The Rat Race Blues

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD
A superior composer and a good alto saxophonist, Gryce directs his early-1960s jazz quintet through a blues program. His moods-ebullient, wistful, wary-are the equal of more renowned musicians . -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

The Rat Race Blues,Gigi Gryce,Ojc,Hard Bop,Jazz,Pop

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Average customer rating: Super album Outstanding jazz from an undersung legend No such thing A Slightly Obscure Gem

The Rat Race Blues Gigi Gryce Manufacturer: Ojc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Hard Bop | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Sayin' Somethin'! Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet The Art Farmer Quintet When Farmer Met Gryce Blue Soul ASIN: B000000Y4Y Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

1. The Rat Race Blues
2. Strange Feelin'
3. Boxer's Blue
4. Blues In Bloom
5. Monday Through Sunday

Customer Reviews:

Super album.......2006-11-28

This was Gigi Gryce's third and last album recorded for Prestige, all of them done in 1960, and my favorite of the three. The front line on all three albums remained the same (Richard Williams on trumpet and Richard Wyands on piano), and this one has the rhythm section of Julian Euell (b) and Mickey Roker (d). The tunes, which are all originals, are fantastic, especially the title track and BOXER'S BLUES; BOXER is a slow 24-bar blues that is absolutely compelling - it's hard to get the tune out of your head after hearing it. RAT RACE is at the other end of the spectrum - an up-tempo, 12-bar blues that cooks as well as seethes. Everyone plays brilliantly throughout. This CD has gotten repeated playing since I bought it years ago; it's Gigi Gryce at his best. Well worth getting.

Outstanding jazz from an undersung legend.......2003-03-12

Gigi Gryce is one of the best jazz musicians that too few people have ever heard of, and this blues-steeped album contains some of his best work. Though his career barely spanned a decade before he quit the jazz life to become a respected schoolteacher, Gryce was beloved as a performer, writer, and human being by the musicians he worked with. This disc makes a nice companion to the same-titled book, by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald.

No such thing.......2002-12-31

There is no such thing as a bad Gigi Gryce performance or composition. Espousing that mantra, I picked this recording up. Strange Feelin' and Boxer's Blues are the standouts, but every song is a gem.

A Slightly Obscure Gem.......2000-07-14

Gigi Gryce is best known as a writer and arranger, but this recording proves him to be a fine player as well. As the title suggests, the five tracks on this CD are all based on blues. There is some great work as well by the seldom-heard Richard Williams on trumpet; my favorite passages are those where the two horns engage in spirited interplay.

Maybe obscure is unfair, but I've only run across a few people who seem to know this recording. Not a absolutely essential release, but well worth picking up for insight to a sometimes under-appreciated performer.

Average customer rating: Swingin' Sam ! ! !

Sam Butera And The Witnesses Play Music From The Rat Race Sam Butera & The Witnesses Manufacturer: Jasmine Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music New Orleans Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Stride Piano | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional & Vocal Pop | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Hot New Orleans Nights Sheer Energy Call of the Wildest/Wildest Show at Tahoe ASIN: B00001ZWJO Release Date: 1999-10-26

Tracks:

1. Hot Lips
2. Theme From 'The Rat Race' (Part Two)
3. At Sundown
4. Lover
5. Out Of Nowhere
6. Two Sleepy People
7. Ja-Da
8. Lullaby Of Birdland
9. That Old Black Magic
10. Wang Wang Blues
11. Manhattan
12. Theme From 'The Rat Race' (Part One)
13. Night Train
14. Swingin' Sam
15. Sam's Boogie
16. One Mint Julep
17. Sam's Blues

Customer Reviews:

Swingin' Sam ! ! !.......2003-01-16

If you hear this album, you're listening to it, and you ain't movin'- - odds are you're suffering from a bit of rigger-mortus... and maybe hard of hearing to boot.

Sam is wailing out throughout the whole album... He's in the film too... never saw it... now I want. - - Man, early rock and roll - - R & B, jumpin' Jazz... It jumps... the arrangements are great... Standards become house blowing rock and roll as Sammy tweeks out. - - The party kicker has to be the bonus track SWINGIN' SAM (with its wild Honky Tonk style call and response with the horns.) - - But everything on the CD is great... Now if only those boring snob bebopper Jammers at your local "in" Jam session knew how to play LOVER like THAT... To quote Emerald Lagossi, "bam !"

Jazz Music:

1. The Stage Door Swings
2. The Unheard Recordings, Pt. 2 [Live]
3. Transforming Traditions
4. Travelin' Light
5. Trumpets No End
6. Two as One
7. White Jazz
8. Who Do You Love
9. Worth Waiting For
10. 1963 in Japan [Live]

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