About

Following sideman appearances with pianist Horace Parlan in the early 1960s, Booker Ervin cut two stellar Blue Note records as a leader in 1968 including Tex Book Tenor which had to wait nearly 40 years until 2005 for its first standalone release. With a sleek post-bop quintet featuring trumpeter Woody Shaw, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Jan Arnet, and drummer Billy Higgins, the Texas-born saxophonist slices through a set of compelling bandmember originals including Barron’s sinuous tune “Gichi” and Shaw’s lilting waltz “In a Capricornian Way,” as well as Ervin’s lovely ballad “Lynn’s Tune” and the hard-swinging “Den Tex,” named for his hometown of Denison. — (via Label)

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Tex Book Tenor was recorded in 1968 as a follow-up to Booker Ervin's debut date for Blue Note, The In Between, which was released in January of the same year. (Ervin had made two records for Pacific Jazz, which is now owned, like Blue Note, by EMI.) The album remained unreleased until 1976, when it was issued with an also unreleased Horace Parlan date on a double LP called Back from the Gig. 

The lineup is stellar and includes Billy Higgins, Woody Shaw, Kenny Barron, and bassist Jan Arnet from Czechoslovakia. Barron and Ervin had worked together before, and Arnet had worked with Ervin three years earlier as a touring partner in Germany.

The music here includes three Ervin originals, Barron's wonderful "Gichi," and Shaw's "In a Capricornian Way." The Afro-Latin-influenced grooves of "Gichi" display Ervin playing his solo in prime snake-charmer mode. His own "Den Tex" is classic hard bop with Barron and Ervin going head to head throughout. "Lynn's Tune" is a beautiful midtempo ballad with wonderful work by Arnet and a loping solo by Shaw. The closer is "204," a steaming hard bop tune with a killer head featuring the two horns just pushing the tempo before Ervin goes off the map into his solo. Barron's playing is totally inspired, pushing huge chords at both players as they dig into the changes and come out breathing fire.

This is a wonderful addition not only to the Blue Note catalog, but to Ervin's own shelf as well, and should be picked up by anyone interested in him as a bandleader and composer. — (via AllMusic)

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Ervin’s three tunes are beautiful examples of perfectly constructed hard bop—great heads, highly interesting forms, with energetic swing and fantastic solos. If you’re a fan of this style, you’ll be in the groove as soon as Ervin’s “Den Tex" explodes. That’s not to say these guys can’t ruminate in modes (“Gichi”). As such, no matter the style, Ervin and his men are up for it.  I wonder why it took forty years to get this superb record to a now adoring jazz public? — (via Audiophilia)

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About the Blue Note Tone Poet Series:

The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180g audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.

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Label: Blue Note
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180g
Reissued: 2O24 / Released: 2005 / Recorded: 1968
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Hard Bop, Modal

File under: Blue Note Tone Poet
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