In the midst of his tenure with
the Oscar Peterson Trio,
Herb Ellis had the chance to turn the tables on his boss and employ him as a sideman, though the keyboard virtuoso strangely reigns in his chops and pretty much stays in the background. This pair of sessions was first issued on a Norgran LP and finally reissued as a Verve CD in early 2006. The first four tracks add
Jimmy Giuffre (alternating between baritone sax, tenor sax, and clarinet) and trumpeter
Harry "Sweets" Edison, along with fellow
Peterson sideman
Ray Brown and drummer
Alvin Stoller.
Ellis' originals include the easygoing "Sweetheart Blues" and the cooking bop vehicle "Pogo," where both the leader and
Edison eclipse
Giuffre's efforts on sax. "It Could Happen to You" focuses exclusively on
Ellis, with
Peterson and
Edison sitting out and
Giuffre adding some background color on clarinet. Alto saxophonist
Charlie Mariano is added for the latter date. The well-known "Detour Ahead" (jointly credited to
Ellis and his former
Soft Winds bandmates Lou Carter and
Johnny Frigo, though
Frigo has long maintained that it was his composition alone) has a chamber-like setting, with the band primarily providing background for
Ellis, though
Ray Brown gets in a snappy solo toward the end. The session picks up with the bubbly "Ellis in Wonderland" and a snappy rendition of "Have You Met Miss Jones?"
Giuffre's loping "A Simple Tune" reflects
Ellis' Texas roots in a bluesy setting, with
Peterson finally getting a chance to stretch out for a chorus. This early album by
Herb Ellis is well worth acquiring. ~ Ken Dryden