CDs featuring trad jazz trumpeter
Ken Colyer are not that common, so the issue of this previously unreleased concert in 1996 was a welcome event.
Colyer is heard at the head of a 1963 sextet also including clarinetist
Sammy Rimington, trombonist Geoff Cole, banjoist Johnny Bastable, bassist Ron Ward, and drummer Pete Ridge. The trumpeter's clipped phrases were quite distinctive (a little like Kid Thomas Valentine), while Rimington's clarinet solos are strongly reminiscent of
George Lewis. On tunes such as "Dr. Jazz," "Down Home Rag," "After You've Gone," and J.C. Higginbotham's "Give Me Your Telephone Number," the emphasis is on heated ensembles and melodic solos. Highly recommended to New Orleans jazz fans. ~ Scott Yanow