PRESTIGE ALL-STARS - ROOTS (LP)

Idrees Sulieman is the link between the two 1957 sessions which comprise this album (bassist Doug Watkins, who wrote the title blues, is also on both dates), which should serve to remind and/or enlighten people as to just how vital a trumpeter Idrees was on the New York scene at the time. From the Sixties he has lived in Europe where he was featured with the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band.  'Roots,' which occupies an entire side, also contains long workouts by Pepper Adams, the rarely-heard Frank Rehak, and Bill Evans before he joined Miles Davis. It is a typical Prestige studio jam of the period.

The spirituals, 'Down by the Riverside' and 'Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,' were arranged by Lonnie Levister, who will be remembered by some for his 'Slow Dance,' recorded by John Coltrane. Cecil Payne's baritone is utilized in both numbers as are Jimmy Cleveland's trombone and the piano of Tommy Flanagan. The material is treated with respect and natural improvisation.