An album that's maybe one of the least familiar Blue Note records to most jazz listeners – a set that was barely pressed up at the time, and reissued infrequently – yet which is a tremendous debut as a leader from tenorist
Harold Vick! At the time of the album's release,
Vick had been bringing all these amazing sounds to Hammond albums by Brother Jack McDuff – reed lines that were very different in phrasing and tone than the tenor sounds of players like Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt – and he continues that magic here, in a really wonderful group – with John Patton on the Hammond, Grant Green on guitar, and the mighty Ben Dixon on drums – a player with a loose touch that really fits
Harold's unique sense of rhythm. Blue Mitchell also plays trumpet up front, bringing a nice tonal brightness to the album – and titles include a great version of
Vick's "Our Miss Brooks", plus "Steppin Out", "
Vicksville", and "Trimmed In Blue".
(1996 Connoisseur pressing with a promotional sticker on booklet cover, stamp on CD and mark through barcode.)