The Comeback

Just three guys swingin' like the Count Basie Orchestra on too much coffee. No jazz snobbery here --- these guys are out to entertain [who knew that Illinois could do a dead-on impression of Ella Fitzgerald?].Milt's organ playing is unique, and perhaps a little over-the-top. Jacquet has also been criticized for overdoing it, with honks and squeals [and it this case, scat solos]...but this is honest, enthusiastic, unpretentious music, and who can blame them for getting excited when they're swinging so hard?

Raw, powerful, and fun to listen to. Illinois, organist Milt Buckner, and drummer Tony Crombie tear it up in Ronnie Scott's club in Soho, London in the late 1970s. Everyone I've played it for enjoys it. This is my favorite jazz album, I know every note by heart.