Nate Chinen on Lucky Thompson

"The great saxophonist Lucky Thompson died in 2005, at 81. In musical terms his silence began much earlier: he gave his last known performances in the 1970s, after which he more or less disappeared, leading an itinerant life. (His outspoken disdain for the music business is often cited as motivation.) 'New York City, 1964-65' (Uptown) captures him a decade before his self-exile, around the time of his landmark album 'Lucky Strikes.' The newly unearthed material, from two distinct engagements, compounds our sense of what was lost when he withdrew from the scene. First up is a 1964 concert featuring Mr. Thompson’s music arranged for octet, a preferred format of his. The orchestrations are unfussy and appealingly lightweight, and most of the enlisted sidemen — notably the pianist Hank Jones and the baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne — make robust solo statements. But the real treat is hearing Mr. Thompson caress ''Twas Yesterday,' a courtly ballad, and then barrel through 'Firebug,' a jaunty blues bracketed by Latin-jazz fanfare. No less rewarding is 'The World Awakes,' on which he trades his soft-burred tenor for a pristine soprano" ("Playlist," 3/29/09).