Cat. No. BCD 15668: BIG AL SEARS ~ SEAR-IOUSLY. BEAR FAMILY BCD 15668. (IMPORT).

BIG AL SEARS’ (BORN ALBERT OMEGA SEARS) MUSICAL TALENTS BECAME EVIDENT AT AN EARLY AGE BY HIS OLDER BROTHER, MARION. WHO PERSONALLY SUPERVISED HIS BROTHER’S TRAINING ON REED INSTRUMENTS, PRIMARILY ALTO AND BARITONE SAXOPHONES. BY THE MID 1940s AL WAS THE STAR TENOR SAXOPHONIST IN THE DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA. BIG AL WAS IN AWE OF HIS BOSS AND DECIDED HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING INNOVATIVE IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC. BIG ALL WAS DEEPLY IMPRESSED WITH THE BREAKTHROUGH OF DIZZY GILLESPIE AND CHARLIE PARKER THAT CREATED A NEW JAZZ CALLED BE BOP.

SEARS REASONED THAT THE MUSIC ON WHICH HE HOPED TO HAVE AN IMPACT WAS THE AFRICAN AMERICAN TRADITION OF BLUES AND JAZZ. HE FELT HE COULD DO SOMETHING NEW WITH THAT RHYTHM WITHOUT HURTING ITS “SWING”. SOON BIG AL SEARS WAS PERFECTING HIS OWN SPECIAL BLEND OF SYNCOPATION. THE ESSENTIAL THRUST OF AL’S INNOVATION IS LAYING LOW AS THE FIRST BEAT GOES BY – BUT KNOCKING YOUR SOCKS OFF BEFORE YOU GET TO THE SECOND. BIG AL’S MUSIC WAS SO ADAPTABLE THAT WHEN ROCK’N’ROLL EXPLODED IN THE 1950s HIS MUSIC WAS RIGHT THERE AND HIS BAND WAS OFTEN A PART OF ALAN FREED’S ROCK’N’ROLL REVUE CONCERTS. BRILLIANT MIX OF SWING, JAZZ, RHYTHM & BLUES AND ROCK’N’ROLL ******

TRACK LISTING: 125th Street, New York / Shake Hands / Tan Skin Lad / Brown Boy / Huffin’ And Puffin’ / Sear-iously / Mag’s Alley / Fo-Yah / The Good Old Summertime / Ivory Cliffs / Easy Ernie / Vo-Sa / Goin’ Uptown / Tweedle Dee / Come And Dance With Me / Come A’ Runnin’ / Tom, Dick ‘n’ Harry / Tina’s Canteen / Right Now, Right Now / Midnight Wail / Love Call / Rock And Roll Ball / Here’s The Beat / Great Googa Mooga / Fo Yah (take B).

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