Quite the opposite of Speedbird, this is sleazy stuff. It sets off at a hell of a lick but soon collapses into a dark, smoky riff. The tenor sax takes a solo before being undertaken by the sultry baritone in its sultriest register. The piece builds with a huge crescendo, and ends as low and dirty as possible, on the…
I’d had this tune going on for years, scribbled on a piece of paper somewhere. I showed it to Amos one time and said I’d never known what to do with it. He suggested his group, the Big Buzzard Boogie Band. Speedbird is a punchy piece, always driving forward, propelled by a ‘push’ in every bar. The featured solo is…
The third of my initial forays into this style and ensemble, this portrays a hot, shimmering day, probably in a desert, where you can see the heatwaves hovering over the sand. The double bass is an unlikely soloist, accompanied by tinkling, drifting piano, up to its highest note this time. The piece grasps reality for a while in the middle,…
