Customer Reviews

Sprightly be-bop serenade - By: Nikica Gilic, 11 Jun 2008
Recordedin 1957, when the vocabulary of be-bop has become a normal part (probably) of majority of the jazz musicians active at the time, "Serenade to a Bus Seat" gives a remarkable & very creative workout within the style, making it somewhat more flexible than the founding fathers would have made it... Terry has a deep-rooted swing experience & he seems to use itin his approach to tone & sometimas phrasing, while the brilliant group assembled for this date mostly consists of players interestedin stretching the boundaries of bop further (which, to many people's surprise, included inspiration from the past jazz stylesin cases of hard bop & free-jazz)...

So - this is a be-bop record, a great be-bop record but not completely typical be-bop record.

The happy trumpet of Clark Terry is one of my favorite soundsin jazz (prefered to his fluegelhorn) & the hot licks of Johnny Griffin & rock-solid rhythm section help the leader create a subtle & suggestive sound pictures.

Except for be-bop standard "Donna Lee", short take on Arlen's "That old Black Magic"in the end & Carmichael's good old "Stardust", all other songs are written by Terry.