Charles Sullivan: Time for Re-Entry

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.