FSRCD 202
This
album compiles two Oscar Moore sessions from 1957 and 1965. For the
first ten tracks, Moore backs singer Inez Jones in one of her very few
recording dates. The remaining tracks are with his trio featuring Gerald
Wiggins and Joe Comfort. These recordings have somewhat of a checkered
history. Originally produced on Omega Tape by tape pioneer Dave Hubert
and then licensed by Riverside, they pretty much disappeared from sight
until revived by the Spanish label Fresh Sound. How they came into their
possession is anybody's guess. Sparsely amplified and allowing enough
space between chords to permit the listener to absorb what's being
played, Oscar Moore's clean-lined guitar playing, which always paid
attention to the melody line, made him instantly recognizable when he
was a member of the Nat King Cole Trio. Semi-retired just before these
albums were made, he was running a gas station, but was lured away from
the pumps to participate in these recordings. As popular and well known
as Moore was, Jones wasn't much appreciated beyond the San Francisco
area where she did most of her gigging. She had a light, straightforward
melodic voice similar to one of her contemporaries, Maxine Sullivan.
She was equally at home with ballads and lightly swinging material, and
liked to surprise with dips at the end of a line, such as on a lovely
"Moonlight in Vermont." Another benefit of this album is the subtle
piano playing of Wiggins, as on "Sweet Lorraine." These sessions come
from those days when there were still clubs and lounges where a singer
with a small group could get a gig. They simply brought the way they
performed in these places into the studio. The result is some settled,
relaxed playing by knowledgeable, consummate artists of their trade.