Personnel:
Lem Winchester (vib), Benny Golson (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Art Taylor (d)
Reference: FSRCD 733
Bar code: 8427328607339
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Vibist Lem Winchester (1928-1961) seemed well on the way to a promising jazz career when he made these two straight-ahead, bop-flavoured albums in 1959-60 with some of the leading lights in the music at the time. Influenced by Milt Jackson, he was also evolving his own sound and approach to the instrument.
That much is evident in his playing on the first, Winchester Special, with Benny Golson in fine form on tenor and an excellent rhythm section in pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor. For Another Opus, arguably his best recorded album, Winchester was teamed with flautist and tenor saxophonist Frank Wess and the delectable piano of Hank Jones in a rhythm section completed by bassist Eddie Jones and drummer Osie Johnson. The vibist is particularly inventive on Like Someone In Love, responds imaginatively to Oliver Nelsons The Meetin and plays with spirit and warmth on his own originals. But the end was nigh; an accident with a revolver wrote the final chapter on January 13, 1961.
-Winchester Special
"This excellent set features the ill-fated vibraphonist Lem Winchester teamed up with tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor for three standards, an obscurity and two of the leader's originals. The music falls between bop and hard bop with consistently swinging solos that are generally fairly inventive. This was one of Winchester's three recordings for the New Jazz label; all are easily recommended to straightahead jazz fans."
-Another Opus
"Vibraphonist Lem Winchester died on January 13, 1961, after an accident with a gun. Although he did not stick around long enough to carve out his own original voice (remaining influenced to a large degree by Milt Jackson), Winchester did record several worthy albums during his final couple of years. This set, was one of his last and best. Winchester -- in a quintet with flutist Frank Wess, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Eddie Jones, and drummer Gus Johnson -- is in swinging and creative form on three of his originals, Oliver Nelson's "The Meetin'," and the standard "Like Someone in Love." A bonus cut from October 14, 1960, finds Winchester playing "Lid Flippin'" with a quintet that features organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith. Overall this CD is one of Lem Winchester's definitive sets."
—Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)
