Sounds hokey – but this is a fantastic album! French pianist
Raymond Fol leads a group that includes American and European players of the Clarke-Boland Big Band mode, like Johnny Griffin, Jimmy Woode, and Fats Sadi, plus American Art Taylor on drums – and he's come up with a swinging take on Vivaldi's Four Seasons that's one of the hippest French jazz sides we've heard from the 60s! Forget the source of the material, because
Fol lets the players really go loose on the solos – which means you'll hear great vibes from Sadi, searing tenor from Griffin, and some excellent work on piano and celeste from
Fol himself, all set to tight rhythm accompaniment that makes the tracks swing harder than you'd ever expect. A real treat, kind of a swinging jazz suite, ala the best MPS work of the Clarke-Boland Big Band!
(Original French pressing, in a flipback cover.)