NOW SPINNING
THE FOX
Harold Land
JAZZ • 1960 • HIFIJAZZ
Harold Land, perhaps just by virtue of his settling in Los Angeles, has never quite been as esteemed as he deserves.
This set, recorded in 1959, released in 1960, has Land sounding more like Sonny Rollins than his later work, which shows more Coltrane influence, and has him backed by Dupree Bolton on trumpet, Elmo Hope on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass and Frank Butler on drums.
Dupree Bolton's trumpet is reason enough to seek this one out. He's one of jazz's great ghosts — a player of real talent who spent much of his life in and out of prison, leaving behind only a small handful of recorded sessions. “The Fox” is one of two studio releases where you can actually hear him. He never led a session under his own name, and effectively vanished from recording after the early '60s.
Don’t be fooled by its West Coast origins. This is straight ahead hard bop, and well worth the spin. The Craft Recordings 2024 re-issue sounds terrific too.
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