Altoist
Benny Waters celebrated his 95th birthday with a recorded performance from Birdland in New York.
Waters, whose energetic playing is a little reminiscent of
Tab Smith in the 1950s and could pass for a man in his fifties, performs five of his basic originals (including "Exactly Like Me," which is based on "Exactly Like You") and four standards with Mike LeDonne (mostly playing organ rather than piano), guitarist
Howard Alden, bassist
Earl May, and drummer
Ed Locke. Although LeDonne and
Alden have plenty of solo space,
Waters is the dominant voice, and whether scatting on "Everybody Loves My Baby," caressing "I'm in the Mood for Love," showing off his technique on "Callin' the Cats" or jamming on "Blues Amore," he sounds amazingly ageless. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow