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Derrick Shezbie: Spodie's Back
ByQuincy Jones
arranger1933 - 2024

Derrick Shezbie
trumpet
Rebirth Brass Band
band / ensemble / orchestraProduced by fellow Crescent City native

Delfeayo Marsalis
tromboneb.1965
This blended approach is reflected in the song selection: Distinctively New Orleans standards like "St. James Infirmary," "Royal Garden Blues," "Paul Barbain's Secondline" and "Dancing at the Mardi Gras" are interspersed with standards like "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise," "Misty" and "I Have Found a New Baby."
Tying it all together throughout is Shezbie's gorgeous playingmelding an immediately recognizable tone with splendid technique. It's easy to see why, when this album was originally released, critics were lavish in their praise. Journalist Scott Yanow gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, while the All Music Guide wrote that Shezbie was "well on his way into developing into an Armstrong for the next century."
And Yanow's review was spot-on: While the backing band varies here from track to track, with both

Branford Marsalis
saxophoneb.1960

Ellis Marsalis
piano1934 - 2020
The opening track, "Royal Garden Blues," encapsulates the stylistic blending. The song opens with a traditional three-part horn leadbut a third of the way through, Shezbie takes a solo with a decidedly modern flavor, mixing the theme with swaths of

Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974

Mark Turner
saxophone, tenorb.1965

Victor "Red" Atkins
piano
Corey Henry
trombone"Misty" is the most modernistic of all the arrangements here, and is also maybe the least memorable cut. Shezbie's soloing is strong, but the whole thing never seems to click.
Somewhere in between the pure magic of "Royal Garden Blues" and the relative mediocrity of "Misty" is the strikingly original approach to "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise." It opens with a three-horn lead, but with an immediately straight-ahead approach. Shezbie's opening solo is colored by bop sensibilities, which Turner takes a step yet further in his follow-up. Atkins' impassioned piano solo here is reminiscent of

Monty Alexander
pianob.1944
The hype for "Spodie's Back" was not at all misplaced, even if Shezbie's career didn't take the path predicted for him. This remains a treasured listen, one of the more memorable releases from the mid-1990s. ">
Track Listing
Royal Garden Blues; Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise; Leroy Special; Dusk On The Delta; St. James Infirmary; Spodie's Back; Back O' Town Blues; I Have Found A New Baby; Paul Barbarin's Second Line; Misty; Dancing At The Mardi Gras.
Personnel
Derrick Shezbie
trumpetMark Turner
saxophone, tenorCorey Henry
tromboneVictor "Red" Atkins
pianoMartin Butler
drumsHerlin Riley
drumsAdditional Instrumentation
Greg Williams: bass; Ellis Marsalis, piano; Kirk Joseph, drums; Mark Gross, saxophone; Branford Marsalis, saxophone; Kenny Kirkland, piano
Album information
Title: Spodie's Back | Year Released: 1994 | Record Label: Warner Bros.
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