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The owner of an unmistakable sound on the tenor, saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (1922-1986) gained early experience during the Forties performing in the orchestras headed by Cootie Williams, Andy Kirk and Louis Armstrong. Davis's style was well-defined by this time: full-bodied, vigorous and highly swinging and expressive, not unlike that of his idols Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Herschell Evans. After working with Count Basie during the Fifties and temporarily retiring during the Sixties to become a booking agent, Lockjaw was a very busy performer up until his death, becoming something of a fixture on the European scene of the Seventies and the Eighties. Through the decades he played and recorded with jazz greats as diverse as Ella Fitzgerald, Zoot Sims, Johnny Griffin, Oscar Peterson or Clark Terry.
Recorded live in 1985 at the Jazzhaus Slukefter club in Copenhagen, Denmark, this excellent set showcases Eddie Davis in full artistic maturity, playing a repertoire of mostly standards, with impeccable accompaniment by pianist Niels Joergen Steen, bassist Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Ed Thigpen. Lockjaw plays beautiful tenor on all numbers, displaying a sound that goes from the rough and intense (on numbers such as "Take the A Train" or "S Wonderful") to the delicate and tender (on "Meditation or "I Can't Get Started"). Club jazz at its best!
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