Earl Bostic • Flamingo

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH

Earl Bostic (1913-65) was a major name in the 1950s and early 1960s. A superb alto-saxophonist who had impeccable technique that always impressed his fellow musicians, Bostic had a string of popular instrumental hits including “Flamingo,” “Sleep,” and “Harlem Nocturne.” His recordings during his most popular years were largely showcases for his playing, and it was joked that his sidemen (which at one point in time included John Coltrane early in his career) only had an opportunity to play the final note of a performance.

Bostic worked with a variety of territory bands in the 1930s including on the riverboats with Fate Marable. He made his first recordings with Lionel Hampton in 1939, working regularly with Hampton’s big band in 1944. Often associated with Hot Lips Page during 1944-46, Bostic led his first record date in 1945. Even early on, his range was outstanding (easily hitting very high notes) and his energy was infectious. When the music world evolved from swing to r&b, Bostic had little difficulty adjusting and his popularity grew steadily during the 1950s.

The Retrospective label in 2013 put out a single-CD, Flamingo, that contains 27 selections dating from 1945-59. Bostic’s hits and best-known ballad features are included, but so are quite a few exuberant romps that feature the altoist swinging hard and playing stirring solos that practically tear some of the songs apart, particularly the two-sided blues “That’s The Groovy Thing,” “The Major and the Minor,” “Eight Forty-Five Stomp,” “Cherokee,” “Steam Whistle Stomp” (which is basically “Take The ‘A’ Train”), “Deep Purple,” and the ironically-titled “Sleep.”

It might not be the most tasteful music, but the most riotous of Earl Bostic’s recordings are certainly quite fun to hear.

Earl Bostic • Flamingo
Retrospective
www.retrospective-records.co.uk

Scott Yanow

Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings. Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.