Al Cohn - Natural Seven (CD)

All Music Guide

Some but not all of the material on this outofprint LP has since been reissued on CD on a Bluebird set shared by Freddie Green and Al Cohn. Although originally associated with Woody Herman and cool jazz, Cohn always felt equally comfortable playing with swingstyled players. His "Natural Seven" looks toward the Kansas City Seven and includes two members of Count Basie's band (trumpeter Joe Newman and guitarist Freddie Green) among the personnel (which also has trombonist Frank Rehak, Basie soundalike pianist Nat Pierce, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Osie Johnson). Although the music includes a few Basieassociated songs, Cohn also contributed several of his own swinging originals; Osie Johnson's vocal on "Osie's Blues" is surprisingly effective.

- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide