Isrea Butler: Congo Lament

VEGAS RECORDS 1026. (RECORDED OCTOBER 2023)

Trombonists Bennie Green and Isrea Bulter have a few things in common. In 1961, Green sat in the Count Basie trombone section for the Basie Rides Again recording session. Today trombonist Isrea Butler is a regular member of the Basie band. Late in his career, Green relocated to Las Vegas where he worked in dance bands. In 2023, Butler was named the director of music for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. So, it is no surprise that Butler’s debut recording as a leader, Congo Lament, is inspired by music from two classic dates on which Green appeared — Green’s 1959 Bennie Green Swings the Blues and Ike Quebec’s 1962 Easy Living. Butler along with Basie tenor player Doug Lawrence and a trio of Las Vegas musicians do justice on seven tunes from those dates, including the Latin-tinged title track, Stanley Turrentine’s “Que’s Pills,” Ma Rainey’s “See See Rider,” and standards such as “Easy Living.” Although the rhythm section is no match for Sonny Clark, Milt Hinton and Art Blakey, who appeared on Quebec’s Easy Living (the record most of the selections are taken from), Butler and Lawrence do a commendable job of capturing the sound and spirit of Green as well as the saxophonists who were on those sessions — Jimmy Forrest, Ike Quebec and Stanley Turrentine. I look forward to what the group can do once they step out of the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders they stand.

BOTTOM LINE: Listening to Congo Lament provides an opportunity to do a compare and contrast essay with the original Bennie Green and Ike Quebec recordings on which this session is based. Hopefully, by capturing the spirit of these often-overlooked musicians and sessions, listeners will search out the original recordings much like I did. Thanks for the musical memories.