Just Friends / Tenors Head-on

Bill Perkins

Tremendous work from tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins -- easily one of our favorite talents of the LA scene of the 50s, heard here on material from 2 rare albums! On these 50s recordings, Bill's got a great tone that really deserves to be heard -- as lean and cool as fellow LA scenester Bud Shank, but also with a soulful quality that recalls some of the alto work coming out of Boston at the same time. Half the CD features titles from the Pacific Jazz album Just Friends -- and Perkins plays tenor on most of the album, plus a bit of flute and bass clarinet -- in the company of Art Pepper, Richie Kamuca, Jimmy Rowles, and Hampton Hawes. Tracks include "Solid De Sylva", "Zenobia", "Diane A Flow", and "Just Friends". The remaining tracks are from the even more obscure Liberty album Tenors Head On -- a tight small group session that matches the horns of Perkins and Richie Kamuca, alongside rhythm from Pete Jolly on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Stan Levey on drums.

Tracklisting:

1. Just Friends
2. All Of Me
3. Limehouse Blues
4. Solid De Sylva
5. Sweet And Lovely
6. Cotton Tall
7. I Want A Little Girl
8. Blues For Two
9. Indian Summer
10. Don't Be That Way
11. Oh! Look At Me Now
12. Spain
13. Pick A Dilly
14. Angel Eyes
15. Diane-A-Flow
16. Zenobia
17. A Foggy Day