Calvin Newborn's "New Born" is pretty jazzy blues or pretty bluesy jazz, which is fitting for a guy whose late brother Phineas was one of the great jazz pianists, sadly unsung today, and who's own career, centered in Memphis, has been a mix of jazz and blues.
Nonetheless, Calvin Newborn is an excellent jazz guitarist who played with his brother, Earl Hines, Freddie Roach and Hank Crawford, among others. "New Born" includes a pianist, an organist and a sax player on various tracks, not to mention a trumpet, bass, drums and talking drums, and that may be my only complaint about it. All that accompaniment overwhelms Newborn's playing in spots. You get to hear him in ample fashion on songs like "Newborn Blues" and "Restorations," however, and the other players are well worth hearing as well, ultimately making this CD a winner.
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