Despite the title, this actually leans considerably further to the jazz side of
Witherspoon's muse than the blues one, with backing by
Pepper Adams on baritone sax,
Roger Kellaway on piano,
Bill Watrous on trombone,
Richard Davis on bass, and
Mel Lewis on drums. The songs, too, are much more in the jazz/pop vein than the blues/jazz one, heavy on standards by the likes of
Johnny Mercer,
the Gershwins, and
Ellington.
Witherspoon's one of the masters of closing-time bluesy jazz, and he doesn't let anyone down on that account on this relaxed (but not sleepy) session. ~ Richie Unterberger