Nathan Davis - London By Night

barabara sounds sez:

In my book Nathan Davis can do no wrong. That said, if I had to choose a decade, I would always go for his '60s sides (such as Peace Treaty and Funny Girl) above his later works. But by anyone else's standards, London By Night — from 1987 and, yes, recorded in the UK capital over a couple of nights — is a fine album and Davis is in great fettle on his horns (soprano as well as tenor) and also flute. The title track swings nicely, though the standout track for me is the beautiful Rio de Janeiro. If there's one glitch, it's the anachronistic Beatles cover. But that comes right at the end so you can just program it out. This one's from the Disk Union CD reissue...

dusty sez:

Overlooked genius from reedman Nathan Davis – a later session that's a bit more straight ahead than some of his 70s work, and a date that really gets back to some of the best soulful energy of his records from the 60s! Davis is recorded here in very sympathetic company – players who share some of the best energies he picked up on the expatriate scene during his famous time overseas – Dusky Goykovich on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Al Leavitt on drums! There's an easygoing soul jazz groove to the whole set, with a slight touch of modernism – and in addition to tenor, Davis also plays some wonderful soprano sax – handling the horn with stretched-out soulfulness that makes him one of the undisputed masters of the instrument.

A couple more enthusiastic quotes:

Rough Guide sez: "Shows Nathan Davis at the top of his post-bop form"

Penguin Guide sez: "Could almost be from an undiscovered Jazz Messengers tape. Goykovich's flugelhorn has a fat, luxuriant quality that that blends well with Davis... there are fine, controlled solos all round, notably on 'Dr Bu', where the Blakey/Messengers debt is most openly acknowledged..."

personnel

Nathan Davis (tenor sax, soprano sax, flute); Dusko Gojkovic (trumpet, flugelhorn); Kenny Drew (piano); Jimmy Woode (bass); Al Levitt (drums); Stan Robinson, Jean Toussaint (tenor sax on Shades)

tracks:

Noite Em Leblon; I Thought About You; Rio De Janeiro; London By Night; Dr Bu; But Beautiful; You've Changed; Shades; Lament; If I Fell

recorded

Boathouse Studios, London (04/17/1987-04/18/1987)

Nathan Davis Sextet - Peace Treaty

barabara sounds sez:

The Nathan Davis Sextet from 1965, recorded in Paris with Woody Shaw on trumpet and issued on the SFP label. It's a classic — the man himself says so:

"The idea of naming the album "Peace Treaty" arose from the various meetings held between American and North Vietnam in Paris in an attempt to negotiate a cease fire and peace treaty during the Vietnamese Conflict.

It was during this period that I dedicated a lot of tunes that i was composing to the idea of peace, love and non-violence. When Claude Lenissois first approached me to do an album, he suggested that we record at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees because they had a good track record of producing good sound.

Everything fell into place because i was working steady with Kenny Clarke, René Urtreger, Jimmy Gourley Woody Shaw and Jean-Louis Chautemps on a regular basis at the 'Blue Note'. So we all had to do was fly Jimmy Woode in from Germany where he was living at the time.

Donald Byrd was also living in Paris and occasionally played with us at the Blue Note, so he came in and helped produce the record.

Time has proven it to be a classic."

Nathan T. Davis, Jan. 2007 — from the liner notes for the reissue CD

Nathan Davis - tenor & soprano sax

Woody Shaw - trumpet

Jean-Louis Chautemps - baritone sax

René Urtreger - piano

Jimmy Woode - bass

Kenny Clarke - drums

Jimmy Gourley - guitar