Yardbird Suite – 1981
Richie Cole
The bop altoist and Bobby Enriquez tear into a Charlie Parker classic
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Richie Cole (1948-2020) was one of the great jazz alto-saxophonists; his arrival as a leader in the 1970s helped to revive bebop by infusing it with high energy and wit.
Pianist Bobby Enriquez (1943-2010) was known as “The Wildman” due to his percussive and rather unique solos.
Cole and Enriquez met up regularly during 1980-81 and showed that bebop could not only be fun but at times quite crazy.
For this version of “Yardbird Suite” which is taken at a racehorse speed, Enriquez shows how he earned his nickname, guitarist Bruce Forman somehow comes up with inventive ideas at the rapid tempo, and Cole throws in a few of his own witty ideas; the hard-swinging bassist Marshall Hawkins and drummer Scott Morris keep the music together.
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald