“By no means is jazz dead - that’s essentially why Louis Hayes and I formed this band. We
really enjoy playing.” So wrote Woody Shaw, presumably around the time of this historic
concert from their 1976 European tour, in response to the then much-heralded death of
jazz. It was people like Shaw, Hayes and others who proved that it was only our out-dated
preconceptions of what jazz was which were dead and that jazz itself was alive and well. Here
we have a real gem from Woody Shaw‘s greatest period – a very hip quintet session, recorded
with drummer Louis Hayes, tenor man Junior Cook, Ronnie Matthews on piano and Stafford
James on bass. Cook‘s Trane-tinged flurries, Shaw‘s bopish bursts, Mathews’ ever-intensifying
solos and Hayes’ thunder-and-lightning drumming create an energy and esprit very much in
the Blakey tradition but without ever losing track of the identity or sight of their collective goal.
This Woody Shaw-Louis Hayes-Junior Cook quintet is now a part of history. The concentric
circles they set in motion, emanating from the center of their work so long ago continue to
expand and make their influence felt right up to the present day.
Woody Shaw - trumpet
Junior Cook – tenor saxophone
Ronnie Mathews - piano
Stafford James - bass
Louis Hayes - drums
