The Sixth Sense

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The straight-ahead style that had long characterized Blue Note records was going into eclipse in 1967 when Lee Morgan made The Sixth Sense. But the trumpeter was the style's master, mating forceful tunes and complex rhythms with an uncompromising directness. His lines always sound perfectly continuous with his thought, from clarion assertions to muffled, half-valve asides. The sextet is an excellent one, with Jackie McLean on alto and Cedar Walton on piano, while drummer Billy Higgins adds the verve that distinguished so many of Morgan's best records (including, of course, Sidewinder). Added to these luminaries is tenor saxophonist Frank Mitchell, then a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the same institution of higher learning from which the others had graduated. Mitchell soon faded into obscurity, but he was a striking presence here, with an approach very much like McLean's--terse, metallic, and intense. It adds a distinctive edge to both his solos and the ensembles. The group has a knack for strong rhythmic grooves, with the backbeat of "Psychedelic" recalling such Morgan-Higgins collaborations as "Sidewinder" and "Rumproller." Cedar Walton's "Afreaka" has sustained power, while Cal Massey's "The City of My People" is elegiac neogospel with beautiful, muted trumpet. The CD adds three tracks from an unreleased 1968 quintet session on which Morgan, Mitchell, and Higgins are joined by pianist Harold Mabern and bassist Mickey Bass for some equally convincing hard bop. --Stuart Broomer

The Sixth Sense,Lee Morgan,Blue Note Records,Hard Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Modal Music,Pop

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