Curtis Fuller - South American Cookin'

2014 Japanese CD reissue.

The group on this date includes Zoot Sims, Tommy Flanagan, Jymie Merritt, and Dave Bailey. The title South American Cookin' doesn't give an accurate description of the first half of the disc, though there is a loping treatment of the sad ballad "Besame Mucho" and a very percussive take of "One Note Samba"; more typical for Fuller are the delightful up-tempo bop numbers like J.J. Johnson's "Wee Dot," in which Sims and the leader lock horns and both play their most stimulating solos, even with a few reed squeaks by the tenor saxophonist.

Ken Dryden ~ AllMusicGuide