This Black & Blue session, made available domestically on a Classic Jazz LP in the late '70s, has some typically rambunctious playing by tenor saxophonist
Arnett Cobb. The tough tenor is featured in a larger group than usual (a nonet also including trumpeter
Wallace Davenport, trombonist Buster Cooper, fellow tenor
Eddie Chamblee, and organist
Milt Buckner), with side one consisting of three romps (including "Smooth Sailing" and "Flying Home") and the second half made up of three ballads (highlighted by "The Nearness of You").
Cobb, who had emerged a couple years earlier after a decade spent sticking close to Texas, was still in prime form, making this hard to find set worth the search. [A ten-track CD reissue is also available on Black & Blue.] ~ Scott Yanow