Tenor saxophonist
Curtis Amy recorded six albums for Pacific Jazz during 1960-63. This CD reissue from 1998 has all of the music from his sixth set (
Katanga) and half of the performances (three selections) from his fourth outing,
Way Down.
Amy had a fine hard bop-oriented style with a soulful sound. The
Katanga date matched him with the legendary (and barely documented) trumpeter
Dupree Bolton, guitarist
Ray Crawford (heard in top form), pianist
Jack Wilson, bassist
Victor Gaskin and drummer
Doug Sides on four originals, plus "A Shade of Brown" and "You Don't Know What Love Is." The other session finds
Amy with a completely different group consisting of trumpeter
Marcus Belgrave (one of his few recordings from the era), valve trombonist
Roy Brewster, vibraphonist
Roy Ayers (at the beginning of his career), bassist
George Morrow and drummer
Tony Bazley, performing three of Amy's tunes. Obscure but rewarding music that was overshadowed during the era and was previously long out of print. ~ Scott Yanow