Live at the Beowulf: Arbors Historical Series, Vol. 5 [Live]

Live at the Beowulf: Arbors Historical Series, Vol. 5 [Live]

ASIN: B0002IQN7E

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
From his days with the first Woody Herman Herd, Flip Phillips traveled and worked with some of the greatest musicians and bands in the world. Phillips had a wonderful three-year run at a Florida club named The Beowulf…and, although it no longer exists, the memories of great music linger on.

These tunes are arranged and executed beautifully - loose enough to allow for individual expression, but tight enough to satisfy a need for musical integrity.

Tracks:

Beowulf Blues
Whirly Bird
Indiana
The Carioca
Lemon Aid 21
The Brotherhood Of Man
Tricotism
I Want To Be Happy
Hodge Podge
Sweet And Lovely
Body And Soul
In A Mellow Tone

Tracks:

Someone To Watch Over Me
I Loves You, Porgy
Chloe
Christian Scientist
A Closer Walk With Thee
After The Lovin'
30 Years Later
Tears
I Hadn't Anyone Till You
I Won't Last A Day Without You
Sultry Serenade
Symphony
Spanish Eyes

Album Description

From his days with the first Woody Herman Herd, Flip Phillips traveled and worked with some of the greatest musicians and bands in the world. Phillips had a wonderful three-year run at a Florida club named The Beowulf…and, although it no longer exists, the memories of great music linger on.

These tunes are arranged and executed beautifully - loose enough to allow for individual expression, but tight enough to satisfy a need for musical integrity.

Customer Reviews:

Flip live at the "Beowulf".......2006-03-15

Flip Phillips fans should be drooling over this 2-CD set, which collects two live dates made at the "Beowulf" in Florida in 1977 and 1978; 15 of the sides originally appeared on two Grendel LPs (not the easiest LPs to find), while the remaining 10 are unissued. Flip is one of the best swing tenor saxophonists ever, and he's in very good form on both these CDs.

The first CD opens on fire; in fact, the first two-thirds of it is taken up-tempo. BEOWULF BLUES is the only blues in the set and it's a wailer. WHIRLY BIRD sounds like SLEEP in the opening section before going into the familiar Neal Hefti theme (Basie recorded it often in the 1950s). Finally at the end of the CD we get a couple of slow ballads - SWEET AND LOVELY and BODY AND SOUL - and Flip plays them beautifully.

The second CD is much more subdued, with half the selections taken in ballad tempo. Again Flip is gorgeous on all of them. He pulls out his bass clarinet on CHLOE and also for the opening chorus on A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE before switching to tenor when the tempo picks up a notch. He even plays soprano sax on one number (SULTRY SERENADE), an instrument I'd never heard him play before (he sticks close to the melody and sounds a bit tentative). CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST is a handsome original, and his lovely treatment of I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT YOU might be the highlight of the set. He ends with another scorcher, however, SPANISH EYES, a tune he recorded in the same manner in 1975 on the Choice label. Tom Howard is on piano on all selections as is drummer Don MacLean; the bass chore is shared by John Mason and Joe Reichgott: they all play superbly. This is an excellent CD set that shows off Flip's playing at the early height of his "comeback" phase in the 70s, and the music is fabulous. Definitely worth checking out.

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