LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

This session is a model of the emotionally intense ballad programs featured on Prestige's Moodsville subsidiary. The great Kenny Burrell receives a major assist from saxophone patriarch Coleman Hawkins (who is in exemplary early-Sixties form), Hawkins's rhythm section of the time (made up exclusively of natives of Burrell's hometown Detroit) and conga drummer Ray Barretto. The choice of material and variety of settings are inspired, with Burrell heard solo on "No More," over just bass and drums on "Guilty," in two different quintet settings and on three titles by the full sextet. Each soloist is fully engaged throughout, with things shifting into even higher gear when Burrell and Hawkins converse on "Montono Blues" and "I Thought About You." Tres Palabras, No More, Guilty, Montono Blues, I Thought About You, Out of This World, It's Getting Dark, plus CD bonus track I Never Knewwith Coleman Hawkins, Tommy Flanagan, Major Holley, Eddie Locke, Ray Barretto