[SACD-R][OF] Curtis Fuller - Blues-Ette - 1959/2012 (Bop, Hard Bop)

Fuller & Golson make a terrific pair in this swinging album! I would say this is certainly among the best of Fuller’s material. He had such a great sound. The sound quality is great, allowing you to enjoy Bennie & Curtis at their finest. They were simply among the top horn players in jazz.

Amazon reviews:
By Michael Brad Richman:
If J.J. Johnson was the Charlie Parker of the trombone, then Curtis Fuller was the instrument’s Sonny Rollins. Throughout the 50s Fuller made excellent albums for both Savoy & Blue Note, & then in the 60s he joined the Jazz Messengers helping to make the classics “Mosaic” & “Free for All.” Here’s an interesting factoid, Fuller was also the only trombonist to ever play with Bud Powell & John Coltrane. But let’s focus on the album at hand, the magnificent “Blues-ette.” The album boasts a classic roster with Benny Golson on tenor, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass & Al Harewood on drums. Golson & Fuller each contribute 2 compositions, & 2 of these tunes are basically jazz standards today — Fuller’s title track & Golson’s “Minor Vamp.” With all of Fuller’s Blue Note & United Artists albums not available as individual domestic CDs (however, they are all available as a limited edition box set on the Mosaic label), this Savoy title becomes all the more essential.
By Gregory M. Wasson on February 28, 2009:
Curtis Fuller was 1 of the greatest trombone players of the 1950s. He made a sizable number of recordings, most of which included members, current & former, of the “Jazztet,” including saxophonist Benny Golson & others. These were solid, creative musicians who played a somewhat lighter, blues-based version of the hard bop school associated with Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Hank Mobley, & John Coltrane.
As time passed the number of recordings of players like Fuller & Golson still in print dwindled to a precious few. It wasn’t until the advent of MP3 technology & the widespread use of downloads as an economical & efficient way to acquire recordings that record companies began rereleasing the back catalogues of players who had been nearly forgotten.
But even before the explosion of re-issues in the last few years, there was always at least 1 Curtis Fuller album that could be found in any record store with a decent sized jazz section. That album was & is “Blues–ette.” It has stayed in print, with occasional exceptions, because it is Curtis Fuller’s greatest recording, & 1 of the finest jazz recordings of the 1950’s.
From the 1st riff of “Five Spot After Dark” you can tell that the band is well rehearsed, inventive, & deeply swinging. An old chestnut like “Undecided” becomes the perfect vehicle for the short staccato lines which characterize Fuller’s approach to the trombone. The phrasing of Fuller & Golson is wonderfully matched to the material.
From start to finish, “Blues-ette” never disappoints; it should be in the catalogue of any serious jazz collector. This album is a treasure; a great place for those who are stocked up on Miles, Coltrane, Rollins, etc., to begin to explore the great “2nd tier” of players who populated what is often described as the greatest decade in jazz history. Highly recommended.