“Bouncing with Bud & Phil” – Live at Yoshi’s (Bud Shank & Phil Woods, alto saxes; Mike Wofford, piano; Bob Magnusson, bass; Bill Goodwin, drums) – Capri Records

“Bouncing with Bud & Phil” – Live at Yoshi’s (Bud Shank
& Phil Woods, alto saxes; Mike Wofford, piano; Bob Magnusson, bass;
Bill Goodwin, drums) – Capri Records Stereo-only SACD [no number] ****:

Yoshi’s Japanese restaurant in Oakland is the best jazz venue in the
entire San Francisco Bay Area and bands always look forward to playing
there. A number of live recordings have originated from there and from
the club’s previous location.  This one was recorded in November
of last year, bringing together LA-based saxist Shank and NYC-based
saxist Woods.  The combo of a pair of alto saxes is not new; Woods
duoed with Gene Quill in the 1950s and Shank made some appearances with
Art Pepper.  Shank and Woods had playing together occasionally
over the years and recently were both on a jazz cruise where they
really got into their partnership and decided to put together the club
appearances and this recording.

Both saxists are in their 70s and have paid their dues many times
over.  They don’t provide a battle of the saxes but a partnership
in which they show great respect for each other but have plenty of fun
in the process.  They were recorded over four nights – the first
was getting the technical setup perfected and this disc was selected
from the following three nights’ highlights.  Shank is situated on
the left of the soundstage and Woods is on the right.  The tracks
are all lengthy, with the shortest still over six minutes and one over
14.  A standout is their version of Nature Boy. 

Tracks: Bouncing with Bud, Helen’s Song, Nature Boy, Carousels, Summer Serenade, Gemma’s Eyes, Minority.

– John Henry