Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Count Basie Presents the Tenor of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (2011)

Eddie Lockjaw Davis (1922-1985) has always been one of the super top tenor players in jazz. From the beginning he had his unique sound and way to improvise, and an original, immediately identifiable tenor tone. This CD is special for several reasons. The first part is a session that Count Basie produced in 1957 for Lockjaw with another Basie alumnus, the great trumpeter Joe Newman. What makes this album unusually interesting is that Basie plays the piano while Shirley Scott plays the organ. To complete this CD, a special compilation has been added eight little-known recordings of tunes when Basie was featuring Lockjaw in his big band (1952-1957) which show that the pair were simply destined for each other musically in one of the historic comings-together in jazz.