Joe Albany, a talented but troubled
bop pianist, made some recordings in the late '40s and then was rarely heard on records again until the 1970s. Until now, the one exception was a rehearsal session with tenor saxophonist
Warne Marsh that came out as
The Right Combination. The music on
Live at Dana Point 1957, a two-CD set, was taped at the gig that occurred after
The Right Combination rehearsal and it was sitting unknown and unlisted on some reel-to-reel tapes in the possession of
Marsh's widow for decades. The recording quality is listenable -- if just adequate -- but the historic nature of the music overcomes the technical deficiencies. The cool-toned
Marsh is in excellent form, jamming on 18
standards.
Albany has a lot of short solos and bassist
Bob Whitlock and drummer
Red Martinson are steady in support. Although not quite essential, fans of the always-searching
Marsh,
Albany, and
West Coast jazz in general will find this music quite stimulating. ~ Scott Yanow
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