Beautiful Ike Quebec cut; thanks for sharing. I love that approach to tenor sound; big, meaty, and breathy. It's always refreshing to hear that sound in contrast to the Coltrane-influenced approach that is so prevalent now. It is a physically different approach to producing tone on the instrument which starts with the use of "subtone" to begin the note; instead of the tongue giving a note it's start, a breath attack is used. Additionally, the physical muscular "mechanics" used keeps the sound's core closer to the front of the mouth instead of further back in the throat. That further back in the throat approach is what gives the more modern approach (Coltrane) that "screaming" quality; not always an attractive sound.
Ike Quebec is one of those players that could really tell a story with a solo. On this cut there is a beautiful sense of knowing exactly where he is going. Each phrase is a follow-up to the previous phrase in a way similar to the way that a great speaker is able to recite a well written novel. He strikes a nice balance between restraint and exuberance, whereas many of the similar sounding tenor players of the (loosely speaking) Texas tenor school can sound overwhelming at times in their exuberance.
Great stuff!
Ike Quebec is one of those players that could really tell a story with a solo. On this cut there is a beautiful sense of knowing exactly where he is going. Each phrase is a follow-up to the previous phrase in a way similar to the way that a great speaker is able to recite a well written novel. He strikes a nice balance between restraint and exuberance, whereas many of the similar sounding tenor players of the (loosely speaking) Texas tenor school can sound overwhelming at times in their exuberance.
Great stuff!