Vol 4, Safranski Rocks Again!

The Eddie Safranski Orchestra rocks again, paced by the swinging stride and strength of the boss man’s bass. Each of the tunes, from jump to blues to mambo, is a dazzling example of the ensemble’s exciting drive and intriguing collective improvisation. His Kisses Made A Mrs. Out Of Me, topped by Dale McMickle’s shouting trumpet, is bursting with musical ideas and melodic warmth, yet it contains that fast-moving quality and essential abandon so innate in jazz. In a similar tempo are the revival-spirited, hand-clapping All The Way and the shuffle-happy Bartlesville Boogie, which displays the unassailably confident tonal patterns of a topnotch rhythm section: Don Lamond, drums; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Dick Hyman, piano; and Eddie on bass. In a moderately bright tone, but with that insistent rocking beat ever present, are such entries as Dream Dance featuring Artie Baker’s meaningful clarinet, Al Klink’s tenor sax-flute versatility in Annie’s Mambo and the shoutin’ swing inventiveness heard in Moon O’er The Mountain. The vocal stylings are handled by jazz thrush, Beverly Kenney and the virile baritone of Jack Haskell. Beverly scores with the rock’n’roll opus about a cat who’s Long, Lean And Lanky and the bitter-sweet blues ballad, Too Bad. Jack excels in the romantic beguine My Wishing Song and the haunting rendition of Everything Else Is Here. Together with the vibrant Safranski Orchestra they help to make this disc a thoroughly diverting and refreshing encore.