heard on this LP on alto and tenor) recorded a countless number of albums in his career, so many that he often had trouble recalling them years later. It is doubtful if he remembered this particular record, a loose quartet outing with tenor-saxophonist John Board, organist Edward Buster and drummer Joe Shelton. Their renditions of a few standards and some riffing blues are spirited if not all that essential. ~ by Scott Yanov, AMG.