Three overseas sessions from American tenor great
Eddie Lockjaw Davis! Jaws Strikes Again is a slightly different setting than some of the other 70s albums from
Eddie Lockjaw Davis – in that the set was recorded for the Black & Blue label, who always liked to get a nice gritty punch out of the players they recorded! Given
Eddie's legendary tone, the approach works perfectly here – on tracks that are short and focused – and which feature some mighty nice work on Hammond from Wild Bill
Davis, plus guitar from the great Billy Butler, and drums from Oliver Jackson! Titles include "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "The Man I Love", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Candy", "After You're Gone", and "Light & Lovely". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great example of
Eddie in collaboration – as
Eddie Lockjaw Davis is a hell of a player on his own – but he's maybe even more amazing when he works alongside other horn soloists – who always seem to inspire
Davis to bring out the boldest, mouthiest side of his horn! That tenor is alive and well, and wonderfully set up here – in five different live performances from the Nice Jazz Festival in 1978 – two with Illinois Jacquet on tenor, six with Harry Edison on trumpet, and one more with Paul Bascomb on tenor and
Eddie Vinson on alto. Tracks are nice and long – that back/
forth jam session style that
Eddie does so well – and titles include "Rompin With JC", "Brazil", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Just Friends", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Misty". Jaw's Blues is a nice one from the start of the 80s! Tenorist
Eddie Lockjaw Davis always had a hell of a tone – and although his best-remembered dates are maybe from the 50s and 60s, the saxophonist still kept on making great records for many years to come! This album's definitely one of those – a European live recording, done in Munich, with
Eddie stretching out with the sort of raspy tone that always made his early duets with Johnny Griffin such a delight – getting the sort of sensitive accompaniment here that Griff had on some of his later European dates too. The wonderful Horace Parlan is on piano, with Reggie Johnson on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums – and although it's clear that the
Davis tenor solos are the main attraction, the album's a very sold group effort too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Jaw's Blues", "I'll Remember April", "Young Man With A Horn", and "But Beautiful".