Ceora

Jackie McLean (alto sax), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Larry Ridley (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums). From the album Cornbread (1967).

Larry Ridley is an American jazz bassist and music teacher, excellent accompanist and reflexive soloist who has appeared on countless recordings as a studio musician. After playing in Indianapolis with Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard he moved to New York. During the 1960s he participated in important albums with Max Roach, Art Farmer, Red Garldand, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon and Horace Silver.

After playing with Thelonious Monk from 1970 to 1973 he devoted himself mainly to teaching, although from 1981 to 1985 he was a member of Philly Joe Jones’s group Dameronia. Ridley was the founding faculty member of the Rutgers University jazz program and is Executive Director of IAJE’s African American Jazz Caucus. He also participates in the Schomburg Institute for Research in Black Culture.

This theme has the quality of an inspired improvisation rather than a laborious composition. It’s a bossa-nova that after a long introduction by Hancock, the wind section exposes with a surprising sensitivity. The first to play his solo is Morgan, who blends slow phrases with faster ones resulting in an expressive and interesting discourse. He is followed by Mobley with a soft and reflexive play creating a relaxed atmosphere. Next Hancock enters with a delicate and exquisite solo that is to take off your hat. Lastly, the group reexposes the theme with the same care they took at the beginning.