For starters, the title of this double-disc
Brew Moore retrospective is misleading. The reason it is called
The Kerouac Connection is simply that
Moore's hard-swinging lyrical yet physical style was immortalized and highly celebrated in
Jack Kerouac's 1965 novel Desolation Angels, which was actually written around the mid-'50s while waiting for the publication of On the Road. In the second of two very different sections of the book, the protagonist has come down from an extended period of solitude as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak. When he enters San Francisco to catch up with old friends, he is sitting in a bar and watching
Moore and his band ripping it up on the bandstand, and the author goes on for a few pages about this encounter, which somehow became a euphoric drunken epiphany. That said, the music on this set is hardly a letdown or a come-on. In fact, it is perhaps the first real overview listeners have of
Moore's career. There are 41 cuts recorded between 1948-1957 and arranged chronologically. These feature
Moore as a sideman in groups led by
Claude Thornhill,
George Wallington,
Machito,
Slim Gaillard,
Stan Getz,
Miles Davis,
Kai Winding,
Howard McGhee,
Charlie Parker, and
Cal Tjader. In addition, there are numerous selections interspersed between these recordings that feature
Moore as a leader. Of course, there are the expected selections such as "Four and One More" with
Getz; "Godchild" with
Thornhill; and "Howard's Blues," recorded with
McGhee and
Machito. But there are some real surprises here as well, including "Bernie's Tune," recorded for Canadian television in 1950 with a young
Paul Bley on piano; the unreleased "Knockout" with
Wallington; and four tracks with his own septet (featuring
Gerry Mulligan,
Winding, and
Wallington), including "Lestorian Mode," "Goldrush," and "The Mud Bug." The U.K.'s Giant Steps (a division of Cherry Red) deserves tremendous credit for assembling this great set at such an attractive price. ~ Thom Jurek