CECIL PAYNE
Chic Boom, Live at the Jazz Showcase
Delmark Records
DE-259

In August of 2000, Cecil Payne's sextet enjoyed a short stint at Chicago's Jazz Showcase. Delmark Records documented those evenings and has released selected numbers on Chic Boom, Live at the Jazz Showcase, a lively return to bebop flavors that swings and satisfies. Payne, now 78 years old, has recorded regularly for the Delmark label since meeting tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander in a late night jam session in 1993. The meeting effectively brought Payne out of retirement and back into the Chicago mainstream. Including Alexander, Chic Boom features a stellar lineup, all of which are at the top of their game at this engagement. The melodies are heavy and round, and often leave the sensation that a big band is performing.

The title track "Chic-Boom" is exactly the type of opener that you want to hear on a live disc of such promise. The tune is a swinger, energetic and animated. Mabern is in celestial form here, with subtle comps that eventually culminate into a most eloquent solo. "Chic-Boom" serves as a fine baseline to the performance of all the participants that evening, even the audience. Each musician gets a lengthy turn at the podium. The ballad "You Will Be Mine Tonight" opens with Payne blowing a melancholy baritone. The energy in the room is too much to keep the band from accelerating the tempo, which becomes a jovial shuffle preceding Rotondi's muted solo. Payne's "Bosco" is a catchy samba-flavored original effectively fuelled by some particularly interesting trapping from Farnsworth. It's a hustle and it's a shuffle. Payne's lines are somewhat marred here by a sourness in his tone, but is effectively compensated for with some imaginative blowing.

Chic-Boom, Live at the Jazz Showcase has glorious moments and proper nostalgia. Payne's playing is to be admired, as are his truly original compositional skills. Add to these the fervor of a sextet with relentless energy and resourcefulness and you have a fine set of music worth acquiring.

Alan Jones

Track Listing: 1. Talk; 2. Chic Boom; 3. Ding-A-Ling; 4. You Will Be Mine Tonight; 5. Bosco; 6. Here's That Rainy Day; 7. Cit Sac; 8. Theme

Personnel: Cecil Payne, baritone sax, flute; Jim Rotondi, trumpet; Eric Alexander, tenor sax; Harold Mabern, piano; John Webber, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums