Stepping Stones

Description by OLDIES.com:

Woody Shaw was part of that regal line of bravura trumpeters that began with Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie and ran through Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. Stepping Stones, Shaw's second album for Columbia, was recorded by his working band of post-modern hard-boppers, live at New York's storied Village Vanguard in August 1978.

This expanded edition of Stepping Stones contains three bonus tracks, including two that are previously unissued: "Blues For Ball" plus Onaje Allan Gumbs' "All Things Being Equal Are Not."

Product Description:

Personnel: Woody Shaw (cornet, flugelhorn); Carter Jefferson (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Onaje Allan Gumbs (piano); Clint Houston (acoustic bass); Victor Lewis (drums).

Liner Note Authors: Woody Shaw; Steve Turre; Michael Cuscuna.

Recording information: The Village Vanguard, New York, New York (08/05/1978 - 08/06/1978).

On this 1978 date, recorded live at the Village Vanguard, Woody Shaw traded in his trumpet for a cornet and a fluegelhorn, and shows his chops to be in superb working order on both instruments. Flanked by a fierce rhythm section and tenor and soprano saxophonist Carter Jefferson, Shaw blows through seven tunes, including songs composed by the band's members, and "Blues for Ball," a McCoy Tyner-penned tribute to saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Here the classic hard bop style is given plenty of contemporary spin, making STEPPING STONES a fresh, invigorating release.