The Opener is trombonist Curtis Fuller's first album for Blue Note and it is a thoroughly impressive affair.
Working with a quintet featuring tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor, Fuller runs through a set of three standards -- "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening," "Here's to My Lady," "Soon" -- two originals and an Oscar Pettiford-penned calypso.
The six songs give Fuller a chance to display his warm, fluid style in all of its variations.
"A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" illustrates that he can be seductive and lyrical on ballads, while the brassy "Hugore" and hard-swinging "Lizzy's Bounce" shows that he can play hard without getting sloppy.
His backing musicians are equally impressive; in particular, Mobley's robust playing steals the show.
In all, The Opener, along with his three earlier sessions for Prestige and New Jazz, establishes Fuller as one of the most distinctive and original hard bop trombonists of the late '50s.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Lovely Way to Spend an EveningHarold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh | Curtis Fuller | Play | 06:53 | 15 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | HugoreCurtis Fuller | Curtis Fuller | Play | 06:44 | 15 MB | 45 MB |
| 3 | Here's to My LadyRube Bloom, Johnny Mercer | Curtis Fuller | Play | 06:43 | 15 MB | 33 MB |
| 4 | Lizzy's BounceCurtis Fuller | Curtis Fuller | Play | 05:24 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 5 | SoonGeorge Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Curtis Fuller | Play | 05:35 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 6 | Oscarlypso | Curtis Fuller | Play | 05:40 | 13 MB | 34 MB |
| 37 mins | 84 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 218 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harold Adamson | Composer |
| 2 | Rube Bloom | Composer |
| 3 | Bob Blumenthal | Liner Notes |
| 4 | Paul Chambers | Bass, Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 5 | Michael Cuscuna | Reissue Producer |
| 6 | Curtis Fuller | Composer, Primary Artist, Trombone |
| 7 | George Gershwin | Composer |
| 8 | Ira Gershwin | Composer |
| 9 | Gordon H. Jee | Reissue Director |
| 10 | Alfred Lion | Producer |
| 11 | Jimmy McHugh | Composer |
| 12 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 13 | Hank Mobley | Main Personnel, Sax (Tenor) |
| 14 | Oscar Pettiford | Composer |
| 15 | Art Taylor | Drum, Drums, Main Personnel |
| 16 | Bobby Timmons | Main Personnel, Piano |
| 17 | Rudy Van Gelder | Engineer, Remastering |
| 18 | Francis Wolff | Cover Photo, Photography |
| 19 | Amanda Wray | Reissue Design |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |