James Moody: 4B

"[T]he essence of Moody and the quartet (pianist Kenny Barron; bassist Todd Coolman; and drummer Lewis Nash) comes through with elan and spirit. ... Billy Strayhorn's 'Take the A Train' leaves the 59th Street station paced by Barron's relaxed stride before Moody bridges the train's acceleration toward 125th Street. Speaking of streets, Moody quotes Monk's '52nd Street Theme' and Barron bounces it around a bit too. Nash makes his skins talk with sonority. Tadd Dameron's 'Hot House' is taken at a much slower tempo than it has been traditionally played from the time in 1945 when introduced by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. ... Then there are two originals from within the group, Coolman's 'O.P. Update' and Barron's 'Nikara's Song.' The first is a tribute to bass giant Oscar Pettiford that Todd based on a version of 'Perdido' in which Duke Ellington featured Oscar on cello. 'I wrote it with the cello in mind,' he says. After Moody and Coolman tandem into the head (Moody has the bridge to himself) 'Cool-Man' plucks the first solo ..." (CD notes by Ira Gitler).
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