Having served his apprenticeship with Chico Hamilton, Ron Carter, and Charles Lloyd, Szabo gained wider prominence with 1966’s Jazz Raga. The ’60s found him producing more commercially oriented material with Jim Keltner and Hal Gordon. Szabo’s method?state opening theme, extemporise making full use of drones and false fingerings?is well suited to these cover versions (“Dear Prudence”, “Some Velvet Morning”). Although occasionally straying into blandness, this is mostly lounge-psych of the highest order.
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