LISTEN TO ONE: Chicken & Dumplin's
Bobby Timmons is remembered largely for two things: a handful of compositions, most notably "Moanin'" and "Dat Dere," which rank among the most tuneful and popular numbers in the jazz canon; and a life sadly lost to drugs and alcohol. By the mid-1960s, things weren't good for him. His Wikipedia bio states that "Timmons' career declined quickly in the 1960s, in part because of drug abuse and alcoholism, and partly as a result of being typecast as a composer and player of seemingly simple pieces of music." The same bio notes that Timmons's live performances at this time were cited by reviewers as being undermined by his hiring of sidemen of inferior quality.
None of this seemed to affect his marketability as a jazz recording artist. His Prestige years were 1964-66, during which time he recorded seven albums (this was his fifth). But the writing was already on the wall. After leaving Prestige, there were two more albums for Milestone, and that was it. His last recording was 1968; he died in 1974.
The sidemen he's working with on this recording are not the musicians he played his club dates with, the ones who were found wanting by reviewers, and although they may not have been Prestige's A-list of supporting players, they certainly aren't chopped liver. Drummer Billy Saunders has no other recording credits that I could find. But bassist Mickey Bass had an impressive resume of gigs (Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Chico Freeman, John Hicks) and his recording dates,which would mostly come in the 1970s, included Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Curtis Fuller, and Hank Mobley. He also spent many years as an educator, numbering trumpeter Wallace Roney among his students. Both of them contribute on this album, giving Timmons the support he needs.
Tinmons calls on another composer to lead off this album--Ray Bryant, best known for "Cubano Chant," "Little Susie," and his big 1960 hit, "Madison Time." Bryant's "Chicken & Dumplin's" had first been recorded by Art Blakey in 1959, when Timmons was in the group, with boppish solos by Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, and an excellent one by Timmons.
"Chicken & Dumplin's" is certainly a soul food/soul jazz title, in a tradition going back to early rhythm and blues hits like Hal Singer's "Cornbread" and Frank "Floorshow" Culley's "Cole Slaw," and continuing through the kitchen classics of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Shirley Scott on Prestige. Timmons gives it the full soul jazz treatment here, eschewing his own melodic improvisations and those of Mobley and Morgan, in favor of a solid groove.
In his own composition, "The Return of Genghis Khan," Tinmons appears to be setting out to prove that he was more than just simple melodies and basic soul jazz improvisation, and to these ears he succeeds. This is a nervous and nervy album, worth listening to.
Cal Lampley produced, and Chicken & Dumplin's was the name of the album. The title cut b/w "The Telephone Song" was the 45 RPM release.
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