The beautiful thing about this album, as with many of Sweets’ albums, is his ability to lead his group through the simplest of riffs and turn them into some of the swinginest sides you’ll ever hear. Sweets originals on this album abound with riffs that sound easy to play, but I’ll bet that only Sweets knew how to get the real SWING out of those riffs!
Then there are the covers, which are no less swinging, but a lot more structured and dare I say adventurous! The guitar intro to “How Deep is the Ocean” is luscious, one of the many highlights of Barney Kessel on this album. He has such a nice rich tone.
I like it that the album is credit to an “orchestra” because this sextet sure has as big a sound as an orchestra!
This album could easily be compared, heck played side-by-side, with THE SWINGER and MR. SWING; on those LPs, Jimmy Forrest takes over on tenor, who more than holds his own stepping in Big Ben’s shoes. And that’s another thing: Sweets was never less than inspired no matter what situation he played in; pair him with a big thick-toned tenor sax and listen to the man GO!
What a record! Thanks for picking this one!