Soul Mates, an exciting studio date from 1988, combines a front line of
Charlie Rouse,
Sahib Shihab, and
Claudio Roditi (who doubles on trumpet and flügelhorn), with a first-rate rhythm section of
Walter Davis, Jr.,
Santi Debriano, and
Victor Lewis. With
Don Sickler providing most of the arrangements, the full sextet is heard on six of the 11 tracks. The fast-paced hard bop opener, "November Afternoon," is a neglected work by
Tom McIntosh and features some of the hottest playing of the two sessions that make up the date.
Rouse, already well-versed in
Thelonious Monk's "Green Chimneys," makes the most of
Sickler's well-crafted chart, which incorporates quick quirky phrases by
Shihab and
Roditi to accent his tenor sax.
Shihab composed and arranged the tricky "DiDa," in which
Davis mirrors the baritone saxophonist throughout the introduction.
Rouse is heard with just the rhythm section in his lyrical arrangement of the ballad "Bittersweet." On a sad note, by the time this Uptown CD was finally released in 1993,
Rouse,
Shihab, and
Davis had all passed away. ~ Ken Dryden