These days, historians generally view the Great Man theory
of history as a simplistic and obsolete concept, but the music world hasn’t
caught up yet. Take jazz trumpet players, for example. Satchmo, Dizzy, Miles,
Clifford, Lee, Freddie, and (maybe) Woody are the crème de la crème, and anyone
else is an also ran, an imitator―“the
poor man’s [Satchmo, Dizzy, Miles, etc.]." It’s as if there’s no way to
categorize other players except as geniuses or pallid imitators. Was Wilkie
Collins the poor man’s Dickens? Maybe The
Moonstone has more readers these days.
This mild diatribe brings me to Re-Entry, the reissue CD of Charles Sullivan’s 1976 WhyNot LP. WhyNot
was a Japanese label that recorded a number of talented musicians who weren’t
among the revered few on their respective instruments. Sullivan, who also recorded
as Kamau Adilifu, has played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Roy Haynes
and recorded with a host of other fine players. He also has had a solid career
playing for Broadway shows and other more commercial settings. With all of
that, though, he’s still not well known as a first-rate, creative artist – and that’s
a shame.
Re-Entry starts
off furiously with the title track, and Sullivan’s solo is blazing―he uses a combination of
longer flowing lines and staccato phrasing to create a showpiece of hard bop
creativity. Of course, with a rhythm section of Kenny Barron on Piano, Buster
Williams on bass, and Billy Hart on drums, he has colleagues who both support
and augment his efforts throughout. On Body
and Soul, the band uses a glowering, mysterious opening to set the mood
before launching into a gorgeous rendition of this classic ballad, and
Sullivan, Barron, and Williams all make it work seamlessly. Carefree is a more medium-tempo outing,
in which Rene McLean’s alto complements Sullivan’s sound (hearkening back to
the first paragraph, McLean often is criticized for sounding like his dad, Jackie
McLean, but I really love that off-kilter tone), while Sullivan employs his
mute to good effect on Cricket’s Waltz,
and McLean does a nice turn on tenor. The program finishes up with Mabe’s Way―a Sullivan composition, as are all of those
on the album except Body and Soul.
Bonus versions of the latter and Carefree
round out the program.
Now that I’ve checked out Re-Entry, I’m interested in Sullivan’s two other outings as a
leader―both
available (but pricey). He’s an excellent and original talent and I hope he
gets to record more in the future than he has in the past. If you want to hear a sample, try this.
