Wednesday 6/29: Charlie Gabriel – Eighty Nine

Time to kick back, slow down a bit, and bathe in the lush tones and rhythms of the most senior member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Saxophonist Charlie Gabriel’s first professional gig dates to 1943, sitting in for his father in New Orleans’ Eureka Brass Band. As a teenager living in Detroit, Charlie played with Lionel Hampton, whose band just then also included a young Charles Mingus, later spending nine years with a group led by Cab Calloway drummer, J.C. Heard. While he’s also fronted a bebop quintet, played and/or toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Aretha Franklin and many more, this is the first time his name appears on the front of a record, as a bandleader. The result is a beautiful, eclectic collection, including six jazz standards and two new pieces, and three on which Charlie sings for the first time!