Generations

AMG Review of Generations

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Baritonist Pepper Adams gets first billing on this record but he is actually only on four of the seven cuts. James L. Dean (who is heard on tenor, alto and clarinet) organized the session and it is largely his date despite the presence of Adams, tenor-saxophonist Frank Foster and a fine (if obscure) rhythm section. Bud Powell's "Dance Of The Infidels," "Stablemates" and "Titter Pipes" are jams for the entire group as is Dean's modal "Generations" (which has Vinnie Cutro guesting on trumpet). "Mood In Question" is an Artie Shaw classical piece that Dean plays as a clarinet-piano duet with Noreen Grey while Foster and Dean head the quintet (without Pepper) on "Milestones" and Dean's "Inventory." Overall the modern hard bop music is quite successful, but this album should have come out under Dean's name.